An opportunity not being pursued

It is a great tragedy that the opportunity created by George Floyd's death is being allowed to go to waste by the MSM focus on driving division and clicks for revenue. I think there is a real opportunity for connecting shared objectives.

That opportunity is exemplified by this tweet.

Today would have been Breonna Taylor’s birthday. @arishapiro reports from Louisville, where her family is planning to celebrate her life — and push for police reforms that might have saved her life. https://t.co/LbpURugDWD

— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) June 5, 2020

She was killed by police during a no-knock raid. An example of a policing technique used in many big cities but abhorred by both left and right.

Points on which I think most of the right, along with moderates and the center left likely would agree include:

Abolish or significantly reform no-knock raids.

Abolish of significantly reform qualified immunity for police and government officials.

Significantly reform and constrain District Attorney over-charging.

Better regulate plea bargaining.

Abolish of significantly reform rarely enforced ordinances or laws.

Reform and better fund Public Defenders in order to better catch and prevent bad travesties.

I also think that there might be ground to be bridged on

Police resources should be proportioned to where crimes are committed (creates disparate impact and it reduces policing of quality-of-life crimes but enhances equitable access)

Reorient to achieve policies through voluntary compliance over coercion and punishment.

Rule of law and equality before the law.

Divorce of law enforcement from political partisanship.

Reforms and higher funding of police to tackle burn-out and PTSD-like conditions.

Make a better distinction between run-of-the-mill errors & lapses versus serious dereliction. If you over-punish police, you create a strong incentive to close ranks.

Finally, I think this period of riots invites a revisit of the well-intended but flawed effort to reduce over-criminalization by catch-and-release. The goal might be justifiable but the implementation is patently absurd when you have rioters creating destruction being caught and released but you simultaneously have beach-goers, park walkers etc. being arrested and thrown into jail.

It makes a mockery of the law and the judicial system to have that contrast. Civilization rests on some modicum of social norms, respect for the law, and voluntary adherence to the law.