Democratic senators threaten to block 'threadbare' Republican police reform bill
In a Tuesday letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) signaled they're prepared to block the advancement of the GOP's police reform bill, championed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
The senators said they do not consider the "threadbare" bill "salvageable," dismissing the idea that simply amending it would lead to a satisfactory outcome. Instead, they suggested the package requires a near-complete overhaul, negotiated via bipartisan talks. One of the major hold-ups appears to be that Scott's bill "does not contain any mechanisms to hold law enforcement accountable in court for their misconduct." Democrats say the bill fails to address issues like the federal criminal mens rea standard, qualified immunity, and the lack of independent investigations into misconduct.
Harris, Booker, and Schumer also want to include measures that ensure transparency, directly ban racial profiling and no-knock warrants, and creates a national use-of-force standard. Read the full letter below. Tim O'Donnell
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 27, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - powers of persuasion, government efficiency, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Britain's Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story: a 'calmly scathing' documentary
The Week Recommends 'Human guinea pigs' share moving TV testimony of 'traumatic' fallout from UK's atomic tests in the 1950s
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Mysteries of the Universe Weekender
The Week Recommends The New Scientist's two-day discovery event featured stargazing, 'fascinating' talks and a tour of the UK's largest radio telescope
By Jessica Hullinger Published
-
DOJ demands changes at 'abhorrent' Atlanta jail
Speed Read Georgia's Fulton County Jail subjects inmates to 'unconstitutional' conditions, the 16-month investigation found
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
China tries to bury deadly car attack
Speed Read An SUV drove into a crowd of people in Zhuhai, killing and injuring dozens — but news of the attack has been censored
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Menendez brothers may go free in LA prosecutor plan
Speed Read Prosecutors are asking for the brothers to be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Abercrombie ex-CEO charged with sex crimes
Speed Read Mike Jeffries ran the brand during its heyday from 1992 to 2014
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraud
Speed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published