By Lindsay Turner

Background

Two legal doctrines in Minnesota – aiding and abetting liability and felony murder – converge to allow anyone who contributes to a felony to be charged with and punished for murder if a death occurs during the course of the felony, even if that person did not cause death, cause any injury to the deceased, nor intend for anyone to die. Aiding and abetting liability means that people are criminally liable for the crime of another if the first person aids, advises, counsels, or conspires to commit that crime (Minnesota Statutes 2021, section 609.05). Under the doctrine of felony murder, anyone who kills another during the course of committing a felony is liable for murder, even if they did not intend for death to result (Minnesota Statutes 2021, section 609.185 and 609.195). Taken together, this means that people in Minnesota can be punished for murder when they did not kill, injure, or even intend harm, so long as they contribute to a felony, and a death results during the course of the felony (called “aiding and abetting felony murder”).

In June 2021, the Minnesota Legislature established the Task Force on Aiding and Abetting Felony Murder (Task Force) (Laws of Minnesota 2021, 1st Spec. Sess. chapter 11, article 2, section 53) in order to understand any benefits and unintended consequences of Minnesota’s aiding and abetting felony murder doctrine. The Task Force organized into three subcommittees. One to collect and analyze data about charges, convictions, and sentences under the doctrine, one to review statutes and case law across the 50 states, and one to invite input from victims’ loved ones and those impacted by the current doctrine. In November 2021, the Task Force hired Wilder Research to review literature, aid in data analysis, and write the report to the legislature. This report summarizes this task force’s work, findings, and recommendations.

Key findings:

Studies on deterrence, incarceration’s lack of impact on re-offense, and adolescent brain development raise concerns with this doctrine.

To contextualize the issue, Wilder Research staff reviewed research on deterrence, incarceration’s impact on reoffense, and adolescent brain development. Decades of studies show that the threat of punishment alone does not deter crime (Rocker, 2021), that incarceration compared to non-custodial sanctions has no impact on reoffense or tends to increase the risk that the person who experiences incarceration will reoffend (Petrich et al., 2021), and that those in their teens through mid-20s are in a unique stage of brain development that make them less capable to assess risk and consequences, and more apt to be motivated by emotion and peer pressure than those older (Dobscha, 2019; Johnson et al., 2009). With this, Task Force members were concerned that Minnesota’s aiding and abetting felony murder doctrine does not deter behavior, does not reduce the risk of re-offense, and may especially harm those in their mid-20s and younger who are held liable under this doctrine.

Young people, people charged by Hennepin County, Black people, and males with little to no prior criminal history make up the largest groups of people charged, convicted, and sentenced under this doctrine.

From 2010 through 2019, there have been 130 people charged with aiding and abetting felony murder across Minnesota, and 84 people convicted of aiding and abetting felony murder as the most severe conviction. The Task Force analyzed patterns in charges, convictions, and sentences, and found that people 25 years and younger, people in Hennepin County, Black people, and people with little to no criminal history are those most frequently impacted by aiding and abetting felony murder liability. The Task Force was concerned with geographic, race, and age disparities that have happened under this doctrine.

Recent national trends are to limit aiding and abetting felony murder liability, not expand it.

The Task Force reviewed felony murder and aiding and abetting liability statutes from the 50 states, and also seminal state appellate or state Supreme Court cases relevant to aiding and abetting felony murder liability in Minnesota and around the country. The Task Force also heard presentations about whether other common law countries apply felony murder liability. The United States is the only common law country that has not yet abolished felony murder liability generally, and past decades have seen U.S. state legislatures and review courts abolish and otherwise limit aiding and abetting felony murder liability.

Victims and those convicted under the doctrine support limiting aiding and abetting felony murder liability, with avenues for retroactive relief.

The Task Force invited connection with victims’ families through contacting 37 victim/survivor organizations, and heard from victims’ families through the Minnesota Alliance on Crime (MAC). MAC is a statewide coalition of victim/survivor advocate organizations; 75% of their membership are victim-witness programs in county attorney offices, and the rest are community-based organizations. The Task Force also heard from 10 people convicted under this doctrine, and one person who rejected a deal to plead guilty to aiding and abetting felony murder. MAC expressed support for retroactive reform such that aiders and abettors of an underlying felony are not punished for the homicidal acts of another, and said that such retroactive reforms would be supported by the vast majority of its members. Impacted individuals expressed accountability for their role in the underlying felony and shared many difficulties stemming from being held criminally liable for the homicidal acts of another. Those impacted individuals who spoke on the subject strongly supported retroactive reforms to limit aiding and abetting felony murder liability.

