The Horace Grant Anti-Memorial Bill

Horace Grant was the young man murdered by an Oakland BART Police Officer while a number of people recorded the crime on their cell phones. His name is more well-known than other victims of deadly police brutality because of said cell phone video cameras. Obviously, seeing the video would spur our elected representatives to jump into action to try to win our favor by showing their tough on crime even when the perpetrator is an officer of the law, or maybe, ESPECIALLY when the perpetrator is an officer of the law.

57. H.R.866 : To provide an exception to certain mandatory minimum sentence requirements for a law enforcement officer who uses, carries, or possesses a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence committed while pursuing or apprehending a suspect.
Sponsor: Rep Brady, Kevin [TX-8] (introduced 2/4/2009) Cosponsors (14)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 2/4/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

That's right, in the rare event a police officer actually is convicted of murder or aggravated assault, Rep. Brady wants to make sure the judge and jury have the right to be lenient. Frankly, I had to read this three times to make sure it said what I thought it said. I thought for sure Brady wanted to make sure cops abusing their badges to do harm to citizens could be sentenced to MORE time than the normal sentencing guidelines. Hopefully this bill dies in committee just as surely as Horace Grant died on the BART platform.