How the next president could change policing | 2020 Election

What the candidates can (and can’t) do about police reform.

Watch more 2020 US election explainers at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5eKjlXtsOo6SDi2ZvcHQ69q

Police reform is a major issue in the 2020 election, yet it’s also one of the issues the president has little control over. Police are primarily funded and managed by local governments instead of the federal government. So when it comes to what the president or Congress can actually do to change policing in America…it’s pretty limited.

But the federal government does have the power to change what’s called qualified immunity. It’s a legal protection that shields police from lawsuits over violations of people’s constitutional rights. For protesters of police brutality, reforming it is at the top of their list. And its future could hang on the election.

This was the fifth in our series of 2020 election explainers, all based on viewer suggestions. Watch the others, which cover the stakes of the election on:
1) Climate change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfAXbGInwno
2) Voting rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3qY8ZMHEc
3) Reproductive health: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzuk13Ftxgo
4) Public schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJ37ri-Saw
5) Police reform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHePglP28CM
6) America’s role in the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5LrQv496Iw
7) Transportation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZDZtBRTyeI
8) LGBTQ rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRnpUptf7E0
9) The eviction crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F07yTI0J3Qk

Read more about qualified immunity here, from Vox:
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/3/21277104/qualified-immunity-cops-constitution-shaniz-west-supreme-court

And read more about both candidates’ police plans:
https://www.vox.com/21418125/biden-harris-pelosi-defund-the-police-criminal-justice-reform-2020
https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election/21418911/donald-trump-crime-criminal-justice-policy-record

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Written by Vox