The drafting of the legislation was preceded by a series of killings of Black Americans by white police officers and civilians in 2020, including George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, which resulted in a protest movement. However, the proposed legislation contains some provisions that civil rights advocates have long sought. The bill is named in Floyd's honor.
Provisions
The legislation has been described as sweeping. It would:
Grant power to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to issue subpoenas to police departments as part of "pattern or practice" investigations into whether there has been a "pattern and practice" of bias or misconduct by the department
Provide grants to state attorneys general to "create an independent process to investigate misconduct or excessive use of force" by police forces
Establish a federal registry of police misconduct complaints and disciplinary actions
Enhance accountability for police officers who commit misconduct, including by restricting the application of the qualified immunity doctrine for local and state officers, and by changing the federal statute on police violation of constitutional rights to lower the standard of criminal intent from violation conducted "willfully" to a violation "knowingly or with reckless disregard"
Require federal uniformed police officers to have body-worn cameras
Require marked federal police vehicles to be equipped with dashboard cameras.
Restrict the transfer of military equipment to police
Require state and local law enforcement agencies that receive federal funding to adopt anti-discrimination policies and training programs, including those targeted at fighting racial profiling
Prohibit federal police officers from using chokeholds or other carotid holds, and require state and local law enforcement agencies that receive federal funding to adopt the same prohibition
Prohibit the issuance of no-knock warrants in federal drug investigations, and provide incentives to the states to enact a similar prohibition.
Change the threshold for the permissible use of force by federal law enforcement officers from "reasonableness" to only when "necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury."
Mandate that federal officers use deadly force only as a last resort and that de-escalation be attempted, and condition federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies on the adoption of the same policy.
Legislative history
Drafting and introduction
In the House of Representatives, the legislation has been principally drafted by Representative Karen Bass of California and Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York ; in the Senate, the legislation has been drafted by Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, the Senate's two black Democrats. The legislation was introduced in the House as H.B. 7120 on June 8, 2020, by Bass, with 165 co-sponsors, all Democrats. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, and additionally to the House Armed Services Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee, for consideration of provisions falling within those committees' jurisdiction. The legislation was introduced in the Senate on the same day as S. 3912, by Booker, with 35 cosponsors. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Committee hearings
At a June 10 hearing on police issues in the House Judiciary Committee, George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, testified in favor of police reforms. Also testifying were the Floyd family's attorney Benjamin Crump and Angela Underwood Jacobs (invited by the Republican, the brother of Federal Protective Service officer David "Patrick" Underwood, who was killed in the line of duty. Committee Republicans invited conservative Fox News commentator and ex-Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, who did not mention police brutality at the hearing and instead focused on dangers faced by police. Committee Republicans also called Darrell C. Scott, a Trump surrogate, to testify. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on June 16, members heard testimony from a number of witnesses, including Vanita Gupta of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; attorney S. Lee Merritt, who represents the family of Ahmaud Arbery; St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter; Houston Police Department chief Art Acevedo; and Fraternal Order of Police national president Patrick Yoes. Gupta, who served as head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration, testified in favor of police reforms and criticized the Trump Justice Department, while Yoes testified against restricting qualified immunity for police.
Support and opposition
The legislation is endorsed by more than 100 civil rights groups, including the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NAACP and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Urban League, Amnesty International, and National Action Network. The American Civil Liberties Union praised the legislation for taking "significant steps to protect people and ensure accountability against police violence" but expressed opposition to providing "hundreds of millions more to law enforcement" and called for more sweeping changes to "the role of police in our society fundamentally." Police unions and other organizations representing police oppose the bill. Police organizations are influential in Congress, exerting influence through campaign contributions, endorsements, and lobbying and advocacy efforts, and historically have been successfully in stymieing reform legislation. President Donald Trump opposes the bill, issuing a formal pledge to veto the legislation if it passed Congress and contending that the bill is "overbroad" and would "weaken the ability of law enforcement agencies to reduce crime." Trump specifically opposed proposals to restrict qualified immunity.
House passage
On June 17, 2020, after a nearly 12-hour debate, the House Judiciary Committee advanced the bill to the House floor on a party-line vote. On the floor, the bill passed the Democratic-controlled House on a mostly party-line vote of 236-181. The legislation's key sponsors sought to garner support for the bill from moderate Republicans, but ultimately only three House Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting to pass the bill: Representatives Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Will Hurd of Texas. The bill is not expected to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Congressional gridlock
The bill is not expected to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate, and is thus gridlocked. Republican senators led by Tim Scott have proposed alternative police legislation that is far narrower than the House bill. The Scott bill would introduce incentives for states and localities to change police practices, but would not restrict the qualified-immunity doctrine, would not ban chokeholds or otherwise federally restrict police use of deadly force, and would not restrict no-knock warrants. Democrats and civil rights organizations oppose the Senate Republican proposal as too weak; Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer and Democratic Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, called the Republican bill "not salvageable" and "so threadbare and lacking in substance that it does not even provide a proper baseline for negotiations." On June 24, 2020, the Senate Republican proposal failed in a procedural vote of 55–45, on a mostly-party line vote, failing to obtain the 60 votes needed to advance to a floor debate. Democrats called upon Republican Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell to enter "bipartisan talks to get to a constructive starting point."
