Abstract
This paper examines how Black members of Congress (MC) have recognized police brutality as an issue on the congressional agenda from 1980 to 2016. Using a dataset of every bill introduced by black members of Congress during the period of study, I show that, in general, police brutality has not been an important component of black MCs' legislative portfolios. Instead, it is an occasional focus of bill sponsorship in response to media coverage of discrete instances of brutality and murder. The paper contextualizes its findings by exploring the similarities and differences between the history of anti-lynching legislation and the contemporary fight (or lack thereof) against police brutality.
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