Sowing The Seeds For Government Accountability

Supported in part by our groundbreaking research, we have already made progress on the ambitious goal of reining in qualified immunity in the courts.

But IJ’s work is most effective when it gains community support. That means we also had to take on the huge challenge of helping the public understand what qualified immunity is (and what it isn’t). 

So in 2021, IJ launched our Americans Against Qualified Immunity activism initiative. AAQI is a nationwide grassroots effort to educate Americans from all walks of life about qualified immunity and mobilize them around a simple idea: If we the people have to obey the law, then government officials have to obey the Constitution.

This spring, we celebrated a major landmark in that effort by welcoming our 10,000th member. And we’re just getting started.

Over the past few months, AAQI has been busy holding public education and activist recruiting events in five different states, hosting more than 500 attendees on a listening tour that helps us home in on the best ways to reach and expand our audience. 

IJ knows that if one person’s rights aren’t protected, then no one’s rights are safe, so we don’t just work with traditional activists. Our AAQI members include truck drivers, like Carl from Pennsylvania; factory workers, like Marty from Oklahoma; and Army veterans, like Tim from Tennessee.

Alongside IJ’s litigation, research, and legislative outreach, we’re working at the grassroots every day to end qualified immunity at the local, state, and federal levels—and to make sure that when someone’s rights are violated, there’s a path to justice.