May 11, 2021: On March 3, 2021, the democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed H.R. 1280 or the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021". In a nutshell this is the proverbial lipstick that is put on the “Defund the Police” pig. It is an unconstitutional attempt to federalize local policing. The language from the bill explicitly reads as such:
1) lowers the criminal intent standard - from willful to knowing or reckless - to convict a law enforcement officer for misconduct in a federal prosecution,
2) limits qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against a law enforcement officer, and
3) grants administrative subpoena power to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in pattern-or-practice investigations.
The vagueness of the language is intentional, which is the modus operandi of the left, however the real details of this bill can be seen plainly in the reaction to recent high profile policing incidents in the progressive leaning media and the pervasive crime wave in most large urban cities.
Firstly, the law is purely meant to demoralize existing officers from participating in any vigorous police practices. A split-second life or death situation could not only cost an officer his or her job but could lead to huge local and federal charges. Regardless of the severity of the crime, this statute is meant to have police to “observe” crime and report the observations through a bureaucracy to be determined if the crime warrants escalation.
Secondly, the law will upend a half century statue of qualified immunity, which exposes local officers to civil liabilities for damages. The most routine traffic stop could potentially turn into a civil lawsuit against the arresting officer. It builds on the first point of demoralizing and dis-incentivizing a profession in law enforcement.
The most insidious portion of the bill gives the Department of Justice carte blanche oversight of any municipal investigation. The DOJ is political in its operation – this has never been more obvious and more certain than it is today. This means the political party in control of the executive branch can enforce its policing standards right down to the local level. This is a clear example of governmental overreach; an overreach that threatens the entire nation with the politicization of policing at every single level.
By: Extremely American Georgia-based Contributing Journalist Eric Dobbs