Qualified Immunity Is Still the Key to Real Police Reform SHARE
As we approach the one‐year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, Congress stands at a crossroads: It can deliver the real reform it has repeatedly promised by overhauling qualified immunity, or it can settle for a package of largely meaningless window dressing that leaves untouched our indefensible policy of near‐zero accountability for police. From a purely policy standpoint, the choice is a no‐brainer. As explained below, it’s good politics as well.
To briefly recap, there is bipartisan agreement that American policing stands in desperate need of reform, particularly with respect to excessive force, racial disparities, and accountability. Acknowledging the ongoing crisis of public confidence in police, Congress has spent the past year working to identify key problems and assessing proposed solutions. In the course of those discussions, a single issue has come to p
Leaders urge historic DOJ confirmation of Kristen Clarke against GOP opposition
Exclusive: Clarke would become the first Black woman to lead the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke delivers remarks after being nominated to be civil rights division assistant attorney general by President-elect Joe Biden at The Queen theater January 07, 2021 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kristen Clarke is poised to make history as the first Black woman to lead the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division but not before her nomination gets past political opposition from Senate Republicans.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected on Thursday to vote on Clarke’s nomination and send its recommendation to the U.S. Senate for a full vote. Judging by the lines of questioning from Republican members of the committee during Clarke’s hearing last month, her nomination could end up falling along party lines.
The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked Thursday on whether to advance President Biden's pick to lead the Department of Justice's (DOJ) civil rights division, leaving it up to Senate leadership to send her confirmation to the floor for a vo
Glenn Youngkin, the multimillionaire businessman who sought to cast himself as a political outsider with the best chance to challenge Democratic power, will represent Republicans in the race to become Virginiaâs next governor.
Youngkin prevailed Monday night as entrepreneur Pete Snyder, his final rival for the nomination, conceded during the sixth round of vote counting at the Richmond Marriott.
The 54-year-old from Fairfax County was a late entrant in the campaign, with little name recognition in the tight-knit Virginia GOP, which tasked a relatively small number of party loyalists with choosing its nominee in a convention.
Fueled by his own fortune, Youngkin, former CEO of a global investment firm, used the biggest war chest in the race to promote stricter voting laws, the protection of the stateâs right-to-work status, under which membership in a union cannot be a condition of employment, and the end of âliberalâ influence on public schools.
Stars
the
House, the daily live streamed concert series created by Playbill correspondent and SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley, celebrates the 21st birthday of its production supervisor, David Katz, May 12.
Watch the stream, featuring several surprise Broadway guests, above beginning at 8 PM ET. James Wesley and Seth Rudetsky Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Stars in the House launched March 16 last year to promote support for The Actors Fund and its services in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It has also raised funds for the NAACP s Legal Defense Fund in support of the Black Lives Matter movement as well as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.