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TV pundits and politicians were quick to say the country changed forever after 2020’s social uprisings. But where’s the transformational police reform bill to prove it?
Months after a self-imposed deadline to reform police following the public lynching of George Floyd in May 2020, President Joe Biden has been unable to bring Congress towards final passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
After repeatedly missing deadlines, and amidst domestic and international crises facing the nation, the small bipartisan group of Congress members tasked with negotiating the bill has failed to make progress.
Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) came together following the collective outrage against police killings. They promised to succeed with negotiations on a transformational police reform bill that would be able to pass the full Congress.
Bipartisan group unable to deliver results
“The good news is we’ve not resigned ourselves to stopping. We believe there’s still a path forward, so that’s really good news,” Sen. Tim Scott told NBC News in August after missing yet another self-imposed deadline.
Yet, negotiations have stalled over what activists consider key elements: use of force and qualified immunity for police officers.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would establish a nationwide database of police misconduct and create nationwide standards for police use of force, along with banning the use of chokeholds. It would also make it easier for prosecutors to indict officers for excessive force. Perhaps most significantly, it would ban the use of qualified immunity, which frees individual officers from facing any personal financial liability for misconduct and abuse, passing the cost onto the city’s taxpayers.
Cities have paid out millions of dollars in recent years due to police misconduct lawsuits. Supporters of ending qualified immunity believe it’s a tool that shields individual police officers from facing economic repercussions for abuse.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) stalls progress
A few months ago, it seemed as though the bill would pass after Sen. Cory Booker managed to gain support from the Fraternal Order of Police to end qualified immunity. But without support from Sheriff’s associations, Sen. Tim Scott wasn’t willing to move forward.
George Floyd’s murderer, Derek Chauvin, was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for kneeling on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes until he died. The viral and graphic murder led to nationwide uprisings against police abuse. Yet, it appears Congress continues to hold the timetable for justice, with no indications that the bill will be passed this year.
And as crime rates rise in cities across the nation, Republican talking points against defunding police make it that much more difficult for Congress to have the courage to boldly pass transformational reforms.
If the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act can’t pass when Democrats hold the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, how do they expect to pass the bill after the midterm elections, when Republicans are expected to regain at least one chamber? Better yet, how do they expect to convince non-voters to support them when they can’t deliver on one of the most important issues facing our nation?
Passing a lukewarm bill would be slap in the face
To be fair, the bipartisan group has acknowledged that the issue is too important to give up on.
“We’re working to get as much as we can done that’s meaningful, substantive and brings accountability and transparency to policing,” Sen. Cory Booker previously said. However, stripping down the bill’s most essential elements would almost certainly cause progressive Congress members to drop support for the bill, imperiling its passage.
Police kill roughly 1,000 U.S. residents every year on average, according to research from Mapping Police Violence. That number hasn’t changed even during the pandemic. What has changed is an increasing lack of tolerance for the status quote.
I thought protesters had made it clear last year that incremental change is no longer an option. How many more people must risk health and freedom in the blazing streets to reach the hearts of lawmakers in air conditioned halls of Congress?
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and others have stressed the need to “get something done.” He even claimed qualified immunity doesn’t have to be in the final bill.
But politicians eager to pass a trimmed down bill or nothing at all are risking more than their political futures. Their inaction risks causing a repeat of last year’s mass uprisings and a continuance of police lynchings across the country.
Deon does an excellent job here of stating what the American people want. So why has NOTHING happened? This is what the Republicans always do and Tim Scott is simply following that strategy. He’s a Republican Trump syncophant before he is anything else. Tried and true, they pretend to want to work in a bipartisan way when the real objective is to stall. Just like the Immigration reform, or “path to citizenship” , or comprehensive health care, they always claim they are “All for it we just need to negotiate a fair plan.” Then they negotiate sometimes for years as all the momentum is lost on the issue and the Nation has moved its attention on to other crisis. Then the Republicans claim nothing could be done berceuse of obstructionist, do-nothing Democrats. Under Trump the Dem House passed 80 major bills sponsored by the Democrats, all to die in the Republican controlled Senate. Worse than die, they were never even scheduled a hearing. Yet all Fox and MAGA media would say is to blame the “do-nothing” Democrats, and still do to this day. Tim Scott NEVER intended to pass any meaningful police reform bill, he just followed McConnell’s strategy to stall and stall until the Country is pulled away by COVID and Afghanistan or fill in any other issue here, When will the Dems get wise to the Rope-a-Dope and Lucy’s football hold? Stop being suckers for the Right.. I know we always are trying to do the fair and just public policy. But this scenario is well worn. It’s time to just DO reconciliation and get police reform done! Stop killing black people! Why is that concept so difficult?
1000 deaths, 84% armed, out of 10,000,000 yearly arrest seems low compared to the 24.7% surge of homicides last year bringing us to roughly 21,500 deaths for 2020 and will be even higher this year. The main communities hit with this spike are black and Latino. I think the focus needs to be on what can we do to fix this rather than a bill that will never pass. Police officers don’t make enough money to put their lives on the line and also be worried about personal liability that could put them in debt forever. Just like a cop can make a false allegation, so can a “victim”, and accidents do unfortunately happen. Need to prevent kids from joining gangs, get guns out of peoples hands, and stop killing each other. If we don’t want police, then we have got to solve the problem ourselves. In places like Chicago, you have to expect cops to be hostile, it’s like entering a war zone. California is starting to feel that way too, just LA alone almost 200 black homicides and the year isn’t even over. Bigger fish to fry than the police, everyone’s being misled by braying politicians and dishonest media narratives.