Democrats Unveil Major Police Reform Bill

at Russell Senate Office Building on April 27, 2017 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) speaks at the Media Solutions Summit at Russell Senate Office Building on April 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. The summit was held to promote diversity and independent ... WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) speaks at the Media Solutions Summit at Russell Senate Office Building on April 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. The summit was held to promote diversity and independent voices and discuss marketplace challenges affecting independent networks. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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House Democrats unveiled a landmark police reform bill on Monday as a response to nationwide protests that have called for widespread changes in police departments across the country. The protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis two weeks ago.

The bill’s biggest reforms including banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases — which were highly disputed police practices that led to the death of Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

Although Republicans have already branded the bill as a radical move to “defund the police,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swatted down those claims in an MSNBC interview with Craig Melvin on Monday.

“We’re not going to that place,” Pelosi said. “Those are local decisions.”

Yet while she and other Democrats unveiled the bill to press on Monday while donning kente cloth scarves, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tweeted his support of police officers.

It’s unlikely Democrats will be able to shore up major Republican support when the bill hits the Senate floor by early July. “I’m not over there, so I’m not sure,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) told Jake Tapper when asked about the bill’s anticipated Republican supporters in an interview Sunday. “Rand Paul is one who had been an ally before. Once he gets past the lynching issue, hopefully, he will be an ally again.” 

The legislation, however, would also make lynching a federal crime. An anti-lynching proposal was stalled in the Senate last week when the “ally” Bass describes — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) —  argued over semantics to narrow the definition of lynching.

Presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden called on Congress in remarks at Philadelphia City Hall last week to “act this month” by passing anti-chokehold legislation that was first introduced by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in late April that would also classify the technique as an “excessive use of force by police officers.”

Jeffries went a step further on Monday when he called the police chokehold “un-American,” during the press conference that introduced the bill.

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Notable Replies

  1. The bill’s biggest reforms including banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases

    How does it accomplish this? It’s certainly not making chokeholds and no-knock warrants federal crimes. Does it make them civil rights violations for civil lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983? Does it take away funding for police departments that employ them?

  2. it would appear so.

    The bill would amend the requirement of intent in the federal criminal statute to prosecute police misconduct, by changing the standard of prosecution from “willfulness” to “recklessness.” It would also reform qualified immunity, meaning that individuals would be able to recover damages when their constitutional rights are violated by law enforcement officers. cbs news

  3. YEAH!!! A story on something real.

  4. So I guess that means it would amend 18 U.S.C § 242 to make it a criminal violation to “recklessly” deprive a person of their civil rights, not just “willfully” doing so. That’s an improvement, but it does not have anything to do with chokeholds or no-knock warrants.

  5. Cory Booker made the statement that instead of leaving investigations just in a Federal AG like Sessions or Barr’s hands it would incentivize state AGs to do their own investigations. Of course, in many cases we have to change out the red governor’s to do that so we’ll see.

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