Court upholds NYC law banning the types of police restraints that killed George Floyd, Eric Garner
Source: Associated Press
Court upholds NYC law banning the types of police restraints that killed George Floyd, Eric Garner
BY ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Updated 5:03 PM EST, November 20, 2023
A New York City law that forbids police from using chokeholds or sitting, kneeling, or standing on someone’s torso during an arrest was upheld Monday by the state’s highest court.
The law, passed after the death of George Floyd, had been challenged by police unions that said the new rules about compressing a person’s torso were vague and would lead to too much second-guessing of officers involved in physical struggles.
The New York Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the law’s language is clear enough.
“We recognize that police officers are called upon to respond to dangerous and volatile situations requiring real-time assessment of the level of force necessary to safeguard the public and ensure officer safety,” the court wrote.
However, it noted that for officers to be found criminally liable under the law, they had to apply the banned force voluntarily “not accidentally,” and that “such conduct must fall outside the parameters of justifiable use of physical force.”
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/police-new-york-city-chokeholds-breathing-b35a07662eb1be873b77789346142056