Written Testimony of
Bishop John Selders
Co-Founder of Moral Monday CT
Before The Judiciary Committee Listening Session
of Proposed Legislation on Police Accountability
July 17, 2020
Good Morning State Senator Winfield and State Representative Stafstrom and members of the Judiciary Committee. My name is John Selders, Pastor of Amistad United Church of Christ, Hartford, CT and Co-Founder of Moral Monday CT, a statewide group of persons of faith and conscious doing our work at the intersection of social justice and the Movement for Black Lives.
I along with my colleagues with Moral Monday CT support in general this bill and the work of the leadership of this committee, in particularly, to bring forth a bill with key provisions important to us. We support the direction of the bill regarding Section 30, The Duty to Intervene, Section 21 & 22, Stop and Frisk, Section 33-37 around Independent Investigation and Prosecution, Section 41, Qualified Immunity, Section 23, The Role and Work of The Division of Criminal Justice and the Chief Court Administrator, Section 40, Divestment in the 1033 Program, Sections 24-28, Increased Citizen Criminal Liability “The Amy Cooper Section”, and Section 31 & 32, Extended Professional Penalty.
We believe it is time to comes to terms with what many of us have being saying in the streets across this state and understand the impact of living year after year with the feeling of being hunted, unacknowledged and unheard. We have this moment, right now, to forward something new. Let’s do it, together.
Thank you for your consideration.