U.S. judge halts work of Trump administration policing panel

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the City of New York Police Benevolent Association at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, August 14, 2020. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)

A federal judge on Thursday halted the work of a policing panel created by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration that aimed to deliver a slate of “law and order” reform proposals before the Nov. 3 election, saying it violated federal open meeting laws.

The Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice was part of a Justice Department effort to deliver on a promise by Trump last year to a meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The commission’s membership – made up entirely of federal, state and local law enforcement, with no civil rights advocates – and secretive proceedings led the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund to sue to stop its work.

U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington on Thursday ruled in the group’s favor.