ACLU Statement on Attorney General Barr’s Naming of Commissioners to Trump Administration's Law Enforcement Commission

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr has announced further details about the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. The commission was established by an executive order President Trump signed last year, and is required to submit a report and recommendations to the Attorney General by Oct. 28.

Jeffery Robinson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality, highlighted the concerning implications of Attorney General Barr’s announcement in the following statement:

“Attorney General Barr’s previous public statements have made clear that he has no interest in holding law enforcement accountable or conducting federal oversight of even the most troubled law enforcement agencies.

“The need to ‘promote public confidence and respect for the law and law enforcement officers’ is a thinly-veiled threat to activists and reformers focused on police killings and harassment. Coupled with a mandate to look at ‘refusals by State and local prosecutors to enforce laws or prosecute categories of crimes’ and the fact that the commission leadership does not reflect impacted communities, civil rights organizations, or reform-oriented prosecutors, it becomes clear that this is an attempt by the Attorney General to advance a one-sided agenda.”