Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice
The Briefing
The conviction of Derek Chauvin today for the murder of George Floyd reminds us of the particular brutality of American law enforcement. We need accountability and fundamental change. My colleague Theodore R. Johnson, director of the Brennan Center’s Fellows Program, has a powerful op-ed today in the New York Times about his experience as a Black man in the military, and I’ve asked him to reflect on the recent injustices in today’s edition of the Briefing.
This afternoon, a jury of his peers found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of the murder of George Floyd. The verdict, while welcome, is a reminder that police accountability should be the norm and not the exception that proves the rule of police impunity. Over the last several days, three more names have filled the nation’s news cycle when they were added to an ever-growing list of people whose encounters with law enforcement led to an excessive application of force.
Daunte Wright was pulled over in a Minneapolis suburb and was shot by a police officer who fired her gun instead of her taser, killing him just 11 miles from where George Floyd’s life was taken last Memorial Day. Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old seventh grader in Chicago, was killed in an alleyway following a foot chase by the single shot of a city police officer. Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario, still in his camouflage uniform, was pepper-sprayed, violently forced to the ground, and handcuffed after being stopped as a result of the apprehending officers’ error.
This last week hit a little too close to home for me. I know the exact panic that set in when Wright was pulled over for a minor vehicle infraction, and I know exactly how Nazario felt when assuming that wearing the cloth of the nation would protect you from its excesses. As a Black man and retired military officer, I have often wondered over the last few days how much of the latter identity saved me from the discriminatory treatment too often experienced as the former.
Undergirding the conversation about law enforcement practices in the United States is the role that race has long played in who is subjected to punitive excesses. Any attempt at reforming our criminal justice system must not only account for abuses of power — whether by “bad apples” or bad institutional practices — but it must also squarely face the disparate impact it has on people of color and those at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. I write about this in my new essay for the Brennan Center’s series on punitive excess.
We cannot realize justice in America unless we are willing to confront racism. There is no way around it. There is no shortcut. It is not happenstance that the three names that have recently captured the nation’s attention all belong to people of color. And while abuses of state power affect all of our nation’s people — no matter their race, ethnicity, or class — a system’s flaws are more readily apparent when examining the experiences of marginalized communities.
The nation confronted the racial injustice in policing practices last summer following the murder of George Floyd, when millions of Americans in every state in the Union engaged in multiracial displays of solidarity by protesting police brutality and structural racism. Since those rays of hope filled the horizon, the country has not lived up to its promise. And less than a year later, we are living anew the damage excessive force can do to our democracy and our society.
The fight for justice and racial equality continues.
—Theodore R. Johnson

 
Democracy
Restrictive Voting Bills Will Make Elections Easier to Hack
When Gov. Brian Kemp signed Georgia’s new restrictive voting provisions into law, he claimed the controversial changes are necessary to improve election security. But much of the “election integrity” legislation in Georgia and around the country would actually weaken our election systems and reduce their capacity to recover from a technological problem, whether from a malfunction or an attack. Reduced crowds, convenient ballot drop boxes, and same-day registration, which many of these restrictive voting bills threaten, are all good for election security, write Lawrence Norden and Gowri Ramachandran. // Read More

 
Justice
Governors Should Prioritize the Covid-19 Vaccine for Everyone in Jail
Last spring, Covid-19 brought into sharp focus the abhorrent conditions in our overcrowded jails and prisons. There was hope that we might finally begin to decarcerate by sending home people who posed no threat to public safety. That unfortunately did not happen, despite hundreds of thousands of infections and thousands of deaths among incarcerated people. It is a public health necessity to vaccinate everyone in prison and jail as soon as possible, write Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Ram Subramanian. // Read More
How Punitive Excess Is a Manifestation of Racism in America
Punitive excess, mass incarceration, and racial disparity are distinct phenomena. And to establish a fair and unbiased justice system loosened from punitive excess and mass incarceration, we must reckon with the central role race plays in systemic outcomes. “We have a system where justice is delivered unevenly and, at times, arbitrarily,” writes Theodore R. Johnson. “It’s as if structural racism compels Lady Justice to lift her blindfold and slant her scales, forcing some of her people at the margins to tumble off the edge beyond her reach.” // Read More

 
Constitution
Federal Agencies Are Secretly Buying Consumer Data
The Treasury Department’s inspector general recently issued a report warning that the IRS’s purchase of GPS location data may be unconstitutional in light of a landmark 2018 Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant for historical cell phone location data. The IRS is not alone in circumventing the warrant requirement by simply buying location data. The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense have all been caught secretly purchasing cell phone location information, as well as other sensitive consumer data. “It’s time to put a stop to this practice, which violates the Fourth Amendment,” writes Laura Hecht-Felella. // Read More
Congress Must Act to Avoid Repeat of ICC Sanctions
The Biden administration has finally rescinded the misguided Trump administration sanctions against International Criminal Court prosecutors. It’s a welcome reversal, but ending these sanctions is not enough. Ending the ICC sanctions will be a temporary victory at best if the next president can reimpose them, or engage in even more egregious abuses of sanctions powers, with the stroke of a pen. To prevent that from happening, writes Andrew Boyle, Congress must reform the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. // Just Security

 
Coming Up
  • Wednesday, April 21 | 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
    It’s a period of historic inequality in the United States, and the wealthiest Americans have taken steps that will worsen the trend. In their new book, Tax the Rich! How Lies, Loopholes, and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer, Morris Pearl and Erica Payne of the Patriotic Millionaires explain how the tax code has been structured to exacerbate both economic and political inequality. They’ll be joined by the Roosevelt Institute’s Kyle Strickland to discuss how the tax code harms working people, how reforms can create a fairer economy, and the implications for American democracy. RSVP today.
    This event is produced in partnership with the Roosevelt Institute.
  • Thursday, April 22 | 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
    Donald Trump’s legacy will live on for decades through the three justices he appointed to the Supreme Court. How will they use their power? In his new book, The Agenda: How a Republican Supreme Court Is Reshaping America, Ian Millhiser, senior Vox correspondent and former federal appellate court clerk, presents an unflinching view of an increasingly partisan court. In conversation with the New Republic’s Osita Nwanevu, Millhiser will discuss how the Court will shape the nature of American government. RSVP today.
    This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.
  • Wednesday, May 5 | 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
    The immigration policies of the last four years have elicited tremendous political controversy, and in their recent book, The President and Immigration Law, Professors Adam B. Cox of NYU School of Law and Cristina M. Rodríguez of Yale Law School show how we got here: Presidents have been given broad authority over immigration by Congress. But today, when half of all noncitizens live in violation of the law and enforcement dominates immigration policymaking, the president’s power has never been greater. That power to decide who America lets in — and who gets kicked out — poses serious challenges to the rule of law and highlights the need for radical, legislative reform. Cox and Rodríguez will join Cecilia Muñoz, former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama, for a conversation on the road ahead for immigration policy and reform. RSVP today.
    This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.
Want to keep up with Brennan Center events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.

 
News
  • Alicia Bannon on Supreme Court reform // Washington Post
  • Lauren-Brooke Eisen on shrinking law enforcement’s contact with their communities // Reuters
  • Michael Li on the upcoming redistricting cycle // CNN
  • Myrna Pérez on restrictive voting laws // WNYC
  • Eliza Sweren-Becker on GOP efforts to restrict early voting // AP
  • Michael Waldman on corporations fighting voter suppression // MSNBC
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.

 
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
120 Broadway, Suite 1750
New York, NY 10271
T 646 292 8310
F 212 463 7308
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences.
Want to stop receiving these emails?
Click here to unsubscribe.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Website