By — Domenico Montanaro Domenico Montanaro By — Lisa Desjardins Lisa Desjardins By — Simone Pathe Simone Pathe Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/garner-case-weaken-argument-body-cameras Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Does the Garner case weaken the argument for body cameras? Politics Dec 4, 2014 9:23 AM EDT Today in the Morning Line: Does getting caught on tape matter? Where does President Obama’s call for police cameras go from here? House GOP to hold protest vote against President Obama’s immigration executive action Body cameras: President Obama made the case Monday for increasing the use of body cameras by police, calling on Congress to pass $263 million in funding for increased police training, including $75 million for some 50,000 body cameras. But after a grand jury in Staten Island, N.Y., decided against indicting a New York police officer in the chokehold death of black man suspected of selling illegal cigarettes, some are making the point that it makes the president’s call for body cameras a tougher sell. Nia Malika Henderson at the Washington Post and Peter Coy at Bloomberg/Business Week make the case. Henderson, for example, writes, “the timing couldn’t really be worse for the White House,” because there was video of this incident and the police officer still was not indicted. Coy opens his piece noting, “Video didn’t save the life of Eric Garner.” But there is a key point here: The police in this case may not have realized they were on video. As Coy notes, “The main reason for cameras isn’t to give grand juries more information but to cause police officers to behave responsibly in the first place. The video in the Garner case was captured by a bystander’s cellphone, and it’s not clear that the officers who wrestled Garner to the ground were aware that they were on camera. It’s possible that if the officers themselves had been wearing body cameras they might have treated Garner differently from the start.” Henderson also points to a study from a town in California that showed complaints against police dropped 88 percent the year they were put into place. Henderson concludes, however, with a broader point: That there was no indictment, even though there was video in this case and both “will likely be used by activists to push for much more than just cameras.” By the way, the NYPD has not allowed chokeholds for 20 years. Yet, as Roberto Ferdman reports, the practice is still used and hundreds of complaints have been filed. That will raise questions of enforcement and consistency for the NYPD. Conservatives get their Immigration vote in Congress: House Republicans are set to vote on a four-page bill Thursday, proposed by Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida, that objects to the president’s executive action on immigration. It would make President Obama’s actions “null and void and without legal effect.” The bill very well may pass the House, but is not expected to go anywhere in the Senate. It’s not much more than a show vote and a way for House Speaker John Boehner to give his more hard-line wing a chance to vent frustration ahead of next week’s need to pass short-term government funding to keep the lights on. Funding runs out Thursday. Boehner speaks at 11:30 a.m. EST. … The $585 billion defense authorization bill is also expected to pass the House. It includes funding to fight the Islamic State and, on the day the Pentagon’s sexual assault report is due , the bill would eliminate in sexual-assault cases the so-called “good soldier” defense, “a consideration of general military character toward the probability of innocence in sexual assault prosecutions,” The Hill writes. … By the way, Politico’s Manu Raju reports that despite decrying the so-called “nuclear option” that allows certain nominees to be approved with just a simple majority, Republicans are unlikely to reverse the practice. Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1783, George Washington summoned his military officers to Fraunces Tavern in New York City to tell them he was resigning from the Continental Army and returning to civilian life. Witnesses described the future president as “suffused in tears”. How many U.S. presidents took office after serving as a military general and without holding prior elected office in the U.S. government? The first to tweet the correct response to #PoliticsTrivia will get recognition of their savvy with a Morning Line shoutout. We’ll give you the answer, and the answer to yesterday’s question about Andrew Jackson’s birthplace, tomorrow. LINE ITEMS Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday night that the Department of Justice will conduct a civil rights investigation into Garner’s death. The New York Times’ Carl Hulse notes that the Garner case complicates Loretta Lynch’s nomination to be attorney general. Liberals aren’t the only ones outraged by the decision not to indict Garner. Some conservatives have been outspoken, too. Charles Krauthammer called the decision “totally incomprehensible”. New York Republican Reps. Peter King and Michael Grimm, who is from Staten Island, defended the grand jury decision and New York law enforcement. House Speaker John Boehner is worried he’ll need Democratic votes to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown given the discontent on his right flank, but he has little choice. The Supreme Court on Wednesday considered how federal law requires employers to treat pregnant workers. The National Law Journal’s Marcia Coyle broke down the day’s arguments. The debate was wrapped by Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center and Karen Harned of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Seventeen states filed a federal lawsuit in Texas Wednesday