Fast Facts for May 25, 2021
Despite the President’s deadline of today – the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder – there is still *no* police reform legislation being signed into law.
At least not yet.
But it’s not over – lawmakers say they’re still working on it.
The house passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act for a second time back in March… but the legislation has stalled in the Senate. Just as it did last summer.
But today – renewed optimism from the three key negotiators working out the deal.
Democrat Senator Cory Booker, Republican Senator Tim Scott and Democrat Representative Karen Bass say they can “see the light at the end of the tunnel” – which is good given the divisiveness around police reform over the last year.
The sticking point remains whether to end or amend qualified immunity for police officers. Qualified immunity protects officers from civilian law suits for certain on-duty abuses.
The House passed bill has several items in it like banning no-knock warrants, limits the use of military grade equipment in police departments, and banning certain types of choke holds among other things.
We’ll have to see what is included in the Senate version.
PLUS
The Washington Post is reporting that the Manhattan District Attorney has convened the grand jury to decide whether or not to indict former President Donald Trump and others on criminal charges.
Now, this is big news…and in my business it’s called an exclusive. That means the Washington Post is the only news outlet – as of right now — that has these original sources and documents to report this information. So, as a journalist, I’m not going to regurgitate their work, you can read it for yourself on the Washington Post website. (I put the link below)
Instead – I’m going to help you understand what a grand jury is and how they work.
Grand juries are involved early in serious criminal cases. They work with prosecutors to decide whether to bring criminal charges or indictments against a potential defendant. They are made up of citizen jurors and listen to evidence and witness testimony just like trial juries…however that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
Grand juries are not open to the public – they are held in secret.
Citizens impaneled on a grand jury don’t just hear one case, they listen to multiple cases and serve for months (though they don’t hear cases every day)
There is no judge, no court staff, no clerks and often no lawyers in the room other than the prosecutor.
Unlike trial juries, grand juries get to hear whatever evidence they want. Not just the evidence agreed to by both sides in a criminal trial.
Grand juries do not need to reach a unanimous decision to indict.
It’s important to understand — the grand jury is not determining the guilt of the potential defendant but whether there’s enough probable cause to bring charges against that person.
To do that – when presenting evidence, the prosecutor does *not* have to meet the high threshold of “beyond a reasonable doubt” for indictment. In most states, the grand jury can indict based on a “preponderance of the evidence” meaning it’s more likely than not.
There’s no time frame for when a grand jury will make its decision, and though we never know exactly what is said during a grand jury hearing, we’ll know what they decide if and when the prosecutor issues charges.
Washington Post article here.
