More virtue signaling: Minnesota outlaws use of the term 'excited delirium' by police agencies post George Floyd

ST. PAUL, MN - In another move that appears intended to tie the hands of police officers, the Minnesota state legislature passed a bill that was signed by Gov. Tim Walz forbidding use of the term “excited delirium” by police officers, the Minnesota Post reports.

Excited delirium is a term used by police officers to describe suspects who are typically under the influence of drugs who experience symptoms of “extreme agitation, aggression, excitability and distress." The term was used to describe George Floyd’s demeanor when he died in police custody in 2020, sparking a summer of violent riots across the country. 

The term “excited delirium” has been used by police officers, paramedics, and medical examiners to describe people who died in police custody, typically after resisting arrest while under the influence. 

According to the outlet, the term has been removed from the most current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and a number of medical associations have rejected the validity of the phrase. In 2021, the American Medical Association implemented a policy opposing use of the term as a medical diagnosis. The association claimed without evidence that the term was used by police departments to “justify excessive force,” and further claimed the phrase “disproportionately appears in cases where black men die in police custody.” 

“There’s no set of symptoms or diagnostic criteria that can prove this diagnosis,” said MIchelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). “It’s nonsensical to have a disease or an ailment that only the people who have law enforcement encounters experience.” 

That claim runs counter to a report published in the National Library of Medicine in 2011, which noted that although victims often die while being restrained or in the custody of law enforcement, “it is important to note that the vast majority of deaths occur suddenly prior to capture, in the emergency department (ED), or unwitnessed at home.” 

The study goes on to note that “no study thus far has been able to demonstrate a causal relationship between Taser use and subsequent individuals’ deaths.” Many anti-police zealots have tried to tie the use of Tasers to deaths of individuals from excited delirium or “positional asphyxia.” 

None of that has stopped Minnesota lawmakers from further tying the hands of police. The bill to outlaw use of the term was proposed by Rep. Jessica Hanson who was approached by Gross after California passed a similar ban. 

“We want to make sure that deaths from excessive force and particularly deaths involving any kind of asphyxia are not blamed on a nonsensical, mythical diagnosis and that officers are actually held accountable for their own actions,” Hanson said. 

The term became prominent in the 1980s when a Florida medical examiner used it to describe the cause of death of 19 black women suspected of being prostitutes who had cocaine in their systems in Miami-Dade County. Since then, the phrase has been adopted by law enforcement to describe in-custody deaths when someone (such as Floyd) is under the influence of drugs, resists arrest, and dies in police custody. Being obese as Floyd also was contributes to the problem as well.

Defense attorneys in the case of four Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with Floyd’s overdose death used the term in their legal defense. 

Spurred by the anti-police rhetoric that has taken place since Floyd died, more so-called “experts” in the criminal justice field are jumping on the anti-excited delirium bandwagon, including Rachel Moran, founder of the University of St. Thomas School of Law’s Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic, who claims the diagnosis is “faulty” and is “problematic and rooted in racism.” 

“I think it’s entirely possible that lawyers will be better to explain why it’s not a real diagnosis, and some judges will just prevent people altogether from using this as an excuse,” Moran said. “The more awareness, the better.” 

In March, the Minnesota Post reported that legislators in Colorado, Hawaii and New York were considering similar bills to ban the term. 

However, many law enforcement organizations are fighting back on moves to restrict or outlaw the term, including the National Association of Police Organizations. 

Bill Johnson, executive director of the group, said the bills “clearly run afoul of the First Amendment” and violate free speech. He said that police officers absolutely encounter symptoms and behaviors associated with excited delirium. 

In 2021 and 2022, the New York City Police Department issued training materials advising officers to restrain and stun people they encounter who show signs of “excited delirium,” including “elevated body temperatures, increased physical strength, and lack of physical fatigue,” according to New York Focus, a nonprofit news organization.