dagblog - Comments for "Police-Overhaul Efforts Draws Bipartisan Agreement on Key Issues"

an admission here that a

artappraiser — Thu, 13 May 2021 17:52:44 +0000

In reply to Police-Overhaul Efforts Draws Bipartisan Agreement on Key Issues

an admission here that a minority of "progressive" activists were the outliers here:

[....] Legacy civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton are supporting the current talks as a path to an agreement with "real teeth" to hold officers accountable. But newer progressive groups that led the public protests, which pushed lawmakers to the negotiating table, want to do more than a House-passed bill they lambaste as continuing a failed strategy. But the political reality of Democrats' narrow majorities means that they'll have to water down even the House-passed policing bill in order to get the necessary Senate Republican buy-in.

It all adds up to a punishing test for congressional Democrats, who are looking for concrete legislative wins but also can't alienate progressive groups if they want to hold on to the House and the Senate in 2022. And they're trying to stay hopeful.

“We are close,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), the lead sponsor of House Democrats’ policing bill, said this week at a panel hosted by Brave New Films. Yet Bass noted in the next breath that the urgency of last year's massive protests against Floyd's murder has faded somewhat: "There are not hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets right now. So we need the pressure.” [....]

from Dems have a problem on police reform — and it's not the GOP

As Democrats try to write a bill that can pass the Senate, they have to ensure they're not alienating the left while appeasing the GOP.

By MAYA KING, NICHOLAS WU and MARIANNE LEVINE @ Politico.com 05/08/2021 07:00 AM EDT

Rep. Jim Clyburn uses the

artappraiser — Mon, 10 May 2021 05:52:52 +0000

In reply to Police-Overhaul Efforts Draws Bipartisan Agreement on Key Issues

Rep. Jim Clyburn uses the "few bad apples" description (disparaged by those interested in pushing the narrative that police abuse is serious problem if not epidemic) has said "from the beginning" that police training is already good, and says police recruitment needs to improve in order to have fewer bad apples. Therefore implying that systemic racism in policing nationwide is not reality:

[....] “I will never sacrifice good on the altar of perfect. I just won’t do that,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I know what the perfect bill will be. We have proposed that. I want to see good legislation. And I know that, sometimes, you have to compromise. … If we don’t get qualified immunity now, then we will come back and try to get it later. But I don’t want to see us throw out a good bill because we can’t get a perfect bill,” he said.

Clyburn’s remarks were a departure from members of his own party who, along with civil rights activists, have pushed for the doctrine to be eliminated or changed. Qualified immunity has become the biggest sticking point in negotiations on police reform legislation between Democrats and Republicans, who have proposed preserving qualified immunity for individual officers and instead holding local governments liable when officers harm people.

“If you don’t get qualified immunity now, then we’ll come back and try to get it later, but I don’t want to sees us throw out a good bill because we can’t get a perfect bill,” says House Majority Whip James Clyburn on police reform. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/cjp4R2zQUB
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) May 9, 2021

Clyburn on Sunday briefly shifted the focus to the importance of improving officer recruitment.

“I have been saying from the beginning we have well-trained police officers. We have got to do a better job of recruiting police officers. We have got to get good people. No matter how good the training, if you don’t have good people, the training does no good,” he told “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper. “Now, the problem we have got now is that there are some bad apples in policing. We have seen it in our living rooms. We know it’s still there. We have got to root out the bad apples, and let’s go forward with a good, solid program.” [....]

from Rep. Clyburn says qualified immunity doesn’t have to be part of policing reform bill

by Amy B. Wang @ WashingtonPost.com, May 9

Negotiators reach compromise

artappraiser — Sat, 08 May 2021 04:52:10 +0000

In reply to Police-Overhaul Efforts Draws Bipartisan Agreement on Key Issues

I don't subscribe and there was no paywall from this link. Here is approx. the 1st half in case that changes. My highlighting to emphasize who is involved with the bill, it's not your usual bipartisan peeps:

Negotiators reach compromise on military equipment, no-knock warrants and chokeholds; differences remain on prosecution and liability of individual police officers. Photo caption: An armored vehicle was used by police during protests in Brooklyn Center, Minn., last month following the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by a police officer.

PHOTO: STEPHEN MATUREN/GETTY IMAGES

By Sadie Gurman and Eliza Collins Updated May 7, 2021 11:43 pm ET

WASHINGTON—Democratic and Republican staff in Congress are drafting language for possible police-overhaul legislation that would limit the transfer of some military equipment to local departments, ban police use of chokeholds except in life-threatening situations and set federal standards for so-called no-knock warrants, according to people familiar with the talks.

Final language on those measures that would be incorporated in a compromise bill between lawmakers from both sides hasn’t yet been set. And central issues concerning the prosecution and liability of individual police officers remain to be resolved, the people said.

But they pointed to the new areas of agreement as a sign of momentum on an issue that both parties have expressed interest in addressing in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis police custody and other incidents that sparked nationwide protests and bipartisan calls for federal changes to police practices. President Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation in the coming weeks, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Mr. Floyd’s death on May 25.

The congressional effort is being led by Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.), who sponsored a GOP bill, and Rep. Karen Bass (D., Calif.), who sponsored a Democratic bill, as well as Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.). They, along with Sens Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) and Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D., N.J.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) and Pete Stauber (R., Minn.), are seeking to find compromise legislation that can pass both chambers.

The language now being discussed would prohibit the Defense Department from transferring to local police agencies equipment including firearms, bayonets, grenade launchers and some armored vehicles, one of the people involved in the negotiations said. Police departments around the country have had access to surplus military equipment, the use of which has drawn criticism from civil rights groups who say the presence of heavily armed police officers exacerbates tensions during demonstrations.

It would also require officers who use no-knock warrants—which permit them to enter premises without notification to any inhabitants—to avoid destroying property in the process. It also would set a national ban on officers using chokeholds except as a last resort when their lives are in danger [....]