Law Commons^™

Sometimes They Don't Die: Can Criminal Justice Reform Measures Help Halt Police Sexual Assault On Black Women?, Michelle S. Jacobs

UF Law Faculty Publications

In the eighteen months between March 2019 and August 2020, at least eight Black women were murdered by the police. Breonna Taylor was one of them. Officer Brett Hankison, one of the three officers who murdered Breonna Taylor, was eventually discharged from the Louisville Police Department. In the memo discharging him, the police chief cited behavior that amounted to an extreme indifference to the value of human life: Hankison blindly fired ten rounds into the home of Ms. Taylor's neighbor. Additionally, in the aftermath of Ms. Taylor's death, two women came forward and accused Hankison of sexually assaulting them while …

Federal (De)Funding Of Local Police, Stephen Rushin, Roger Mikalski

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Across the political spectrum, politicians, commentators, and activists frequently invoke federal funding as a lever to induce changes in local police behavior. But can federal funding function as an effective policy lever at the local level? Is federal funding or the threat of defunding a sufficiently strong tool to effectuate deeply contentious policy goals over local opposition?

This Essay conducts an empirical examination of federal funding for local and state police agencies in the United States. It finds that the federal government remains a relatively minor contributor to local police budgets. We find that federal funding only reaches a minority …

Federal (De)Funding Of Local Police, Roger Michalski, Stephen Rushin

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Across the political spectrum, politicians, commentators, and activists frequently invoke federal funding as a lever to induce changes in local police behavior. But can federal funding function as an effective policy lever at the local level? Is federal funding or the threat of defunding a sufficiently strong tool to effectuate deeply contentious policy goals over local opposition?

This Essay conducts an empirical examination of federal funding for local and state police agencies in the United States. It finds that the federal government remains a relatively minor contributor to local police budgets. We find that federal funding only reaches a minority …

Masculinity In Policing: The Need To Recruit More Women In American Police Departments Fall 2020 Symposium: Addressing The Crisis In Policing Today: Race, Masculinity, And Police Use Of Force In America, Stephen Rushin

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article, written as part of The George Washington Law Review Symposium on “Addressing the Crisis in Policing Today,” examines how American police departments can improve their recruitment and retention of women. Women currently make up a mere 13% of all police officers in the United States. This number has remained frustratingly low and stagnant for years.

This Article begins by considering the potentially harmful consequences of the underrepresentation of women in American policing. Some commentators have recently argued that the hiring of more women may, by itself, help transform policing. To evaluate this hypothesis, the first part of this …