Law, Justice and Ethics (LJE) Policy Committee

Back to 2017 Ratified Policy Resolutions
Resolution LJE-17-06

A RESOLUTION CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PASSAGE OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT AND WOMEN’S VOTING RIGHTS

WHEREAS, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of most United States women achieving the right to vote through the 19th amendment to the Constitution;

WHEREAS, women worked tirelessly for this equal right since the founding of the country, in some cases even sacrificing their lives and health;

WHEREAS, women from all over the United States, right in their own communities, were instrumental in achieving women’s suffrage through action and advocacy;

WHEREAS, every state had outstanding women who were important in achieving final victory;

WHEREAS, in the past 100 years, Native American, African American, Asian and other women of color, finally achieved full voting rights;

WHEREAS, women voters have been a major influence on United States politics and life, exercising their voting rights to achieve justice, equal rights, and good government;

WHEREAS, women hold nearly 20 percent of the seats in the U.S. congress, 24 percent of the seats in the state’s legislatures and nearly 25 percent of statewide elected executive office;

WHEREAS, since 1980, women have consistently outnumbered men among registered voters;

WHEREAS, in recent years, the number of women turning out for elections has equaled or exceeded voter turnout rates for men;

WHEREAS, the number of female voters has exceeded the number of male voters in every presidential election since 1964;

WHEREAS, the ratification of the 19th amendment was one of the turning points in American history and should be recognized as one of the great human rights victories of our country and world; and

WHEREAS, the 1920 victory was and continues to be a beacon to other countries around the world showing that United States values women, their rights, and their contributions.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Black Caucus State Legislators (NBCSL) urges that the federal government establish a formal recognition committee or commission to commemorate and celebrate the 19th amendment and women’s voting rights;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, NBCSL believes that this committee or commission should have, among its various responsibilities, the duty to recognize this great achievement by identifying and appropriately honoring state suffragists and the places and events within the states where women organized for change and equal rights;

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate; and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Representative Brenda Gilmore (TN)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-23

A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR BAIL REFORM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

WHEREAS, the use of money bail bonds has increased significantly over the past two decades;

WHEREAS, the most common reason why people are held in prison or jail pretrial is their inability to afford to pay bail;

WHEREAS, between 1996 and 2014, the number of un-convicted jail inmates grew by 59 percent;

WHEREAS, the result of the increase in the money bail requirement disproportionately affects
low-income people in our country and racial and ethnic minorities;

WHEREAS, African-Americans ages 18 through 29 receive significantly higher bail amounts than all other defendants and were less likely to be released on their own recognizance than white defendants;

WHEREAS, monetary bail amounts for minor infractions, misdemeanors, or felonies usually do not take into consideration a defendant’s ability to pay in many jurisdictions across the United States;

WHEREAS, suspects who cannot afford bail are left to languish in prison or jail for days, weeks, or sometimes even months until their trials. This places additional pressure and the resulting
unintended consequences on low-income people who risk losing their jobs, their homes, or more, if they are absent from work for too long;

WHEREAS, many Americans take a plea bargain and plead guilty (even if they are innocent) merely to get out of jail because they cannot afford the bail;

WHEREAS, the money bail system imposes a massive financial constraint on government budgets. Pretrial detention is estimated to cost state and local governments an estimated $14 billion each year; and

WHEREAS, alternatives to bail include various pretrial services such as drug rehabilitation and
various forms of supervision such as GPS monitoring, drug tests, check-ins, and court call
reminders. Risk assessments by specialists will determine if pretrial services are appropriate;

WHEREAS, alternatives to money bail amounts can be found in Washington, DC and in the Federal Court system, where money bail has been effectively eliminated. A judge can set bail only if the defendant can afford it; and

WHEREAS, a study from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts found that pretrial detention for a defendant was nearly 10 times more expensive than the cost of supervision of a defendant by a pretrial services officer in the federal system.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) urges each state and municipality to adopt the Federal Bail System, to include various pretrial services such as drug rehabilitation and various forms of supervision such as GPS monitoring, drug tests, check-ins, and court call reminders in lieu of money bail; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate; and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Representative Brenda Gilmore (TN)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-24

A RESOLUTION DESIGNATING APRIL AS GENOCIDE AWARENESS MONTH

WHEREAS, the term Genocide was first coined after World War II by a Jewish-Polish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin. He coined the term in 1944 while working with the U.S. Department of War;

