Federal Government Policy and Business

Sessions orders DOJ review of police reforms

CNN: The directive from the nation's top law enforcement officer comes at a critical time for several major cities, including Baltimore and Chicago, which revealed unconstitutional patterns of racial discrimination and excessive force in policing in length reports. In certain cases during the Obama administration, the Justice Department negotiated formal reform agreements with the cities, usually in the form of a "consent decree," which are then overseen by a federal court. Sessions' skepticism about the effectiveness of consent decrees was discussed at length during questioning at his Senate confirmation hearing. "I think there is concern that good police officers and good departments can be sued by the Department of Justice when you just have individuals within a department that have done wrong," Sessions said in January. "These lawsuits undermine the respect for police officers and create an impression that the entire department is not doing their work consistent with fidelity to law and fairness, and we need to be careful before we do that."

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