Democracy by Decree

Democracy by Decree
Author: Ross Sandler
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2004-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780300103144

Schools, welfare agencies, and a wide variety of other state and local institutions of vital importance to citizens are actually controlled by attorneys and judges rather than governors and mayors. In this valuable book, Ross Sandler and David Schoenbrod explain how this has come to pass, why it has resulted in service to the public that is worse, not better, and what can be done to restore control of these programs to democratically elected—and accountable—officials. Sandler and Schoenbrod tell how the courts, with the best intentions and often with the approval of elected officials, came to control ordinary policy making through court decrees. These court regimes, they assert, impose rigid and often ancient detailed plans that can founder on reality. Newly elected officials, who may wish to alter the plans in response to the changing wishes of voters, cannot do so unless attorneys, court-appointed functionaries, and lower-echelon officials agree. The result is neither judicial government nor good government, say Sandler and Schoenbrod, and they offer practical reforms that would set governments free from this judicial stranglehold, allow courts to do their legitimate job of protecting rights, and strengthen democracy.

The New World of Police Accountability

The New World of Police Accountability
Author: Samuel E. Walker
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2018-12-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1544339194

Completely revised to cover recent events and research, the Third Edition of The New World of Police Accountability provides an original and comprehensive analysis of some of the most important developments in police accountability and reform strategies. With a keen and incisive perspective, esteemed authors and policing researchers, Samuel Walker and Carol Archbold, address the most recent developments and provide an analysis of what works, what reforms are promising, and what has proven unsuccessful. The book’s analysis draws on current research, as well as the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the reforms embodied in Justice Department consent decrees. New to the Third Edition: The national crisis over police legitimacy and use of force is put into context through extensive discussions of recent police shootings and the response to this national crisis, providing readers a valuable perspective on the positive steps that have been taken and the limits of those steps. Coverage of the issues related to police officer uses of force is now the prevailing topic in Chapter 3 and includes detailed discussion of the topic, including de-escalation, tactical decision making, and the important changes in training related to these issues. An updated examination of the impact of technology on policing, including citizens’ use of recording devices, body-worn cameras, open data provided by police agencies, and use of social media, explores how technology contributes to police accountability in the United States. A complete, up-to-date discussion of citizen oversight of the police provides details on the work of selected oversight agencies, including the positive developments and their limitations, enabling readers to have an informed discussion of the subject. Detailed coverage of routine police activities that often generate public controversy now includes such topics as responding to mental health calls, domestic violence calls, and police "stop and frisk" practices. Issues related to policing and race relations are addressed head-on through a careful examination of the data, as well as the impact of recent reforms that have attempted to achieve professional, bias-free policing.

A Review of Federal Consent Decrees

A Review of Federal Consent Decrees
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts
Publisher: Amicus
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2005
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN:

Alligators and Crocodiles, discusses the life of alligators and crocodiles and profiles different types of each, along with providing facts about food, shelter, habitat, and more. Also includes records on alligators and crocodiles.

Civil Rights Investigations of Local Police

Civil Rights Investigations of Local Police
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2013
Genre: Police
ISBN: 9781934485224

From Summary: ... the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Acy, which gives DOJ's Civil Rights Division the authority to investigate state and local law enforcement agencies that it believes have unconstitutional policies or practices of conduct. The law is intended to address systemic issues, rather than individual complaints... The alleged misconduct cannot be an isolated incident. And there is no private right of action under the 1994 law; only the Justice Department is given authority to launch investigations and litigation under this statute.

Blue Mafia

Blue Mafia
Author: Tim Tolka
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2018-04-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781980962656

Blue Mafia shows that small towns have even more severe police misconduct than many major metro areas by recounting the causes and consequences of two federal investigations of local police misconduct. Steubenville was the second city in the U.S. to sign a consent decree with the Justice Department, but nobody really knows why. Little do local residents know, the county narcotics squad was committing crimes similar to the LAPD's Rampart Scandal and the county prosecutor was setting up, robbing, and framing innocent locals and drug dealers alike. Warren had the fourth oldest Justice Department investigation in the country until the Trump administration unilaterally lifted the consent decree in April 2017. However, similar to Baltimore, the Warren police had a pattern or practice of illegal strip searches and cavity searches, excessive force, and a failure to investigate and discipline misconduct by officers. Blue Mafia recounts the struggle of two small communities with troubled police departments, focusing on the consequences of systemic police misconduct for women and people of color. Blue Mafia gives the most detailed account to date of police reform by consent decree, which can serve as a blueprint for citizens interested in investigating police misconduct and promoting police reform.

Federal Intervention in American Police Departments

Federal Intervention in American Police Departments
Author: Stephen Rushin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2017-04-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107105730

This book evaluates how structural reform litigation initiated by federal intervention has transformed police departments and reduced law enforcement misconduct.

Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act

Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
Publisher:
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Predict and Surveil

Predict and Surveil
Author: Sarah Brayne
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2020-10-22
Genre: SOCIAL SCIENCE
ISBN: 0190684097

Predict and Surveil offers an unprecedented, inside look at how police use big data and new surveillance technologies. Sarah Brayne conducted years of fieldwork with the LAPD--one of the largest and most technically advanced law enforcement agencies in the world-to reveal the unmet promises and very real perils of police use of data--driven surveillance and analytics.

The Willowbrook Wars

The Willowbrook Wars
Author: David J. Rothman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 584
Release: 2017-07-12
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1351472569

The Willowbrook Wars is a dramatic and illuminating account of the effort to close down a scandal-ridden institution and return its 5,400 handicapped residents to communities in New York. The wars began in 1972 with Geraldo Rivera's televised raid on the Willowbrook State School. They continued for three years in a federal courtroom, with civil libertarian lawyers persuading a conservative and conscience-stricken judge to expand the rights of the disabled, and they culminated in a 1975 consent decree, with the state of New York pledging to accomplish the unprecedented assignment in six years. From 1975 to 1982, David and Sheila Rothman observed this remarkable chapter in American reform of mental disabilities care. Would the state live up to its agreement without "dumping" residents into other nightmarish institutions? Would the lawyers prove as interested in meeting client needs as in securing client rights? Could a tradition-bound bureaucracy create a new network of community services? And finally, would a governor and a legislature tolerate such outside intervention, and if so, for how long? In answering these questions, The Willowbrook Wars takes us behind the scenes to clarify the role of the judiciary, the fate of the underprivileged, and the potential for social justice. In their new afterword, the authors bring the story up to date, describing the results of the closing of the institution in 1987 from the experiences of integrating the former residents into communities to the legal battles between the state of New York and advocates for the mentally handicapped.