Congress’s attempt at a racial-justice overhaul of policing in America was stuck in limbo Thursday lawmakers failed to strike a bipartisan agreement before senators left Washington for a two-week Independence Day holiday.
The key players in the talks — Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Democratic Rep. Karen Bass of California — plan to keep talking over the break but a deal so far remains elusive, said a Senate Democratic aide.
Mr. Scott raised hopes of a deal on Thursday when he told reporters the sides had largely worked out their differences. “I don’t think there are outstanding issues that need to be worked out. We just need to agree on the actual language we’re using,” he’d said.
He was overly optimistic.
The negotiations in Congress that have dragged on more than a year since George Floyd’s murder set off racial justice protests and calls for changes in policing.
“Justice for Black and Brown communities who have been traumatized by police violence for decades is long overdue,” said Sakira Cook, the senior director for justice reform at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “The responsibility now lays with Congress to take action.”
The chief sticking points remain over Democrats’ demands that police officers and police departments face civil lawsuits and potential monetary damages for the conduct of officers.
A legal standard known as qualified immunity currently shields police and other public officials from lawsuits for the actions in the line of duty.
Ms. Bass has said Democrats still want individual officers to face consequences, not just the police departments, should they violate a person’s rights or use excessive force.
Critics of eliminating or reducing qualified immunity argue that it will dissuade people from becoming or remaining police officers and act as a disincentive for police officers to enforce the law for fear of liability for their actions.
A draft proposal by Mr. Booker would have made it a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail to use excessive force. Officers who do not intervene to stop excessive force would also face the same jail time.
Mr. Booker’s proposal also would have barred federal funding from going to police departments that do not ban the use of chokeholds. Attorney General Merrick Garland would also be tasked with setting a national standard law enforcement agencies would have to meet to be accredited. The standards would set a national policy for the use and force and on handling traffic stops.
Coming up with a bipartisan proposal, though, would only be the beginning of a difficult path for the major changes civil rights groups are demanding. It would have to win the support of police reform groups like the American Civil Liberties Union as well as the police unions.
The lack of progress discouraged some groups who have been calling for there to be greater consequences for police officers and limits on the ability of officers to use force, including chokeholds.
“It makes you question how committed they are” to making changes, said Charles Wilson, chairman of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers.
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