Americans are rising up in a way we haven’t seen for at least a generation.
We are rising up to lament the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many more of our fellow citizens.
We are rising up to call out the ongoing injustices of systemic racism.
We are rising up to demand an end to bias and brutality by law enforcement.
And elected officials in Washington, D.C. — some of them, anyway — are getting the message.
Earlier this week, legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate that would take some critical first steps toward clearly needed police reforms.
The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 would:
- Prohibit racial and religious profiling by federal, state and local law enforcement.
- Ban chokeholds by federal law enforcement and deny federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies that do not ban chokeholds.
- Limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement.
- Specify that deadly force should be used only as a last resort.
- Require state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras.
- Establish a National Police Misconduct Registry.
- Eliminate “qualified immunity” for law enforcement personnel who violate the civil rights of the people they are supposed to protect.
- Support community-based programs to change the culture of law enforcement.
- Create a Department of Justice task force to coordinate the investigation, prosecution and enforcement of police misconduct.
- Make lynching a federal crime.
Add your name now to urge your representative and senators:
Pass the Justice in Policing Act of 2020.
Thank you for taking action.
In unity,
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
P.S. Public Citizen — like many nonprofits and other small businesses — is feeling the financial strain of the coronavirus emergency. If you can, please consider donating to support the critical work we’re doing together. Anything you chip in today will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Thank you.
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