Advisory: Rep. Hank Johnson re-introducing Grand Jury Reform Act

Congressman announces bill in Hip Hop Caucus event on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) will announce the re-introduction of his Grand Jury Reform Act of 2015.

In response to calls that the nation’s grand jury system is broken when police are investigated for the killing of civilians, the Grand Jury Reform Act was first introduced during the late 113th Congress. The Grand Jury Reform Act requires the appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation and present the results to a judge in a probable cause hearing, open to the public, whenever a police officer kills an individual while acting in the line of duty.

A strong majority of likely 2016 voters back a proposal for outside special prosecutors to investigate police-involved deaths, according to a new poll released by the Progressive Change Institute. Sixty-one percent of those polled back the proposal, including 76 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of Independents. A plurality of Republicans – 48 percent – also support the plan.

“According to this poll, one thing that Americans of all political stripes can agree on is the need for special outside prosecutors to be appointed when police are involved in the killings of civilians,” the Progressive Change Institute said in a statement.

WHO: Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04); Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay; Hilary Shelton, NAACP; Tanya Clay House, Lawyers’Committee on Civil Rights; Nathan, CODEPINK; Rev. Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus
WHAT: Re-introduction of the Grand Jury Reform Act; Panel: Black Lives Matter and Grand Jury Reform co-hosted with the Hip Hop Caucus and Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, head of the Ferguson Taskforce;
WHEN: Wednesday, January 21 from 2:30-4 p.m.;
WHERE: Rayburn HOB room 2226.

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