Dear Concerned Citizen,
The apparent unjustified killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and countless other African-American men and boys and the subsequent, and inevitable failure of grand juries to indict the police officers responsible, presents incontrovertible evidence that our current secret grand jury process is broken. As a lawyer and former judge, it has affected me personally to see justice so ill-served.
On Wednesday I introduced the Grand Jury Reform Act, which would require a special prosecutor to conduct a public probable cause hearing when reasonable grounds exist to believe that criminal charges should be considered in a police-involved killing.
We have to speak out now to reform the grand jury system. That's why I started my own campaign on CREDOMobilize.com, which allows activists to start their own petitions. My petition, which is to Congress, says the following:
The recent failure of grand juries to bring charges over the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and others have ignited suspicions that whenever police officers kill people in the line of duty, the secretive grand jury process will be manipulated by prosecutors to protect and favor the police officers who they work closely with every day. As a result, the public has lost confidence in the criminal justice system. This loss of confidence erodes public respect for the rule of law, and undermines public trust for the integrity of our judicial system. To restore public confidence in the grand jury process and in the concept of equal justice under the law, we, the undersigned, urge Congress to pass the Grand Jury Reform Act.
Because government prosecutors and local law enforcement agencies are usually called on to act together in other criminal cases, it can create a conflict of interest for government prosecutors to be called in to prosecute a police officer. Appointing a special prosecutor removes that conflict.
The Grand Jury Reform Act requires the appointment of a special prosecutor along with the state's top law enforcement agency to investigate and prepare the case for presentment to a judge prior to presentment to the local, secret grand jury. The hearing would be held in open court and before a judge who would decide whether reasonable grounds existed to believe that the officer involved should face criminal charges.
Because local prosecutors and police officers regularly work closely together in the performance of their official duties, the closeness of their relationship creates a strong appearance of favoritism towards each other, which drives the suspicion that local prosecutors are inclined to use the secretive grand jury process to clear police officers who should be prosecuted for killing citizens, particularly unarmed African-American males. Appointing a special prosecutor along with an independent investigating agency can help allay these well-founded suspicions.
While the federal government currently has no law on the books authorizing federal prosecutors to bring murder charges against local police officers, Congress does control the federal budget and all local law enforcement agencies receive some federal funding. Congress can use its "power of the purse" to bring transparency and accountability to local prosecutors by adding requirements to the grand jury process at the local level.
If state governments fail to appoint special prosecutors or keep the probable cause hearings open to the public in accordance with the Grand Jury Reform Act, local law enforcement agencies would forfeit any federal funding they receive. This denial of funds serves as a powerful incentive for local agencies to ensure that justice is truly served.
Public support is critical in persuading my fellow Members of Congress, including House Speaker John Boehner, to support these changes. Join me in urging them to cosponsor the Grand Jury Reform Act.
Thank you for your support.
Congressman Hank Johnson
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