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The Criminal Courts Bar Association’s Condemnation of the Killing of George Floyd

The Criminal Courts Bar Association is a Los Angeles county-wide organization of criminal defense lawyers in public and private practice, law students, allied professionals, prosecutors, judges, and private individuals. The Criminal Courts Bar Association promotes the protection of individual rights and liberties, improvement of the Criminal Justice System, enhancement of the Criminal Law Practitioners, and the continuing education of the Criminal Defense Bar.

The Criminal Courts Bar Association enjoys a position of trust and respect in the criminal justice system and has an important voice in the legal community. The Criminal Courts Bar Association will continue to remain active in both professional and civil affairs that support the enduring rights of all people, especially those facing criminal charges.

The Criminal Courts Bar Association mourns the tragic and shocking killing of George Floyd by law enforcement. We support the Black Community’s demand for justice for Mr. Floyd, and the numerous other unarmed Black men and women killed by law enforcement. We join those who cry out for reforms to law enforcement and the criminal justice system as a whole, including the role of prosecutors.

We demand the following reforms to ensure all persons receive fair, respectful, and humane treatment; and equal protection and due process under the law:

• Strengthen and empower civilian oversight committees.
• Reform and improve Brady oversight.
• Mandate the use of body cameras by all law enforcement officers from the origin of call for service, before arriving on the scene, and throughout the duration of the event.
• Seek remedies for any officer’s violation, misuse, or failure to activate bodycams, and/or properly preserve all recordings and any other evidence. Remedies for such violations should include officer discipline (suspension, reassignment, training, or other), suppression of evidence, and special jury instructions, among others.
• Transparency of all law enforcement misconduct investigations conducted inter-agency or known to, implemented, or undertaken by the prosecution.
• Expand Pitchess discovery to include all records of the reported misconduct: the original civilian complaints, recordation of third-party witnesses, and Internal Affairs reports.
• Require prosecutors to provide all known records in whatever medium recorded or preserved of police misconduct or officer controversies, including but not limited to all databases available: e.g., ORWITS (Officer and Recurrent Witness Information Tracking System).
• Review by independent agencies of all use of force techniques, including non-lethal means such as rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray, when an officer or another person is not facing the risk of death or serious bodily injury.
• Abolish the use of deadly force, including chokeholds (by whatever medical or other description used) on unarmed individuals.
• Immediate referrals for investigation of all law enforcement officials accused of committing perjury.
• Mandate written reporting for any law enforcement officer who witnesses another officer's misconduct.