CONGRESSMAN MORELLE TAKES ACTION TO DISMANTLE SYSTEMIC AND STRUCTURAL RACISM AND DEMILITARIZE POLICING

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congressman Joe Morelle voted to enact the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, groundbreaking police accountability legislation that will work to empower our communities and address systemic racism from the ground up. Rep. Morelle is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

"In the month since the death of George Floyd, millions of people across all 50 states have come together to demand reform and call for change. We as legislators have a responsibility-not only to listen, but to act," said Congressman Morelle. "We can, and we must, be better. There is still much work to be done, but I'm proud that the House has taken this critical step towards addressing the deep-seeded inequalities that have plagued our country for decades."

This Justice in Policing Act is historic legislation that will work to change the culture of law enforcement while addressing systemic racism and bias. Specifically, it will:

• Prohibits federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious and discriminatory profiling, and mandates training on racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling for all law enforcement.
• Remove barriers to prosecuting police misconduct by ending qualified immunity of law enforcement
• De-militarize the police by limiting the transfer of military weaponry
• Combat police brutality by requiring body and dashboard cameras, banning chokeholds, ending the use of no-knock warrant
• Improve Transparency by Collecting Data on Police Misconduct and Use-of-Force

The Justice in Policing Act passed the House of Representatives and will now be sent to the Senate.

A section-by-section summary of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is available here.

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