Should Congress pass policy reform aimed at retraining police officers and holding them accountable for excessive force?
Bill Summary
H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, attempts to address structural inequalities in policing. The bill (1) bans chokeholds, (2) ends racial profiling, (3) ends qualified immunity, (4) establishes standards for the operation of police departments, (5) mandates data collection on police encounters, (6) invests in community policing, (7) establishes independent prosecutors to prosecute excessive force. The bill is named after George Floyd, a black man who was killed during an interaction with police officers in May of 2020.
Sponsor: Rep. Karen Bass (Democrat, California, District 37)
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Opponents say
• "[I believe in maintaining] the federal government’s Constitutionally-limited role in local law enforcement decisions, while providing sensible reform, accountability, and transparency needed to keep both citizens and officers safe … This legislation is another Washington takeover of functions the U.S. Constitution has reserved to the 50 states. Scoring political wins at the expense of violating the Constitution is not the way to try to balance the scales of justice, protect lives and improve transparency and accountability."
Source: Representative Daniel Webster (Republican, Florida, District 11)
• "The federal government has sought for decades to incentivize better conduct on the part of police departments with little success and at great expense. It is time to rethink the rote provisions frequently included in federal legislation relating to law enforcement for this purpose and instead focus on making transformative investments in community-led solutions that improve access to housing, education, job opportunities, youth programs, and health care—including care for mental health and substance use disorders." Source: United States Program Human Rights Watch
• "[The bill takes] away any legal protections for officers while making it easier to prosecute them for mistakes on the job, not just criminal acts. With the change to qualified immunity, an officer can go to prison for an unintentional act that unknowingly broke an unknown law. We believe in holding officers accountable for their actions, but the consequence of this would be making criminals out of decent cops enforcing the laws in good faith." Source: William J. Johnson (Executive Director of the National Association of Police Organizations)
• "The federal government has sought for decades to incentivize better conduct on the part of police departments with little success and at great expense. It is time to rethink the rote provisions frequently included in federal legislation relating to law enforcement for this purpose and instead focus on making transformative investments in community-led solutions that improve access to housing, education, job opportunities, youth programs, and health care—including care for mental health and substance use disorders." Source: United States Program Human Rights Watch
• "[The bill takes] away any legal protections for officers while making it easier to prosecute them for mistakes on the job, not just criminal acts. With the change to qualified immunity, an officer can go to prison for an unintentional act that unknowingly broke an unknown law. We believe in holding officers accountable for their actions, but the consequence of this would be making criminals out of decent cops enforcing the laws in good faith." Source: William J. Johnson (Executive Director of the National Association of Police Organizations)
Proponents say
• "The legislation is the first-ever bold, comprehensive approach to hold police accountable, change the culture of law enforcement, empower our communities, and build trust between law enforcement and our communities by addressing systemic racism and bias to help save lives."
Source: Representative Karen Bass (Democrat, California, District 37)
• "The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will address systemic racism, curb police brutality and save lives. This legislation includes bold reforms, which ban chokeholds, stop no-knock warrants, end the court-created qualified immunity doctrine, combat racial profiling, and establish strong new standards and protections to prevent and combat police misconduct." Source: Derrick Johnson (President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People )
• "The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will address systemic racism, curb police brutality and save lives. This legislation includes bold reforms, which ban chokeholds, stop no-knock warrants, end the court-created qualified immunity doctrine, combat racial profiling, and establish strong new standards and protections to prevent and combat police misconduct." Source: Derrick Johnson (President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People )
- Pelosi Statement on Re-Introduction of George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (Press Release)
- Congressional Budget Office Report on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (CBO)
- Civil rights leaders call on Congress to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (NAACP)
- Bass & Nadler Reintroduce the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to Address Police Misconduct (Press Release)
- House Democrats reintroduce police reform bill named in honor of George Floyd (CNN)
