BYMIKE LILLISANDSCOTT WONG-
On Monday, Democrats in both chambers introduced sweeping reforms designed to combat racial disparities in the criminal justice system — the party’s much awaited legislative response to recent police violence against African Americans that's sparked mass protests across the country and beyond.
The reform bills were introduced by leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus. One of them, the Justice in Policing Act, aims to rein in the use of excessive force by law enforcers, particularly the violence targeting blacks and other minorities, who die disproportionately at the hands of police.
Observers are calling the package, 'the most aggressive crack down on law enforcement to arrive in decades' . They proposed laws would establish a federal ban on chokeholds, eliminate the legal shield protecting police from lawsuits, mandate the use of body cameras nationwide, limit federal transfers of military-style weapons to local police, ban military-style weapons for police and create a national database disclosing the names of officers with patterns of abuse.
The reforms would also include a bill passed by the House earlier this year that would make lynching a federal hate crime.
Read more: TheHill.com