The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a comprehensive law on policing under the name of George Floyd, whose death in custody sparked global protests against racial injustice.
Democrats passed the George Floyd Policing Justice Act by a 220-212 vote, with the support of only one Republican.
The legislation would prohibit bottlenecks and eliminate “qualified immunity” for law enforcement, paving the way for lawsuits against police officers accused of violating suspects’ constitutional rights.
The measure was first passed last summer, not long after Floyd’s death on May 25 by police in Minnesota, but stalled in the then Republican-controlled Senate.
Democrats said they were determined to approve the bill a second time. Although they now control both chambers of Congress, it seems unlikely that the legislation could pass the Senate without major changes to win the support of the Republican Party.
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