Mitchell Hamline School of Law
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Improving Police Officer Accountability in Minnesota: Three Proposed Legislative Reforms
Get PDFThe killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020 put the issue of police reform back into the national discussion and made Minnesota, at least during a brief window of time, confront its past on issues of racism and police abuse.
This article provides background on the racist and problematic history of policing in Minnesota and the many reports and studies that have both condemned the State’s lack of action and proposed specific steps that could have helped, but were never taken.
The article then details three specific legislative proposals recommended to address the problems of racist and abusive policing . First, Minnesota should enact a state-based civil rights statute modeled on federal § 1983, but with explicit restrictions on qualified immunity. Second, Minnesota should enact a complete change to the current model of officer indemnification and require that officers carry their own professional liability insurance, just like lawyers and doctors do, to leverage market-based accountability forces. Third, Minnesota should amend its current statute on police use of deadly force to include consideration of what an officer does or does not do that contributes to the circumstances leading to the deadly use of force
Technological Transformation of the Public Square: Government Officials Use of Social Media and The First Amendment
Get PDFThe Toxic Crusaders: Exploring the History of the Criminal Enforcement of the Toxic Substances Control Act
Get PDFThe criminal prosecution of defendants who violated federal laws governing chemical substances has been ongoing for roughly four decades. Yet we continue to have a poor understanding of how federal prosecutors use the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to charge and prosecute environmental criminals. Through content analysis of all the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) criminal prosecution case summaries from 1983 to 2019, we analyze all TSCA-focused prosecutions for two purposes. First, to gain a better historical understanding of how federal prosecutors have used TSCA as a prosecutorial tool. Second, to understand outcomes of those prosecutions. Results show that 38% of prosecutions focus on PCB-related crimes, 34% on asbestos crimes, 24% on lead-based paint crimes, and 4% on chemical crimes. Cumulatively, defendants were assessed over $170 million in penalties, 3,200 months’ probation, and 1,900 months incarceration. We conclude with forward-facing solutions for improving the criminal enforcement of TSCA including enhanced public salience, resources, and community policing
George Floyd\u27s Legacy: Reforming, Relating, and Rethinking Through Chauvin\u27s Conviction and Appeal under a Felony-Murder Doctrine Long-Weaponized against People of Color
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The Next Surges Are Here: What Can American Governments Lawfully Do In Response to the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic?
Get PDFMistakes were Made: Applying Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement to the Opioid Settlement Agreement
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