LibGuides: Racial Justice in the U.S.: Police &amp; Legal Reform

Articles

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Policing articles
Selected criminal justice reporting, curated by The Marshall Project
Where Police Reform Has Worked
This New York Times article points to some police departments that have successfully implemented reforms.
Not Dead Yet: the National Police Crisis, a New Conversation about Policing, and the Prospects for Accountability-Related Police Reform
Samuel Walker article published in University of Illinois Law Review 2018, no. 5 (2018): 1777.
Argues that despite setbacks, police reform can still occur and investigates three sources that will guide it. 1. Principles articulated by the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. 2. Policies recommended by the Police Executive Research Forum. 3. Administrative practices embodied in court-enforced settlements negotiated by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The State of Race and Punishment in America: Is Justice Really Blind?
Travis W. Franklin article published in Journal of Criminal Justice 59 (2018): 18-28.
"The study of racial disparity in the formal application of punishment (i.e., criminal sentencing) is widely recognized as an important area of research. Hundreds of studies have weighed in to determine whether race influences sentence outcomes (e.g., imprisonment and sentence length) and the current work attempts to summarize key aspects of this expansive literature."
A Judge Asked Harvard to Find Out Why So Many Black People Were In Prison. They Could Only Find 1 Answer: Systemic Racism
Introduces the Sept. 2020 report Racial Disparaties in the Massachusetts Criminal System, which found that "the criminal justice system is unequal on every level. Cops in the state are more likely to stop Black drivers. Police are more likely to search or investigate Black residents. Law enforcement agents charge Black suspects with infractions that carry worse penalties. Prosecutors are less likely to offer Black suspects plea bargains or pre-trial intervention. Judges sentence Black defendants to longer terms in prison."

Organizations

Black Lives Matter
"Founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, the Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes."
Campaign Zero
This organization researches and analyzes "policing practices across the country, provides technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and develops model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide."
Center for Policing Equity
"The Center for Policing Equity works to help police departments realize their own equity goals...and advance the scientific understanding of issues of equity within organizations and policing."
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
CERD is the U.N. “body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties.“
Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB)
Formed in 2000, this group "was created to deal with police brutality in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on an ongoing basis." Under the publications tab, there are links to reports, fact sheets, and an online tutorial "Police Brutality 101."
Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative "is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society."
Institute for Justice Reform & Innovation (IJRI)
Drake University Law School’s IJRI provides resources and training on a number of issues, including creating a more just system of civil and criminal justice.
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
The world's largest "professional association for police leaders," the IACP "is dedicated to advancing the policing profession through advocacy, research, outreach, and education in order to provide for safer communities worldwide."
Mapping Police Violence
“ Mapping Police Violence is a research collaborative collecting comprehensive data on police killings nationwide to quantify the impact of police violence in communities.”
Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)
M4BL works with individuals and other organizations to "create a shared vision and policy agenda to win rights, recognition, and resources for Black people."
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
"Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans."
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL): Racial Disparity
NACDL provides resources examining race and criminal justice, noting, "Race matters in our criminal justice system. It affects how likely you are to be pulled over by police, how likely you are to be released or detained pretrial, how likely the state is to seek the death penalty, and how severely you are sentenced."
National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)
The NBJC strives to bridge "the gaps between the movements for racial justice and LGBTQ/SGL equality."
National Police Accountability Project (NPAP)
NPAP is a project of the National Lawyers Guild founded "to promote the accountability of law enforcement officers and their employers for violations of the Constitution and the laws of the United States."
Obama Foundation: Anguish and Action
Resources on police violence and antiracism in America.
Racial Justice Improvement Project
This ABA initiative “is designed to identify and reform policies and practices that produce racial disparities in local criminal justice systems across the country.”
Stanford Center for Racial Justice
"Through publishing and teaching on timely issues, student engagement, service, and training, the Center will facilitate social change by providing research and collaboration on policy reforms to dismantle racism."
Vera Institute of Justice
The institute "envision[s] a society that respects the dignity of every person and safeguards justice for everyone." The Solutions & Research section provides access to reports on a wide range of topics, including policing and community, racial bias in prosecution, reducing the use of jail, and more.

Statistics show that "Black Americans . . . are killed [by police] at a much higher rate than White Americans."

From Fatal Force, the Washington Post database of "every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States" since Jan. 1, 2015.

Books & Reports

No Equal Justice by David Cole
Call Number: Law Library Stacks HV9950 .C58 1999
A seminal work on U.S. justice system inequities based on race and class.
Chokehold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler
Call Number: Law Library Stacks HV8141 .B88 2017
Driving While Black by Kenneth Meeks
Call Number: Law Library Stacks HV8141 .M39 2000
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Call Number: Law Library Stacks KF373.S743 A3 2014 (Also in Cowles Library Stacks)
Justice in America: The Separate Realities of Blacks and Whites by Mark Peffley; Jon Hurwitz
Call Number: Law Library Stacks KF9223 .P44 2010
Also available as an eBook (Requires Drake credentials.)
The Future of Police Reform: The U.S. Justice Department and the Promise of Lawful Policing by Samuel Walker
Call Number: Law Library Stacks KF5399 .W35 2024
The Torture Machine by Flint Taylor
Call Number: Law Library Stacks HV8148.C42 T39 2019

Building Momentum from the Ground Up: A Toolkit for Promoting Justice in Policing
Resources for communities working to transform “the policies and practices of local law enforcement.”
Making Police Reforms Endure: The Keys for Success
This Department of Justice report "presents a framework that other police departments can use and test in their efforts to institutionalize police reforms."

Via Executive Order 13684 (Dec. 18, 2014), President Barack Obama established the Task Force on 21st Century Policing in order to "to identify the best means to provide an effective partnership between law enforcement and local communities that reduces crime and increases trust." This lead to a final report, an implementation guide, and a one-year follow-up report, as well as assessments by other organizations.

Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (2015)
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing Implementation Guide: Moving from Recommendations to Action (2015)
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing: One-Year Progress Report (2016)
An Evidence- Assessment of the Recommendations of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing — Implementation and Research Priorities.
This joint research project of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University and the International Association of Chiefs of Police investigated “existing research knowledge about those Task Force recommendations relevant to state and local law enforcement, highlighting promising efforts based on research knowledge, and identifying issues that need more research and testing.“

Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure

On April 3, 2018 the Iowa Supreme Court announced the establishment of an Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure Review Task Force charged with comprehensively reviewing the rules and making recommendations for their revision.

On March 30, 2020, the Iowa Supreme Court invited public comment on the rules, with a deadline of June 30. On June 26, the public comment period was extended to July 14, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rules as proposed by the task force
Summary of proposed changes
Presentation on task force work and recommendations
Public comments submitted by July 14, 2020 deadline
In addition to comments from a number of Drake graduates, comments were also submitted by professors emeriti Russ Lovell and David Walker, on behalf of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP; Judge Mark Bennett, on behalf of the Drake Law School Institute for Justice Reform and Innovation; and Prof. Robert Rigg.

Racial Justice in the U.S.: Police & Legal Reform

Articles

Organizations

Books & Reports

Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure

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