OPEN LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA CLERGY TO GOV. JERRY BROWN ABOUT AB 953
Click here to sign our petition to require police to collect and report data on stops.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Dear Governor Brown:
Grace and peace from clergy and leaders of California's diverse faith community.
The California Legislature voted with a strong majority in favor of sending AB 953 (the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015) to your desk for your signature. As a fellow person of faith, we bishops, rabbis, imams, and faith leaders write in an appeal to your moral conscience and vocation to human dignity to sign AB 953 into law. Increased transparency and accountability will bring us one step closer to repairing police-community relationships and saving beloved bodies within which God's spirit and image dwell.
Nearly 1,000 clergy and families came to your office on September 2nd to pray for you and to urge your support of AB 953, which is the only meaningful fair policing bill to make it out of the legislature this year. The crises in Ferguson, New York, Cincinnati, Texas, and many other parts of our country have shined a light on the pain and experiences that Black, Brown, and Native people too often have when interacting with police officers.
There is a lack of transparency and accountability in California, which has become the country's leader in the number of officer involved killings this year. AB 953 is a vehicle that specifically addresses this sad reality.
We people of faith imagine a new California where Black, Brown, and Native people rejoice knowing their leaders, particularly their Governor, have done everything possible to ensure safeguards are in place that create understanding, accountability, and trust with law enforcement. Research has shown that race plays an unconscious role in everyone's decision-making, particularly in split-second decisions on perceived crime and danger. Unfortunately, when it comes to policing we still don't have data at the statewide level to address this. Policing that wrongfully uses discriminatory practices will only lead to more unjust deaths, and reaffirms distrust in law enforcement, which makes all of us less safe.
AB 953’s passage in California would send a signal to the whole country that California is leading the nation on fair policing during the urgency of this moral crisis. We should not be afraid of data – in fact, data will help us empower reform and facilitate reconciliation with police officers at the neighborhood level. There are many local examples, in places like Stockton and San Jose, where law enforcement agencies were forced to track data and they now find it helpful in working more effectively with people they’re entrusted to serve. AB953 is a reasonable, solution-based approach to put us on the much-needed path to fair policing. In fact, 67% of California voters in a recent poll strongly support AB 953. We believe that the moral crisis of so many lives lost and distrust in law enforcement creates special conditions to require such a data collection mandate.
We ask you to meet with us and hear the stories of the communities most impacted by this crisis to help inform your strong moral judgment as you weigh this decision. Please respond at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop of Diocese of Stockton
Fr. John Baumann, SJ, Founder, PICO National Network
Dr. Hatem Bazian, Zaytuna College Co-Founder
Fr. Mike Weiler, SJ, California Jesuit Provincial
Rabbi Sharon Brous, IKAR Los Angeles
Bishop George D. McKinney, St. Stephenâs Cathedral & Prelate 2nd Jurisdiction, Church of God in Christ
Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director, CAIR CA
Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, Homeboy Industries
Bishop Jerry Macklin, Glad Tidings Church
Rev. Kelvin Sauls, Holman United Methodist Church
Imam Maha ElGenaidi, Islamic Networks Group
Shaikh Suhail Mulla, Access California Services
Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., Pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ
Abu Qadir Al-Amin, San Francisco Muslim Community Center
If you believe California law enforcement agencies should be required to collect and report data on stops, frisks, and other interactions with individuals, then please sign PICO California's" prayer" petition. Visit bit.ly/AB953PrayerPetition to sign now!
As of Friday, September 25, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown had not responded to this letter from clergy.
PICO California is the state’s largest multiracial and multi-faith community organizing network. We organize in 73 cities, 15 school districts, and in more than one-half of the state's Senate and Assembly districts. PICO California was established in 1994, bringing together local federations from throughout California to affect meaningful budget and policy change at the state level. Over the past 20 years, our organizing and policy advocacy has resulted in increased investments in education and healthcare, and in programs and services that are critical for working families. Together, we represent 480 congregations and 450,000 families of diverse economic, racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds committed to advancing racial and economic justice in California through organizing, advocacy, and voter engagement. Visit www.PICOCalifornia.org to learn more.