Congress pressed to pass police reform after beating death of Tyre Nichols

A stalled bill from 2021 could face an uphill battle to get through a more polarized House

January 29, 2023 at 12:57 p.m. EST

Ben Crump, the attorney for Tyre Nichols’s family, on Jan. 29 called on Congress to pass the stalled George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post)

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A day after Memphis police moved to disband the unit responsible for fielding the five officers charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, the attorney for Nichols’s family called on Congress to pass stalled legislation aimed at combating police misconduct.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed in the Democratic-controlled House in 2021 but failed in the Senate, would limit qualified-immunity policies that protect officers accused of misconduct; create a national registry of sustained disciplinary actions against officers; and ban chokeholds and limit no-knock warrants, among other measures.