WHEREAS, the term appeared in Lemkin’s published text Axis Rule in Occupied Europe which studied the path of occupied areas of Nazi territories;

WHEREAS, the word genocide comes from combining the Greek word “geno”, meaning race or tribe, and “cide” the Latin word for killing;

WHEREAS, on December 9, 1948 the United Nations sanctioned the Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide which made genocide a crime under International Law;

WHEREAS, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide would give the definition of genocide:

Genocide means any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group such as:

  • killing members of the group;
  • causing serious bodily or mental harm to the group;
  • deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  • imposing measures to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring the children of the group to another group;

WHEREAS, despite our best efforts to prevent the tragedy of genocide after WWII, we have seen genocide occur across the globe in places like Cambodia, Darfur, Rwanda, and Bosnia;

WHEREAS, North America has seen its own shameful history of genocide with the Trans -Atlantic Slave Trade and the deaths of more than a million Africans during the Middle Passage across the Atlantic and millions more through the brutal mutilations, horrific conditions, separating children and deaths by slave owners and others; and

WHEREAS, many of these horrific acts of genocide have occurred in the month of April and four states, New Hampshire, Texas, Minnesota and California have currently passed legislation designating the month as Genocide Awareness Month.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) encourages policymakers to adopt legislation that seeks to educate, advocate and prevent the acts of genocide against people around the world and specifically the people of the African diaspora and calls on the members of the NBCSL to sponsor said resolutions in their respective states;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NBCSL calls upon the President and United States’ Congress to adopt a national Genocide Awareness Month to assist in educating and preventing acts of genocide throughout America and the world; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate; and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator Charleta B. Tavares (OH)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-25

A RESOLUTION CALLING ON STATES TO ACT ON DRUG SENTENCING REFORM

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) recognizes the need to lessen prison sentencing for non-violent drug offenders who are in more need of rehabilitation and treatment than lengthy prison sentences;

WHEREAS, there has been a poor distinction between addicts and drug traffickers as it relates to sentencing;

WHEREAS, the United States has an extremely high incarceration rate which has resulted in the overcrowding of prisons as a million people each year are arrested for drug possession alone;

WHEREAS, African Americans and Latinos comprise 57 percent of those incarcerated in state prisons for drug offenses while drug use is roughly the same among racial groups;

WHEREAS, despite overall decreasing crime rates we have a significant growth in incarceration rates;

WHEREAS, the proportion of state inmates incarcerated for drug offenses rose from six percent in 1980 to 17 percent in 2011;

WHEREAS, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010 closing the sentencing disparity between offenses for crack and powder cocaine, from 100:1 to 18:1; and

WHEREAS, State and local governments spend approximately $25 billion on arrests, prosecutions, and incarcerations of drug offenders every year.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) encourages legislation that will reduce the sentencing of non-violent drug offenders;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NBCSL urges its legislators and community to research and explore expanding drug treatment and alternatives to incarceration;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NBCSL encourages legislators to address drug use and abuse not solely through the criminal justice system but with the use of public and mental health assistance; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of
Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator Jeff Hayden (MN)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-26

A RESOLUTION REAFFIRMING SUPPORT FOR RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS FOR RETURNING CITIZENS

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) supports the restoration of voting rights to all persons charged of a felony crime who have completed their sentence so as to fully reintegrate them as contributing citizens of society;

WHEREAS, NBCSL has urged states to pass legislation restoring voting rights to returning citizens in resolutions LJE-13-19 “SUPPORTING THE RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS,” AND LJE-03-98 “RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS;”

WHEREAS, every individual living and working in our communities, paying taxes and sending their children to public school, should have the ability to voice their opinions in governance;

WHEREAS, we must protect the voting rights for all Americans as it is the fundamental value of
democracy;

WHEREAS, denying voting discourages positive participation, perpetuates racial disparities and
increases the costs and complications of voting;

WHEREAS, restoring the vote strengthens democracy, advances civil rights, ends second class
citizenship and decreases recidivism; and

WHEREAS, restricting voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences continues felon disenfranchisement and hinders rehabilitated citizens from fully participating in society.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) encourages state legislators to pass laws that restore voting rights to all Americans who have served their time and are ready to become full participants of society.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, Members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other Federal and State government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator Bobby, Joe Champion (MN)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-31

A RESOLUTION ON REPARATIONS FOR THE DESCENDANTS OF AFRICAN SLAVES IN THE UNITED STATES

WHEREAS, four million Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States from the years of 1619 to 1865, and the institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned by the government of the United States during the years 1789 through 1865;

