NYC Chokehold Ban Returns With Appellate Court Ruling, Records Show

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's chokehold ban is back after an appeals court ruled against police unions that sought to challenge its legality, court records show.

The "diaphragm law," passed by City Council in 2020 after George Floyd's murder, was reinstated with Thursday's ruling after having been struck down by a Supreme Court Justice in June, documents show.

While police unions argued the law was "unconstitutionally vague," the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled the ban — which made it a misdemeanor offense for cops to restrict a person's ability to breathe — was clear enough.

"Supreme Court should not have found the diaphragm compression ban to be unconstitutionally vague," the decision states.

"The diaphragm compression ban is sufficiently definite to give notice of the prohibited conduct and does not lack objective standards or create the potential for arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement."

News of the court's ruling was not well received by the Police Benevolent Association — the largest police union in the city — whose president hinted he'd continue to challenge the ban.

“We are reviewing our legal options," PBA president Pat Lynch said in a statement. "However, our city leaders need to realize that this ruling deals a direct blow to our fight against the violence that is tearing our city apart."

The New York Police Department prohibited chokeholds in 1993 but the potentially deadly tactic continued to be used by its officers and, in 2014, cost Eric Garner his life.

Garner's dying words, "I can't breathe," became a rallying cry among police reform activists who fought unsuccessfully to see Officer Daniel Pantaleo face criminal charges.

Floyd used those same words in the moments before his death in May 2020, with Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck, and New York City erupted in protests.

City Hall responded by passing the diaphragm law that June, going one step further than previously enacted state law that applies only to cases resulting in serious injury or death.

Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio championed the new legislation as "the right thing to do," but the city's current Hizzoner took a less favorable view while on the campaign trail, the New York Post reported in June 2021.

“The City Council did not sit down with law enforcement, advocates and professionals like the National Black Police Association … and others to craft a smart bill,” Adams reportedly said.

“I’m opposed to the chokehold. We saw what happened with so many cases, but when you’re saying you cannot touch someone’s chest … it’s just not realistic."

The Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, disagreed.

"A trained police officer will be able to tell when the pressure he is exerting on a person’s chest or back, in the vicinity of the diaphragm, is making it hard for the person to breathe," the ruling states.

"That [NYPD regulations] are stricter than the statute itself – prohibiting any sitting, kneeling, or standing on an individual’s torso regardless of the effect – is not proof that the diaphragm compression language is incapable of being understood."