By Todd Lassa

Last year’s HR 7120 was named the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act” and passed in the House of Representatives;  it stalled in the U.S. Senate. This year, Rep. Karen Bass, D-CA, reintroduced the bill as HR 1280, the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.” President Biden plans to “use his bully pulpit” to get it passed, press secretary Jen Psaki said in comments following the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin on two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter for kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, 29 seconds.

Psaki said Biden has promised George Floyd’s family that HR 1280 will become law, which means he must convince at least 10 Republican senators to support it.

Tall order, as many Republicans consider the matter a states’ rights issue, that the Constitution does not give the federal government the authority to tell local and state police departments and county sheriffs’ departments how they can and cannot police. 

Democrats and other supporters of the Justice in Policing Act say that many law enforcement officials and their departments would like to be relieved of having to respond to, for example, child protection problems and domestic disputes.

Key provisions of the bill …

•Eliminates qualified immunity so that individuals can recover damages in civil court when law enforcement violates constitutional rights.

•Bans chokeholds and carotid holds at the federal level and gives state and local governments the incentive to follow suit through conditions on federal law enforcement funding.

•Requires that deadly force be used only as a last resort and requires officers to employ de-escalation techniques first.

•Changes the standard to evaluate if law enforcement”s use of force was justified from whether the force was “reasonable” to whether it was “necessary.”

•Bans no-knock warrants in drug cases at the federal level and conditions law enforcement funding for state and local governments to ban no-knock warrants. 

•Limits local police departments’ access to military grade equipment.

•Requires federal uniformed police to wear body cameras and requires state and local enforcement to tap existing funds to ensure use of the cameras.

•Creates a nationwide police misconduct registry to prevent officers fired for misconduct to join law enforcement agency in another jurisdiction without accountability.

--HR 1280 at house.gov via The Poynter Institute