Missouri lawmakers pass on dozens of Ferguson-inspired bills after protest disruptions

[Daily Negro]

Typical stupid liberals.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's legislative session began
with hundreds of protesters shutting down the Senate, demanding
changes to state law in response to the fatal shooting of
Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.

It ended Friday with the Senate again shut down — this time
because of its own partisan divisions— and without action on a
Ferguson-inspired bill that would have rewritten the laws police
using deadly force.

All told, more than 60 Ferguson-related measures were introduced
this session. Though a measure, propelled by concerns in
Ferguson, passed limiting the powers and revenues of municipal
courts, as did one rewriting the state's student transfer laws
that some said would aid families in the St. Louis suburb, some
legislators said they had failed to pass anything meaningful in
response to Brown's death.

"We don't have one piece of legislation that anyone here in this
body can go home and say, hey, we did this for Ferguson," Rep.
Clem Smith, D-Velda Village Hills, said. "As it was this summer
... it still is today. Nothing has changed."

Brown, a black 18-year-old, was fatally shot Aug. 9 by white
Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson — an event that touched
off widespread protests in the St. Louis area and around the
country. But a grand jury declined to charge Wilson and a U.S.
Justice Department report determined Wilson acted in self-
defense.

A separate Justice Department report sharply criticized
Ferguson's law enforcement for racial bias and using its courts
to generate revenue. In response, the Legislature passed a bill
capping traffic fines, eliminating warrants for a failure to
appear and limiting detainment for minor traffic violations.

Gov. Jay Nixon praised the bill as a "significant piece of
legislation — one that will have a lot of effects for a lot of
years." He has not yet signed the legislation.

Both the transfer and municipal court bills "were spurred out of
concerns surrounding the events in Ferguson," said House Speaker
Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff.

"For anybody to say we didn't address those issues or didn't
look at them, I just flatly disagree," Richardson said.

Some Democratic senators said the transfer measure, which allows
students to transfer within their districts and expands charter
and virtual school options, would help address systemic
education issues in poor minority communities. It's also an
issue lawmakers have grappled with for years; Nixon vetoed a
different solution last year.

But overall, Democratic lawmakers said they were disappointed in
the dearth of solutions during this session.

"It's been inadequate to say the least," said Legislative Black
Caucus Chairman Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City.

Among the measures that failed were ones mandating police wear
body cameras — Wilson was not wearing one when Brown was shot —
and another requiring unpaid suspension if an officer shoots an
unarmed person who's more than 20 feet away.

The Ferguson-related measure that came closest to passing would
have limited police officers' use of deadly force in a way
supporters said would comply with longstanding U.S. Supreme
Court precedent. A version passed both the House and Senate, but
because the House made changes, the bill returned to the Senate,
which adjourned Friday without taking a vote.

Current state law allows the use of deadly force when an officer
believes a suspect has committed or attempted a felony, is
escaping with a deadly weapon or poses a serious threat. The
measure would have limited the justification involving a felony
to felonies that include inflicting or threatening serious
physical injury.

Some Democrats, including Sen. Jamilah Nasheed from St. Louis,
charged that the proposal did not go far enough.

"When you talk about deadly force, you have to talk about
something with substance, with teeth," said Nasheed, who
participated in protests after Brown's death.

Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, said he hopes to work out
differences between the House and Senate next year.

"Today is not the end of the line on the Ferguson bills," Dixon
said Friday.

But Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a University City Democrat whose
district includes Ferguson, said the selfishness of her
colleagues on both sides of the aisle hampered progress on the
deadly force measure.

"Of all the years to address the issues that happened because of
Ferguson, this was the year and we had the attention of the
Legislature," said Chappelle-Nadal, who spent days alongside
protesters. "It's on their hands that there are people who could
be killed this summer and the laws that are in statute right now
are old and the people who shoot them may not ever be
prosecuted."

http://news.yahoo.com/missouri-lawmakers-pass-dozens-ferguson-
inspired-bills-140754090.html