"I don't know that there's any law that can stop that evil that we saw," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R–Ohio) on NBC's Meet the Press, shortly after video was released of five Memphis police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop.
Jordan took a lot of abuse for his remark, which was generally interpreted as boobish and nihilistic. But while Jordan has said many boobish things over many years, he is very nearly correct about this one. Congressmen know better than most that the mere act of passing a law guarantees nothing, and that making something illegal is not the same thing as eliminating it.
