Over the past month, support for the Black Lives Matter movement has erupted in response to the murder of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a police officer after being accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill. The cite of this killing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the epicenter of protests that spread globally and throughout all social media platforms. These protests successfully got the four officers involved in the murder fired and charged, but this incident is one of many instances of police brutality and racial profiling in the U.S. (BBC, 2020). Calls to reform or defund the police are gaining traction and legislators are scrambling to address the demands of the public. Listed are ten policy reforms and legislation to address issues of racial and economic inequalities in our justice system.
Abolish Qualified Immunity
Since 1982, government officials, including police officers, have been protected from liability by qualified immunity, in which only lawsuits where officials violated a “’ clearly established’ statutory or constitutional right” are considered (Cornell). Through precedent, these cases have increasingly diminished police accountability and made it near impossible for victims of police brutality to receive justice.
Two resolutions are currently being introduced to abolish this practice. Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley and Republican Representative Justin Amash have together introduced a bill to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to abolish qualified immunity and cancel Supreme Court precedents that rid officials of accountability (DeCosta-Kilpa, 2020). The two co-sponsors have made conflicting statements as to if this bill will affect all government officials or if, like their colleagues in the senate’s similar bill, it will target police officers specifically (DeCosta-Kilpa, 2020). The bill introduced by Senators Kamala Harris, Edward J. Markey, and Cory Booker also seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1871, but specifically to end qualified immunity for law enforcement officers (Harris, 2020).
Eliminate Private Prisons
Across the country, private prison companies are put under contract by state and federal government to hold inmates. According to these contracts, these companies are paid a set amount per inmate and agree to provide a minimum amount of care and resources (Kim, 2020). This practice has capitalized on the U. S’s over-incarceration and turned the prison system into a multibillion-dollar industry (Vittert, 2018). Like all businesses, the primary goal of these companies is not justice or providing humane treatment, but profit.
In 2019, California became the first state to pass legislation banning private prisons when Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to phase out private prisons and privately-run immigration detention facilities by 2028 (Stracqualursi, 2019). California ceased renewing contracts with these facilities at the start of 2020 (Stracqualursi, 2019) States like Nevada have followed suit in banning private prisons, and many are now calling for a federal ban (Kim, 2019).
Legalize Marijuana/Eliminate Disparity in Sentencing for Cocaine Possession
The lasting effects of the “War on Drugs,” starting in 1971, are major racial disparities in arrests and charges for drug-related crimes (Pearl, 2018). Despite comparable usage rates, black Americans are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Americans (ACLU, 2020). In many states, including California, marijuana has been legalized, but many are now calling for the next step of legalizing marijuana federally and expunging all past convictions.
Through the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, a mandatory minimum was set that required a five-year sentence for five grams of crack cocaine, while the same was sentenced for 100 times that amount of powder cocaine (England) There’s no chemical difference between the two forms and no significant difference in effect, however, they’re prominent in different demographics. Because of its price and distributions, crack cocaine has largely been distributed in impoverished, majority black and brown communities, while powder cocaine is more common in majority-white communities (England). This has contributed to the disproportionate sentencing of people of color, despite being recognized as unjustified. In 2010, the disparity between the sentencing of the two forms of cocaine was reduced through the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (England). Many, including notable politicians such as Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, now call for this disparity to be eliminated entirely (Oprysko, 2020).
Demilitarize the Police
Through the 1033 program, developed as part of the 1997’s National Defense Authorization Act, law enforcement across the country currently receive billions of dollars of excess military-grade equipment (Barrett, 2020). To those following the protests, this may shed some light on how police officers have managed to assemble in full riot gear and what appear to be tanks. In 2015, President Obama made an executive order to set restrictions on the equipment local law enforcement can receive (Balko, 2015). In 2017, however, President Trump overturned this executive order (Karbal, 2020).
Several bills have been introduced to oppose the 1033 program, but never received a vote, despite bipartisan support (Karbal, 2020). In the past week Senator of Kentucky, Rand Paul, and Senator of Hawaii, Brian Schatz, have reintroduced the “Stop Militarizing Our Law Enforcement Act” (Edmondson, 2020).
Fund Implicit Bias Training
Implicit bias training for police officers is one of the main solutions offered in response to the epidemic of police brutality in the U.S, however, thus far this has proven ineffective against the deeply rooted systematic racism and power imbalance that is prevalent in the police force—though there’s insufficient data to conclude whether it has a notable impact (Bokat-Lindell, 2020). A more promising approach, however, may be establishing a department to track misconduct more accurately.
End Cash Bail
Three out of five of the hundreds of thousands of people being held in local and federal jails across the U.S. have not been convicted of their charges (Hunter, 2020). There’s a variety of reasons someone may be held in jail pre-trial, but the reality for many is simply that they can’t afford to pay bail. The median bail amount across the country is $10,000, and those who can’t pay it may be held in jail for years despite being legally innocent until convicted (Wykstra, 2018). This bail practice not only capitalizes off over-incarceration, but essentially criminalizes poverty.
