Constitutional Policing

There is not a single place in America where police and the community they serve do not exist side by side. America has always been the gold standard of democracy and freedom in the world. It has also been valued as that place where equal justice under the law is the rule and not the exception. While the nation is great in so many ways, it is not perfect. "We the people" continue to be challenged in two significant areas of development. One is in matters of "race" and the other is in the matters of "policing." The issues of "race and policing" continue to lie at the center of our nation's struggle to "form a more perfect union." This book, Constitutional Policing: Striving for a More Perfect Union, examines the issues of policing in America and the pathways to achieve a level of constitutional policing that begins to address how our diverse nation and the communities we live in can become safer, more equitable, more respectful of our differences. The chapters in this book detail the legal challenges that will have to be engaged in if there is any hope of our communities becoming places where we truly are engaging the possibilities of government "of people, by the people, for the people."

Table of Contents:

Part I: Foundations




• Qualified Immunity, Wylie Stecklow

• Administrative Complaints Against Police, Rita McNeil Danish

• Accountability of Police as Public Employees, James Hanks

• Constitutional Policing, Royce Russell

Part II: Effecting Positive Changes Toward a More Perfect Union




• Contemporary Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, Sharon R. Fairley

• Pattern or Practice Investigations and Consent Decrees, Michael A. Hardy

• Litigating Police-Civilian Encounters, William Harmening

• Transforming Policing: Lessons from New York City, Donna Lieberman

Afterword: The Most Perfect Union Protects and Serves Us All, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Index