For this week’s edition of theGrio’s “The Hill with April Ryan,” we explore the issue of police accountability, which is at the forefront of many Black Americans who continue to push for passage of the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act. Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, is one of those calling for federal laws in the wake of the fatal police-involved shooting of U.S. Airman Roger Fortson in Florida on May 3.
Hewitt tells theGrio that any “chance” to pass the George Floyd legislation would have happened in the last Congress. Republicans, who currently control the U.S. House of Representatives, have resisted working with Democrats to pass any bill tightening accountability measures for law enforcement officers. Meanwhile, the White House continues to call on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was thwarted by Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott, who led negotiations on behalf of the GOP. Hewitt also talked to theGrio about another important racial justice issue: racial bias in artificial intelligence.