AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko joined with more than 200 of his Congressional colleagues this morning to introduce the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, legislation that would, among other things, ban police chokeholds, restrict “qualified immunity” that prevents police officers from being sued for misconduct, create a national registry to track officers with a history of misconduct, end no-knock warrant use for drug cases and make lynching a federal hate crime. The bill is being led by Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, as well as Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).
“The murder of George Floyd has shocked the conscience of millions of Americans and once again exposed the virulent racism that has long festered at the heart of so many of our nation’s institutions, including the manner in which we enforce the law,” said Tonko. “Our bill takes several urgent steps forward in addressing the most dangerous and deadly policing practices that have been widely and disproportionately used against Black Americans and other people of color. One piece of legislation cannot cure 400 years of racial violence, injustice and economic oppression. Much of our collective work remains unfinished. However, Congress and the President should move without delay to pass and sign into law the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The American people are demanding immediate action. Let us heed their call at once.”
The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 includes:
- Major Unprecedented Reforms to Curb Police Brutality, End Racial Profiling, and Eliminate Qualified Immunity for Law Enforcement
- The first-ever comprehensive approach to hold police accountable for misconduct, change the culture of law enforcement and build trust between law enforcement and our communities.
- Makes it easier for the federal government to successfully prosecute police misconduct cases, ends racial and religious profiling and eliminates qualified immunity for law enforcement.
- Bans the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants—which took the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner—at the federal level and encourages states to do the same.
- Measures to Transform the Culture of Policing to Address Systemic Racism and Help Save Lives
- Does not provide any new federal funds for police departments, except where constitutionally-mandated for data collection, and instead supports critical community-based programs to change the culture of law enforcement and empower our communities to reimagine public safety in an equitable and just way.
- Establishes public safety innovation grants for community-based organizations to create local commissions and task forces to help communities develop concrete alternative policing practices that create accountability.
- Encourages departments to meet a gold standard in training, hiring and de-escalation strategies to address systemic racism and bias on the front end. This will help save lives and ensure accountability.
- Increases to Police Accountability and Transparency
- Establishes the first-ever national database of civilian police encounters, including use of force and traffic stops; requires the collection, analysis and release of such data.
- Requires the collection of data on police-misconduct to track and prevent dangerous officers from moving from one department to another to avoid accountability.
- Incentivizes the use of independent prosecutors for police misconduct investigations.
- Helps take weapons and equipment manufactured for the battlefield off of our streets.
- Requires the use of body and dashboard cameras.
Full text of the legislation is available here.
A section-by-section summary of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is available here.
A fact sheet on the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is available here.
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