S.T.O.P. Welcomes CO Senate’s Vote To Ban Excited Delirium, Renews Call For NY Ban

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*

For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes CO Senate’s Vote to Ban Excited Delirium, Renews Call For NY Ban (New York, NY 3/21/24) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, welcomes the Colorado Senate’s  vote to ban the use of “excited delirium,” a debunked term misused to justify excessive force by police, and urges  the Governor to sign the associated bill into law. The Colorado Senate’s vote comes after the state’s House of Representatives also recently voted to pass the bill. Last October, California became the first state to ban excited delirium, and both the California and Colorado bills draw from legislation S.T.O.P. helped author. The civil rights group renewed its call for a ban in New York, calling on the New York State legislature pass legislation Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas introduced last week. SEE: Fox 31 - Colorado bill banning use of ‘excited delirium’ heads to governor’s desk https://kdvr.com/news/politics/colorado-politics-news/colorado-bill-banning-use-of-excited-delirium-heads-to-governors-desk/ Physicians For Human Rights - California Becomes First State to Ban “Excited Delirium” as a Cause of Death https://phr.org/news/california-becomes-first-state-to-ban-excited-delirium-as-a-cause-of-death/ New York Focus - New Bill Would Stop Cops From Citing Debunked ‘Excited Delirium’ Syndrome https://nysfocus.com/2024/03/19/nypd-autopsy-excited-delirium-ban-assembly “The term ‘excited delirium’ is racist pseudoscience police cite to justify violence against Black Americans and other communities of color,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Legal Director David Siffert. “We’re thrilled to see Colorado and other states around the country take action against it, and we call on Governor Polis to sign the bill immediately. In New York, NYPD still train their officers to look for ‘excited delirium,’ despite that the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association have disavowed it. We call upon the State legislature to pass our bill banning state and municipal officials from employing this fake diagnosis to defend police misconduct.” SEE: USA Today - As more states target disavowed ‘excited delirium’ diagnosis, police groups push back https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/16/excited-delirium-discredited-george-floyd-police-groups-resist/72961461007/ The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.