Law Commons^™

The Coming Crisis In Law Enforcement And How Federal Intervention Could Promote Police Accountability In A Post-Ferguson United States, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

The proliferation of aggressive, and sometimes militarized, police tactics represents the "coming crisis" in law enforcement, although many residents of [inner city] communities might argue that the crisis arrived long ago. Even more disturbing is that these heavy-handed police strategies are employed almost exclusively against racial and ethnic minorities.

This Essay argues that in order to alleviate racial bias in policing and gain the trust and legitimacy of police officers in racially and ethnically diverse communities, local police departments must not only ensure that they are hiring police officers capable of implementing community policing, but must also focus on institutional …

The Legacy Of Stop And Frisk: Addressing The Vestiges Of A Violent Police Culture, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

For many years, the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") has engaged in a practice known as "Stop and Frisk." This policy allows officers, based on reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot, to engage in investigatory stops and to conduct a pat down of the outer clothing of the individual if there is reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed.

While there is an abundance of analysis regarding the detrimental impact of the stop-and-frisk policy, particularly the allegations of racial discrimination, an under examined facet of this policy and its implementation is the inherently violent nature of these encounters. …

The Breach Of The Common Law Trust Relationship Between The United States And African Americans – A Substantive Right To Reparations, Ayesha Bell Hardaway

Faculty Publications

Domination and elaborate control of Africans in colonial America, and later the United States, were exerted to provide the requisite framework for the economically profitable Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Proponents of slavery characterized the aims of slavery in pseudo-paternalistic terms to “train” and “civilize[e] the untutored savage.” Even after the formal end of slavery, the U.S. and local governments continued to exercise its domination and elaborate control by enforcing a national system of racial segregation and discrimination. That system of government-sanctioned laws was so pervasive and commonly accepted that it has been personified as “Jim Crow.” As a result, racial hierarchy …

Zero Tolerance Policies: Criminalizing Childhood And Disenfranchising The Next Generation Of Citizens, S. David Mitchell

Faculty Publications

A juvenile adjudication of guilt has far more drastic consequences than existed just ten years ago ... Some of these consequences may not be apparent for a number of years, but their possibility should be anticipated, fully considered, and planned for, wherever possible. Under zero tolerance, students are suspended, expelled, or referred to juvenile authorities or some combination thereof for specified offenses. Zero tolerance policies punish students harshly regardless of the severity of the infraction, the existence of mitigating circumstances, or the context in which the conduct occurred. Part II discusses the origin and evolution of zero tolerance policies, as …