Posted on 12/05/2014 7:21:03 AM PST by maggief
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are talking about inviting the families of Eric Garner and Michael Brown to President Obama's State of the Union address in Washington next month.
The lawmakers – who have universally condemned the justice system's response to the killings of the two black men at the hands of white police officers – say the presence of the two men’s relatives would send a strong signal that Washington policymakers are serious about tackling criminal justice reform head on.
“I think that would be appropriate and fitting,” Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon, said Thursday. “It would help educate and sensitize other members and humanize some of the issues that we're going to confront.” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), another black lawmaker who has led the CBC’s charge against the militarization of local police forces, echoed that message.
“Those families are symbols of an issue that needs to be urgently addressed in America,” Johnson said. “I think it would be an excellent idea.”
The lawmakers emphasized that no such invitations have been extended yet for the president’s speech. But they're endorsing the idea of inviting the Brown and Garner families in order to amplify the justice-system questions highlighted by their deaths.
“It would be good that we put a face to the injustices that have occurred as a result of the criminal justice system that hasn't been lifted to a point of colorblindness,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said Thursday.
“Appropriately,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas.), “people who have experienced tragedies like that would be the right kind of guests to have.”
The CBC members have been outraged over decisions by grand juries examining both the Garner and Brown killings to not indict either of the police officers investigated on any charges.
Garner, a 43-year-old from Staten Island, died in July after Daniel Pantaleo, a white New York Police Department officer, applied a chokehold during an arrest. The confrontation and Garner’s death were caught on a video that went viral on the Internet.
Brown, an 18-year-old from a St. Louis suburb, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson, Mo., police officer, after a confrontation in August.
Both incidents – and the subsequent grand jury decisions – sparked protests across the country and launched a national debate about racial profiling and the actions of police.
Obama is calling for strict new policies surrounding law enforcement tactics and a close examination of the system on the whole, and it is expected the issues will come up in his annual address.
“When it comes … to our criminal justice system, too many Americans feel deep unfairness when it comes to the gap between our professed ideals and how laws are applied on a day-to-day basis,” Obama said Thursday, referring to the pair of grand jury decisions.
Given the prominence of the issue in recent months, CBC members said the president will almost certainly make criminal justice reform a theme of his SOTU speech.
“I think he must,” said Lewis. “And not just speak to the question of criminal justice, but where we are as a nation and as a people.”
Rep. Emanual Cleaver (D-Mo.), a former head of the CBC, said lawmakers are meeting with members of the Brown and Garner families to provide support in the wake of tragedy. He suggested they'd ultimately be invited to the State of the Union (SOTU).
“Particularly this soon after the grand jury reports we shouldn't suggest anything that appears to be too political,” Cleaver said. “[But] I think, ultimately, we're going to want to have them here.”
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), who represents the district where the Browns live, said inviting the family would be “a good idea,” but he'd “have to check their schedule.”
Asked if there's a possibility, Clay said, “Could be.” Then he paused, smiled, and said, “Yep.”
House lawmakers are each offered one guest ticket to the president's annual SOTU speech.
Both Lewis and Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) suggested the invitations to the family members should come from Obama, himself.
“I think that would be a signal that this administration is laser-focused on the problem of police misconduct, and I would certainly encourage him to do it,” said Butterfield, who will head the CBC in the next Congress. “Optics always matter, and this would be a positive optic to have the families [here].”
The idea might not sit as well, however, with some Republicans who are defending the criminal justice system in the face of the recent criticisms.
In the wake of Wednesday's grand jury decision in the Garner case, for instance, Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who represents Garner's district, issued a statement expressing his “full faith that their judgment was fair and reasoned.”
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) went a long step further, praising the police and blaming Garner's obesity and medical conditions for his death.
“You had a 350-pound person who was resisting arrest. The police were trying to bring him down as quickly as possible,” King told CNN Wednesday. “If he had not had asthma and a heart condition and was so obese, almost definitely he would not have died from this.
“I don't know where the racial angle comes in,” King added.
Other Republicans, however, have suggested congressional hearings could be held, particularly on the grand jury’s decision in Staten Island, which has raised more bipartisan criticism than the Ferguson incident.
The American public “deserves more answers” about the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday.
He also said he was open to the idea of Congress holding hearings on the deaths in New York and Ferguson, Mo.
“Both of these are serious tragedies that we’ve seen in our society. I think the American people want to understand more about what the facts were,” Boehner told reporters at a news conference. “There are a lot of unanswered questions that Americans have and, frankly, I have.”
EXACTLY !!!!
Wag the dog!
Oh yeah.
Let’s make this totally unwatchable.
Lowest ratings ever.
LOL.
Yeah. Getting busted in the middle of committing a crime is a real bitch.
I don’t see what the problem is here.
What’s the worse that can happen? Cops nationwide (and particularly urban cops) get ticked off and go into de-policing mode?
Oh ....
Beyond ridiculous!!!! If Bin Laden was alive, Barry would invite him too!
Will not surprise me at all if they are.
The best thing the speaker could do in January is not have a SOTU as there is no statutory requirement to have the speech.
this presumes there will be a SOTU in House.....
They sure do.
Yeah. Nobody watches it but the MSM anyway so they can spin and cover for oboma later. It'll be nothing but a farce just like all his others.
The only thing interesting about it will be how many times oboma praises himself.,...I, me, me, me, mine,.....and who wins the betting pool at the office.
While they are at it, they should exclude all white people from the chamber, except for Joe Biden.
Did St Skiddles rents get ebola or is it that he's a Crip & the Browns are Bloods?
That’s odd. Now they are concern about the militarization of our law enforcement but had no problem with Waco and JustUs Holder who was involved along with his twin Janet.
Keep fanning the flames and soon there will be a fire that is out of control. Lock and load people.
Wouldn't it violate the Geneva Convention on torture to compel the clerk to read that bile into the record?
Cordially,
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