The adverse consequences of Minnesota’s aiding and abetting felony murder doctrine outweigh its benefits.

After analyzing the above key findings, the Task Force agreed that the adverse consequences of the current aiding and abetting felony murder doctrine outweigh its benefits.

St. Paul, MN: Wilder Foundation, 2022. 222p.

By Anna Granias, Ryan Evans, Daniel Lee, Nicole MartinRogers, Emma Connell, With expert consultant Jose Vega

On May 25, 2020, a Black Minneapolis resident, George Floyd, was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. The officer kneeled on Mr. Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, while two other Minneapolis police officers helped pin him down for a portion of that time. Another police officer prevented several bystanders from intervening as they watched Mr. Floyd die.

Vigils and peaceful protesting began immediately after the murder, at the scene (38th Street and Chicago Avenue) and in other locations, and continued through June 7, 2020. Civil unrest, including violence and destructive behavior, started within 24 hours at the scene and in other parts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, in the state of Minnesota, around the U.S., and internationally. Looting and arson were widespread, and local police and emergency responders could not respond to many calls for help— either because they couldn't safely access the area or were too overwhelmed. Minnesota State Law Enforcement Agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, and other agencies, along with the Minnesota National Guard were called upon by the governor to provide services outside of their specific jurisdiction and training. Although these state-level entities were better equipped to respond to this particular crisis than local jurisdictions due to their training, equipment, and number of officers, they did not have experience responding to a large-scale civil disturbance and extended period of civil unrest such as what occurred in Minneapolis after Mr. Floyd’s murder.

External review commissioned

In February 2021, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) contracted with Wilder Research to conduct an external review of the state’s response to civil unrest that occurred May 26-June 7, 2020, following the murder of George Floyd. DPS requested that the review:

• Objectively evaluate what the state did well and did not do well.

• Identify actions and options that may have produced different, or possibly better, outcomes.

• Provide recommendations to the Commissioner of Public Safety to assist state and local governmental units, including cities and counties, in responding effectively to potential periods of regional or statewide civil unrest in the future.

St. Paul: Wilder Foundation, 2022. 129p.

By David Spencer

‘The Wicked and the Redeemable’ reveals that:

• Despite representing nine percent of the nearly six million people convicted of a criminal offence between 2000 and 2021 prolific offenders receive over half of all convictions.

• The Crown Prosecution Service is taking far longer to charge suspects than ever before. It now takes an average of nearly 44 days compared to 14 days seven years ago. These delays are putting vulnerable victims at risk of considerable harm as a result of wholly unnecessary bureaucracy.

• The number of cases that have been outstanding for more than 6 months (the expected standard) has quadrupled in the last four years to 30,384 cases. This is part of the biggest ever Crown Court backlog in history (with 64,709 cases now outstanding – double the number four years ago).

• Despite already having more than 45 previous convictions, ‘Hyper-Prolific Offenders’ are sent to prison on less than half of all occasions (47.3%) on conviction for an indictable or either-way offence. For ‘Prolific Offenders’, those with 16 previous convictions or more, the number falls to less than a quarter being sent to prison on conviction (24.4%) for an indictable or either-way offence.

London: Policy Exchange, 2023. 54p.

Scott E. Wolfe , Jeff Rojek , Geoff Alpert ,Hope Tiesman, and Stephen James

Following the unfortunate rise in the number of law enforcement officers killed in the USA between 2010 and 2011, the Bureau of Justice Assistance and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services created the national Officer Safety and Wellness (OSW) group to identify and support efforts to improve officer safety (Stephens et al., 2012). One of the more notable observations from the OSW group was that little is known about officerinvolved vehicle collisions despite these events often being the leading cause of officer fatalities in the USA on an annual basis (Stephens et al., 2013)[ 1 ]. This issue has largely been ignored by the research community and, as a result, there is virtually no empirical knowledge concerning the prevalence of vehicle collisions, the injury, and fatality outcomes of these events, the characteristics of these collisions, or the characteristics of individuals involved in such incidents. The impact of this empirical gap is a lack of knowledge for developing policy, practice, and training aimed at reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from vehicle collisions. The present study partially addresses this gap in the literature by examining more than 35,000 vehicle collisions involving officers in the State of California between 2000 and 2009. The analysis examines the outcomes of these events and the characteristics of the collisions and offices involved.

