Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the outcome of Thursday’s hearing.
A federal judge has set tentative sentencing dates for the five former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 beating death of Tyré Nichols.
At a hearing on Thursday, Chief Judge Sheryl Lipman scheduled sentencing in the federal criminal case for mid-December, but didn’t make a decision on the defense’s request for a new trial. If she grants a new trial, Lipman said, the sentencing hearings will be canceled.
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Lipman took over the case following a surprise announcement from federal Judge Mark Norris that he was recusing himself just days before sentencing was originally set to begin in June. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Developments in the courts have continued to shift over the past two years — from the ongoing federal case and yearslong civil lawsuit, to the recent state trial that resulted in a jury acquitting the ex-officers. Despite this, Nichols’ family and community have continued to seek change outside of the courtroom, pushing for concrete reforms to address police violence. In the immediate aftermath of his death, local lawmakers promised to address the Memphis Police Department’s problems.
How well have they responded to the community’s demands?
The demand: End MPD’s SCORPION unit
One of the first demands Nichols’ mother and stepfather, RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, made was for MPD to disband the SCORPION unit. The officers who beat Nichols to death were members of this team, which was tasked with stopping violent crime, car thefts and gang activity.
The result: MPD announced on Jan. 28, 2023, that it had closed the unit in an effort to begin a “healing process.” Further reporting on MPD and the SCORPION unit revealed Memphis police officers often engaged in aggressive practices.
More details: MPD created the unit in November 2021, just months after Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis was appointed police chief. Davis began her law enforcement career at the Atlanta Police Department in the 1980s. She led APD’s Red Dog unit in the mid-2000s, which became infamous for its violent tactics.
The demand: Enact effective police reforms
In February 2023, a coalition of community members and Decarcerate Memphis organizers urged the Memphis City Council to pass several police reform ordinances that would:
- End the use of unmarked police cars in traffic stops
- Require yearly reviews of officer training tactics
- Require MPD to publish data related to traffic stops and use-of-force incidents
- Require MPD’s cooperation with the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board
- Require transparency reports after each excessive force incident
The result: The council passed the ‘Achieving Driving Equality’ ordinance in April 2023. It prevented MPD from conducting pre-textual traffic stops for low-level, non-moving violations, but then-Mayor Jim Strickland refused to enforce it.
The following year, two Republican legislators representing Shelby County, Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. John Gillespie, sponsored bills that would prevent Memphis and other cities from enforcing traffic stop bans. The bill was signed into law in March 2024, but whether the law retroactively applies to Memphis’ ordinances remains untested.
More details: The city council made a failed attempt to consolidate the five police reforms into one ordinance named in Nichols’ honor. However, his family didn’t approve of this decision, and the community opposed the new ordinance, which replaced much of the reform language with excerpts from MPD’s handbook. Sustained efforts from community members pressured the council into dropping the ordinance.
In January 2024, newly-elected Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he’d enforce the ordinance, despite Strickland’s refusal to do so. To date, Young still hasn’t made good on that promise or addressed his previous commitment, instead focusing on decreasing violent crime.
The demand: Remove and replace MPD Chief Davis
Immediately after Nichols’ death, some community members called for Davis to be removed as police chief. They condemned her decision to create MPD’s SCORPION unit, and pointed to her history with APD’s violent Red Dog unit.
The result: Davis was demoted to interim police chief, following a request from Young in January 2024. One year later, the city council quietly and unanimously voted to reappoint Davis to her full position.
“A lot has gone right this past year, and I want to acknowledge that,” Councilwoman Jerri Green said at the Jan. 21 meeting. She cited lower homicide and violent crime rates, increased officer morale and MPD policy changes.
At the meeting, Young also praised the council’s decision to reappoint Davis: “We’ve made some progress, but I don’t want anybody to think that we think we’re done,” he said. “We have a chief that’s committed to continuous improvement.”
More details: When Young first asked the city council to demote Davis, he said her reappointment would depend on increasing MPD’s homicide clearance rates and rebuilding community trust in the department. The department’s closure rate was just 15% in 2023, compared to the national rate of 58%, according to the Murder Accountability Project. Official data for 2024 has not been released.
The demand: Sign a consent decree with the Department of Justice
In December, the U.S. Department of Justice released its report about MPD’s violent and discriminatory practices. Several Memphis-based community organizations called on Young to agree to a federal consent decree. This would establish external oversight and accountability for local police reform efforts.
The result: Young quickly rejected the consent decree, describing it as “bureaucratic, costly and complicated.” Instead, Young created a task force in February to review the DOJ report and make reform recommendations.
More details: The group held its first public meeting in June, following several closed-door sessions. Task force membership has fluctuated, with one person being removed and others resigning. Retired federal judge Bernice Donald remains the group’s independent monitor, and Rev. Keith Norman is the chair.
The demand: Rebuild trust in the public safety process
Some Memphians have expressed skepticism about the city’s police reform plans and are pushing for immediate action, like:
- Removing police officers from mental health calls
- Allowing neighborhood groups to de-escalate community conflicts
- Removing armed officers from public schools
- Maintaining the traffic stops and citations dashboards
- Publicizing information about use-of-force incidents and disciplinary action
- Telling the public how new police officers are hired
- Rerouting some police funds into community-based alternatives
- Hosting more youth mentorship programs
- Centering youth in the reform process
The result: The task force didn’t discuss specific reforms in its June meeting — its only public meeting to date. The group has promised to hold public hearings in the future, where Memphians can express their concerns about policing.
“The community (is going to be) the next thing that we address in a very public way because this community is hurting,” Donald told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism in an interview. “There are a lot of tension points, and no entity of this city exists in a silo.”
More details: Shortly after President Donald Trump began his second term in January, he immediately signed a slew of executive orders – including one targeting the DOJ’s power. In March, Trump’s Justice Department closed its civil rights investigation into MPD and rescinded the findings of the DOJ report.
“That decision by the Justice Department does not — will not — in any way cause us to abandon our commitment to doing the right thing,” Donald told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism in an interview.
Brittany Brown is the public safety reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at brittany.brown@mlk50.com
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