In summary

For more than a year, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber has been working on a bill meant to curb police shootings by limiting when police can use deadly force. She persevered through political setbacks and failed attempts at compromise before landing on a version that now appears likely to become law.

For more than a year, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber has been working on a bill meant to curb police shootings by limiting when police can use deadly force. She persevered through political setbacks and failed attempts at compromise before landing on a version that now appears likely to become law. Beyond her elected office though, it’s as if Weber has been working toward this bill for her entire life. A sharecropper’s daughter who was born in Arkansas, Weber came of age in Los Angeles during the rise of the black power movement in the 1960s. She went on to study history and spent decades as a scholar of African-American social movements that foreshadowed today’s push for greater police accountability. Episode 3 of Force of Law is about Assemblywoman Shirley Weber and the lawmakers she must convince to help her pass a tougher standard for police to use lethal force.

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Laurel covers California politics for CalMatters, with a focus on power and personalities in the state Capitol. She's been included in the Washington Post’s list of outstanding state politics reporters...