Police Reform Has Now Come To Nearly 35 US States
The legal process seeking accountability for the murder of George Floyd is far from over. Having been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in Minnesota while still facing state tax charges and looking at a potential 20 to 30 years in prison for federal charges for his murder of George Floyd and brutal assault of a black child, Derek Chauvin's life is effectively over. We need to ensure the same is true of wastes of oxygen Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane as they face a federal trial that could be settled within a matter of days and a state trial set to begin in June.
Meanwhile, however, police are still killing people. Kim Potter was just sent to prison for killing Daunte Wright while the homicide of Amir Locke is still under investigation. These three killings all occurred in Hennepin County, Minnesota, over the course of 20 months. At the state level, some reforms have been made. The following states have passed some degree of police reform, from revoking the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights to banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants to ending total immunity of police officers from crimes they commit to making police use-of-force data public:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
The following states have police reform legislation in progress:
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Rhode Island
This means that, in the two years after George Floyd's murder, 35 states have or will have passed laws reforming the police. While this is good news, I'd like to see that number push 40; these state reforms need to serve as an impetus for federal reforms, including, most importantly, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. As we speak, President Biden is preparing to appoint the first black woman to the Supreme Court and sign an executive order on police reform to help spur Congress to act. We must act now, before another black American loses his or her life at the hands of police.
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