|
Kaptur Statement in Support of Historic Justice in Policing
Act of 2020
Transformative legislation
supported by 166 Representatives, 35 Senators
Washington, D.C. - Today,
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) released the following
statement in support of legislation introduced by
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), Senators
Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and House
Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) entitled the
Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The legislation represents
a first-ever, comprehensive approach to hold police
accountable, change the culture of law enforcement, and
build trust between law enforcement and our communities.
Kaptur is an original cosponsor of the legislation. Kaptur
is also a cosponsor of separate legislation to repeal
qualified immunity for law enforcement, a matter the U.S.
Supreme Court has also signaled it will reexamine.
"The Justice in Policing Act
represents a critical step forward, one that responds to the
call to action set by millions of Americans demanding
comprehensive transformation of our law enforcement
practices, culture, and institutions, which are plagued by
systemic racism," said Rep. Kaptur. "I wholeheartedly
support this legislation and the need for deep structural
change to our nation's policing and criminal justice system.
I applaud the peaceful protestors who have made their voices
heard in recent days. I will continue fighting for necessary
changes, including community policing, demilitarizing police
departments, and deconstructing a system that makes it near
impossible to hold police accountable. This legislation
represents only the next step in a fight for justice that
has lasted generations and will continue for years to come."
Chair Bass: "What we are
witnessing is the birth of a new movement in our country
with thousands coming together in every state marching to
demand a change that ends police brutality, holds police
officers accountable, and calls for transparency. For over
100 years, Black communities in America have sadly been
marching against police abuse and calling for the police to
protect and serve them as they do others. Today we unveil
the Justice in Policing Act, which will establish a bold
transformative vision of policing in America. Never again
should the world be subjected to witnessing what we saw on
the streets in Minnesota with George Floyd."
Senator Booker: "America has
a serious and deadly problem when it comes to the
discriminatory and excessive policing of communities of
color - and that policing exists within a system that time
and again refuses to hold police accountable for their
brutality. For too long, this has been accepted as a cruel
reality of being black in this country. We are forced to
figure out how to keep ourselves safe from law enforcement
and we are viewed as a threat to be protected against
instead of people worth protecting. And for too long,
Congress has failed to act. That ends today with the
landmark Justice in Policing Act which, for the first time
in history, will take a comprehensive approach to ending
police brutality. On the back-end, the bill fixes our
federal laws so law enforcement officers are held
accountable for egregious misconduct and police abuses are
better tracked and reported. And on the front-end, the bill
improves police practices and training to prevent these
injustices from happening in the first place."
Senator Harris: "America's
sidewalks are stained with Black blood. In the wake of
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's murders, we must ask
ourselves: how many more times must our families and our
communities be put through the trauma of an unarmed Black
man or woman's killing at the hands of the very police who
are sworn to protect and serve them? As a career prosecutor
and former Attorney General of California, I know that real
public safety requires community trust and police
accountability. I am proud to join my colleagues in
introducing this historic legislation that will get our
country on a path forward."
Chair Nadler: "We have heard
the terrifying words 'I can't breathe' from George Floyd,
Eric Garner, and the millions of Americans in the streets
calling out for change. For every incident of excessive
force that makes headlines, the ugly truth is that there are
countless others that we never hear about. This is a
systemic problem that requires a comprehensive solution. I
am proud to work in lockstep with the Congressional Black
Caucus to craft the Justice in Policing Act. This bold,
transformative legislation will finally ban chokeholds at
the federal level and incentivize states to do the same, it
will help end racial profiling, get weapons of war off our
streets, hold police accountable, increase transparency and
require and encourage greater use of body cameras. It does
all of this while ensuring that our law enforcement agencies
adhere to the very highest standards in training, hiring and
de-escalation strategies to address systemic racism and bias
to change the culture of law enforcement in America and
ultimately save lives. I hope to take up this legislation in
the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks."