Washington D.C. eliminated the use of cash bail thirty years ago and since then states like California and New Jersey have followed suit. In place of this system, release is determined by a risk assessment system, which in D.C allows roughly 90 percent of people being released (Market Place, 2016). Despite initial fears of a spike in crimes, no area that has enacted these reforms has seen evidence of this, and record similar or better trial attendance (Hunter, 2020).
End Mandatory Minimums
When mandatory minimums were first established as a part of the U.S.’s “war on drugs,” the intent was that they’d in theory establish fair across the board sentencing. In practice, however, they have proven to do the exact opposite by restricting the say of judges and juries. The guarantee of set sentencing ensures disproportionate incarceration of people of color due to disproportionate arrests and a disregard for unique circumstances of defendants. Furthermore, the U. S’s reliance on the precedent system has time and time again betrayed justice and progress by holding us to past rulings.
Civilian Oversight Boards
Civilian oversight boards have, in the past, been implemented to increase police accountability. The issue with them, however, is that they hold little authority and their recommendations are often ignored (Dewan, 2020). These boards are also commonly opposed by police unions and end up being dismantled after a few years (Ingraham, 2020). This form of reform holds potential but will enact no substantial change unless paired with far more comprehensive and structural reform.
Stop the Incarceration of Youth
Though the incarceration rates of juveniles have decreased significantly in the past decade, nearly 60,000 minors across the U.S. are being held in juvenile jails and prisons (ACLU, 2020). These facilities have thousands of abuse allegations and youth are commonly incarcerated as a result of what’s known as the “school-to-prison pipeline” (Schindler, 2017). This “pipeline” occurs when schools outsource discipline by allowing officers on campus and commonly use out-of-school discipline (Nelson, 2015). Schools with officers had five times as many arrests as those without, allowing their students to gain a juvenile record rather than receive discipline from the school itself (Nelson, 2015). These schools also commonly have a zero-tolerance policy, leading to more suspension and higher dropout rates (Nelson, 2015).
The Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice (YCLJ) have led a campaign to close all juvenile prisons and California governor Gavin Newson has announced he intends to end juvenile imprisonment saying, “Juvenile justice should be about helping kids imagine and pursue new lives—not jumpstarting the revolving door of the criminal justice system.” Other proposals to end the school-to-prison pipeline have been made such as Joe Biden’s plan to invest in prevention by doubling the number of mental health professionals in schools, and remove officers from schools, as many school districts have in recent weeks (Balingit, 2020).
Increase Funding for Public Defense
According to the 1963 Supreme Court Decision, Gideon v. Wainwright, everyone has a right to counsel while being tried, however, the underfunding and employment of public defense offices restrict defenders’ ability to invest an adequate amount of time into each case (Metzger, 2019). In 2013, the Government Accountability Office confirmed that while prosecutors and corrections agencies received half of the overall money from the federal government’s largest criminal justice subsidy, Edward J. Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program, public defenders received only 1% (Prison Legal News, 2013). The director of the Missouri public defender's office, Michael Barrett, stated that his defenders handle up to 100 cases each week (McCausland, 2017). This contributes to the number of wrongful convictions and targets those who can’t afford a private defender.
In 2019, the Equal Defense Act was introduced by California Senator Kamala Harris to limit defenders’ workload and eliminate the disparity between their pay and that of prosecutors (Zhou, 2019). Through this act, a $250 million grant program would go to public defenders (Metzger, 2019).
Defund the Police
While these reforms listed would undoubtedly have a large impact on our justice system, many feel the system is beyond repair. The NYPD currently has an annual $6 billion budget that only grows while education and youth service budgets decrease (Speri, 2020). Black Lives Matter has called for a “national defunding of police” in favor of “investment in our communities and the resources” (BLM, 2020). Support for this proposal has grown with the hashtag #defundthepolice reaching over 60k posts and LA mayor Eric Garcetti promising the slash budget plans for the LAPD (Brewster, 2020).
Largely, supporters of this movement are not calling for an immediate or complete abolishment of police or law enforcement, but rather call for a redistribution of funds to other services that prioritize community building and nonforceful public safety measures. Police officers currently are given the responsibility of responding to drug abuse, mental illness, and homelessness, despite not being adequately qualified to do so and often responding with force rather than support and rehabilitation (Stockman, 2020). Calls to defund the police suggest that these responsibilities should be given to nurses and social workers trained to handle these situations (Stockman, 2020).
Politics and legislation are an important part of how civil rights are fought for. It’s everyone’s responsibility to be educated and conscientious in their voting, but as the protests around the country have shown, this is a fight fought on many fronts. Particularly since most high schoolers are too young to vote, the following link lists actions you can take to support the Black Lives Matter movement and demand justice. https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#
Works Cited
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ACLU. “America's Addiction to Juvenile Incarceration: State by State.” American Civil Liberties Union, 2020, www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youth-incarceration/americas-addiction-juvenile-incarceration-state-state#:~:text=On%20any%20given%20day%2C%20nearly,prisons%20in%20the%20United%20States.
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