{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-johnson-files-three-criminal-justice-reform-bills-restore-police", "Rep. Johnson Files Three Criminal Justice Reform Bills To Restore Police-Community Trust", "2017-11-09", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "GA", "Hank Johnson", "J000288", "hankjohnson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Reintroduces Grand Jury Reform, Bills That Hold Police Accountable to Public\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced a package of criminal justice reform bills seeking to restore trust between police and the communities they serve and level the playing field to root out discrimination and disparities in the system.\nCongressman Johnson introduced the Cooling Off Period Elimination Act of 2017 or the COPE Act, the Police Accountability Act and the Grand Jury Reform Act.\n\u201cI support our law enforcement officers,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThey have a difficult job to uphold the law and to protect and serve the American people and to keep them safe from harm\u2019s way. They should be commended and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. But law enforcement officers are not above the law and should be held accountable like anyone else.\u201d\nThe Cooling Off Period Elimination Act of 2017 or the COPE Act, H.R. 4330, would condition federal grant money on the elimination of cooling-off periods for police officers charged with misconduct. The bill seeks a partial roll back of controversial Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights or LEOBR provisions, which extends extra-constitutional privileges and protections to police officers that are otherwise not unavailable to non-law enforcement and often make holding offending officers unaccountable.\nRep. Johnson once again introduced the Police Accountability Act \u2013 H.R. 4331 \u2013 that would expand the Department of Justice\u2019s authority to investigate wrongdoing by police by making it a federal crime for police officers to commit murder and manslaughter.\nResponding to calls that the nation\u2019s grand jury system is broken when police are investigated for the killing of civilians, Rep. Johnson filed the Grand Jury Reform Act, H.R. 4332, which would require the appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation and present the results to a judge in a probable cause hearing, open to the public, whenever a police officer kills an individual while acting in the line of duty.\u00a0\n\u201cPeople are rightfully demanding an end to unequal justice, and that those who are responsible for the use of excessive force be brought to justice,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cThese bills will help ensure a more thorough review of cases involving law enforcement officers, keep bad officers off the streets and begin the necessary healing process needed to regain the trust and respect between communities and the police.\u201d\nCosponsors of the bills include Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (MI-13), Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Elijah Cummings (MD-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), David Scott (GA-13), Keith Ellison (MN-05), David Cicilline (RI-01), Raul Grijalva (AZ-03) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-johnson-files-three-criminal-justice-reform-bills-restore-police"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6265488918870687, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}