Event Title
A License to Kill: The Institutional Failure of the Legal System to Hold Police Accountable
Document Type
Presentation
Location
Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond
Event Website
https://jepson.richmond.edu/major-minor/research/symposium.html
Start Date
30-4-2020 12:00 AM
Description
In recent years, police shootings of unarmed African American men have become nationally visible. With few exceptions, the police officers involved in those shootings have escaped any criminal penalties. This paper addresses the question: Why is it that so few police officers are convicted after shooting unarmed African Americans? This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach in answering this question. First, prosecutorial power and lack of accountability allow prosecutors to advocate for accused police officers to further their own career prospects. Second, the Supreme Court has adapted the qualified immunity and excessive force doctrines to become nearly all-encompassing legal shields for police misconduct. Third, the jury selection process creates mostly homogeneous juries susceptible to implicit racial biases that favor police officers in excessive force cases. The legal system is structured to protect police officers from liability, making it unable to deliver justice after incidents such as Tamir Rice’s tragic and unnecessary death.
Included in
A License to Kill: The Institutional Failure of the Legal System to Hold Police Accountable
Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond
In recent years, police shootings of unarmed African American men have become nationally visible. With few exceptions, the police officers involved in those shootings have escaped any criminal penalties. This paper addresses the question: Why is it that so few police officers are convicted after shooting unarmed African Americans? This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach in answering this question. First, prosecutorial power and lack of accountability allow prosecutors to advocate for accused police officers to further their own career prospects. Second, the Supreme Court has adapted the qualified immunity and excessive force doctrines to become nearly all-encompassing legal shields for police misconduct. Third, the jury selection process creates mostly homogeneous juries susceptible to implicit racial biases that favor police officers in excessive force cases. The legal system is structured to protect police officers from liability, making it unable to deliver justice after incidents such as Tamir Rice’s tragic and unnecessary death.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/jepsonresearchsymposium/2020/program/5
Comments
Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Julian M. Hayter, Associate Professor of Leadership Studies