Scott said he was relieved by the guilty verdict against Chauvin, but more work needed to be done. His party and the Democrats admitted one point on Tuesday evening: The long-running deadlock on police reform has become untenable for both sides.
“It’s pretty awful to have the country’s eyes on a courtroom. It’s up to us to try to prevent this from happening so often, ”said Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) put it even more bluntly: “The judicial system worked. But a man is dead. So that is a very high price. And avoiding more conditions like this, more events like this, is still a big priority. “
Romney suggested reverting to Scott’s approach, which sought to end police use of chokeholds, made lynching a crime, and increased disclosure requirements for the use of force. Democrats felt that bill was relatively toothless and pushed for a tougher approach banning chokeholds and no-knock raids.
In addition, senators have not reached a consensus on whether or not to end qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that protects police officers from lawsuits. The waiver of qualified immunity is a red line for many Republicans.
Despite the determination of senior lawmakers in both sides to move forward, it is not clear that Congress can add another divisive issue to its plate. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and lead author of police reform law named after Floyd, said it was “extremely important” to reform qualified immunity in any bill submitted to Congress. .
“If you don’t like qualified immunity, tell me what we can do to hold police officers to account,” she said, arguing that Chauvin was acting as if he knew he wouldn’t be prosecuted or charged. “They need to feel there are consequences for what they are doing.”
Bass said she had spoken with Scott and Senator Cory Booker (DN.J.) about police reform and hoped to have a bill on Biden’s desk by the end of May, but that there were “no formal negotiations yet.”
Her timetable is incredibly optimistic. Congress is scheduled for recess for a week in May, and it has taken the Senate a full week to negotiate a relatively modest hate crime bill. Senate leader Chuck Schumer will follow suit with water laws and a US-China bill – and his chamber has yet to address some gun laws after a recent wave of mass shootings.
Several Republicans were skeptical about their colleagues’ push for reform of police behavior. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) Warned lawmakers to “do nothing [just] to do it. Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.), One of the few in the GOP open to touch-qualified immunity, was not particularly optimistic about the way forward.
“As hard as it is to get anything done here, I think it will still revive,” Braun said of Chauvin’s conviction. ‘When it goes somewhere? I’m not sure.”
Even if the Senate can reach a compromise, progressives are likely to back down. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) said during an Instagram Live stream following the verdict that house-passed police laws are “ important ” but “ not good enough. ” The failure to draft a better bill rests with Democratic leaders as well as the GOP, Ocasio-Cortez said.
Both the left and the right have used police reforms to score political points, with the conservatives’ slogan saying they are “back the blue” and progressives calling for the police to defend the police. Former President Donald Trump literally armed the issue last year when his administration forcibly released a crowd of protesters from outside the White House, urging officials to “ dominate ” protesters.
Even before the verdict was announced, Chauvin’s trial itself sparked political division and sparked inflammatory rhetoric. House Republicans tried to get Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) For telling the protesters to “become more confrontational” and “stay on the street” if Chauvin was acquitted. Meanwhile, several Republicans criticized Biden for suggesting that there was “overwhelming” evidence of a guilty verdict.
The police reform debate is just the latest emblem of Congressional dysfunction. Senate Republicans offered their own proposal under Scott’s leadership, but Democrats blocked the measure on the ground. Since then, there has been little tangible movement toward a strategy that could overcome a filibuster, though Schumer has vowed to put the House Police Act passed to the ground.
Police reform ties in with a litany of other issues the 50-50 Senate is trying to resolve amid real pressures across the country, such as gun control and immigration. But the continued attention the police has received since Floyd’s murder, particularly from the Democratic base, means it can be difficult for the Senate not to take up the issue at some point.
“The public has paid so much attention to this. And I don’t know what the Republicans will think about this … but there is more motivation on our part, ”said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “People have seen so much of this and seen what good cops do and what bad cops do, knowing most are good cops.”
The protests that dominated Washington, DC last summer eventually faded, even as cities like Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon continue to grapple with unrest over police brutality against African Americans.
Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) Said those demonstrations showed everyone in the country that the nation has different standards of justice for whites and people of color. And if there ever was a “tipping point” to actually do anything, she said, it is now.
“The reason so many people took to the streets is because they could see it [double standard] and they demanded change, ”she said. So the question here is, will those demands be heard here at the Capitol? And I have to be optimistic that they will be. “
Melanie Zanona contributed.