Congress cannot agree on police reform legislation

By Scott Benjamin

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-5) says the police reform legislation approved last month in the House in response to the death of George Floyd is, among other things, “a bill for mothers” who face “difficult conversations” with their children.

She said that she has had some “difficult conversations” with her 13-year-old son and that she believes that the circumstances have been “stealing his innocence.”

Floyd, an African-American, died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on his neck for a reported eight minutes and 46 seconds on May 25. The Washington Post has reported that the controversy over the police’s handling of the incident “has dominated the public mind-set” as protests have been organized across the country regarding police tactics and racial profiling.

Washington Post columnist George Will has stated the current “racial turmoil . . . is more serious than any since 1992” following the verdict in the Rodney King police beating case in Los Angeles.

The U.S. House legislation, which was approved on June 24 in a 236-181 vote, with only three Republicans in favor, would, according to The Washington Post, ban chokeholds and establish a national data-base to track police misconduct.

A fact-sheet distributed by U. S. House Democrats noted that body cameras would be required on police officers and that military equipment on the streets would be limited.

Hayes of Wolcott said that under the legislation police officers would be more inclined in difficult circumstances to adopt a “guardian mentality” instead of “a warrior mentality.”

During the virtual news conference among some Northeast members of the U.S. House Democratic caucus on July 10, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I), the chairman of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee, said the legislation would “hold bad police accountable.”

U.S. Rep. Gerald Meeks (D-N.Y.) said, “You won’t be able leave your jurisdiction and get hired someplace else after you have done something wrong. The will be a national police registry.”

Hayes, whose husband is a police officer in Waterbury, explained that the legislation “doesn’t take away due process” for officers.

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.) said voters should ask why the House legislation as well as about 400 other bills approved in the lower body are “sitting” on U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) desk.

However, Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen, a former chief speechwriter to former President George W. Bush, criticized U.S. Senate Democrats for last month quashing legislation written by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

Under a headline stating: “Democrats’ shameful vote against Tim Scott’s police reform bill,” Thiessen wrote that the proposal would have made lynching a federal hate crime and create a national policy commission to conduct a review of the U.S. Criminal Justice system.

He wrote that there was ample opportunity for Democratic amendments to the bill to be considered and that U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Me.) said the defeat of Scott’s legislation had probably nullified any possibility of a police reform bill being sent to President Donald Trump before the November 3 election.

In a phone interview, retired Assistant U.S. Attorney David Sullivan of New Fairfield, the Republican candidate in the Fifth Congressional District, said he supports Scott’s bill and called on House Democrats to seek bipartisan feedback to develop legislation that could be approved before the November 3 election.

In an earlier news release, Sullivan stated, “We need to investigate, identify and remove racist and abusive police officers from the ranks of those who protect and serve our communities with professionalism, dedication and respect.”

He added, “We need to implement training, procedures and on-the-job oversight to assure that this repugnant practice is ended once and for all.”

A June 23 Wall Street Journal editorial that endorsed Scott’s legislation, stated that, “Policing is a classic state and local power under the Constitution, so the federal role is limited to using money to leverage change . . . but the money can matter if it’s tied to desirable policy.”

Sullivan said, “Under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution it has to be a state and local power.” He added that the House Democratic bill “was overreaching” and could usurp some valuable state and local jurisdiction over police issues.

On July 10, Connecticut state legislators distributed a 64-page police reform package that is expected to be considered during an upcoming special session.

Cicilline, a former mayor of Providence, said that U.S. Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-N.Y.), who also appeared that the news conference and is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, have sought input and that sponsors in the U.S. Senate “are ready to go” with the House legislation.

Cicilline added, “We need a willing partner.”

However, Sullivan said Scott was “willing to consider at least 20 amendments and the U.S. Senate Democrats walked out of the chamber” during June’s debate on police reform.

Thiessen wrote in June that, “Democrats apparently care more about using the issue to energize their base for Election Day than working with Republicans to enact police reform.”