Blackout The System: A Nationwide Economic Uprising Against Corporate Greed and Government Betrayal
The History Behind The Headlines
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Beyond fatal encounters, non-lethal police violence also exhibits profound racial disparities. In 2022, Black people were over three times as likely as white people to experience the threat or use of force during police encounters, including handcuffing, pushing, grabbing, hitting, kicking, or having a weapon used against them (Prison Policy Initiative). Black Americans were also 9.3 times as likely as white Americans to be homicide victims in 2020, and since homicide is largely an intra-racial crime, these figures correspond to higher rates of violence within communities of color, which scholars attribute to spatially concentrated urban poverty resulting from longstanding segregation, discrimination, and disinvestment (The Sentencing Project).
The Qualified Immunity Shield: Barrier to Justice
One of the most significant obstacles Jackson faces in his pursuit of justice is the legal doctrine of qualified immunity. This court-created rule limits victims of police violence and misconduct from holding officers accountable when they violate constitutional rights. Under this doctrine, a police officer cannot be put on trial for unlawful conduct unless the person suing proves that the evidence shows the conduct was unlawful and that the officers should have known they were violating “clearly established” law because a prior court case had already deemed similar police actions illegal (Equal Justice Initiative).
The Supreme Court developed qualified immunity in 1967 through its interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, which Congress passed to help protect formerly enslaved Black people from rampant racial violence during Reconstruction. In 1982, the Court dramatically expanded the doctrine in Harlow v. Fitzgerald to protect public officials from even malicious conduct as long as the conduct did not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights (Equal Justice Initiative). This expansion has created what Justice Sonia Sotomayor described as “an absolute shield” against accountability for police officers accused of using excessive force.
Courts often require a nearly identical prior case to establish “clearly established law,” leading to absurd results. For example, in one case, officers received immunity for releasing a police dog on a suspect who had surrendered by sitting with his hands raised because prior precedent involved a suspect who surrendered by lying down. In another case, officers who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars while executing a search warrant received immunity because the court could find no prior case addressing theft during searches (New Mexico General Services). These rulings demonstrate how qualified immunity effectively prevents accountability even for egregious misconduct.
Sexual Violence Under Color of Law: A Hidden Epidemic
The sexual assault allegations in Jackson’s case represent a particularly disturbing form of police misconduct that often goes unreported and unpunished. Police officers who sexually assault individuals in their custody exploit an extreme power imbalance where victims are physically restrained, isolated from witnesses or help, and face the threat of additional charges or violence if they resist or report the abuse (BBC News).
In 2017, two New York Police Department detectives, Eddie Martins and Richard Hall, were charged with raping an 18-year-old woman in the back of their police van after arresting her for marijuana possession. The officers admitted to having sex with the handcuffed teenager but claimed it was consensual. The rape charges were eventually dropped due to credibility concerns, and the officers pleaded guilty to official misconduct, receiving only five years of probation and no prison time (BBC News). This case exposed a legal loophole that previously allowed New York police officers to have sex with people in custody as long as it was deemed consensual, a provision that was subsequently changed but could not be applied retroactively.
More recently, in April 2025, Atlantic City police officer Joshua Munyon was charged with sexual assault and official misconduct after allegedly driving a handcuffed victim to a parking lot and assaulting her while she was still in restraints. Authorities say Munyon denied ever arresting the victim after the assault was reported (6ABC Philadelphia). These cases reveal a pattern where officers exploit their authority and the vulnerability of handcuffed individuals to commit sexual violence, confident that the power differential and legal protections afforded to police will shield them from consequences.
Reform Efforts After George Floyd: Progress and Setbacks
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020 sparked the largest racial justice demonstrations in the United States since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. More than 15 million people participated in protests demanding police reform and an end to police brutality (EBSCO Research Starters). These protests led to proposed legislation at federal, state, and local levels aimed at increasing police accountability and reducing violence.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, introduced by Democrats in Congress in June 2020, sought to make it easier for the federal government to prosecute cases of police misconduct, eliminate qualified immunity, ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and require the use of deadly force only as a last resort. The act passed in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives but failed to move forward in the Senate (EBSCO Research Starters). After being reintroduced in March 2021, it again passed the House but the Senate failed to reach an agreement in September of that year, effectively ending efforts at comprehensive federal police reform.