WHEREAS, slavery in America constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of life, liberty, citizenship rights and cultural heritage for enslaved Africans and denied them the fruits of their own labor while building a great and wealthy nation;

WHEREAS, enslaved Africans during cotton-picking season usually labored in the field the whole of the daylight, and then spent a good part of the night ginning and bailing, thereby creating tremendous wealth for slaveholders who reaped the vast economic benefits of the American garment industry;

WHEREAS, since the end of the period after the Civil War known as Reconstruction, when the Federal Government briefly attempted to compensate the former slave community for hundreds of years of bondage, for nearly 100 years, millions of African Americans were forced into quasi-slavery conditions through various state-sanction means like the convict leasing system, share cropping, and debt peonage;

WHEREAS, since the end of the period after the Civil War known as Reconstruction, African Americans have been widely prevented through legal and extralegal measures from obtaining equal education, employment, housing and health care; in short prevented from joining the American middle class in substantial numbers;

WHEREAS, a preponderance of scholarly, legal, community evidentiary documentation and popular culture markers have been made into the on-going inquiry into the effects of the institution of slavery and its legacy of on-going systemic structures of discrimination on living African-Americans and society in the United States;

WHEREAS, in 2001, the United Nations sponsored a World Conference Against Racism, (WCAR) attended by 14,000 world leaders and concerned groups and peoples, recognizing that people of African descent were victims of slavery and the slave trade, and that these practices were appalling tragedies in the history of humanity not only because of their abhorrent barbarism but also in terms of their magnitude, organized nature and especially their negation of the essence of the victims;

WHEREAS, WCAR, further acknowledging that slavery and the slave trade are a crime against humanity and should always have been so; that racism and racial discrimination grew therefrom, and the effects and persistence have contributed to lasting social and economic inequalities, and that people of African descent continue to be victims of the consequences of those practices;

WHEREAS, WCAR concluded that there is moral obligation on the States to take appropriate and effective measures to halt and reverse the lasting consequences of those practices including
providing avenues for just and adequate reparation;

WHEREAS, in 2008 and 2009 both Houses of Congress apologized for the “injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity” of slavery;

WHEREAS, on December 23, 2013 United Nations General Assembly declared January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2024 to be the International Decade of People of African Descent, understanding people of African descent globally continue to be victims of racism and discrimination both direct and indirect, de facto and de jure, and they continue to manifest themselves in inequality and disadvantage, and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Working Group of Experts for People of African Descent, in concluding their 2016 United States visit, stated that there is a profound need to acknowledge in the United States that the Transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity and among the major sources and manifestations of racial discrimination, and that African Americans continue to be victims of their consequences; and that these past injustices and crimes against African Americans need to be addressed with reparatory justice;

WHEREAS, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling on t
President Obama to commission a study to detail the economic impact of the slave trade and the use of slave labor; and how Emancipation, while freeing them of their literal bonds, and ending an immoral practice, did not guarantee equality in education, employment, housing, and access to quality affordable health care;

WHEREAS, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling on President Obama to commission a study to include an analysis for how reparations for past harms have benefited the ethnic groups that have received them during the course of American history; and a proposal for reparations to the descendants of slaves in America, and how those reparations can help overcome obstacles that still exist today in education, employment, housing, health care, and justice;

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators has called on reparations in LJE-04-29 “Calling for Reparations for the Descendants of African slaves in the United States,” and

WHEREAS, the United States has a long history of supporting reparations and reconciliation including a formal apology and reparations to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and reparations to Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Filipino Americans.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) in support of Illinois House Resolution HR 1011 call for a federal African-American Reparation Study Commission formed by President Obama through the President’s executive powers;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the purpose of this commission is to study and consider reparation proposals/process for African Americans in accord with the purposes of Illinois House Resolution 1011 and US Congress House Resolution 40 (HR40) introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI);

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of the State Legislators calls for the United States House and Senate to schedule and conduct hearings to examine equitable methods to finally award reparations to descendants of African American slaves who were forced to supply their labor under extreme conditions of tyranny and injustice to build this nation; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator Donne E. Trotter (IL)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-36

A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING REFORMS TO CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE TO PROTECT DUE PROCESS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

WHEREAS, at the height of the drug war hysteria of the 1980s, state legislatures across the country took action that allowed state and federal law enforcement officers to take property and cash from citizens through a process of civil asset forfeiture without having to prove guilt of a crime;

