Last week in House committee we heard a speaker demand that we remove law enforcement from schools and cut police budgets. Meanwhile, a Democratic state senator continues to fight to decrease penalties for those who assault police officers.
On Wednesday, July 29, at 10:00 a.m., the House committee will virtually meet again. This time, Democratic leaders have an announced agenda of: “Law enforcement officers (community-engaged policing, bias, and hate crime), Commonwealth Attorneys and Judges (bias), and mandatory minimums.”
Activists hope to abolish mandatory minimums, which require that defendants convicted of certain offenses receive at least the listed “mandatory minimum” jail sentence. Mandatory minimums cover various crimes, including many serious offenses like assaulting a teacher with a weapon, murdering a policeman, and raping a child aged 12 or under. There is also a mandatory minimum sentence for assaulting a police officer.
If you haven’t yet you can share your thoughts with the committee. Before Wednesday, you can request to speak during the public comment time or submit written comments by clicking here. To sign up once the meeting has started, you can click here. If you simply wish to watch, you can do so at the listed times here.