House Approves Police Reform Package

The United States House of Representatives approved a police reform package backed by the democrats on Thursday that aims to end certain legal protections for officers accused of misconduct and ban chokeholds in response to the death of George Floyd. George Floyd died after Minneapolis police officer Derek knelt on his neck for about 9 minutes. This comes a day after the democrats blocked a similar bill in the Senate backed by the republicans alleging that the legislation did not do enough to curb police brutality. Three Republicans joined Democrats in voting in favor of this bill. This bill aims to end qualified immunity for police officers. Qualified immunity is the idea that police officers could only be found guilty if their actions were found to be similar to previously encountered cases in which the officer was found guilty. Qualified immunity made it incredibly hard to prosecute police officers. The Republican-controlled Senate may not take up this resolution. It is likely that both the chambers will have to negotiate a compromise in order for the bill to become a law.