Lawmakers hold "good discussions" on police reform in wake of Chauvin verdict

Washington — In a rare example of bipartisan momentum, members of Congress are moving forward with discussions over police reform legislation after negotiations stalled last summer.

Spurred by the guilty verdicts this week against Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers have convened talks this week on measures to address police violence, as the nation's eyes shifted from the Minneapolis courtroom where Chauvin was tried to Capitol Hill. A familiar sticking point in negotiations, though, has been reforms to qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that protects police officers from civil lawsuits for constitutional violations. The sweeping reform bill named for Floyd that passed the lower chamber in March would eliminate qualified immunity, but Republicans fear such a step would open officers who acted in good faith to liability.