The Justice in Policing Act
of 2020:
* Prohibits federal,
state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious and
discriminatory profiling, and mandates training on racial,
religious, and discriminatory profiling for all law
enforcement.
* Bans chokeholds,
carotid holds and no-knock warrants at the federal level and
limits the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and
local law enforcement.
* Mandates the use of
dashboard cameras and body cameras for federal offices and
requires state and local law enforcement to use existing
federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras.
* Establishes a National
Police Misconduct Registry to prevent problematic officers
who are fired or leave on agency from moving to another
jurisdiction without any accountability.
* Amends federal
criminal statute from "willfulness" to a "recklessness"
standard to successfully identify and prosecute police
misconduct.
* Reforms qualified
immunity so that individuals are not barred from recovering
damages when police violate their constitutional rights.
* Establishes public
safety innovation grants for community-based organizations
to create local commissions and task forces to help
communities to re-imagine and develop concrete, just and
equitable public safety approaches.
* Creates law
enforcement development and training programs to develop
best practices and requires the creation of law enforcement
accreditation standard recommendations based on President
Obama's Taskforce on 21st Century policing.
* Requires state and
local law enforcement agencies to report use of force data,
disaggregated by race, sex, disability, religion, age.
* Improves the use of
pattern and practice investigations at the federal level by
granting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
subpoena power and creates a grant program for state
attorneys general to develop authority to conduct
independent investigations into problematic police
departments.
* Establishes a
Department of Justice task force to coordinate the
investigation, prosecution and enforcement efforts of
federal, state and local governments in cases related to law
enforcement misconduct.
In addition to Booker and
Harris, co-sponsors of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020
in the Senate are Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY),
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael
Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown
(D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper
(D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy
Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand
(D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim
Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT),
Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley
(D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie
Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN),
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tom Udall
(D-NM), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron
Wyden (D-OR).
The Justice in Policing Act
of 2020 has the support of a broad coalition of civil rights
organizations including: Demand Progress, Lawyers' Committee
For Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil
and Human Rights, National Action Network, National African
American Clergy Network, National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), The National Coalition on
Black Civic Participation (NCBCP), Black Millennial
Convention, and the National Urban League.
"The National African
American Clergy Network supports the Justice in Policing
Bill. It affirms sacred scripture that everyone is created
in the image of God and deserves to be protected by police
sworn to value and safeguard all lives. Failure by police to
uphold this sacred trust with Black Americans lives,
requires systemic changes in policing nationwide," said Dr.
Barbara Williams-Skinner, Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., Dr. T. DeWitt
Smith, Jr., Co-Conveners, The National African American
Clergy Network (NAACN).
"It's time to close the
chapter on a dark era of unchecked police violence in our
country that has wreaked havoc on African American families
across the country. The Justice in Policing Act is historic
and long overdue legislation that will put our country on a
path to reform. This Act is responsive to many of the
urgent demands being pressed for by our communities and by
the people protesting for racial justice and equity across
our nation. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law commends the Congressional Black Caucus for their
leadership on policing reform and this critical legislation,
including Chair Karen Bass, Senator Cory Booker and Senator
Kamala Harris," said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive
Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law.
"Sometimes difficult
circumstances present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
bring about historic change," said Marc H. Morial, President
and CEO of the National Urban League. "The brutal actions of
police in George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, along with
botched execution of a no-knock warrant that killed Breonna
Taylor in Louisville, and the brazen vigilante execution of
Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County, Georgia, have pushed the
nation to the tipping point."
"For the past four-plus
centuries, Black people have continuously been made to
endure unfair, unjust, and inhumane treatment in this
country. We have been made to believe in that if we worked
hard, never complained, and accepted what the world offered
that would be enough. What the deaths of George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others have
taught us is that obedience will never be enough; liberty
and justice for all applies to everyone but us; and by us,
we mean Black Americans, African Americans, Afro-Americans,
or plainly put, Black people," said Waikinya J.S.Clanton,
MBA Black Millennial Convention.
|
