As cities all across the US are engulfed in a storm of protests against the death of a black American, George Floyd, while in Minnesota police custody, US Representative Justin Amash, a conservative independent from Michigan, is preparing to come up with a bill that would green-light civil lawsuits against the police, Reuters reported.
The move is unprecedented, as for the time being, the Supreme Court’s qualified immunity doctrine is totally pro-police, shielding them from financial settlements for victims or grieving families, even when a court concludes a police officer violated civil rights, an earlier investigation has it.
"The brutal killing of George Floyd is merely the latest in a long line of incidents of egregious police misconduct", Amash told colleagues in a letter. "This pattern continues because police are legally, politically, and culturally insulated ... That must change so that these incidents stop happening", the lawmaker, who is set to introduce the bill on Thursday, asserted, having already reportedly solicited support from Representative Ilhan Omar.
Independently, a number of senators have already vowed to introduce separate measures that would, for instance, create a national registry for police misconduct and stop the transfer of military weaponry to local policemen.
"Be sure of this. We will propose and push for bold action", Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer promised on Monday.
The US has been swept up by numerous protests since last Monday, when George Floyd died as a now sacked Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for over 8 minutes despite the man being already being unconscious after the first 4 minutes.
The ex-policeman was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter as protests over Floyd’s killing and police brutality at large grew into violent riots over the past week, boiling over into looting, arson, and clashes with police.
Thousands of National Guard troops have been called in to patrol major US cities in 15 states, with at least 40 cities introducing curfews to disperse the enraged crowds. The protests have to date swept through as many as 75 cities, with President Donald Trump announcing he would "mobilise all available federal resources - civilian and military - to stop the rioting and looting".