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WASHINGTON, May 25 (AP) – President Joe Biden on Thursday vetoed an effort led by congressional Republicans to overturn a D.C. Efforts for new laws.
The law is part of a push to reform policing across the country and was passed in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Biden has said he supports many parts of the law, including banning chokeholds, limiting the use of deadly force, improving the use of body cameras and requiring training for officials to reduce tensions.
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“The president has said repeatedly that we have an obligation to keep everyone, all Americans safe, and that public safety depends on public trust,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said.
She also highlighted how the new law aligns with efforts the federal government made through an executive order last year.
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The veto comes as Democrats in Congress joined Republicans twice this year in trying to block crime and policing laws in the district. The first effort that Biden backs – to overturn changes to the district’s penal code.
Washington is not a state; and it lacks the same power that states have to make and change laws. While Congress granted some “home rule” powers to the city’s residents, it retained the power to override regional government actions. District residents also do not have the right to vote for MPs.
Still, until this year, Congress had not regularly used its repeal power. Biden’s signature two months ago marked the first time in more than three decades that Congress had passed the objection process to strike down a law in the capital — and reflected a shift in the Democratic Party’s longstanding position that the federal government should leave the District of Columbia to govern itself.
The earlier bill was an overhaul of the District of Columbia’s criminal code. It hasn’t been substantially updated since it was first drafted in 1901—though, like many other cities, blacks are disproportionately affected by the penal code.
The amendments would redefine some crimes, change criminal justice policy, and redesign how convictions are sentencing. It would also remove mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes and reduce maximum sentences for burglary, carjacking and robbery.
The Senate approved a House bill aimed at overturning changes to the penal code. Biden signed the resolution, which ultimately blocked the D.C. law. The president and members of both parties expressed concern about the rise in violent crime in cities across the country and said the revisions could lead to an increase in crime.
In the District of Columbia, homicides in the city have risen for four straight years before dropping about 10 percent in 2022. The number of murders in 2021 was 227, the highest since 2003.
The Senate also voted to strike down a D.C. law enacted last year to increase police accountability after six Democrats voted for the Republican-led resolution. But this time, Biden didn’t join.
“A core policy of this administration is to provide law enforcement with the resources they need for effective accountability and community policing,” Karine Jean-Pierre said.
In a statement, Biden also offered his condolences to the family of George Floyd, whose death has sparked fresh protests over police killings of black people and called for reforms to law enforcement across the country.
“George Floyd’s murder demonstrated to many black and brown communities what they have long known and experienced – that we must make a whole-of-society commitment to ensure our nation lives up to its The promise from its inception was to provide fair and equitable justice for all under the law,” he said. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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