’Back the Blue’ legislation makes Iowans less safe and free

In response to racial justice protests last summer, Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have introduced bills that ramp up penalties on protest activity and limit local government discretion in dealing with protests and public safety issues.

Iowa House Republicans bundled multiple bills into a single sweeping amendment to Senate File 342, which passed the House 60-30 on Wednesday. It now returns to the Senate.

The new “Back the Blue” bill is broad, affecting everything from sick leave for public safety officers to punishments for riots and eluding police. Although some parts of this wide-ranging bill are fine, others are dangerous and disturbing. The bill will likely chill First Amendment speech and assembly, punish harmless activity and escalate and immunize violence. In short, this bill will make us both less free and less safe.

While the bill is targeted at protests in Iowa City and Des Moines following the killing of George Floyd last summer, it is not unique. Across the country, some 91 similar bills have been introduced into state legislatures, according to the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law. This is part of a concerted, nationwide effort to crack down on protests and to strip law enforcement and local government of any discretion to respond to them.

The House bill subjects protesters, and perhaps others perceived as protesters, to severe harm and penalties:

In addition to imposing severe punishments for a wide range of conduct, the House bill also strips away local discretion by preventing law enforcement or local government from deciding, based on circumstances, not to enforce a provision of state, local or municipal law. A local government found in violation would be denied state funds for the following fiscal year. In other words, the bill effectively defunds both law enforcement and municipal operations for exercising discretion they have always had.

It is impossible to enforce every single law all the time. Given limited budget and personnel resources, local discretion to determine enforcement priorities is critical to keeping both the public and law enforcement officers safe. Tying the hands of law enforcement — giving them no choice but to enforce — is a recipe for increased tensions and conflict.

Many parts of the “Back the Blue” bill are extreme and unnecessary. Existing state laws are more than adequate to deal with protests. By ramping up penalties for vaguely-defined crimes, this bill is likely to chill First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly. It also subjects young people and others to serious harm, and it prevents law enforcement from exercising critical discretion on how best to respond to fluid, quickly moving, and potentially dangerous situations. A bill supposedly about law and order will ultimately deprive us of our rights under law and make our communities less safe.

State Rep. Christina Bohannan represents House District 85 and is a law professor at the University of Iowa. Janice Weiner is an Iowa City Council member.