WHEREAS, since that time, billions of dollars in cash, cars, and homes have been taken through a direct funding mechanism that is completely outside of the legislative appropriations and oversight process;

WHEREAS, asset forfeiture laws in many states provide superior property rights protections, evidentiary standards, and protection for guiltless spouses and family members, in contrast to federal law, which does not require that a person be convicted or even charged with a crime prior to asset forfeiture; nonetheless, state and local law enforcement agencies are permitted to circumvent state law, thus depriving citizens of due process and property rights;

WHEREAS, because there is overlapping jurisdiction in drug-related crimes, state and local law enforcement agencies have substantial incentives to avoid relatively stringent forfeiture laws at the state level by participating in joint federal-state investigations or by transferring assets seized pursuant to state law to federal authorities, a process known as “equitable sharing,” in order to take advantage of more lenient federal law, and receive up to 80% of the proceeds from the forfeiture action;

WHEREAS, public outcry from across the political spectrum has been to reign in abuses and reestablish the most basic tenets of constitutional law and values by requiring that, in most cases, a defendant be convicted of an underlying crime before cash or property can be permanently seized, thereby ensuring a more concrete connection between criminal activity and the property to be forfeited; and

WHEREAS, studies have shown that low-income communities, immigrant communities and communities of color have routinely been targets for civil asset forfeiture abuses, thereby perpetuating a distrust of law enforcement.

THEREFORE BE RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) recognizes across the United States, the need for state and federal legislation that will reduce abuse of the civil asset forfeiture process, and thereby urges the passage of reform legislation; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; the Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate; and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator Holly J. Mitchell (CA)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-38

A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING REPEAL OF THE DEATH PENALTY

WHEREAS, racial bias in the criminal justice system, including the death penalty and its application, is an undisputed fact;

WHEREAS, African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and all people of color are sentenced to longer prison terms, more likely to be tried as adults, and more likely to be sentenced to death in the United States;

WHEREAS, race plays a decisive role in who lives and who dies in the United States;

WHEREAS, from slavery to Jim Crow to the present day, the death penalty has long been a tool of injustice and discrimination;

WHEREAS, African Americans are grossly and disproportionately sentenced to death, representing only 13.3 percent of the U.S. population but 34.6 percent of those executed since 1976;

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus Of State Legislators (NBCSL), recognizing this disparate application, ratified resolution, LJE-03-15 “CALLING FOR A MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY”;

WHEREAS, white victims account for half of all homicide cases but account for 80 percent of cases subject to the death penalty;

WHEREAS, the risk of executing an innocent person is higher than ever and evidence suggests that innocent African-Americans have been executed;

WHEREAS, Black jurors are three times more likely to be struck from a jury on a death penalty case with a black defendant according to a study by Michigan State University;

WHEREAS, since 1973, more than 156 innocent people have been exonerated and released from death row after having been found innocent, collectively serving more than four centuries on death rows throughout the United States;

WHEREAS, 88 percent of criminologists do not believe the death penalty acts as an effective deterrent against crime;

WHEREAS, recent studies have found that the death penalty has a negative impact on the family of the deceased and the defendant sentenced to die;

WHEREAS, a study conducted by the Judicial Conference of the United States found that between 1998 and 2004 the average cost of a federal death penalty case was $620, 932;

WHEREAS, States can no longer purchase execution drugs on legal markets because pharmaceutical companies refuse to allow their life-saving drugs to be used by states for executions;

WHEREAS, States without the death penalty consistently post lower murder rates for both police officers and citizens; and

WHEREAS, repeal of the death penalty will free up millions of tax dollars in cash-strapped state budgets that could be redirected to violence prevention, combating implicit bias, or supporting victims of violence in Black communities.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) supports enacting legislation to repeal the death penalty and enact more effective responses to violence.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, NBCSL supports justice reinvestment initiatives and alternative programs that address criminal justice reform;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, NBCSL urges the U.S. justice department to investigate the fairness, effectiveness, and costs of the death penalty and disproportionate sentencing; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House Of Representatives and the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator Tanya D. Cook (NE)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-42

A RESOLUTION URGING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO GRANT A POSTHUMOUS PARDON TO CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST MARCUS M. GARVEY, JR.

