George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

May 22, 2021by Dominic Kukla

George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020

This bill addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability. It increases accountability for law enforcement misconduct, restricts the use of certain policing practices, enhances transparency and data collection, and establishes best practices and training requirements.

The bill enhances existing enforcement mechanisms to remedy violations by law enforcement. Among other things, it does the following:

lowers the criminal intent standard—from willful to knowing or reckless—to convict a law enforcement officer for misconduct in a federal prosecution,
limits qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against a law enforcement officer, and
grants administrative subpoena power to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in pattern-or-practice investigations.

It establishes a framework to prevent and remedy racial profiling by law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels. It also limits the unnecessary use of force and restricts the use of no-knock warrants, chokeholds, and carotid holds.

The bill creates a national registry—the National Police Misconduct Registry—to compile data on complaints and records of police misconduct. It also establishes new reporting requirements, including on the use of force, officer misconduct, and routine policing practices (e.g., stops and searches).

Finally, it directs DOJ to create uniform accreditation standards for law enforcement agencies and requires law enforcement officers to complete training on racial profiling, implicit bias, and the duty to intervene when another officer uses excessive force.

Portland Street Response

May 22, 2021by Dominic Kukla

Portland Street Response assists people experiencing homelessness or low-acuity behavioral health issues.

The program is in its pilot phase and is responding only in the greater Lents neighborhood in 2021; requests are made through 911 or the non-emergency number at 503-823-3333

Still in Prison

May 22, 2021by Dominic Kukla

What is a non-unanimous jury?

In every other state in the country and in federal courts, every person on a jury has to vote that the prosecution proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A unanimous jury is the cornerstone of American law.

Oregon was the last state in the country to allow a person to be convicted and sent to prison even when up to two people voted “not-guilty.” Allowing a ten-two or eleven-one non-unanimous decision meant that the opinions of two jurors could be completely disregarded and silenced. The jury could and did convict without them.

The Impact

Black Oregonians make up approximately 2% of the state population, which already makes it less likely they will be selected to be on a jury. And those who get arrested, prosecuted, and ultimately convicted in Oregon, as elsewhere, are disproportionately Black. The discriminatory purpose of non-unanimous juries was actualized and people of color, mostly Black defendants, were disportionately convicted by non-unanimous juries. They would have never been convicted and sent to prison anywhere else in the country.

To learn more, please visit:

stillinprison.org

Real Police Accountability

May 22, 2021by Dominic Kukla

Measure 26-217 passed in Portland last November with over 80% of the vote!

Candidates to serve on the board are currently being chosen.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this movement and in this campaign. Portland will now have one of the most advanced police accountability systems found anywhere in the country.

WHY IT MATTERS

Policing in Portland is broken.

It has been for decades.

Too many lives have been taken or irreparably damaged.

Measure 26-217 will give every Portlander a voice in shaping what policing in Portland will look like moving forward.

Leaders in Portland’s Black community have been asking for this change for more than 30 years. And the time is now. To honor their voices. To hold police accountable to the people they serve.

Your YES vote created the most progressive Real Police Accountability system in the country. More than that, Measure 26-217 ensures that this system can only be changed by the will of the voters.

The status quo is simply unacceptable. Currently, the Portland police investigate themselves. It’s no surprise they never find wrongdoing. It’s time for the people who protect and serve to be accountable to the people — with citizen oversight, and consequences for bad actors.

WHAT IT DOES

By voting YES on Measure 26-217, you joined countless Portlanders, Black leaders, and local organizations in building a new beginning. One that will instate Real Police Accountability by:

Creating a structure for true community oversight of the Portland police.
Enshrining these values into Portland’s constitution (its City Charter), where this new framework will guide police-oversight for generations.
Allowing many of the specifics to be worked out through a community-driven process that will take place across 2021.
Establishing an oversight board that’s truly independent from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), and from City Council.
Giving sufficient resources and power to conduct meaningful investigations (including the power to subpoena and compel officer testimony).
Empowering this board with the legal authority to produce enforceable actions, such as policy changes and officer discipline, up to and including termination.

Now is the time. Join us. Together, we can make history a thing of the past.

End Qualified Immunity

May 22, 2021by Dominic Kukla

“Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that shields public officials, like police officers, from liability when they break the law. Cato’s Project on Criminal Justice chose to make the elimination of qualified immunity one of its top priorities nearly three years ago for the simple reason that civil society is impossible without a well‐functioning criminal justice system.

