Democrats unveiled new legislation to overhaul US police policy and add accountability. Here's what's in the bill.

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Democrats unveiled new legislation to overhaul US police policy and add accountability. Here's what's in the bill.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress kneel as they take moment of silence to honor George Floyd and other victims of racial injustice on Monday, June 8, 2020.Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
  • Democrats in Congress unveiled legislation Monday following widespread protests over police brutality.
  • The most recent round of protests was sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man whose fatal encounter with a police officer was captured on video.
  • The bill would ban chokeholds, create a misconduct registry, and mandate training against racial profiling, among other changes.
  • Here's a summary of what's included in the bill.
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Democrats in Congress unveiled legislation Monday in response to widespread protests over police brutality.

The bill, known as the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, would ban chokeholds, create a misconduct registry, and mandate training against racial profiling, among other changes to national policy.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass of California, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, in the House. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California sponsored the bill in the Senate.

The bill targets 4 issues: police accountability, transparency, training, and justice for victims of lynching

Democrats unveiled new legislation to overhaul US police policy and add accountability. Here's what's in the bill.
Protesters rally as Philadelphia Police officers and Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers look on, Monday, June 1, 2020, in Philadelphia, over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.AP Photo/Matt Slocum

According to a summary of the bill, the legislation seeks police reform through multiple avenues: police accountability, police transparency through data, police training and policies, and justice for victims of lynching.

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Among the proposals outlined under police accountability, the bill would grant power to the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division to issue subpoenas to police departments to conduct "pattern and practice" investigations "into discriminatory and unconstitutional policing practices."

Additionally, it would provide grants to state attorneys general to "create an independent process to investigate misconduct or excessive use of force" by the police.

Changes outlined under police transparency include establishing a federal register of police-misconduct complaints and whether disciplinary action was taken. The bill would also require states to report incidences in which use of force was used and to include the sex, race, ethnicity, and housing status of civilians targeted.

The bill seeks to improve police training and policies, including by prohibiting federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling and by mandating that law enforcement provide training on profiling and racial bias.

Notably, the bill would ban no-knock warrants for officers investigating drug cases, an issue directly related to a March 13 raid in which police officers shot a Black woman named Breonna Taylor at least eight times. The bill would also prohibit the use of a chokehold and would require uniformed officers to wear body cameras and marked police vehicles to be equipped with dashboard cameras.

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The bill also calls for justice for victims of lynching and would make it a federal crime to "conspire to violate existing hate crime laws."

The bill has widespread support from Democrats, though Republicans remain skeptical

Democrats unveiled new legislation to overhaul US police policy and add accountability. Here's what's in the bill.
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in Henderson, Nev.Associated Press/John Locher

At a press conference unveiling the bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the bill was a "first step" in targeting systemic racism in the US.

"Police brutality is a heartbreaking reflection of an entrenched system of racial injustice in America," Pelosi said. "True justice can only be achieved with full, comprehensive action. That is what we are doing today. This is a first step. There is more to come."

Pelosi and other members of Congress also knelt in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd, who was killed following an arrest in which a white police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck for several minutes.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to commit to putting the policing bill on the Senate floor for voting before July 4.

A representative for the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, said Biden "fully supports" numerous provisions outlined in the bill.

"Systemic racism and inequality have plagued our country for generations, and the time for talk is over," the statement said. "Americans want action."

The bill, however, does not go as far as some rights groups, including Black Lives Matter and the ACLU, have in calling for funds to be diverted away from police toward social-welfare programs. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other progressive leaders have voiced support for the defund-the-police movement.

And Republicans remain skeptical of the Democrats' proposal.

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Manu Raju, CNN's senior congressional correspondent, said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was "open-minded" about ideas mentioned in the Democratic bill, including creating a registry of police misconduct and banning chokeholds.

Sen. Mitt Romney announced plans to introduce a bipartisan policing bill and called the Democratic-led proposal a "message piece as opposed to a real piece of legislation."

President Donald Trump and other top Republicans have accused Democrats of attempting to push radical changes and promote the disbanding of local police departments, which has gained support by some protesters in recent weeks but is not being considered in the Democratic proposal.

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