against Mr. Obama’s executive action on immigration. Mr. Obama’s nominee to head Immigrations and Customs Enforcement narrowly won Senate Judiciary Committee approval Wednesday, but the president’s executive action on immigration, which came down after her nomination, has put her in a tough spot with Republicans. It’s lonely being Sen. Mary Landrieu. There’s a runoff election in Louisiana’s Senate race Saturday, but you wouldn’t know it from the lack of support coming to her side. She’s “this year’s political equivalent of those holdout Japanese infantrymen who were discovered waging war on remote Pacific islands decades after World War II had ended,” write the Washington Post’s Sean Sullivan and Karen Tumulty. President Obama is reaching out more behind the scenes to members of his own party, whose alliance he sees as crucial to getting anything done and whom he considers a defense against GOP efforts to dismantle his legislative legacy. And yet, when it comes to a potential trade deal, Mr. Obama suggested before the Business Roundtable Wednesday that he’s going full steam ahead on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite reservations among his base. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader McConnell has begun a two-part campaign finance initiative to consolidate cash for establishment Republicans. McConnell met with Mr. Obama at the White House Wednesday for the first time since Election Day. No bourbon was had. Hillary Clinton had some important meetings of her own Wednesday. She, too, stopped in at the Oval Office, and she’s recently met with potential campaign managers, including outgoing DSCC executive direcor Guy Cecil yesterday. Iowa Rep. Steve King may just be Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 secret weapon, writes National Journal’s Tim Alberta. Keep an eye on the Rundown blog for breaking news throughout the day, our home page for show segments, and follow @NewsHour for the latest. TOP TWEETS #Jordan's King Abdullah is in the House. Or rather Senate. pic.twitter.com/WYScXrJZTx — ALM Congress Pulse (@CongressPulse) December 3, 2014 US health care spending up only 3.6% in 2013. Has been at 17.4% of GDP since 2009. http://t.co/xfXAe5dFmD pic.twitter.com/CoVXVlwZid — David Wessel (@davidmwessel) December 4, 2014 The government agencies that get sworn at the most http://t.co/FiAjqqd6av pic.twitter.com/hpAZhsIF9N — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 4, 2014 For more political coverage, visit our politics page. Sign up here to receive the Morning Line in your inbox every morning. Questions or comments? Email Domenico Montanaro at dmontanaro-at-newshour-dot-org or Rachel Wellford at rwellford-at-newshour-dot-org. Follow the politics team on Twitter: Follow @DomenicoPBS Follow @elizsummers Follow @rachelwellford Follow @sfpathe We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Domenico Montanaro Domenico Montanaro By — Lisa Desjardins Lisa Desjardins Lisa Desjardins is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers news from the U.S. Capitol while also traveling across the country to report on how decisions in Washington affect people where they live and work. @LisaDNews By — Simone Pathe Simone Pathe @sfpathe
Today in the Morning Line: Does getting caught on tape matter? Where does President Obama’s call for police cameras go from here? House GOP to hold protest vote against President Obama’s immigration executive action Body cameras: President Obama made the case Monday for increasing the use of body cameras by police, calling on Congress to pass $263 million in funding for increased police training, including $75 million for some 50,000 body cameras. But after a grand jury in Staten Island, N.Y., decided against indicting a New York police officer in the chokehold death of black man suspected of selling illegal cigarettes, some are making the point that it makes the president’s call for body cameras a tougher sell. Nia Malika Henderson at the Washington Post and Peter Coy at Bloomberg/Business Week make the case. Henderson, for example, writes, “the timing couldn’t really be worse for the White House,” because there was video of this incident and the police officer still was not indicted. Coy opens his piece noting, “Video didn’t save the life of Eric Garner.” But there is a key point here: The police in this case may not have realized they were on video. As Coy notes, “The main reason for cameras isn’t to give grand juries more information but to cause police officers to behave responsibly in the first place. The video in the Garner case was captured by a bystander’s cellphone, and it’s not clear that the officers who wrestled Garner to the ground were aware that they were on camera. It’s possible that if the officers themselves had been wearing body cameras they might have treated Garner differently from the start.” Henderson also points to a study from a town in California that showed complaints against police dropped 88 percent the year they were put into place. Henderson concludes, however, with a broader point: That there was no indictment, even though there was video in this case and both “will likely be used by activists to push for much more than just cameras.” By the way, the NYPD has not allowed chokeholds for 20 years. Yet, as Roberto Ferdman reports, the practice is still used and hundreds of complaints have been filed. That will raise questions of enforcement and consistency for the NYPD. Conservatives get their Immigration vote in Congress: House Republicans are set to vote on a four-page bill Thursday, proposed by Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida, that objects to the president’s executive action on immigration. It would make President Obama’s actions “null and void and without