Press Releases

Wexton Votes to Pass Racial Justice and Policing Reform Legislation

Washington, March 3, 2021

Washington, DC -- Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) voted to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a historic and sweeping bill to address systemic racism and reform discriminatory and excessive policing practices.

“The Justice in Policing Act would bring real oversight, accountability, and transparency to our policing system and enact sweeping racial justice reforms,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. “ As a former prosecutor, I know that for too long our criminal justice system has not been an equal justice system, and Black Americans have suffered disproportionate outcomes due to discrimination which dates back to our nation’s founding. I will continue working for concrete solutions to address the systemic racial injustice in all parts of our society.”

The Justice in Policing Act would:

  • Prohibit federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and other discriminatory profiling and mandate training on profiling for all law enforcement;
  • Ban chokeholds like that which was used to kill George Floyd and bans no-knock warrants in drug cases which led to the killing of Breonna Taylor;
  • Limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement;
  • Require federal uniformed police officers to wear body cameras and marked federal police vehicles to have dashboard cameras;
  • Reform the qualified immunity doctrine that is a barrier to holding police accountable for misconduct;
  • Reinvest in community-based policing programs;
  • Implement a national standard for law enforcement accreditation;
  • Mandate the collection of data on police use of force;
  • Make lynching a federal hate crime;
  • Create a nationwide police misconduct registry to prevent problematic officers from moving jurisdictions without accountability; and
  • Make it a crime for a federal law enforcement officer to engage in a sexual act with an individual who is under arrest, in detention, or in custody.

Last summer amid nationwide demonstrations for racial justice, Congresswoman Wexton joined several peaceful protests across Virginia’s 10th District. Wexton also hosted a roundtable with local NAACP presidents, a virtual community conversation on racial injustice, and met with local law enforcement leadership in her district.

The full text of the bill can be found here.

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