POLICE Act of 2023

Summary

This bill makes assaulting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder a deportable offense.

Specifically, the bill makes deportable any non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) who has been convicted of (or admits to have committed) any act that constitutes the essential elements of any offense involving assault of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.

Assault

According to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Resource Manual, assault lacks a statutory definition, and courts have relied on common law principles. The manual defines assault as:

“An attempt with force or violence to do a corporal injury to another; may consist of any act tending to such corporal injury, accompanied with such circumstances as denotes at the time an intention, coupled with present ability, of using actual violence against the person.”

Digging deeper into the common law from a Biblical standpoint is Exodus 21:18-19

When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

We get a definition with the distinction between murder and assault, where “the man rises again” and we also get the just penalty laid out in terms of compensation in “pay for the loss of his time”.

While deportation may serve as a preventive measure against future assaults, it may not be the appropriate penalty for the assaulted individual. Restitution for the injured party should be considered.

First Responders

The bill focuses on law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders. However, the prioritization of this particular class of citizens above others aligns with a modern view of government, which elevates civil government over self, family, and church governments. From a biblical standpoint, there should be no partiality under the law, treating all individuals equally. Deuteronomy 1:16-17 and Leviticus 19:15 emphasize impartial judgment and prohibiting injustice or favoritism.

And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’

You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

Conclusion

Due to the potential partiality and the applied penalties, the Police Act raises concerns regarding its biblical alignment.