The Equal Justice Society calls for deep transformative change to our public safety system. It is imperative that the current national reckoning on race in response to the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black men and women at the hands of the police and White assailants results in real change. The horrific police shooting of Jacob Blake and the vigilante murders in its aftermath in Kenosha, Wisconsin, make the need for transformative change all the more urgent.
We applaud California lawmakers such as Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove, author of AB 2054, a bill aimed at transforming public safety as we know it toward a system that protects Black lives, moves away from a default framework of police violence, and is more inclusive and community-centered.
We urge Governor Newsom to sign AB 2054 and the following bills into law in order to further justice and safety for all Californians.
- AB 1196 (Gipson) – banning carotid restraints and chokeholds
- AB 1506 (McCarty), Deadly Force Accountability Act – requiring the state Attorney General to investigate all officer-involved shootings resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian
- AB 1299 (Salas) – reporting requirement for law enforcement agencies when an officer resigns or is terminated during a misconduct investigation
- SB 203 (Bradford) – requiring that youth 17 years and younger consult with legal counsel prior to any custodial interrogation
- AB 1185 (McCarty) – to allow voters and county BOS to create Sheriff oversight boards
- AB 846 (Burke) – racial and other bias evaluation in peace officer hiring process