legal effect.” The bill very well may pass the House, but is not expected to go anywhere in the Senate. It’s not much more than a show vote and a way for House Speaker John Boehner to give his more hard-line wing a chance to vent frustration ahead of next week’s need to pass short-term government funding to keep the lights on. Funding runs out Thursday. Boehner speaks at 11:30 a.m. EST. … The $585 billion defense authorization bill is also expected to pass the House. It includes funding to fight the Islamic State and, on the day the Pentagon’s sexual assault report is due , the bill would eliminate in sexual-assault cases the so-called “good soldier” defense, “a consideration of general military character toward the probability of innocence in sexual assault prosecutions,” The Hill writes. … By the way, Politico’s Manu Raju reports that despite decrying the so-called “nuclear option” that allows certain nominees to be approved with just a simple majority, Republicans are unlikely to reverse the practice. Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1783, George Washington summoned his military officers to Fraunces Tavern in New York City to tell them he was resigning from the Continental Army and returning to civilian life. Witnesses described the future president as “suffused in tears”. How many U.S. presidents took office after serving as a military general and without holding prior elected office in the U.S. government? The first to tweet the correct response to #PoliticsTrivia will get recognition of their savvy with a Morning Line shoutout. We’ll give you the answer, and the answer to yesterday’s question about Andrew Jackson’s birthplace, tomorrow. LINE ITEMS Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday night that the Department of Justice will conduct a civil rights investigation into Garner’s death. The New York Times’ Carl Hulse notes that the Garner case complicates Loretta Lynch’s nomination to be attorney general. Liberals aren’t the only ones outraged by the decision not to indict Garner. Some conservatives have been outspoken, too. Charles Krauthammer called the decision “totally incomprehensible”. New York Republican Reps. Peter King and Michael Grimm, who is from Staten Island, defended the grand jury decision and New York law enforcement. House Speaker John Boehner is worried he’ll need Democratic votes to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown given the discontent on his right flank, but he has little choice. The Supreme Court on Wednesday considered how federal law requires employers to treat pregnant workers. The National Law Journal’s Marcia Coyle broke down the day’s arguments. The debate was wrapped by Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center and Karen Harned of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Seventeen states filed a federal lawsuit in Texas Wednesday against Mr. Obama’s executive action on immigration. Mr. Obama’s nominee to head Immigrations and Customs Enforcement narrowly won Senate Judiciary Committee approval Wednesday, but the president’s executive action on immigration, which came down after her nomination, has put her in a tough spot with Republicans. It’s lonely being Sen. Mary Landrieu. There’s a runoff election in Louisiana’s Senate race Saturday, but you wouldn’t know it from the lack of support coming to her side. She’s “this year’s political equivalent of those holdout Japanese infantrymen who were discovered waging war on remote Pacific islands decades after World War II had ended,” write the Washington Post’s Sean Sullivan and Karen Tumulty. President Obama is reaching out more behind the scenes to members of his own party, whose alliance he sees as crucial to getting anything done and whom he considers a defense against GOP efforts to dismantle his legislative legacy. And yet, when it comes to a potential trade deal, Mr. Obama suggested before the Business Roundtable Wednesday that he’s going full steam ahead on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite reservations among his base. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader McConnell has begun a two-part campaign finance initiative to consolidate cash for establishment Republicans. McConnell met with Mr. Obama at the White House Wednesday for the first time since Election Day. No bourbon was had. Hillary Clinton had some important meetings of her own Wednesday. She, too, stopped in at the Oval Office, and she’s recently met with potential campaign managers, including outgoing DSCC executive direcor Guy Cecil yesterday. Iowa Rep. Steve King may just be Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 secret weapon, writes National Journal’s Tim Alberta. Keep an eye on the Rundown blog for breaking news throughout the day, our home page for show segments, and follow @NewsHour for the latest. TOP TWEETS #Jordan's King Abdullah is in the House. Or rather Senate. pic.twitter.com/WYScXrJZTx — ALM Congress Pulse (@CongressPulse) December 3, 2014 US health care spending up only 3.6% in 2013. Has been at 17.4% of GDP since 2009. http://t.co/xfXAe5dFmD pic.twitter.com/CoVXVlwZid — David Wessel (@davidmwessel) December 4, 2014 The government agencies that get sworn at the most http://t.co/FiAjqqd6av pic.twitter.com/hpAZhsIF9N — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 4, 2014 For more political coverage, visit our politics page. Sign up here to receive the Morning Line in your inbox every morning. Questions or comments? Email Domenico Montanaro at dmontanaro-at-newshour-dot-org or Rachel Wellford at rwellford-at-newshour-dot-org. Follow the politics team on Twitter: Follow @DomenicoPBS Follow @elizsummers Follow @rachelwellford Follow @sfpathe We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now