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WITH CONTRIBUTION FROM
RICHARD C. CLEMENT BS., RICARDO FERTIL PHARMD, NORMAN L.CLEMENT PHARM-TECH, JELANI ZIMBABWE CLEMENT, BS., MBA., MICHELLE ALEXANDER, MD., WILLIE GUINYARD BS., BERES E. MUSCHETT, BS., STRATEGIC ADVISOR
REPUBLISHED ON TO youarewithinthenorms.com
ARTICLE AUTHORED BY KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS/FORBES STAFF
Black Lives Coalition Proposes Sweeping Legislative Change, Including Abolishing ICE And DEA
Karen Robinson-JacobsForbes StaffBusinessI cover breaking news with an emphasis on race.
TOPLINE
The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of 150 Black organizations, released a legislative reform bill Tuesday called the BREATHE Act, which calls for sweeping changes to the country’s criminal and legal systems—including a proposal to abolish the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement—and will likely face an uphill battle in Congress.
KEY FACTS
The proposal, which the organization describes on Facebook as a “modern-day civil-rights bill in defense of Black lives,” has earned approving nods but not official sponsorship from lawmakers including Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), according to the AP.
Its release comes as the House and Senate stand at loggerheads over police reform, such as that called for by protesters across the country in the wake of the televised killing of George Floyd, who died in police custody after crying out “I can’t breathe.”
The act in part, would “divest” federal resources from incarceration and policing, long seen as systemically racist by many Blacks, institute changes to pretrial detention, sentencing and prosecution, and also reduce the Department of Defense budget, according to the AP.
In a reversal of current trends that have seen the militarization of many police departments, it would establish a Neighborhood Demilitarization Program that would collect and destroy by 2022 military-grade equipment held by law enforcement agencies such as armored vehicles.
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The bill also would end life sentences, abolish mandatory minimum sentencing laws and create a specific timeline to close federal prisons and immigration detention centers, according to the AP.
Some of the proposals, such as the plan to abolish ICE, piggyback on similar calls dating back to 2018.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
The “programs that they’re suggesting eliminating only look radical if we really ignore the fact that there has been tremendous pressure to meaningfully reform this criminal justice system.” Heather Ann Thompson, University of Michigan professor criminal justice expert
KEY BACKGROUND
The Movement for Black Lives was formed in December of 2014 as a way for Black organizations across the country to “debate and discuss the current political conditions,” with the ultimate aim of creating a “shared movement-wide strategy,” according to its website. This year the coalition, which includes Concerned Citizens for Justice, has been active in speaking out about the devastating impact Covid-19 is having in communities of color and, after Floyd’s death, about needed reforms in policing.
FURTHER READING
Black Lives Coalition Proposes Sweeping Legislative Change, Including Abolishing ICE And DEA https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenrobinsonjacobs/2020/07/07/black-lives-coalition-proposes-sweeping-legislative-change-including-abolishing-ice-and-dea/
Black Lives Coalition Proposes Sweeping Legislative Change, Including Abolishing ICE And DEA
Movement for Black Lives seeks sweeping legislative changes (Associated Press)
FOR NOW
YOU ARE WITHIN THE NORMS
Derek Holt
How does abolishing ICE relate to Black Lives Matter?
Here is how it relates, Derek Holt:
1. Along with engaging in social activism, Black lives matter is a think tank of like-minded people authoring position papers and promoting the development of meaningful legislation and political candidates to municipal governments state legislators and Senate and Congressional lawmakers.
2. The Judicial arm of Black lives matter understands justice means judges who are competent knowledge and qualified on environmental, social sciences, not political hacks absurd in the belief of textualism.
3. We believe in a living breathing Constitution which encompasses respects all lives, cultures and people and we do mean all including you Derek Holt. We do not support the confederate political belief on supremacy and oppression.
Read youarewiththenorms.com on Homeland Security’s methodology at the border…..https://youarewithinthenorms.com/2019/12/05/u-s-homeland-security-dental-program-straight-out-of-nazi-madness-and-adolf-hitler-adolf-eichman-joseph-mengele-jewish-and-african-nam-hare-chi/
for now, you are within the norms