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112 J. Crim. L. & Crimin. Online 111 (2022-2023)
Regulating Police Chokeholds

handle is hein.journals/jclconl112 and id is 109 raw text is: THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 112 Online Copyright © 2022 by Trevor George Gardner & Esam Al-Shareffi REGULATING POLICE CHOKEHOLDS TREVOR GEORGE GARDNER & ESAM AL-SHAREFFI* This Article presents findings from an analysis of police chokehold policies enacted at the federal, state, and municipal levels of government. In addition to identifying the jurisdictions that restricted police chokeholds in the wake of George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, the Article conveys (via analysis of an original dataset) the considerable variance in the quality of police chokehold regulation. While many jurisdictions regulate the police chokehold, the strength of such regulations should not be taken for granted. Police chokehold policies vary by the type of chokehold barred (air choke and/or carotid choke), the degree of the chokehold restriction, an officer's duty to intervene when observing improper police application of the chokehold, and the type of sanction attached to a chokehold policy violation (criminal and/or administrative). Following the presentation of chokehold policy variance, the authors recommend an absolute bar of both air chokes and carotid chokes. However, in contemplating such a policy, policymakers should consider whether an officer authorized to use deadly force but barred from applying the air or carotid choke will be inclined to use his firearm as a force alternative. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 112 I. AIR CHOKES AND CAROTID (BLOOD) CHOKES.................115 II. FEDERAL REGULATION OF THE POLICE CHOKEHOLD.. 118 A . Executive Order 13929...................................................118 B. Congressional Efforts to Regulate Police Chokeholds ... 119 III. STATE REGULATION OF THE POLICE CHOKEHOLD...... 122 A . Q uality of Sanction ......................................................... 124 B . D egree of Restriction...................................................... 125 C. A Duty to Intervene ........................................................ 125 IV. MUNICIPAL REGULATION OF THE POLICE CHOKEHOLD....................................................................... 126 * Trevor Gardner, Professor of Law and (by courtesy) Sociology, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Law; Esam Al-Shareffi, J.D. candidate-2022, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Law. Thanks to Matthew Suddarth, Sara Hubaishi, and Andrew Cavarno for research support. 111