Congressman Jerrold Nadler
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee this week sent a letter to the Department of Justice demanding “prompt action,” including the opening of pattern and practice investigations of police conduct in the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
Committee members also called on the DOJ to investigate the prosecutors involved in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, the unarmed African-American man chased down and shot to death by a former police officer and his son while Arbery was jogging in his neighborhood.
They also called for DOJ to open pattern and practice investigations into the police departments in Louisville, Ky., where Breonna Taylor was shot to death by police while sleeping in her own, and in Minneapolis where, just this week, George Floyd was killed after a police officer kneeled on his neck and body.
The House Judiciary Committee will also “be pursuing additional oversight and legislative action in June to address the series of racially motivated violence and unjust policing practices that have resulted in the deaths of African-Americans across the country,” according to a press release.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He released the following statement:
“America’s history of racism and racially motivated violence is a plague that continues to live on through generations. It’s an ugly truth that can be seen today in disproportionate rates of COVID deaths, in discriminatory police enforcement of social distancing rules, in racial profiling and in the unconstitutional treatment of African-Americans by law enforcement, among other examples. The federal government has a critical role to play in promoting a culture of accountability for all law enforcement organizations, including at the state and local level. This is why House Judiciary Democrats have sent a letter today to the U.S. Department of Justice to demand action. In addition, I expect, as the primary committee of jurisdiction over civil rights law and law enforcement, the Judiciary Committee will be engaging in oversight and considering legislation in the coming weeks to address the crisis of racial profiling, excessive force by law enforcement and lost trust between police departments and the communities they serve.”
The press release from the House Judiciary Committee noted that federal law prohibits any governmental authority from engaging in a “pattern or practice” of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives persons of their constitutional rights. The same statute also authorizes the attorney general to initiate a civil action to “obtain appropriate equitable or declaratory relief to eliminate such a pattern or practice.”
According to that press release, the Justice Department investigated policing practices in Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland and Chicago following a series of “high-profile applications of fatal force by police against unarmed African-American men” in those cities. Those investiations found “rampant abuses of constitutional rights and civil liberties.”
Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the Justice Department negotiated consent decree agreements with the police departments in all four cities. But after Donald Trump was elected and appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney general, ‘the Justice Department abruptly changed its interpretation of its statutory role to eliminate patterns and practices of unconstitutional conduct in local police departments.
The letter was signed by Nadler and Congressmembers Zoe Lofgren of California, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Hank Johnson Jr. of Georgia, Ted Deutch of Florida, Karen Bass of California, Cedric L. Richmond of Louisiana, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Eric Swalwell of California, Ted Lieu of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Val B. Demings of Florida, J. Luis Correa of California, Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania , Sylvia R. Garciaof Texas, Joe Neguse of Colorado, Lucy McBath of Georgia, Greg Stanton of Arizona, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida and Veronica Escobar of Texas.
All are Democrats.
Read the full text of the letter here.
