When questioning a minor, the police are not required to contact the child’s parents or legal guardian before proceeding with the interview. However, the child does have the right to remain silent and ask for their parents or an attorney to be present. If this happens, the police are legally obligated to stop the interview.

According to Mapping Police Violence, police across the country killed 1,176 people in 2022—the highest number of people killed in a single year over the last 10 years. Less than a third of them were alleged to have committed a violent crime. Most of the people were murdered in situations where no crime was reported, or the police were called for a non-violent offense or mental health check.

What is our share in this? Our children are dying, and nothing is being done about it. What can we do to help solve this problem? Who knows and understands this problem better than us? What do we need?

To promote safety between the community and the police. To empower young black men who are often the victims of a failed system. However, this card can be utilized by anyone.

We will be distributing 5th Amendment cards which ask police not to question the card holder without the presence of their legal guardian. The 5th Amendment card exercises the carrier's 5th Amendment Right under the United States Constitution-right to remain silent against (self-incrimination). The card will include the legal guardians' contact information.

Anyone who is a citizen of the United States can carry this card and it can especially benefit the disabled, the elderly, and those suffering from a mental health crisis. However, saving the lives of young black men is what truly drives this campaign. Young black men disproportionately have negative encounters with the police.  Many of these encounters end fatally, leaving families and communities asking more questions than getting answers and arriving at more problems, than solutions. There are also a disproportionate number of young black men in prison who had their right to due process (a constitutional right also protected by the 5th Amendment) violated. Marvin Haynes is one of them.

Our goals are to:

•   Promote community safety between the police and city residents

•   Raise awareness, educate, and empower young people. We want them to know and exercise their constitutional rights.

•   Protect them when the system fails to do so (the responsibility ultimately falls on the community).

We believe that the cards can inspire much more. For example, the second function of distributing these cards is to change how the culture and community perceives finance and to increase our financial awareness and literacy

We also believe that the most effective, efficient, and impactful way we can achieve these goals is by presenting young people with a wallet when we give them their 5th Amendment cards. This is a symbolic and concrete example that communicates to them the value of money and responsibility. It also shows them that their community cares and that they should care, too.