House passes police reform bill named after George Floyd



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On Wednesday, the House passed a police reform bill that would ban strangulations and revise qualified immunity protections for officers.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, HR 1280, passed 220-212 – although a Republican official said he mistakenly voted yes and changed the official record to reflect his opposition.

Rep Lance Gooden, R-Texas, tweeted that he pressed the wrong button and voted for the bill by accident.

A version of the bill passed last year but blocked in the Senate, which was then under Republican control. The House bill passed Wednesday night has yet to go to the Senate, where it will need at least 10 Republican votes to pass.

The bill is named after Floyd, the black man who died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck for minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired and faces charges of second degree murder and manslaughter. His trial and jury selection are scheduled to begin on Monday.

The bill, among other things, would ban cable ties and “no-hit” warrants in drug cases at the federal level. It would also reform qualified immunity, which is a doctrine that makes it difficult to prosecute officers.

Some places have already taken such measures. Colorado last year ended qualified immunity as a defense for state court officials.

The Biden administration gave its backing to the bill on Monday. The White House has said that trust between law enforcement and communities can only be restored if police are held accountable for abuses of power.

Representative Karen Bass, D-Calif., Who introduced the bill, said she was confident members of the House will be able to work with the Senate to get it passed. She said that after the last bill was passed, “a lot of our Republican colleagues said they thought they could come to a yes on this, but they had some difficulty.”

“One of the things that has happened in the past 12 months, however, is that many states have gone ahead without us and started to pass reforms,” Bass said. “So this time when we sit down to meet, we can talk about reforms that are already in place.”

Benjamin Crump and Antonio Romanucci, attorneys for the Floyd family, said on behalf of the family “we are deeply satisfied and grateful” with the leadership of the House, and they urged the Senate to pass the bill.

“This represents a major step forward in reforming the relationship between police and communities of color and imposing responsibilities on law enforcement officers whose conscious decisions save the lives or cause death of Americans, including so many. people of color, ”they said in a statement. declaration.



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