News Articles

"A Minneapolis commission decided Wednesday to take more time to review a City Council amendment to dismantle the Police Department in the wake of George Floyd's death ending the possibility of voters deciding the issue in November."

"Bill would dismantle police officer immunity against lawsuits."

"Dozens of protesters sued Chicago's police chief and several officers on Thursday in federal court accusing them of brutal attacks and false arrests during social justice demonstrations this summer."

"The House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill as amended on a party-line 10-7 vote Friday and sent it to the House Floor. There is no Senate companion"

"Colorado's attorney general said Wednesday that a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain a Black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative two years ago in suburban Denver."

"An armed robber walks into seven stores in Indiana and Michigan during a three-week crime spree in October 2017. Investigators get from the robber's phone carrier real-time cell site location information (CSLI) that show his phone's pings to nearby cell towers which help the investigators geolocate their suspect. The robber gets arrested and charged in federal court with five counts of robbery and several accompanying weapons charges. And the rest of the world gets an opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on one of the many questions that the Supreme Court left open when it decided its seminal privacy-related opinion Carpenter v. United States 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018)."

"The state Senate early Wednesday voted to approve a comprehensive police accountability bill that was drafted in the wake of protests spurred by the police killings of Black Americans including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville."

"White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday called the fatal police shooting of a Black teenage girl in Columbus Ohio 'tragic' and said that President Biden has been briefed on the matter."

"The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday welcomed a pledge by U.S. President Joe Biden to work towards abolishing the death penalty in the United States."

"A second local prosecutor on Thursday asked the U.S. Justice Department to have his name removed from a controversial report on policing reforms saying he feared it would fail to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system."

"Vice President Harris on Tuesday urged every American to do their part to confront racial injustice after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the death of George Floyd."

"U.S. Supreme Court justices returned to the contentious issue of police powers on Wednesday as they grappled with whether to make it easier for officers to enter a home without a warrant for reasons of health or public safety in a case involving the confiscation of a Rhode Island man's guns."

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday expanded the ability of people to sue police for excessive force ruling in favor of a New Mexico woman who filed a civil rights lawsuit after being shot by officers she had mistaken for carjackers."

"Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a blistering dissent Thursday hammered a 6-3 decision penned by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that rejected certain limits on juvenile life sentences."

"Calling it a "moral mandate" Washington Gov. Jay Inslee a Democrat signed a dozen bills into law on Tuesday that backers hope will improve policing in the state reduce the use of deadly force and ensure that when deadly encounters do occur the investigations are thorough and independent."

"The Monell Rule is the most important racial justice issue you've never heard of."

"City council voted to override Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan's recent veto of cuts to the police department's remaining 2020 budget by a 7-2 vote with the mayor issuing a statement after the fact indicating she might not adhere to all of the provisos laid out in the council's proposal."

"Illinois could soon become the first state to bar police from lying to minors during interrogations a tactic advocates say significantly increases the risk of false confessions."

"Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday used the final hours of the general assembly's lame duck session to pass a sweeping and controversial criminal justice reform bill that would eliminate cash bail make it easier to ban officers from working at police departments across the state and allow for anonymous complaints against cops."

"The Florida Senate gave final approval Thursday to law enforcement reform legislation born in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer nearly one year ago."

"State judge overturns earlier ruling orders police force to give Cariol Horne her backpay and pension."

"This week a federal judge reluctantly concluded the officer should benefit from qualified immunity a legal doctrine that shields law enforcement from many claims of wrongdoing on the job." Carrie Johnson NPR

"To help reduce this massive prison population and to promote human dignity and growth over punishment and retribution WITNESS is supporting advocates lawyers and incarcerated individuals in using video for sentencing mitigation and to advocate for decarceration through clemency and parole."

"The president promised one during his campaign. But civil rights groups and police union reps both said it wasn't necessary."

"Congress was at a standstill on police reform on Wednesday after Senate Democrats successfully blocked a Republican bill criticized as a toothless response to police brutality. The vote was 55-45 failing to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance. Two Democrats the Alabama senator Doug Jones and the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin along with Angus King of Maine an independent who caucuses with Democrats voted with Republicans to open the debate."

"A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday started talks on a police reform bill the day after Democratic President Joe Biden urged senators and representatives to act before the May 25 anniversary of George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis policeman."

" grand jury in Texas on Tuesday cleared eight former officers of any criminal wrongdoing in the death of a 26-year-old Black man in custody."

"Colorado passed a sweeping police reform bill on Friday that among other reforms bans chokeholds and makes officers personally liable if they are found guilty of violating a person's civil rights. Colorado is one of the first states that will allow police officers to be financially liable for civil misconduct suits according to the state's ACLU. "

"Colorado's attorney general on Friday convened a grand jury probe into the death of Elijah McClain a young unarmed Black man placed in a chokehold and injected with the powerful sedative ketamine while under arrest."

"The Justice Department will launch an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department to determine if there is a pattern of discrimination or excessive force within its ranks Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday."