Tim Scott calls Democrats’ police reform bill a ‘nonstarter’
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the lead Republican negotiator on police reform legislation, called the Democrats’ George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was passed in the House but languished in the Senate last session, a “nonstarter” on Thursday, ahead of the White House’s meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus.
“Resurrecting the House progressives’ police reform bill is a nonstarter. I’ve been working toward common ground solutions that actually have a shot at passing. Solutions to increase funding and training to make sure only the best wear the badge. Solutions that would have made a difference in places like Memphis & Kenosha,” Scott said in a Twitter thread.
Members of Congress have renewed a push for police reform after a video of Memphis, Tennessee, police officers beating Tyre Nichols to death was released last week. The Congressional Black Caucus will meet with President Joe Biden a day after the funeral of Nichols. The group plans to urge Biden to make the case for reform in his State of the Union address.
Police reform negotiations in the Senate broke down in 2021 when Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Scott were unable to come to an agreement on provisions in the Democratic-led bill, which was spurred by Floyd’s death in 2020 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck.
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The legislation, which passed in the Democratic-controlled House, focused on limiting qualified-immunity policies that protect officers accused of misconduct and would have banned chokeholds and limited no-knock warrants. The bill would have also created a national registry of disciplinary actions against officers.
Among the key sticking points was reforming qualified immunity. Negotiators hit a stalemate on that provision and ultimately decided to take it off the table. Instead, they focused on a “slimmed-down” version of the legislation, but even that proved too difficult.
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The South Carolina senator, the only black Republican in the Senate, said he believes lawmakers can get “something meaningful done” but emphasized lawmakers must go back to the drawing board instead of embracing a proposal that is likely to fail this session.
“The question we have to ask ourselves is, do we care more about tribalism, posturing, and preserving the status quo? Or do we care about actually doing our jobs and restoring faith in our nation? Put me down for the latter,” he said.