The doctrine was invented by the Supreme Court in the 1960s, with no basis statutory text, legislative intent, or sound public policy. While established civil rights laws direct that any government official who violates someone’s constitutional rights “shall be liable” to the person they injured, the Supreme Court’s muddling of the law with qualified immunity has allowed police officers to avoid responsibility. Law enforcement officials are now routinely excused from bad behavior—even actions that cause harm or death to innocent victims, and even when they knowingly violate a person’s rights.

Either the Supreme Court or Congress could end qualified immunity, and it would be a major victory for accountability.”

“Unjust doctrine shields police officers from accountability for misconduct and criminal behavior

Across the country, police and law enforcement officers continue to escape legal accountability when they break the law, shielded from liability by the doctrine of qualified immunity. Today, U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) reintroduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, which would eliminate qualified immunity and restore needed accountability in the criminal justice system.

“From Oregon to Massachusetts, we have repeatedly seen our country’s policing system, and then the justice system, fail people of color,” Blumenauer said. “Enough is enough. Systematic change is long overdue. Eliminating the problematic practice of qualified immunity is one critical step we must take toward accountability and justice.”

“We must fully end the doctrine of qualified immunity which for too long has shielded law enforcement from accountability and denied recourse for the countless families robbed of their loved ones,” Pressley said. “There can be no justice without healing and accountability, and there can be no true accountability with qualified immunity. We must act with urgency. We must be bold and unapologetic in our pursuit of policy that increases police accountability and addresses the crisis of police brutality plaguing Black and brown communities.”

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (now found under Section 1983), Congress granted individuals the right to sue state and local officials who violate their rights, including police officers. However, since 1967, the Supreme Court has issued several decisions gutting this protection by inventing the qualified immunity doctrine, rendering police officers from being successfully sued for misconduct, negligence, or abuse, a unique protection that no other non-government profession holds. The court’s broad interpretation of this doctrine has allowed police to violate constitutional rights with impunity, providing officers immunity for everything from unlawful traffic stops to brutality and murder.

The Ending Qualified Immunity Act reintroduced today by Blumenauer and Pressley codifies that the qualified immunity doctrine is not grounds for defense for violations of the law. Specifically, the bill would amend Section 1983 to explicitly state that the qualified immunity doctrine invented by the Supreme Court does not provide police officers that brutalize or otherwise violate civil rights with defense or immunity from liability for their actions. It also clarifies Congress’ original intent for Section 1983 and notes the history and necessity of this protection.

The legislation is endorsed by dozens of civil rights groups, including the Leadership Conference, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Civil Rights Corp, Innocence Project, Campaign to End Qualified Immunity, National Black Justice Coalition, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, and more.”

The Breathe Act

May 22, 2021by Dominic Kukla

The BREATHE Act is an omnibus bill presented by the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives. The bill proposes to divest taxpayer dollars from policing and invest in alternate, community-based approaches to public safety.

“This visionary bill divests our taxpayer dollars from brutal and discriminatory policing and invests in a new vision of public safety—a vision that answers the call to defund the police and allows all communities to finally BREATHE free.

We are rising up against all the ways that the criminal-legal system has harmed and failed to protect Black communities. The current moment requires a solution that fundamentally shifts how we envision community-care and invest in our society. History is clear that we cannot achieve genuine safety and liberation until we abandon police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms.

IMAGINE : Schools free of police and full of trained counselors and restorative-justice programs, where all our children are kept safe and their needs are met.

IMAGINE : Easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who can be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention.

IMAGINE : 911 operators dispatching unarmed mental-health experts instead of police in situations involving behavioral health crises, and callers being allowed to request responders that connect to the gender identity of the person in crisis.

The BREATHE Act offers a radical reimagining of public safety, community care, and how we spend money as a society. We bring 4 simple ideas to the table:

Divest federal resources from incarceration and policing.
Invest in new, non-punitive, non-carceral approaches to community safety that lead states to shrink their criminal-legal systems and center the protection of Black lives—including Black mothers, Black trans people, and Black women.
Allocate new money to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities.
Hold political leaders to their promises and enhance the self-determination of all Black communities.

Uprisings around the country changed what was possible. What felt impossible two months ago is being accomplished now; what seems impossible today is doable tomorrow, and we will be the ones to make it happen. We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.