Damn. This year is just crazy, we’ve had fire, flood, plague, riots, and now I’m approving of something from Rand Paul.
I hated the notion of “civil forfeiture” from the beginning because it was begging to be abused and hate it even more now. Let’s get rid of it.
Rand Paul also worked with Kamala Harris on a bail reform bill. Rand Paul and Kamala Harris Team Up to Reform Bail Practices
Paul’s my Senator, and his weekly email frequently covers criminal justice reform issues. He’s much less of a scumbag than his Republican peers.
A very low bar to clear.
Rand Paul is also the only senator preventing the passage of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Every other senator, Democratic or Republican, was in favor of it. (In case you’re wondering why they don’t just pass the law on a vote, the New York Times says, “Mr. Paul has such influence because senators are trying to pass the bill by unanimous consent, rather than through a traditional recorded vote, meaning any one senator can grind consideration to a halt. The bill would easily have passed were it put up for a regular vote, but Republican leaders have so far been unwilling to go that route because it would eat up several days of the full Senate’s time and they believe Mr. Paul may yet be persuaded to drop his objections.”)
For one, bail and civil forfeiture affect far more people than lynching, which is already illegal, so I’d rather my senator support bail and civil forfeiture reform, given the choice.
For two, I think Paul’s objections to the bill are valid. With all due respect to Senator Booker, saying that no one would be charged for something that the law as written criminalizes is not reassuring.
For three, the mere fact that all the other Republicans support it is a red flag to me that it’s the kind of law that purports to address systemic racism, while not actually accomplishing much of anything. It’s something a Republican can point to in their voting record instead of voting on police reform or economic opportunity or education reform. It’s sizzle, when what we need is steak.