Spotlight: Efforts To Overhaul Policing |
Now that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of murdering George Floyd, attention is turning to Congress on whether it can re-energize efforts to make meaningful changes to policing.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, first introduced after Floyd’s death last year, has passed the House but doesn’t have enough support in the Senate. Senate Republicans have their own bill on policing, which Democrats say doesn’t go far enough.
Here’s what you need to know about what is being proposed and where talks stand: - The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants in federal drug cases. It would also set up a nationwide registry on police misconduct, among other measures.
- A major sticking point between the parties has been changes to qualified immunity — legal protections for officers that make a high bar for victims to sue. But Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., suggested Wednesday that there might be wiggle room there, shifting the burden more to departments rather than individuals, for example.
- Scott; Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., who co-sponsored the House bill; and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., have been in conversations about these efforts. Bass said she’d like to see a bill make it to President Biden’s desk by the anniversary of Floyd’s killing, on May 25. Scott said Wednesday he was cautiously optimistic that a deal could come through in the next week or two.
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| — Dana Farrington, NPR Politics digital editor |
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