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Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) urged a pair of senators that previously led talks on police reform to revive their push to pass a bipartisan reform package in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by police in Memphis. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) led negotiations on a policing reform bill that failed in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota. After the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, its Senate counterparts ultimately gave up on efforts to find a compromise.

"Looking at the video, I saw no justification whatsoever for those cops to shoot that young man," Scott said in an interview Thursday with "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King. "We need to get to the root of the issue." (snip) Scott credited the wide availability of video cameras for bringing such incidents to light, enabling us to respond to issues of racism and police violence "at a higher level."

Washington — The blame game has begun in Washington following the demise of police reform legislation that had been the subject of bipartisan negotiations for more than a year on Capitol Hill. Democratic lawmakers, led by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Representative Karen Bass of California, decided last Wednesday to call off negotiations with a group of Republicans led by Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.... ...Scott, for his part, said attaching strings to federal money was a nonstarter for Republicans in the latest debate. "We have about a billion dollars in grant money that goes to police,"...

Police investigating a murder case in Washington state say they decided not to use a K9 dog in their search for the suspect after taking new reform laws into consideration. "A K9 officer was on scene within minutes, but because probable cause had not been developed for a particular individual, they decided not to track for the possible suspect since they could not use force to detain him."

Most police departments—including Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police—are required to release an officer’s name within days of a fatal shooting. Not the U.S. Capitol Police, which is controlled by Congress and answers only to Congress. It can keep the public in the dark about the identity and investigation of an officer involved in a shooting indefinitely. Which is what happened with the Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed protester in the U.S. Capitol riot who was fatally wounded by a plainclothes police lieutenant as she attempted to breach a set of doors inside the building. For the past six...

It is indeed rare, if not unprecedented, to see a highly diverse group of organizations such as the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, the liberal American Civil Liberties Union, the libertarian Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation on the same page as the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund on the same issue. But it is happening as the U.S. Senate takes up police reform. The issue is a legal doctrine known as qualified immunity. These diverse organizations all agree that qualified immunity is bad law and should end. The discussion is particularly high-powered today because it stands at the center...

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) on Sunday slammed Democrats for blocking Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) legislation that would reform policing in America. He also hit back at the idea that America is “systemically racist.” “We would have police reform in the last Congress, but Chuck Schumer and Kamala Harris made a conscious effort to block bringing up Tim Scott’s reform bill,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They filibustered Tim Scott’s bill because they didn’t want Tim Scott and President Trump to get credit for it,” Graham continued. The one area where Democrats and Republicans are still negotiating is...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are pushing to enact nearly a dozen policing reform laws driven by nationwide outrage and protests after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May. Lawmakers have until Aug. 31 to approve and send legislation to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The bills include: CHOKEHOLDS AB1196 by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, would bar law enforcement agencies from using carotid restraints, chokeholds or similar techniques. The California Police Chiefs Association initially called for banning the carotid and chokeholds, but withdrew its support after it said Gipson broadened his bill “to include additional restrictions that are vague and...

Joe Biden doesn’t understand the risks and dangers involved in policing. Police have a tough and dangerous job, and armored military vehicles, shields and military-grade body armor can save officers’ lives. During an online interview with Ady Barkan, Biden announced that he wanted to return to Obama’s ban on supplying surplus military equipment to police.“Surplus military equipment for law enforcement? They don’t need that,” Biden claimed. “The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into the neighborhood. It is like the military invading — they don’t know anybody, they become the enemy. They’re supposed to be protecting these...

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, now is not the end of Black Lives Matter. This isn’t even the beginning of the end. It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Never before has a movement gained such sudden acclaim, attention, and affection from both the media and pop culture. In the span of just a few weeks, Black Lives Matter became a devout religion in our country. You couldn’t dare criticize or question it. To do so would result in you immediately being labeled a heretic. I mean, a racist. But eventually, the truth began to catch up with Black Lives...

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faces murder and manslaughter charges for kneeling on George Floyd's neck until he stopped breathing. But even if Chauvin is convicted, Floyd's family may not be able to pursue claims under a federal statute that authorizes lawsuits against government officials who violate people's constitutional rights. The uncertain prospects for the lawsuit Floyd's relatives plan to file underlines the unjust and irrational consequences of qualified immunity, a doctrine that shields police from liability for outrageous conduct when the rights they violated were not "clearly established" at the time. Congress should seize the opportunity created by...