Despite the failure of federal legislation, at least 30 states and Washington, DC enacted one or more statewide legislative policing reforms between 2020 and 2024. These reforms included banning chokeholds, knee restraints, and no-knock warrants; requiring the use of body and dashboard cameras; restricting police access to military equipment; and requiring training on racial profiling (Brennan Center). However, the effectiveness of these reforms remains limited. The number of people killed by police has risen every year since George Floyd’s murder, reaching record levels in 2024 despite these reform efforts (New York Times).
Officers are charged with a crime in only about three percent of all police killings each year, and convictions are even rarer (Police Violence Report). This lack of accountability perpetuates a culture where officers can use excessive force with little fear of consequences. Research shows that Black prosecutors, especially Black women who represent only one percent of the nation’s elected prosecutors, are disproportionately responsible for charging and convicting officers involved in killings, comprising eight percent of prosecutors who charged officers and 16 percent who charged officers in two or more deadly force incidents between 2013 and 2024 (Police Violence Report).
Why This Matters Today: The Struggle for Basic Human Rights
The Benjamin Jackson case matters because it encapsulates the daily reality faced by Black Americans in their interactions with law enforcement. Jackson’s allegations describe a cascade of constitutional violations: a questionable stop based on minimal suspicion, excessive force used against a medically vulnerable individual who was complying with commands, sexual assault committed while the victim was handcuffed and helpless, denial of urgently needed medical care, and mockery by officers who found entertainment in his suffering. Each element represents a betrayal of the fundamental promise that all people will be treated with dignity and that those who wield state power will be held accountable when they abuse it.
This case also highlights the intersecting vulnerabilities that can make individuals targets for police violence. Jackson was Black, which research shows dramatically increases the likelihood of police-initiated contact, searches, force, and misconduct. He was recovering from brain surgery, making him physically vulnerable and dependent on officers to respect his medical needs. He was in a high-crime neighborhood, where over-policing and aggressive tactics are often justified as necessary for public safety despite evidence that such approaches erode community trust and fail to address root causes of crime (The Sentencing Project).
The fact that the Paterson Police Department’s problems were so severe that the state Attorney General felt compelled to seize control demonstrates the depth of the crisis. The department’s pattern of misconduct, including criminal charges against a dozen officers, millions in settlements, and pervasive use of excessive force against Black residents, created an environment where officers could allegedly commit acts like those described in Jackson’s lawsuit without fear of immediate consequences (New Jersey Institute for Social Justice).
As Jackson’s case proceeds through federal court, it represents more than one man’s quest for justice. It serves as a test of whether legal remedies can provide meaningful accountability for police misconduct despite the barriers created by qualified immunity and the inherent power imbalances between police and citizens. The outcome will send a message to both victims of police violence and officers who may consider abusing their authority. Will courts enforce constitutional protections for vulnerable individuals in police custody, or will procedural hurdles and legal doctrines continue to shield officers from consequences for egregious conduct? The answer to that question will shape not only Jackson’s life but also the broader struggle for police accountability and racial justice in America.
The case reminds us that police reform cannot be achieved through legislation alone. It requires cultural transformation within law enforcement agencies, robust accountability mechanisms that actually result in discipline and prosecution when misconduct occurs, and a fundamental rethinking of how we approach public safety in communities that have been historically over-policed and under-resourced. Until these changes occur, cases like Benjamin Jackson’s will continue to emerge, documenting the human cost of a system that too often prioritizes the protection of officers over the constitutional rights of the people they are sworn to serve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darius Spearman has been a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College since 2007. He is the author of several books, including Between The Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. You can visit Darius online at africanelements.org.
