WASHINGTON – Today the CEO of the League of Women Voters, Virginia Kase issued the following statement in support of the Justice in Policing Act:  

"Americans agree, federal policing laws in our country must be changed. For far too long, Black people and communities have been subjected to unimaginable abuse at the hands of law enforcement. The issues with policing are not simply the result of a few bad apples. It is the result of systems and policies born from the legacy of racial discrimination and oppression where Black people and people of color are treated as dangerous enemy combatants, rather than human beings with equal rights under our constitution. This problem cannot be trained away.  The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is a necessary first step towards creating systems of accountability that will make communities safer and begin the process of eliminating police brutality in America.  

"This bill follows the strong police accountability framework that the League contributed to along with nearly 500 civil rights and justice organizations across the country. It includes measures that would ban police chokeholds like the one that killed George Floyd and prohibit police from using no-knock warrants in drug cases, like the one that killed Breonna Taylor. Additional pieces of the bill would transform how we handle police abuse in this country by creating a police misconduct registry and providing the Justice Department authority to investigate and prosecute police misconduct.  

"Like all legislation, this is not a perfect bill, and we look forward to continuing to work with leadership in Congress to improve it before it reaches the floor of the U.S. House. The League of Women Voters looks forward to working with our partners in the civil rights community to support this important effort to advance a comprehensive justice reform bill towards passage."

Contact: Sarah Courtney | 202-263-1332 | scourtney [at] lwv.org