Anyone talking about it is fooling themselves….
The BAD police action in Memphis withstanding…..
As in other things….
Politics give’s lawmakers in Washington D.C. differnt views on things….
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who was a key part of negotiations that almost produced a deal last year, gave a defiant speech on the Senate floor Monday night, blaming politics and unreasonableness for last year’s failure to reach an agreement. He did not sound like a man in search of a big compromise.
- “Politics too often gets in the way of doing what every American knows is common sense,” Scott said. “Here we find ourselves again having the same conversation with no action having happened.”
Scott negotiated with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on a comprehensive policing bill during the last Congress that sought to increase accountability for police officers, including by limiting their immunity from lawsuits over their actions on the job.
On Monday, Scott seemed to lay a more modest offer on the table, calling for “simple legislation” and name-checking a few items, including more funding to police departments for things such as de-escalation training and more resources for officers on the scene, who have a “duty to intervene” when a police interaction with a civilian dangerously escalates.
Those are only a few of the issues Booker and Scott negotiated in the aftermath of the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. President Biden signed a bill by Sens. John Cornyn(R-Tex.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) last month that would help police departments implement de-escalation training.
Scott said he never left the negotiating table, but as the South Carolina Republican gears up for a potential presidential run, the politics of legislating police accountability seem no more favorable than they did in September 2021, when formal discussions fell apart.
Many Republicans did not get behind Scott’s previous efforts, and the party made painting Democrats as soft on crime and hostile toward police a major part of their midterm message to voters.
“The problem is the crime problem,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said….
…
Unlike when Scott and Booker previously negotiated, Republicans now control the House, and they’ve shown little to no interest in the type of policy changes the pair discussed in 2021.
“I think it’s probably less likely to happen now with divided government,” Cornyn said….