U.S. House passes a landmark bill that hopes to address the problem of "unchecked police brutality" and hold officers accountable - but will the Senate follow through?
The bill would hold police "accountable" when constitutional rights are violated but would also support local law enforcement by fostering improvements in community policing, especially for minority neighborhoods
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill Wednesday banning controversial police tactics and making it easy to file lawsuits against abusive officers, violating constitutional rights.
But the prospects of a similar bill in the Senate is uncertain, the Reuters reported.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed in the House by a 220-212 vote, with only one Republican (who later said on Twitter that his vote was a mistake as he opposes the bill) allegedly supporting it, just days before former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin goes on trial on a state murder charge for the death of Floyd last year.
Floyd, 46, an African- American man, died when he was detained with Chauvin kneeling on his neck for nearly eight minutes. His killing sparked weeks of nationwide and global protests, many of which were led by Black Lives Matter activists.
"How many more people have to die, how many more people have to be brutalized on videotape" before police reforms become law, asked Democratic Representative Karen Bass, who wrote the legislation with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler.
The bill includes measures such as restricting certain funds to local governments that allow law enforcement officers to use choke holds, banning "no-knock warrants" that allow police officers to enter premises without announcing themselves, and requiring law enforcement agencies to provide data on instances when police officers used deadly force.
Bass said the bill would hold police "accountable" when constitutional rights are violated but would also support local law enforcement by fostering improvements in community policing, especially for minority neighborhoods.
One of its most controversial provisions would change "qualified immunity" for police, further opening the door for lawsuits over the use of excessive force. (RdlC)