U.S. lawmakers reach policing reform deal, give no details
Send a link to a friend
[June 25, 2021]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan
group of U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday they had reached an agreement
on a framework for a policing reform bill, after weeks of talks.
"There is still more work to be done on the final bill, and nothing is
agreed to until everything is agreed to," Republican Senator Tim Scott,
Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Democratic Representative Karen Bass
said in a joint statement. "Over the next few weeks we look forward to
continuing our work toward getting a finalized proposal across the
finish line."
They provided no additional details on their points of agreement.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement that President
Joe Biden, a Democrat, was grateful to the three lawmakers for their
work and looked forward to "collaborating with them on the path ahead."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/25/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
Bipartisan talks on policing were resurrected around the time of the
April 20 conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin
for murdering George Floyd. A year earlier, previous efforts for police
reform stalled in Congress.
Scott introduced a bill during global protests over the death in May
2020 of Floyd, an African-American man killed after Chauvin, who is
white, kneeled on his neck for more than 9 minutes.
But that bill failed in the Senate after Democrats said it relied too
much on incentives rather than mandating changes.
The House of Representatives passed a bill in March mostly along
partisan lines that aims to put a stop to aggressive law enforcement
tactics, but it has not yet been considered by the Senate.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/062521pics/news_g13.jpg)
U.S. Senator Tim Scott speaks with reporters as he transits the
subway system beneath the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. April 27,
2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
A sticking point in policing talks had been the issue
of qualified immunity.
Qualified immunity protects police officers and other types of
government officials from civil litigation in certain circumstances,
allowing lawsuits only when an individual's "clearly established"
statutory or constitutional rights have been violated.
Unions for police officers and sheriff's departments had opposed the
changes to qualified immunity made in the House bill.
Civilians currently face onerous legal barriers to try to hold
police departments or municipalities accountable for civil rights
violations.
According to Supreme Court precedent, civilians typically must show
that official policies or certain customs were the "moving force"
behind their injuries, or that the officer had been improperly
trained. Courts often dismiss those claims, citing an absence of
evidence.
(Reporting by Makini Brice in WashingtonEditing by Matthew Lewis and
Grant McCool)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/25/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png) |