From Capitol Hill to Richmond, leaders are weighing how to resolve tensions between communities and police departments. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they support reforming the criminal justice system. Now the question is: can a divided Congress come together to move this country forward?
“It’s important that we have a long-overdue conversation about criminal justice reform,” said Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner.
“I’m looking at reforms…making sure that all Americans – no matter what we look like – feel like the police department is going to treat them in a fair and effective way,” said Warner.
Virginia Democratic Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, plus GOP Congressman Denver Riggleman all want to take action in response to George Floyd’s death – and other tragedies involving African Americans dying in police custody. All three disagree with the ‘defund the police’ slogan, but they want to look at proposals like setting up a national database of excessive-force incidents and banning police chokeholds.Kaine hopes to adjust ‘qualified immunity’ laws so officers accused of misconduct are not shielded from civil lawsuits.