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Activists arrested in Columbia library takeover; Howard University program addresses Black male enrollment crisis; Black maternal health remains focus of PA lawmakers; Old laws, big impact: the origin of Alabama's habitual offender law.

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As Congress debates Medicaid cuts and emissions rollbacks, former presidential candidate John Kasich calls for protecting vulnerable Americans, veterans link fossil fuel dependence to military deaths, and federal funding cuts threaten health and jobs.

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Volunteers with AmeriCorps are devastated by cuts to the 30-year-old program, Head Start has dodged elimination but cuts are likely, moms are the most vulnerable when extreme weather hits, and bullfrogs await their 15-minutes of fame in rural California.

5 years after George Floyd's death, OR police reform is 'slow'

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Monday, April 21, 2025   

Five years after George Floyd's murder by a white police officer sparked nationwide protests and demands for police reform, progress remains slow.

Across the country, police were involved in more killings in 2024 than any year in more than a decade, including 17 in Oregon, and Black people continue to be killed disproportionately.

Sandy Chung, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, said some police reform measures in the state, like banning tear gas and decriminalizing drug use, were passed after the protests and revoked soon after.

"There have been a lot of fights we've had to make sure that the powers of the police aren't expanded in ways that are really harmful to our democracy and civil liberties, civil rights," Chung explained.

A 2021 Oregon law established the Commission on Statewide Law Enforcement Standards of Conduct and Discipline, which Chung supports. However, she noted it lacks a protocol for addressing officers involved in white supremacist groups.

Chung criticized an Oregon bill just passed by the Senate to expand police drone surveillance with less court oversight. She argued more funding and power for law enforcement will not improve community safety. It is especially dangerous now, as she warned the Trump administration is weaponizing policing to target opponents and suppress free speech.

Chung argued Oregonians know addressing the root causes of crime is what makes communities safer.

"To make sure that people have access to good jobs, to health care, to schooling, to housing," Chung outlined.

Chung added many of the most successful police reforms are happening on a local, rather than a state level, and pointed to the Community Board for Police Accountability created by Portland voters in 2020. She noted the model, which has not yet been implemented, incorporates the best practices recommended for an oversight committee.


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