Politics
Dozens of Ferguson-Related Reforms were Proposed in Missouri. Just One Passed.
NAACP President Cornell Brooks speaks in the Missouri Capitol rotunda after finishing a 7-day march Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Niraj Chokshi, THE WASHINGTON POST
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (The Washington Post) — The Missouri legislature ended its session Friday night having passed virtually none of the reforms activists sought in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown.
Activists had been tracking more than 60 bills related to criminal justice and policing, but just one of substance had made its way out of the legislature.
“This was such an opportunity for the Missouri legislature to step up and do the right thing. The people of the state called on our lawmakers to fix this broken system,” said Denise Lieberman a senior attorney for the Advancement Project, a civil rights group, and co-chair of the Don’t Shoot Coalition, a group formed to address policy reform after Brown’s shooting.
When the session began in early January, advocates had high hopes for, at the very least, a fruitful discussion. They were encouraged, they said, by word from the legislative black caucus that legislative leadership and the governor were supportive of their efforts. But, in the end, several expressed frustration with the course the legislature took.
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