George Floyd

Here's What the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Would Do

President Joe Biden says the guilty verdicts against Derek Chauvin are a "step forward." Now he wants Congress to pass police reforms

People carry signs after the verdict is announced in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., U.S., on April 20, 2021. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd when he knelt on the mans neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, a videotaped death that ignited a summer of rage and the greatest racial reckoning in the U.S. since the 1960s.
Getty Images

As he welcomed the guilty verdicts Tuesday against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, President Joe Biden pressed Congress to advance the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, named for the Black man Chauvin killed while kneeling on his neck.

The bill, approved by the Democratic-led House in March, has yet to receive a vote in the Senate, where 10 Republicans would be needed for passage because of the chamber's 60-vote filibuster rule.

“George Floyd was murdered almost a year ago,” Biden said in remarks Tuesday night at the White House. “It shouldn’t take a whole year to get this done.”

A jury convicted Chauvin of second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter, a development that Biden described as a “step forward” toward addressing systemic racism and police misconduct but “not enough.” Biden added that when speaking with Floyd’s family he “assured them we’re going to continue to fight for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act so I can sign the law as quickly as possible.”

The bill aims to end certain police techniques, including chokeholds and carotid holds, two forms of potentially deadly force. Such practices would be banned at the federal level, and federal funding for local and state police agencies would be conditioned on those agencies outlawing them. The bill also seeks to improve police training and invest in community programs designed to improve policing and promote equitable new policies.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com

Contact Us