Booker Unveils Details For Police Reform Legislation

In the aftermath of last week’s tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Senator Cory Booker (D – New Jersey) today unveiled the framework for comprehensive, police reform legislation:

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today announced the following framework for comprehensive legislation to stem the tide of racialized police violence in the wake of last week’s horrific murder of George Floyd by law enforcement.

“Persistent, unchecked bias in policing and a history of lack of accountability is wreaking havoc on the Black community.” Booker said. “Cities are literally on fire with the pain and anguish wrought by the violence visited upon black and brown bodies. There’s no one singular policy change that will fix this issue tomorrow – we need an entire set of holistic reforms to improve police training and practices, and ensure greater accountability and transparency.”

The following is Booker’s framework:

1)  Holding police accountable in federal court for misconduct by:

• reforming 18 U.S.C. Section 242, the federal statute governing police misconduct, by modifying the intent standard necessary to prove a case, and
• reforming the qualified immunity doctrine so that individuals are not entirely barred from recovering damages when police violate their constitutional rights.

2)  Improving transparency into policing by collecting more accurate data of police misconduct and use of force incidents by:

• creating a national police misconduct registry to ensure problematic officers can’t avoid accountability by changing departments, and
• requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to report use-of-force incidents to the Department of Justice.

3)     Improving police training and policies by:

• banning religious and racial profiling,
• providing funding for racial bias training for law enforcement,
• incentivizing states to adopt policies banning no-knock warrants, and
• incentivizing states to adopt policies banning the use of choke-hold and other airway  restrictive holds in their use-of-force policies

Joining Senator Booker during this afternoon’s virtual press conference were Senator Kamala Harris (D – CA), Rep. Karen Bass (D – CA), and numerous representatives of the nation’s top civil rights and social justice organizations.