by Bob Barr | Jun 17, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comThe law enforcement reform bill introduced last week in the House by the Democrat majority – the “Justice in Policing Act of 2020” – contains a number of proposals worthy of serious debate and bipartisan support. However, where the legislation proposes detailed, in-the-weeds standards for the use of deadly force by police officers, it suggests a “one-size-fits-all” solution that would be utterly unworkable and, if implemented, lead to far more serious problems than it could hope to solve.As to the positive aspects of the bill, for example the proposals for improved and increased training for federal law enforcement officers directly, and for state and local law enforcement indirectly through grants, should garner support from both sides of the congressional aisle and the president as well. A poorly trained officer is in many ways a problem waiting to happen.The Justice in Policing Act also would reduce the “militarization” footprint of local police departments, by cutting back on the surplus military equipment the federal government has been providing to those departments for the past three decades; everything from fully automatic weapons to armored vehicles. This proposal would help to de-emphasize the military perspective of law enforcement in favor of the civilian, which is and must always be predicated on the Constitution and laws flowing therefrom.Moving to rein in the use of “no knock warrants” by federal and local police – which very often lead to unnecessarily deadly confrontations – is another positive measure addressed in the legislation.When the bill gets into the weeds of actual law enforcement, things become more problematic by virtue of its imprecise and overly expansive wording. For example, in seeking...
by Bob Barr | Jun 15, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily CallerMarches, demonstrations and even riots have been sweeping cities across the country. Protesters have literally taken over a sector of downtown Seattle. Calls to “defund the police” are being heard even in the halls of the Congress. Some health experts are predicting a resurgence of COVID-19. Amidst all this chaos the U.S. Postal Service is begging Congress to give it another bailout. Congress should respond to this request with a resounding “NO.”The United States Postal Service (USPS) has suffered from well-documented structural problems for years; long before the coronavirus pandemic hit early this year. However, in recognition of the difficulties the Postal Service faced along with almost every other business sector hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, it received $10 billion as part of the CARES Act. For any well-run business, that should have sufficed to get it over the pandemic hump. Not for the folks at the USPS.Now, just a few months after that huge cash infusion, the Postal Service is coming back begging for another bailout; this time for a whopping $25 billion. In the absence of meaningful structural reforms to the failed business model under which the USPS long has operated, Congress should not even consider granting this request.For one thing, in light of recent jobs numbers and other signs that the economy already is bouncing back, there may be no need to pass the most recent proposed COVID-19 “stimulus” package, the HEROES Act. Even aside from this broader perspective, however, it is clear that giving the USPS as it currently is structured more taxpayer money, would be throwing good money after bad. The Service...
by Bob Barr | Jun 10, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily CallerPolicing in the United States is overdue for reform. Admitting to this is not a matter of race, political party, or ideology. It is an observable truth, confirmed time and again by the lack of accountability in holding bad cops responsible for actions that should not be tolerated in a free country governed by the constitutional rule of law. There are steps that the federal and state governments can and should undertake to address deficiencies in policing. Defunding the police, however, is not an idea worthy of consideration. The fact that “defund the police” is actually being seriously considered illustrates the idiocracy that has infected public debate in 21st century America.Defunding the police because of a few bad police officers is akin to closing down hospitals as a result of an occasional malpractice incident by doctors; or closing public schools because there are some bad teachers. Such a move would solve nothing and in fact make matters incalculably worse for everyone (except perhaps for the very rich, who could afford private security services for their homes, property, and vehicles). Still, however, especially within the “Black Lives Matter” movement, the proposal lives.Thankfully, amidst the cacophony, there are a few rational voices.On Twitter, Washington Post columnist and noted police critic Radley Balko suggests we not get too hung up on the phrase “defund the police” as a literal objective, but rather take it as a call-to-arms for a host of sensible reforms. Balko’s approach should be garnering wide, nonpartisan appeal, but many Black Lives Matter activists still insist that the only solution is literally to get rid of police departments. “Please don’t misrepresent our demands,” Jonathan Ben-Menachem, who...
