Questions & Answers
What are Floyd Rights?
Most people are familiar with Miranda Rights. Floyd Rights are fundamental rights that apply when people in America are detained or arrested by police, which is that moment our rights to liberty and security of our person are infringed. Floyd Rights require the police to inform us at the moment of detainment: "You have the right to be treated with dignity, respect, and without injury at all times. It is my duty as an officer of the law to ensure that no harm comes to you. We will only use the very minimum force necessary and excessive force will never be used unless absolutely necessary to protect you or others from imminent physical harm. Any disclosed physical or psychological condition will be accommodated.”
Why are Floyd Rights important?
The physical act of being taken into custody by the police is a moment of extreme vulnerability, fear and uncertainty for many people in America. Police must observe and respect our fundamental rights. If our rights are clearly defined and easily understood, this ensures their protection. Floyd Rights curtail the use of police force and police force cannot be used unless absolutely and strictly necessary and means of force employed may not be more than is strictly necessary to achieve the lawful objective. Also, the act of informing a suspect of their rights and safeguarding those rights at the point of detainment operates to naturally de-escalate high tension situations and, thereby, curtail the use of force by police officers.
Do Floyd Rights seek to raise the legal standard when police can use force?
Yes. In most jurisdictions in the U.S., officers may use excessive force, including deadly force, so long as it is objectively reasonable to do so in the circumstances of each case. In addition to defaulting to the officer’s subjective judgments and reasoning, the reasonableness standard is vague and opaque. When an officer forms the belief that they are in imminent danger they are likely to believe that excessive or deadly force is justified under both the law and training. These police decisions are guided by intuitions that are influenced by factors such as race and place that often shape an officer’s interpretation of danger and bias their decisions to use excessive or deadly force.