U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District.
On Thursday the House of Representatives will vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a bill that aims to reform policing and hold officers accountable.
If passed, the bill will ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit military equipment use, make lynching a federal crime and create a national misconduct database. The bill will also end qualified immunity for police and will make it easier to prosecute officers in court by changing the federal criminal standard for misconduct from “willfulness” to “recklessness.”
“1 in 1,000 Black men and boys will be killed by police over a lifetime, a risk 2.5 times higher than that of a white man,” said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D) in a statement. He represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District and is a co-sponsor of the bill.
“Police encounters are a leading cause of death for young Black men. It is no wonder that protesters across the nation are demanding decisive action and rallying behind the cry of ‘Black Lives Matter.’ This is a pandemic of violence, and Congress must address take urgent and sweeping steps at the federal level to stop the spread.”
If the House votes in favor of the bill, it will go to the Senate for a vote.
