WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3203 

  June 23, 2020

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Leader McConnell:
Across the country, people of all races are marching together to demand a comprehensive
overhaul of our current system of policing and an end to the killing of Black Americans by police.
To begin to meet those demands, the Senate must move forward with meaningful reform. But on
June 16, you stated that you would not negotiate with Democrats before bringing Senate
Republicans’ JUSTICE Act to the floor. Specifically, you noted that Democrats can either “shoot . . .
down” the Republican proposal or “take the risk to go to the bill and see what changes, if any, we can
all agree to in order to get to 60.”1 We will not meet this moment by holding a floor vote on the
JUSTICE Act, nor can we simply amend this bill, which is so threadbare and lacking in substance
that it does not even provide a proper baseline for negotiations. This bill is not salvageable and we
need bipartisan talks to get to a constructive starting point.
First, the JUSTICE Act, which you are rushing to the floor for a vote, does not contain any
mechanisms to hold law enforcement officers accountable in court for their misconduct. We repeat,
in a moment calling for police accountability, the JUSTICE Act, your proposed answer to this crisis,
does not contain any mechanisms to hold law enforcement officers accountable in court for their
misconduct. It does not address the federal criminal mens rea standard in Section 242, which for too
long has allowed law enforcement officers to evade criminal liability for excessive use of force. It
does nothing to address qualified immunity, which both Republicans and Democrats agree has
unjustly served as an almost complete barrier to recovery for individuals who have had their
constitutional rights violated by law enforcement officers. There are no provisions to ensure that law
enforcement agencies who engage in unconstitutional patterns and practices can be held accountable
at the federal or state level; and there are no provisions to support independent investigations at the
state level into deadly use of force by law enforcement officers. It is absolutely imperative that any
meaningful policing reform contains accountability provisions to ensure that no one, including law
enforcement officers, is above the law – and the JUSTICE Act does nothing to meet that urgent need.
Second, in addition to lacking any accountability provisions, the JUSTICE Act does not
provide the transparency into police misconduct necessary to ensure communities have access to the
information necessary to hold their own law enforcement officers accountable. For too long, the
disciplinary and misconduct records of officers who pose a knowable threat to public safety have
been shielded from the public in a manner that has resulted in great harm to the communities they are
1

Jordain Carney, McConnell signals he will not negotiate police reform with Democrats before bringing up bill, The
Hill (June 16, 2020), https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/503002-mcconnell-signals-he-will-not-negotiate-policereform-with-democrats-before.

 entrusted to protect. It is critical that a public national misconduct registry be implemented at the
federal level to enable not just communities, but law enforcement agencies to prevent dangerous
officers from escaping detection by moving from one jurisdiction to another.
Third, while the JUSTICE Act requires some data collection, it does not go far enough to
ensure all of the necessary data is collected to enable Congress to conduct the necessary oversight
and ensure communities are no longer roiled by the tragic killing of an unarmed individual at the
hands of law enforcement. That includes collecting all use of force data, and data related to religious
and racial profiling.
Fourth, the JUSTICE Act does nothing to end harmful policing practices, like racial and
religious profiling, no knock warrants in drug cases and the use of chokehold and carotid holds. If
we are to meaningfully reform and reimagine policing, legislation must take on the harmful practices
that have resulted in countless senseless tragedies at the hands of police.
Finally, the JUSTICE Act does not create a national use of force standard. If we are to
fundamentally change the nature of policing in this country, we have to shift the paradigm of
policing. Law enforcement officers’ use of force should be evaluated not on whether it was
reasonable, but on whether it was necessary.
The Senate is uniquely positioned to lead when it comes to reforming and reimagining
policing in this country. If we are to do so – we cannot start with a floor vote on the JUSTICE Act.
Instead we must begin by considering real and meaningful reforms, such as those found in the Justice
in Policing Act, a bicameral bill with 231 House and 37 Senate co-sponsors that will be put to a vote
on the House floor this week.
This is a serious challenge requiring serious solutions. Bringing the JUSTICE Act to the floor
of the Senate is a woefully inadequate response, and we urge you to bring meaningful legislation to
the floor for a vote.
Thank you for considering this request.
Sincerely,

Kamala D. Harris
United States Senator

Cory A. Booker
United States Senator

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator