Delaware 150th General Assembly (2019-2020) Status: Enacted 19 D cosponsors

HB 350 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CHOKEHOLDS.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 17, 2020. Enacted.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 82% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 39 sponsors

    8 primary, 31 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (19 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 1 recorded vote so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This Act creates the crime of Aggravated Strangulation. A person is guilty of Aggravated Strangulation if the person is a law-enforcement officer, and while acting within the person’s official capacity as a law-enforcement officer, knowingly or intentionally uses a chokehold on another person. Under this Act, a chokehold is only justifiable when the person reasonably believes deadly force is warranted in order to protect the life of a civilian or law-enforcement officer. Aggravated Strangulation is a Class D felony unless the law-enforcement officer using a chokehold causes serious physical injury or death to another person thereby elevating the crime to a Class C felony. This Act also makes clear that if a person is charged under this section, such a charge shall not preclude or limit the State or any other prosecuting agency from bringing other criminal charges against the person.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO

  3. Amendment SA 1 to HB 350 - Defeated By Senate. Votes: 6 YES 15 NO

  4. Suspension of Rules in Senate

  5. Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES

  6. Amendment SA 1 to HB 350 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  7. Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 2 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits

  8. Amendment HA 1 to HB 350 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  9. Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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8 sponsors · 31 co-sponsors · 44 not signed on · 5 voted No

Sponsors (8)

Co-sponsors (31)

Not signed on (44)

44 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 44 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SM

Passed 16 Yea · 5 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 7000
Democratic 9000
Republican 0500
Total 16500
% of votes cast 76%24%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Anthony Delcollo — Yea
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Catherine Cloutier — Yea
Colin Bonini — Yea
David B. McBride — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
Harris B. McDowell — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Nay
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Nay
Dave G. Lawson Republican Nay
David L. Wilson Republican Nay
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 350 do?
This Act creates the crime of Aggravated Strangulation. A person is guilty of Aggravated Strangulation if the person is a law-enforcement officer, and while acting within the person’s official capacity as a law-enforcement officer, knowingly or intentionally uses a chokehold on another person. Under this Act, a chokehold is only justifiable when the person reasonably believes deadly force is warranted in order to protect the life of a civilian or law-enforcement officer. Aggravated Strangulation is a Class D felony unless the law-enforcement officer using a chokehold causes serious physical injury or death to another person thereby elevating the crime to a Class C felony. This Act also makes clear that if a person is charged under this section, such a charge shall not preclude or limit the State or any other prosecuting agency from bringing other criminal charges against the person.
Who sponsors HB 350?
HB 350 is sponsored by Kimberly Williams (Democratic), Edward S. Osienski (Democratic), Sean M. Lynn (Democratic), Debra Heffernan (Democratic), Krista Griffith (Democratic), William J. Carson (Democratic), William Bush (Democratic), John "Jack" Walsh, Bryan Townsend (Democratic), Laura V. Sturgeon, David P. Sokola (Democratic), Nicole Poore (Democratic), Trey Paradee, Stephanie L. Hansen (Democratic), Melissa Minor-Brown (Democratic), Kendra Johnson (Democratic), Franklin D. Cooke (Democratic), Stephanie T. Bolden (Democratic), Darius J. Brown (Democratic), S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha (Democratic), Sherry Dorsey Walker, Bruce C. Ennis, David B. McBride, Harris B. McDowell, Catherine Cloutier, Paul S. Baumbach, Andria L. Bennett, David Bentz, Gerald L. Brady, Earl G. Jaques Jr., John A. Kowalko, Valerie Longhurst, Sean Matthews, John L. Mitchell, Peter C. Schwartzkopf, Raymond Seigfried, and John J. Viola.
What is the current status of HB 350?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 17, 2020. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 350?
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