Jackson, Miss. – The ACLU of Mississippi is deeply disturbed that the Mississippi State House of Representatives concurred with the Senate’s version of House Bill 645, which will double sentences for any crime committed against law enforcement and first responders and charge those individuals with hate crimes. We urge Governor Bryant to veto this bill!
Not only is HB 645 unnecessary, but there is no evidence that it will make police safer. Passing this bill, in conjunction with the legislature’s failure to pass any meaningful police reform legislation, antagonizes the already volatile state of police-community relations. Whether the bill is labeled “Back the Badge” or “Blue Lives Matter,” the legislature’s intent to counter the message of Black Lives Matter cannot be clearer.
Mississippi residents, our sheriffs’ deputies and our police officers are all safer when law enforcement officers and their respective communities share a mutual trust and goal of promoting public safety. Passing meaningful police reforms would be a step towards that goal, but HB 645 leads the state further from it.
