As a former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd, many states across the country continue to propose policing reform bills. Over the past year, at least 36 states have signed measures that would reform police practices. These proposals include…
As former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in April, attention has shifted to focus on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Introduced during last year’s Congress session, the George Floyd Justice in Policing…
Within hours of Governor Ron DeSantis signing the “Combating Public Disorder Act” into law, volunteers for the Black Collective, a non-profit civil rights group, got to work, canvassing, through neighborhoods, alerting people of the new legislation. The bill, HB1, touted by DeSantis as “the strongest…
The recent ruling by District Judge Peter Cahill to hold a separate trial for Derek Chauvin, the ranking Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, may make a subsequent trial more favorable for the other three officers involved. The move, a reversal from an…
In the months that followed the police killing of George Floyd, 111 Confederate symbols and monuments were taken down and removed across the country, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks the monuments. In addition, over the objections of President Trump, Congress approved…
Legal Examiner reporter Katherine Snow Smith interviewed Professor Richard S. Frase from the University of Minnesota Law School to get his breakdown and analysis of the charges against the four police officers involved in George Floyd’s death. Frase is a criminal law professor and co-director of the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice as well as the founder and co-director of the Institute’s Sentencing Guidelines Resource Center. Derek Chauvin, the officer who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes, is charged with second degree murder while commiting a felony, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
As the world follows the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, questions arise about how this extremely high profile case will play out in court. Will a plea agreement keep it from even going to trial? How will a judge seat a jury of 12 fair and unbiased jurors? What tactics will the prosecutor and defense take?