Congressional Democrats, in both the House and Senate, are releasing the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 Monday. A draft obtained by The New York Times would "significantly change federal law" as well as requiring that states and localities change their laws and requirements for law enforcement in order to remain eligible for federal aid. That would include mandatory bias training, a national registry documenting police misconduct, required reporting on use of force, and a ban on practices like the chokeholds that killed Eric Garner and George Floyd.
The legislation is spearheaded by Reps. Karen Bass of California, who chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus, and House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler of New York, as well as Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. "While there is no single policy prescription that will erase the decades of systemic racism and excessive policing—it's time we create structural change with meaningful reforms," the four wrote. It is time—but it's been time with every instance of police brutality that has ended in the death of an unarmed Black man or woman over the last several decades. That's what the mother of Eric Garner, Gwen Carr, said to George Floyd's family. "I told them, 'Don't think it's going to be a slam dunk,'" Carr said. "They had video of my son, too; the world also saw him murdered. It should have been a slam dunk then—it's been anything but." Is this time different?
Support organizations that are fighting for Black lives and racial justice.
"We have 400 years of history of policing that tell me things tend not to change," Lorenzo Boyd, director of the Center for Advanced Policing at the University of New Haven, told The Washington Post. "It's a breaking point right now, just like Trayvon Martin was a breaking point, just like Michael Brown was a breaking point. But the question is: Where do we go from here?" Part of that depends on Democrats in Congress. Part of that depends on whether the House can seize this moment and whether the people can stay in the streets demanding it.
Public opinion is turning, with majorities supporting Black Lives Matter and condemning police actions. That's changed since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. His mother, Lesley McSpadden, spoke to the Post about a shift in attitudes—particularly those of white people—brought by social media and cell phone video. "I don't think they used to think there was an attack on black lives. Not until it was recorded and people were seeing it, I don't think they believed it. […] What is happening now is not new to those of us who live in these oppressed areas and communities that are devalued. But it's new for people who don't live in those areas. It's changing people's perspective."
It's opening eyes and it's changing rhetoric, even among Republican senators who will have to participate for this new legislation to see the light of day. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, reacted to the public uprising last week by saying: "I think people are understanding that those protests make sense." Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, even said that "there's a problem here, and we have to get to the bottom of it." One would hope that Graham, having spent his entire political career in South Carolina, would have a better idea of what is at "the bottom" of this "problem." Given his adherence to Donald Trump, counting on Graham to do anything about this is questionable.
But Democrats are determined. "No change in America that is worth it has been easy. But the demands are now coming from increasingly diverse coalitions," Sen. Booker said. "I feel we are in a moment now." That moment is going to have to include leaning on traditional allies like big labor to make it happen.