This post was originally published on this site
A comprehensive bill by Democrats to overhaul police practices in wake of the death of George Floyd could be approved by the House of Representatives as early as the middle of this month, according to a senior Democrat.
While Democrats have not scheduled the House to be back in regular session until June 30, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking party member, has said the policing bill could see them return ahead of then.
Now read:John Oliver explains ‘defund the police’ — and why it doesn’t mean ‘no police.’
The bill will see judiciary and rules committee consideration before hitting the floor, Hoyer told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. “I think all of that will probably be done in the next two weeks, but we’ll see,” he said.
If the bill goes to the floor in the June 15 week, it could be ready for a vote on June 19, an African-American holiday often celebrated as “Juneteenth,” marking the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to freed slaves in Texas in 1865.
House Democrats unveiled the bill Monday. It includes major overhauls in law enforcement, including lowering the legal bar to make it easier to prosecute police for misconduct and getting rid of qualified legal immunity that protects officers from civil lawsuits. It also would also ban no-knock warrants for drug cases and eliminate choke holds by federal law enforcement and condition federal money for local departments on them doing the same. See text of bill.
The bill would also give the Department of Justice additional tools to conduct pattern-and-practice probes of law enforcement and make it a federal crime to conspire to violate current hate-crime laws. The latter provision passed the House as the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in February, but has stalled in the Senate.
“A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession that requires highly trained officers who are accountable to the public,” said Rep. Karen Bass, the California Democrat who heads the Congressional Black Caucus, at a press conference.
Bass said the bill had more than 200 co-sponsors across both chambers of Congress.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, signaled last week he was open to legislation but did not say what he wanted to see in a bill.
“There may be a role for Congress to play in this as well, and we’ll be talking to our colleagues about what, if anything, is appropriate for us to do, in the wake of what’s going on. You can understand the outrage,” McConnell said.
Hoyer said he was optimistic about bill’s prospects in the House.
“I’m confident it’s going to pass the House. But sadly I’m not confident that a body that has not been able to pass the Emmett Till lynching bill will pass this bill. I hope so,” he said, referring to the Senate.
