LAW-2823 Police Misconduct Litigation
This course will focus on Section 1983 (civil) actions arising from alleged violations of constitutional rights by law enforcement officers acting under color of state law. We will spend considerable time on Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights that may be enforced through Section 1983. Recent events, especially those captured on video, have brought a new awareness to the hard reality that race too often plays a role in policing. Calls for reform have been made on both the federal and state levels, but actual legislative change has been effected in only a few states. One of the major barriers to police accountability under Section 1983 is the defense of qualified immunity. The law surrounding municipal liability has likewise created hurdles for plaintiffs pursuing compensation for constitutional wrongs. The material gives rise to some tough discussions, but students will hopefully develop a better understanding of the issues that must be confronted in thinking about police reform and accountability. The course will feature a number of guest speakers (including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, as well as one or two federal judges) who will engage the students in discussions on matters of race and policing, training and policy, and problems of litigation from the perspectives of both plaintiffs and defendants. The final assessment will call for a critical and reflective essay on an area covered in the course. The course will be Pass/Fail. I hope students are prepared to engage, discuss, and debate.