Do you want to understand what defunding the police really means? Just look at the looting and violence that happened when police were ordered to stand down during recent riots. Liberal Democrat council members voted unanimously on Friday to defund the police and have opposed private citizens carrying guns for protection. But perhaps Minneapolis City Council members actually do understand the safety concerns of their city’s citizens. After all, they have a solution when it comes to protecting themselves: private security guards.Indeed, the council has spent $63,000 over the last three weeks to provide security for three members. That...

I don’t like Van Jones’s politics, but I respect him for crossing the line when needed and saying the things that everyone needs to hear. The left first went after him when he dared to say that blacks need to worry more about the “white liberal Hillary Clinton supporter.” Now they’re attacking for having the nerve to work with President Donald Trump’s administration on police reform...but alas, the left has slammed Jones for his actions. Several associates said he “is motivated as much by personal advancement, fame and access to power and money as by altruism.” Others claim Jones is...

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act on which the Democratic-led House is scheduled to vote Thursday does not ban chokeholds on the state and local level. The bill defines a “chokehold or carotid hold” as “the application of any pressure to the throat or windpipe, the use of maneuvers that restrict blood or oxygen flow to the brain, or carotid artery restraints that prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air of an individual.” According to the bill’s text, “a state or unit of local government may not receive funds under the Byrne grant program or the COPS...

The House approved a wide-ranging police-reform bill Thursday night, by a vote of 236-181, sending it to the Senate, one day after Democrats stalled a GOP-backed bill there. All 233 Democrats voted in favor of the House bill, along with three Republicans: Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, Will Hurd of Texas and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. The bill, titled the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, came amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the U.S.

Democrats opposed the Republican-authored police reform bill Wednesday – but anyone who relies on the evening newscasts of ABC, NBC or CBS for information would have no idea. ABC’s “World News Tonight,” “NBC Nightly News” and CBS’ “Evening News” all ignored the story on Wednesday night, according to NewsBusters. The Democrats, who opposed the bill on the basis it did not go far enough, sparked a furious war of words on the floor, marking an apparent impasse just weeks after George Floyd's death while under the study of Minneapolis police led to calls for new legislation.

Earlier today I wrote about Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the Republican police reform bill in the Senate was tantamount with trying to get away with the murder of George Floyd. That statement came in advance of a filibuster today to prevent passage of the motion to proceed on the bill. The vote did take place and, as expected, Republicans fell a few votes short of the 60 needed to move forward. Afterwards, Sen. Tim Scott, who has led the push for the GOP bill, gave a lengthy speech about what had just happened. In his view, it’s clear that the...

The police reform bill proposed by GOP Sen. Scott, one of three African American senators, failed to advance in the Senate Senate Democrats on Wednesday block a Republican-led police reform bill, failed to give the GOP enough votes to pass the 60-vote threshold for the measure to proceed. Before the procedural vote, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who led the GOP reform effort, called on his Democratic colleagues not to "walk away" and instead debate the bill and offer amendments. House and Senate Democrats have already proposed their legislation to but an end to police brutality, particularly toward black Americans,...

A Republican-authored police reform bill failed in a Senate test vote Wednesday after Democrats opposed the bill on the basis it did not go far enough – sparking a furious war of words on the floor and marking an apparent impasse just weeks after George Floyd's death led to calls for new legislation. The procedural vote on whether to start debate was 55-45; it needed 60 votes in order to proceed. Republicans had 53 votes, but not enough Democrats joined them. This effectively freezes police reform in Congress for now, even if the House approves its own measure on Thursday.

A group of wealthy celebrities requesting the abolition of something they donÂ’t even need is disingenuous at best, callous at worst. The Black Lives Matter movement seeks to counter the systemic racism they believe is foundational in American culture with a systemic solution: defunding the police. The calls to defund the police have reached the ears of every elected official, from local levels up to the federal executive. Now, the cries from the street are being echoed by celebrities.A group of some of the most notable black artists in America have penned a letter to studios and Hollywood executives demanding...