Congress Calls For Review Of Entire Criminal Justice System
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan) is co-authoring a plan to review the nation’s criminal justice system.
U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan is proposing the creation of a commission to review the nation’s entire criminal justice system.
The commission would have a very broad mandate.
It would be charged with examining the justice system across the country at all levels of government and proposing improvements in police departments, prisons and the courts.
A bi-partisan group of U.S. senators, including Peters, are introducing legislation to create a National Criminal Justice Commission.
Peters says recent shootings in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore show that easing tensions between law enforcement and the neighborhoods they serve must be a vital component of the review.
He said, “We have got communities that don’t feel trust with law enforcement. Law enforcement doesn’t feel trust from the community. It’s a two-way street. And that’s something that we have to address in this commission. And certainly this commission will be very diverse, represent a diversity of views.”
Peters says it would be the first review of the entire criminal justice system in half-a-century.