Republicans and Democrats are working to bridge their differences regarding legislation that aims to reduce law enforcement misconduct and racial bias following the deaths of several black people in police custody.
Both parties are pitching legislation to address the issue. While there are significant differences, there is strong bipartisan agreement on ending police tactics that have been at the center of a string of serious police misconduct cases.
The House, run by Democrats, introduced legislation that would ban police from using the chokehold or any maneuver that places pressure on the neck to restrict breathing.
The measure would prohibit federal law enforcement from using chokeholds and withhold some federal funding from local police departments that do not ban the practice.
The measure was first introduced by House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, in 2015. Jeffries introduced the bill after Eric Garner died in the custody of a New York City police officer who put him in a chokehold, triggering a fatal asthma attack. Garner was black. The officer, who was fired, is white.
Jeffries’s measure saw no action in the past five years but is now poised to pass Congress following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Floyd, who was black, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd was handcuffed at the time.
A chokehold ban is not yet included in a Senate GOP draft police reform measure authored by Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. But Republicans said they want to end police chokeholds.
Sen. John Cornyn, a top Republican and a member of the leadership team, told the Washington Examiner the GOP conference is behind a chokehold ban.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, agreed.
“The idea that someone would have a chokehold when someone is handcuffed,” McCarthy said. “That should have severe consequences.”
House Republicans are writing their police reform bill, which is likely to include a chokehold ban.
In an interview on Fox News last week, Attorney General William Barr said the chokehold should be banned “unless a police officer is confronted with lethal force.”
Both parties are also interested in reducing or eliminating the use of no-knock warrants, which permit law enforcement to enter homes without first notifying the resident.
Several recent deadly incidents have highlighted the dangers of the no-knock warrant, and both the House and the Senate address them in their respective proposals.
The House bill would ban federal law enforcement from using no-knock warrants for drug cases and, like the chokehold ban, would tie federal funding to a requirement that local police departments also end the practice.
Scott’s draft bill does not ban the tactic but instead requires states provide data on the use of no-knock search warrants.
Scott named the provision after Breonna Taylor, 26, a Louisville, Kentucky, EMT worker who was shot to death in her apartment on March 13 by police executing a no-knock warrant in search of drugs.
Taylor, who was black, was unarmed. Her boyfriend had fired at police, claiming self-defense.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell raised Taylor’s death in Senate floor speeches and said her death, along with Floyd’s, highlight the need to examine not only police tactics but “obvious racial discrimination” in law enforcement.
Bans on many police procedures faced opposition for years in Congress. In the wake of the recent deaths in police custody and subsequent civil unrest, the measures are suddenly poised to become law.
Jeffries has been trying to end police chokeholds since 2015.
Scott first introduced a bill requiring states to track and record the details, including the race, of every police shooting in 2015.
It’s now the lead provision in his draft reform measure.
Sen. Rand Paul, McConnell’s Republican colleague from Kentucky, has long advocated for an end to no-knock warrants.
“I’ve been speaking out about the no-knock raids for six years now,” Paul said.
