Overview

• New York's highest court upheld a New York City law forbidding police from using chokeholds or compressing a person's diaphragm during an arrest.
• The law was challenged by police unions who argued its language was vague about what officers are allowed to do during an arrest.
• The court's unanimous decision ruled that the law is clear in its language and does not conflict with an existing state law that also bans police chokeholds.
• The law was passed in response to the death of George Floyd and similar laws have been enacted across the country.
• The New York Police Department has long barred its officers from using chokeholds, and the state has a law banning police chokeholds named after Eric Garner, who was killed by a chokehold in 2014.