The move by Democrats failed to erode Republican support
One of the subjects of the Special Session was to address police issues. Since the Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers, they don't need Republican support, yet after days of conversations about the bills, in which content of the bills was agreed upon to get some Republican support, Democrats amended the bills to add this language at the beginning:
“Whereas Black Lives Matter; and
“Whereas the three other police officers present at George Floyd’s arrest had 8 minutes and 46 seconds to save his life; and
“Whereas the history of racial violence in America, including public lynchings, deeply implicates police officers that did not
intervene to stop extrajudicial murders of Black Americans, creating a culture of distrust between law enforcement and the Black community that persists to this day; and
“Whereas police officers swear an oath to serve the public; and
“Whereas police officers need to be trusted to step in when lives are endangered; and
“Whereas two-thirds of Black Americans do not trust that they will be treated equally by the police; and
“Whereas Black youth experience hypervigilance, a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, in the presence of police officers; and
“Whereas Black children deserve to feel safe around the police; and
“Whereas we all deserve to feel safe around the police; and
“Whereas restoring trust in the police is not possible without real accountability measures; and
“Whereas the United States Department of Justice’s October 2018 Special Report found that Black people and Latinx people are twice as likely to experience the threat or use of force compared to white people; and
“Whereas intervening and reporting misconduct protects the reputation of police officers who are acting in good faith and within the bounds of the law; now, therefore,â€.
“Whereas†clauses have no force of law, but they do express the intent of the lawmakers. All of the bills passed easily, with strong support from Republicans.
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2020-06-26 10:44:48 | Last Update: 2020-06-27 08:15:41 |
