Congress should investigate a final order by former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions before leaving office - a memo that bans consent decrees with local police departments that are charged with racial bias, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a press release on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th November, 2018) Congress should investigate a final order by former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions before leaving office - a memo that bans consent decrees with local police departments that are charged with racial bias, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a press release on Friday."The new policy all but eliminates consent decrees and settlement agreements, which are used to remedy systemic civil rights violations in local police departments and are integral to reducing harm to communities of color," the release said.
The final Sessions memo "ensures police departments can operate with impunity, and will not be held accountable for trampling on constitutional rights of the people they are meant to serve," ACLU Senior Legislative Council Kanya Bennett said.
Consent decrees were widely used during the Obama-era Justice Department to impose reforms on cities such as Chicago and Baltimore, where police actions resulted in the deaths of unarmed African-Americans.
On Wednesday, Sessions submitted a resignation letter at the request of President Donald Trump.
