Remembering George Floyd: How His Death Sparked Policy Change
By: Grace Rozembajgier
Tags: Legislation, BlackLivesMatter, Police Brutality, Congress, George Floyd

By Grace Rozembajgier

The tragic death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, fueled last summer’s Black Lives Matter movement and protests. Now, over a year later, his killer, Derek Chauvin, has been indicted, and Floyd’s legacy continues. In addition to sparking a dramatic increase in awareness of the police brutality and systemic racism Black Americans face, Floyd’s death also inspired policy change on both the local and federal levels.

The significance of Floyd’s death is showcased by some states’ rapid legislative response. Three weeks after Floyd’s death, Colorado, Iowa, and New York all passed bills that banned chokeholds and increased transparency on police discipline records. Colorado’s bill — The Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity bill — was particularly thorough, requiring all officers to wear body cameras by 2023, allowing officers to be tried for misconduct, and including protections for protestors.

As of May 2021, 21 states have passed bills addressing police reform and 17 states have pending legislation in response to Floyd’s death. According to a report by the Brennan Center, these new policies can generally be broken down into three categories: police force, police intervention, and police misconduct.

Nineteen states and D.C. passed police force legislation — consisting of bans and restrictions on chokeholds, shooting, and requirements to report the use of force to the state and federal government. Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington notably enacted at least five different bills to address this aspect.

Legislation urging police to intervene to stop illegal force or misconduct aims to prevent police brutality like that in the George Floyd murder. Fourteen states and Washington, D.C. passed bills that require a mix of intervention, reporting, and medical aid in the event of witnessing excessive use of police force. Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C.’s legislation included all three requirements.

As for police misconduct, 19 states wrote legislation that created a process for decertifying and reporting officers who do not adhere to the force and intervention protocols. These bills ranged from states creating a centralized decertification process to establishing a state-wide database of police misconduct and misdemeanor. Of the 19 states that passed misconduct legislation, Indiana and Washington enacted the most bills (four each), which created grounds for suspension, required federal and state reporting, and established state-wide databases.

In addition to advancements in state legislation, policy change occurred on a federal level in response to George Floyd’s death. President Trump’s Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities announced on June 16, 2020, went into effect in October 2020, five months after Floyd’s murder. This order banned chokeholds in almost all incidents and promoted training for de-escalation, community engagement, and mental health.

More recently, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, signed into law on June 17, recognizes June 19 as a national holiday celebrating emancipation in the United States. While this bill does not address police brutality, it was originally drafted in June 2020 by Texas Congressional members Senator John Cornyn and Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee in response to George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement.

In addition to the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, there are several other pieces of legislation pending in Congress that aim to address the causes of George Floyd’s death on a federal level. One such bill, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, encompasses a variety of guidelines for police officers, including a ban on chokeholds, racial profiling, and qualified immunity; new standards for police training and data collection; investments in community policing; and a process for police prosecution. This act passed the House on March 3 in a 220–212 vote and is currently being reviewed by the Senate.

The Ending Qualified Immunity Act, first introduced in June 2020 in response to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths, ensures that officers would be held legally accountable for any misconduct. This act was reintroduced in the current Congress and will be voted on in the House.

If you’d like to be notified of important bills like these, make sure you’re signed up for IssueVoter! You’ll get alerts when topics like police reform arise in Congress so that you can share your opinions with your elected representatives before they vote.

—

IssueVoter is a nonpartisan nonprofit and free online platform with a mission to give everyone a voice in our democracy. IssueVoter answers the question, “The election is over, now what?” Individuals use IssueVoter to get alerts about new bills related to issues they care about, send opinions to their Senators and House Representative before Congress votes, and track whether elected officials are truly representing them.

Stay up to date with legislation and make your voice heard: Sign up for IssueVoter to keep track of Congress from your inbox and become a more informed voter for the next election!

Important Links

Sign up for IssueVoter

Support IssueVoter