WHEREAS, Marcus M. Garvey, Jr. was born August 17, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica;

WHEREAS, Garvey traveled internationally documenting the exploitation of migrant workers on plantations and published them in the African Times and Orient Review;

WHEREAS, inspired by what he saw, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica in 1912. The organization worked to promote pride among Blacks and repatriation of Blacks to Africa and at its peak had over 1,900 chapters in 40 countries;

WHEREAS, Garvey was a proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-African movement, and whose philosophies led to the development of “Garveyism;”

WHEREAS, Garveyism, “centers on the unification and empowerment of African-American men, women and children under the banner of their collective African descent, and the repatriation of African slave descendants and profits to the African continent;”

WHEREAS, Garvey was motivated by his correspondence with Booker T. Washington, after he founded the Tuskegee Institute, to raise funds to create a similar school in Jamaica;

WHEREAS, Garvey settled in New York City and promoted social, political and economic freedom for Blacks separated from an integrated approach, and began publishing the Negro World newspaper to convey the message;

WHEREAS, Garvey founded the Black Star Line in 1919, a shipping company, that would facilitate trade between blacks in the Americas, the Caribbean, Canada and Africa, and the Negro Factories Corporation to encourage black economic independence and provide products for sale in Western hemisphere and Africa;

WHEREAS, in what was considered by Garvey, a miscarriage of justice, Garvey and other officials of the UNIA were charged and convicted of mail fraud involving the Black Star Line, whereby was sentenced to prison for five years and deported to Jamaica in 1923;

WHEREAS, Garvey was unfairly targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, who led a specific campaign against Garvey;

WHEREAS, targeting of civil rights leaders by the FBI was an insidious practice that violated the rights of those convening to empower African Americans;

WHEREAS, Garvey died in London in 1940 but was able to influence those involved in the Pan-African movement who still refer to his work until this day;

WHEREAS, Garvey has several memorials in Jamaica, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, England and across the United States honoring his contributions;

WHEREAS, a petition campaign was launched by the Garvey family in 2016 to get a posthumous pardon from President Barack Obama but was unsuccessful in its efforts;

WHEREAS, Jamaica is currently taking steps to expunge Garvey’s criminal record, after providing him with a royal pardon in 1984 for his conviction for contempt of court; and

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) believes that those wrongfully convicted of crimes should be cleared even after their death.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) calls for a presidential pardon for Marcus M. Garvey;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, NBCSL urges states to recognize the value of the work done by Marcus M. Garvey by bringing a raised consciousness and commitment to Black unity throughout the world; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that NBCSL send a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, members of Congress, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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Resolution LJE-17-43

A RESOLUTION IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF EYEWITNESS IDENIFICATION

WHEREAS, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) finds that the goal of a police investigation is to apprehend the person or persons responsible for the commission of a crime;

WHEREAS, mistaken eyewitness identification has been shown to have contributed to the wrongful conviction in approximately 75 percent of the nation’s exonerations;

WHEREAS, over the past 30 years, a large body of peer-reviewed, scientific research and practice has emerged showing that simple systemic changes in administering eyewitness identification procedures can greatly improve the accuracy of those identifications;

WHEREAS, policies and procedures to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications such as those recommended by the U.S. National Institute of Justice, the American Bar Association, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the Wisconsin Office of the Attorney General, the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, and the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission are readily available;

WHEREAS, more accurate eyewitness identifications increase the ability of police and prosecutors to convict the guilty and protect the innocent;

WHEREAS, the integrity of the criminal justice process is enhanced by adherence to best practices in evidence gathering; and

WHEREAS, the nation will benefit from the improvement of the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and their outcomes.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) calls on law enforcement agencies nationwide to adopt detailed, written policies regarding citizen identification of persons during criminal investigations;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the agencies must collaborate with the county or district attorney to adopt written policies regarding eyewitness procedures and make such policies available to all agency officers;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the policies must include identification of the procedures the agency should employ when asking a citizen to identify a person during a criminal investigation;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that these procedures should include the use of blind and blinded procedures, instructions to the witness regarding the perpetrator’s presence, use of non-suspect fillers who do not make the suspect stand out, and eliciting a confidence statement regarding the level of certainty in the selection; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, members of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and other federal and state government officials as appropriate.

  • SPONSOR: Senator David Haley (KS)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Law, Justice, and Ethics Policy Committee
  • Certified by Committee Co-Chair: Representative Reginald Meeks (KY)
  • Ratified in Plenary Session: Ratification Date is December 3, 2016
  • Ratification is certified by: Senator Catherine Pugh (MD), President
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