The information on this page is a combination of open access resources, Campbell Law Library materials, and Wiggins Library materials on main campus. Contact a law librarian if you have difficulty accessing any of the resources.
"We've invested so much in police departments as protectors that we have forgotten what it means to serve our communities", says Baltimore Police officer Lt. Colonel Melvin Russell. It's led to coldness and callousness, and it's dehumanized the police force. After taking over as district commander in one of Baltimore's toughest neighborhoods, Russell instituted a series of reforms aimed at winning back the trust of the community and lowering the violent crime rate.
Seth W. Stoughton is an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and an Associate Professor (Affiliate) in the university's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. His book, Evaluating Police Uses of Force, explores a critical but largely overlooked facet of the difficult and controversial issues of police violence and accountability: how does society evaluate use-of-force incidents? This video records a conversation and following Q&A with Stoughton about his work. Wilson Center Director Brandon Garrett moderates.
Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad of the Harvard Kennedy School and Professor Chenjerai Kumanyika of Rutgers University explain how American policing grew out of efforts to control the labor of poor and enslaved people in the 19th century and beyond.
Against the backdrop of a pandemic that is disproportionately killing Black people, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police this year sparked a push for racial justice and calls for change. On Sept. 15, in a documentary called “Policing the Police 2020,” FRONTLINE and New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb examine the realities of race and policing in America.
Public Defenders Sajid Khan and Avi Singh podcast on the criminal system on Aider and Abettor. The show includes discussions about the mismatch between the criminal system's purported values and actual function. Sajid Khan is a public defender in San Jose, CA. Sajid is an author of Closing Arguments, a blog focused on criminal law and social justice. Avi Singh is a public defender in San Jose, CA. Avi graduated from UC Davis and Harvard Law School.
Each episode of "The Criminal Docket" explores important items on the criminal legal agenda, in-depth, with top leaders in the legal practice, public policy, journalism, academia, and others whose lives intersect with the criminal legal system.
Criminal defense attorney Scott Reisch discusses legal issues of the day and criminal law on current cases such as the Delphi Case, Brian Laundrie, Alex Murdaugh, and other cases. Reisch's experience as a criminal defense attorney allows him to add in details from his own law knowledge and trial experience.
