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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

CT Lawmakers Pass Sweeping Police Reform Bill

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Thursday, July 30, 2020   

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Connecticut Legislature has passed sweeping reforms of policing in the state.

The special session bill touches many aspects of policing, including data collection for police misconduct, empowering civilian review boards with the ability to subpoena, and ending "stop and frisk" policies.

Melvin Medina, public policy and advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, which supports the bill, said it also requires officers to intervene if a colleague is unjustifiably harming the public. Officers who don't intervene or report misconduct can be held criminally liable.

"Those are key provisions to incentivize police officers to root out the cops who are continuously using this form of harm," Medina said.

Medina said it's part of the nation reckoning with how policing has affected communities of color. He can't imagine this bill passing even a year ago.

He highlighted another part of the bill that places investigations of police officers under the Office of the Inspector General, rather than the Chief State's Attorney.

"Creating an independent investigation and prosecution of police officers who use force that ultimately kills people," Medina said. "I congratulate the Legislature for taking this section of the bill as far as the Connecticut Constitution allows."

But Medina noted lawmakers still can do more. For instance, he said, they could go further to change qualified immunity, and allow families of people killed by police to get their day in court.

"The Legislature took the first step towards beginning a process to end police violence," Medina said. "You don't end police violence with a single bill. It's really a journey that we have to go on."

The state Senate passed the bill on Wednesday; Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to sign it.


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