Jeremie defends Special Operations Bill

At­tor­ney Gen­er­al John Je­re­mie has ro­bust­ly de­fend­ed Gov­ern­ment’s pro­posed Spe­cial Op­er­a­tions Bill in the Sen­ate, re­ject­ing claims that the leg­is­la­tion is root­ed in racism or re­sem­bles apartheid and in­sist­ing that any lim­i­ta­tions on in­di­vid­ual rights are jus­ti­fied by the threat posed by vi­o­lent crime and gang ac­tiv­i­ty.

Lead­ing de­bate on the bill yes­ter­day, Je­re­mie re­spond­ed di­rect­ly to crit­i­cisms raised dur­ing its pas­sage through the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives, in­clud­ing com­par­isons be­tween the pro­posed law and South Africa’s for­mer apartheid sys­tem.

He said the is­sue went be­yond or­di­nary po­lit­i­cal dis­agree­ment and touched on some of the coun­try’s most painful his­tor­i­cal ex­pe­ri­ences.