In this fifth column in a series about the murder of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers, Cornell professor of government Joseph Margulies argues that, for any good to come of Nichols’s death, we must judge his killers in a forgiving spirit. Professor Margulies explains what it means to judge in a forgiving spirit: to assess the actions of another anchored in the unshakeable belief that those who have done wrong are nonetheless one of us.

Cornell Law professor Joseph Margulies points out that the murder of Tyre Nichols challenges the oversimplified conception of authority and race that prevails in this country. Drawing upon the language of historian Robin Kelley, Professor Margulies argues that police violence is the end result of a racialized processnot merely an expression of anti-Black racism by white police officers.

Former federal prosecutor Dennis Aftergut reflects on what has been different about 2021 with respect to police killings (and what has remained the same). He asks whether 2022 will bring about progress for the rights to be safe, to choose, to vote, or some other expansion of freedom, and calls upon all Americans to act to secure those rights.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies comments on an aspect of police violence that gets relatively less attention: violence against the police. Margulies argues that the solution to this infrequent but significant problem is to change what society asks police to do.