{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-durbin-warnock-butler-markey-hirono-padilla-duckworth-warren-announce-reintroduction-of-george-floyd-justice-in-policing-act", "Booker, Durbin, Warnock, Butler, Markey, Hirono, Padilla, Duckworth, Warren Announce Reintroduction of George Floyd Justice in Policing Act", "2024-08-02", "2024", "2024-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announced the reintroduction of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2024, the most comprehensive bill to reform law enforcement and strengthen police accountability in our country\u2019s history. The sweeping legislation was first introduced in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyd\u2019s murder in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the first bill aimed at ending police brutality and changing the culture of law enforcement departments by holding police accountable in court for egregious misconduct, increasing transparency through better data collection, and improving police practices and training. The late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18) reintroduced companion legislation in the House earlier this year.\n\n\u201cThe recent tragic death of Sonya Massey, a 36 year-old Black woman who was shot and killed in her home by a police officer, is a stark reminder that the time for comprehensive and common sense policing reform is overdue. Her life was cut short due to a system that fails to hold officers accountable for egregious misconduct.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spent the better part of four years working to advance The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and policing reforms that make communities safer, and this legislation contains ideas that will increase transparency and accountability within our nation\u2019s policing system. We must advance legislation that holds law enforcement accountable for misconduct and ensures these tragedies never happen again. There is no law or policy or reform that will erase the decades of harm and loss communities of color have suffered, but this legislation is a chance to make meaningful changes that will improve police practices and make our nation safer, stronger, and more just,\u201d said Senator Booker.\n\n\u201cMore than four years ago now, George Floyd died on the streets of Minneapolis with the knee of a police officer on his neck\u2014an image that haunts me to this day. His murder ignited a much-needed American conversation around law enforcement training, inherent bias, use of force, and consequences for wrongdoing. But unfortunately, Congress was unable to pass any meaningful legislation to enact change,\u201d said Majority Whip Durbin. \u201cLast month in my home state, Sonya Massey was shot and killed by a police officer in her own home after calling 9-1-1 for help. The senseless killing of Sonya Massey has once again drawn national attention to the lack of Congressional action that permits these kinds of killings to keep happening. The House did its job in 2020 and passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Senate Republicans refused to join Democrats to pass this meaningful police reform legislation. I urge my Republican colleagues to reconsider this time around and join us on a bipartisan basis to create safer communities for all Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur communities won\u2019t truly know safety until it\u2019s paired with accountability,\u201d said Senator Reverend Warnock. \u201cThe George Floyd Justice in Policing Act takes a comprehensive approach towards building trust and respect between communities and law enforcement. This legislation, when paired with investments in education, anti-poverty, ending hunger, and creating good-paying jobs, will help ensure that all Georgians, regardless of their zip code, feel safe and secure. As someone who ministers to law enforcement members and fully supports public safety, I understand the importance of setting aside politics, centering people, and getting this done.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe George Floyd Justice in Policing Act takes necessary steps to address discriminatory policing and violence, while also ensuring accountability. These actions will help create safer communities and establish trust between law enforcement and communities of color,\u201d said Senator Butler. \u201cI thank Senator Booker for his leadership. It is long past time for Congress to pass this legislation and make sure that no more lives are lost to dangerous policing practices and racial bias.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo one should have to fear for their safety when interacting with law enforcement,\u201d said Senator Hirono. \u201cI\u2019m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation to strengthen police accountability and implement comprehensive changes to policing in America to help protect our communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe reintroduction of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a call to finally end the discrimination and excessive policing of people of color,\u201d said Senator Markey. \u201cOur work to dismantle systemic racism in law enforcement departments starts with putting an end to deadly force and racial profiling. I am proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing this critical legislation that is one step in our long fight for true justice for every victim of racist violence in America.\u201d\n\n\u201cGeorge Floyd, Sonya Massey, Breonna Taylor, and countless other victims of police brutality should all be alive today. Their murders are the product of a broken justice system that lacks accountability for the disproportionate use of force against Black and Brown Americans,\u201d said Senator Padilla. \u201cWe must honor their lives by combating systemic biases and continuing to demand justice through commonsense reforms like eliminating chokeholds, restricting no-knock warrants, ending racial profiling, and limiting qualified immunity for police officers committing violent acts.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe cannot accept that in the United States of America we continue to bear witness to the tragic, preventable and all-too-common deaths of Black men and women at the hands of law enforcement\u2014it is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable,\u201d Senator Duckworth said. \u201cFamilies like Sonya Massey\u2019s, Laquan McDonald\u2019s, George Floyd\u2019s and Breonna Taylor\u2019s who have experienced heartbreak are no less deserving of justice than any other family, but too often they don\u2019t get it. I\u2019m proud to join my colleagues in re-introducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act today, and that provisions of my legislation to promote objective and independent investigations into the use of deadly force by police officers were included in this comprehensive police reform proposal. It\u2019s long past time our country acts to ensure accountability within our law enforcement agencies and provide justice to those who have lost loved ones.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is long past time for police reform in this country,\u201d said Senator Warren. \u201cThis powerfully important legislation is the kind of bold action we need to make our communities safer and hold our law enforcement accountable.\u201d\n\nSpecifically, the Justice in Policing Act would:\n\nHold police accountable in our courts by:\n\nAmending the mens rea requirement in 18 U.S.C. Section 242, the federal criminal statute to prosecute police misconduct, from \u201cwillfulness\u201d to a \u201cknowlingly or recklessnessly\u201d standard;\n\nReforming qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that as currently interpreted shields law enforcement officers from being held legally liable for when they violate an individual\u2019s constitutional rights.\n\nImproving the use of pattern and practice investigations at the federal level by granting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division subpoena power and incentivizing independent investigative structures for police involved deaths through grants; and\n\nImprove transparency into policing by collecting better and more accurate data of police misconduct and use-of-force by:\n\nIncentivizing police departments to report use of force information to the FBI Use of Force database, the National Decertification Index and National Law Enforcement Accountability Database\n\nIncentivizing police departments to check misconduct records in the National Decertification Index and National Law Enforcement Accountability Database before hiring officers\n\nMandating state and local law enforcement agencies report use of force data, disaggregated by race, sex, disability, religion, age.\n\nImprove police training and practices by:\n\nEnding racial and religious profiling;\n\nMandating training on racial bias and the duty to intervene;\n\nBanning no-knock warrants in drug cases; Banning chokeholds and carotid holds;\n\nChanging the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was reasonable to whether the force was necessary;\n\nLimiting the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement;\n\nRequiring federal uniformed police officers to wear body cameras; and\n\nRequiring state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras\n\nEstablishing practices and programs to reduce negative police interactions and better use police resources through grants to:\n\nEstablish programs that hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental health and social service professionals to respond to police calls involving individuals having a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental disability, experiencing a mental health crisis; or under the influence of a legal or illegal substance\n\nEstablish unarmed civilian government departments to enforce traffic violations.\n\nEstablish local task forces to develop innovative law enforcement and non-law enforcement strategies to enhance just and equitable", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "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://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-durbin-warnock-butler-markey-hirono-padilla-duckworth-warren-announce-reintroduction-of-george-floyd-justice-in-policing-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.660780981183052, "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"}