Tennessee overrides Memphis police rules prompted by Tyre Nichols’s killing

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a bill into law this week that nullified ordinances enacted by Memphis leaders following the 2023 police killing of Tyre Nichols, enabling the Republican-led legislature to undo the work of the Democratic-leaning city.

The law, passed by the legislature this month, prohibits local governments from enacting policies that limit police agencies’ activity when carrying out their lawful duties.

That will undo Memphis’ ordinance banning traffic stops for certain minor traffic violations, which was passed last year in response to the fatal beating of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, after police stopped him for an alleged traffic violation. It also nullifies ordinances requiring the monthly publication of data collected by officers during traffic stops and prohibiting unmarked police cars from being used for traffic stops, according to attorneys for Nichols’ parents.

His mother and stepfather, RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, had asked Lee not to sign the bill into law. Their legal team, led by attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, responded Saturday to Lee’s bill signing with a one-word quote: “SHAME.”

The bill not only nullifies the Memphis measures but also erases the political power of the local community members who fought for them, activists and Democratic policymakers said.

“We are disappointed that the State has overridden local ordinances overwhelmingly approved by the Memphis City Council,” Memphis Mayor Paul Young (D) said in a statement to the Washington Post on Saturday. “We believe that it is important for cities and municipalities to be able to define the rules that govern them.”

He said the city’s legal team was reviewing the legislation to determine how to modify its policies to operate within the law.

A spokesperson for Lee did not respond to a request from the Post on Saturday morning.

Minor traffic stops, or pretextual stops, are made for infractions such as a dead headlight or improperly secured license plate.

Ending the practice reduces unnecessary interactions between police and civilians, police reform advocates say.

It is the type of reform that some cities have pursued in response to police killings of Black people. Black drivers are stopped and searched at higher rates than White drivers, Stanford University researchers have found.

Since Nichols’ killing, the Justice Department has begun investigating allegations that the Memphis Police Department discriminated against Black people, targeted Black residents in traffic stops and employed excessive use of force.

The bill’s proponents argued the legislature must keep cities from enacting their own rules and framed the bill as a safety measure.

“We can’t allow that, as a legislature, to allow any city or county government that doesn’t like a law that we pass just to simply preempt it,” state Sen. Brent Taylor (R), who sponsored the bill, said on the Senate floor this month. He did not respond to a request from the Post on Saturday morning.

Nichols’ parents met with Taylor before the vote, hoping to convince him to reconsider the bill he sponsored. They noted that the governor and others promised support after Nichols’ death and this month were still hoping they could persuade Lee to veto the bill.

On Saturday, their lawyers said the family had been treated with disrespect by the bill sponsors. They said the Wellses were “deeply troubled” by Lee’s signing of the bill.

“This needs to stop,” RowVaughn Wells told the Post of police brutality this month. “It just needs to stop.”

The tactic of passing bills that prohibit local governments from making their own policies is part of a playbook increasingly used by red-state legislators on issues from gun control to voting rights. Proponents argue that it creates uniform policies across the state, while cities – often those with liberal leaders – contend it removes their ability to address local issues.

Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson, who represents part of Memphis, told the Post this month that his Republican colleagues had sent a signal not only that Black people’s lives don’t matter but also that “our work and our efforts do not matter.”

The Memphis City Council passed the ordinance in April, naming it the Driving Equality Act in Honor of Tyre Nichols. It did not change the ability of police to pull over drivers violating most traffic laws. It applied to five small infractions: a loose bumper, a single light out, an insecurely attached license plate, an improperly located temporary registration or a registration that has expired within the last 60 days, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.

Memphis council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas, who sponsored the city ordinance, and council chair JB Smiley Jr. did not respond to Post requests Saturday morning.

After the governor signed the bill Thursday, Taylor said on X that the Memphis Police Department could immediately begin making traffic stops.

“Routine traffic stops are an important way to establish law and order and make felony arrests,” Taylor wrote.

Democrats said the types of traffic stops Memphis had banned were unnecessary for maintaining public safety.

“The list of the five items in that ordinance are not going to reduce crime,” state Sen. London Lamar (D), said during the Senate debate. “They’re only a green light for continued police brutality with an excuse of a traffic stop.”

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María Luisa Paúl contributed to this report.