Research Papers on Police Misconduct

(Click on the paper's title to download the document. Documents are in PDF Format.)

• [PDF] State Revocation of Law Enforcement Officers’ Licenses and Federal Criminal Prosecution: An Opportunity for Cooperative Federalism
  Author:  Roger Goldman
  Reprinted with permission of the Saint Louis University Public Law Review © 2003 St. Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri
  
• [PDF] Expert Testimony in Civil Rights Cases
  Author:  Michael Avery
  March, 2001
  Summary:  This paper describes recent changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence with respect to expert and opinion testimony, and summarizes a sample of recent police misconduct and housing discrimination cases in which expert testimony was proffered.
  
• [PDF] The ADA and Section 1983:  Walking Hand-In-Hand
  Using the Americans with Disabilities Act to Re-Open the Civil Rights Door
  Author:  James Harrington
  January, 2000
  Summary: This article discusses how the ADA may provide relief in cases in which Section 1983 alone would generally not allow recovery for people with disabilities, and how the use of ADA may set standards to inform Section 1983 litigation.  Among other things, the article discusses in particular the application of the ADA to problems of immunities, interlocutory appeals, class actions, HIV and suicide in jails and prisons, voting, parole and attorneys fees.
  
• [PDF] Fighting the Collateral Estoppel Defense in Section 1983 Litigation
  Author:  Lynne Wilson
  March, 2001
  Summary:  This article is an attempt to present a road map of the rather byzantine world of collateral estoppel as it is currently used by individual defendants as an affirmative defense to Section 1983 claims.
  
• [PDF] The Use and Abuse of Pepper Spray
  Author:  Lynne Wilson
  Summary:  Explores the known medical consequences of the recent burgeoning police use of pepper spray on certain people being taken into custody or during protest situations.  Particular emphasis on the lethal aspects when used on some individuals such as those who are obese, in an acute mental state, high on drugs or hogtied.  Implications for Fourth amendment excessive force cases, municipal liability, the controversy over where pepper spray should be on the "continuum of force" or whether it should be banned completely as well as the lack of regulation and research on its use are discussed in depth.
  
• [PDF] Private Police and the Scope of Section 1983
  Author:  Lynne Wilson
  Summary:  Discusses the phenomenal rise of private security police in the US and abroad.  Particular emphasis is on the need for federal regulation of security guard training and licensing and screening as well as legal theories for subjecting corporate employers and individual private police to civil rights liability including punitive damages and municipal policy/practice claims if particular departments are coordinating their efforts with or conspiring with local police departments.
  
• [PDF] The Public’s Right of Access to Police Misconduct Files
  Author:  Lynne Wilson
  Published (in longer form) in the January-February 1994 Police Misconduct Reporter
  Summary:  Even though the public has a right under most state records disclosure laws to access citizen complaint files involving specific police officers, courts often use the common law right of privacy to protect these files.  This article discusses tactics to gain access to these records, and identifies the basic cases to use for motions to compel.
  
• [PDF] Limits of Local Police Involvement in the Enforcement of Immigration Laws
  Author:  Lynne Wilson
  Published in the July-August 1995 Police Misconduct Reporter
  Summary:  The INS is increasingly using patrol officers as part-time Border Patrol agents, even though state and local law enforcement officers lack statutory or constitutional authority to enforce federal immigration law.  Enforcement of such complex laws requires training that the local police do not receive, and such abuse of authority may result in municipal liability.
  
  NOTE:  Since this article was written, Congress has passed a number of major pieces of legislation that impact local law enforcement involvement with immigration and readers should be mindful that this is more of a basic overview.
  
• [PDF] Malicious Prosecution Counterclaims and the Right of Petition
  Author:  Lynne Wilson
  Published in the September-October 1994 Police Misconduct Reporter
  Summary:  Malicious Prosecution counterclaims and SLAPP suits are increasingly prevalent against police misconduct plaintiffs.  The legal bases for such suits are explored in this article, with a particular focus on the state common law and statutory basis for such claims.  Tactics for dismissal of the claims are discussed as well.
  
• [PDF] Broken Windows Theory of Policing
  Author: Professor David Cole
  March, 2000

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