Flex Your Rights
Encyclopedia
Flex Your Rights is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization
that aims to "educate the public about how basic Bill of Rights
protections apply during encounters with law enforcement". To accomplish this, Flex Your Rights creates and distributes media (including two full-length docudrama videos) that explains individuals' legal rights during a police encounter. Flex was founded in 2002 and is based in Washington, D.C.
Silverman noted a pattern during these interviews, and various legal and law enforcement experts confirmed his conclusion: The vast majority of people are mystified by the basic rules of search and seizure and due process of law. In order to ensure that constitutional rights and equal justice are upheld by law enforcement, Silverman believes we must build a constitutionally literate citizenry.
grants program to create its first docudrama
, BUSTED: The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters, hosted by Ira Glasser
, past executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union
. The film illustrates scenarios of police encountering citizens in various situations and how the relevant civil rights should be asserted in regards to the Fourth
, Fifth
and Sixth Amendments
of the Constitution of the United States.
Flex has overseen the independent distribution of more than 20,000 Busted DVD copies, the video has more than 2.5 million online views, and it is regularly screened in hundreds of college and high school classrooms.
An array of professional and civic groups—including police instructors, student and community activists, lawyers and concerned parents—have expressed their support of the video.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that aims to "educate the public about how basic Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
protections apply during encounters with law enforcement". To accomplish this, Flex Your Rights creates and distributes media (including two full-length docudrama videos) that explains individuals' legal rights during a police encounter. Flex was founded in 2002 and is based in Washington, D.C.
History
Flex was founded by Steven Silverman in 2002. Silverman, who serves as the organization's Executive Director, created Flex in response to what he perceived as widespread confusion over the basic rules of search and seizure. Silverman came to this conclusion while he worked as a campus organizer for the campaign to repeal the Higher Education Act’s aid-elimination penalty, which denies financial aid to students with drug convictions. As part of his work, Silverman prompted students to describe the details of the police stops and searches leading to their minor drug arrests.Silverman noted a pattern during these interviews, and various legal and law enforcement experts confirmed his conclusion: The vast majority of people are mystified by the basic rules of search and seizure and due process of law. In order to ensure that constitutional rights and equal justice are upheld by law enforcement, Silverman believes we must build a constitutionally literate citizenry.
BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters
In 2003, Flex secured funding from the Marijuana Policy ProjectMarijuana Policy Project
The Marijuana Policy Project, or MPP, is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff...
grants program to create its first docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
, BUSTED: The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters, hosted by Ira Glasser
Ira Glasser
Ira Saul Glasser was the fifth executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1978 to 2001.- Early years :Ira Glasser was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1938. He earned a graduate degree in mathematics from Ohio State University.- Early career :In the early 1960s, Glasser taught...
, past executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
. The film illustrates scenarios of police encountering citizens in various situations and how the relevant civil rights should be asserted in regards to the Fourth
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
, Fifth
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
and Sixth Amendments
Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which sets forth rights related to criminal prosecutions...
of the Constitution of the United States.
Flex has overseen the independent distribution of more than 20,000 Busted DVD copies, the video has more than 2.5 million online views, and it is regularly screened in hundreds of college and high school classrooms.
An array of professional and civic groups—including police instructors, student and community activists, lawyers and concerned parents—have expressed their support of the video.