HHS Public Access. Author manuscript. Policing. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 February 10.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Guy Ben-Porat and Fany Yuval

What does police violence against minorities, or violent clashes between minorities and the police tell us about citizenship and its internal hierarchies? Indicative of deep-seated tensions and negative perceptions; incidents such as these suggest how minorities are vulnerable, suffer from or are subject to police abuse and neglect in Israel. Marked by skin colour, negatively stigmatized or rendered security threats, their encounters with police provide a daily reminder of their defunct citizenship. Taking as case studies the experiences and perceptions of four minority groups within Israel including Palestinian/Arab citizens, ultra-Orthodox Jews and Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, Ben-Porat and Yuval are able to explore different paths of citizenship and the stratification of the citizenship regime through relations with and perceptions of the police in Israel. Touching on issues such as racial profiling, police brutality and neighbourhood neglect, their study questions the notions of citizenship and belonging, shedding light on minority relationships with the state and its institutions.

CAMBRIDGE. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 2019. 251p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

David C. Perry

Police in the Metropolis by David C. Perry offers readers a compelling and thought-provoking exploration of law enforcement in a bustling urban landscape. Perry delves into the complexities of policing in a metropolis, tackling issues of crime, justice, and power dynamics with a keen eye for detail. Through vivid storytelling and meticulous research, the author sheds light on the challenges faced by those who protect and serve in a city teeming with life and conflict. Police in the Metropolis is a riveting read that provides valuable insights into the nuanced world of urban law enforcement.

CHARLES E. MERRILL PUBLISHING COMPANY.. Columbus, Ohio. 1973. 193p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

Edward R. Maguire

Although most large police organizations perform the same tasks, there is tremendous variation in how individual organizations are structured. To account for this variation, author Edward R. Maguire develops a new theory that attributes the formal structures of large municipal police agencies to the contexts in which they are embedded. This theory finds that the relevant features of an organization's context are its size, age, technology, and environment. Using a database representing nearly four hundred of the nation's largest municipal police agencies, Maguire develops empirical measures of police organizations and their contexts and then uses these measures in a series of structural equation models designed to test the theory. Ultimately, police organizations are shown to be like other types of organizations in many ways but are also shown to be unique in a number of respects.

NY. SUNY Press. 2003. 294p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

TODD DOUGLAS

As accusations of police misconduct and racial bias increasingly dominate the media, The Police in a Free Society: Safeguarding Rights While Enforcing the Law takes an unflinching look at the police, the communities they serve, and the politicians who direct them. Author Todd Douglas, a veteran state police commander, exposes the occurrences of police misconduct and incompetence as well as incidences of charlatans who intentionally inflame racial tensions with the police for their own political or financial gain.

Readers will better understand what police officers must deal with on a daily basis, grasp the role of lawmakers in keeping faith with the public, and appreciate the tremendous challenges that police leaders face in attempting to reverse recent trends and shore up public confidence in police officers. This is a rare glimpse into the often-ugly reality of what happens on America's streets, with insights gained from the perspective of the cop and suspect alike.

Praeger. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, Califomla • Denver, Colorado. 2017. 298p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

Katherine Beckett and Theodore Sasson

The U.S. crime rate has dropped steadily for more than a decade, yet the rate of incarceration continues to skyrocket. Today, more than 2 million Americans are locked in prisons and jails with devastating consequences for poor families and communities, overcrowded institutions and overburdened taxpayers. How did the U.S. become the world′s leader in incarceration? Why have the numbers of women, juveniles, and people of color increased especially rapidly among the imprisoned?

The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment in America, Second Edition is the first book to make widely accessible the new research on crime as a political and cultural issue. Katherine Beckett and Theodore Sasson provide readers with a robust analysis of the roles of crime, politics, media imagery and citizen activism in the making of criminal justice policy in the age of mass incarceration.

Features of this text:

• Critical Approach. Debunks myths about crime in the U.S., challenges many current anticrime policies that became harsher in the 1990s, and illuminates the political implications of crime and punishment.

• Contemporary. Updated throughout with particular attention to Chapter 5, "Crime in the Media," including research and analyses of crime in the news, crime as entertainment, and the interplay of news media, entertainment, and crime.

• Comprehensive Research. Draws on a wide range of scholarship, including research on crime′s representation in political discourse and the mass media, public opinion, crime-related activism, and public policy.

• Consistent and Accessible. A great source to communicate new research to both non-specialists and specialists in accessible language with riveting, real-life examples.

Intended as a supplement for use in any criminal justice or criminology course, especially in the punishment, corrections and policy areas, The Politics of Injustice, Second Edition will appeal to those who take a critical approach to crime issues.

Pine Forge Press. Thousand Oakls, Califoria. 2000. 201p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

EDITORS Clifford D. Shearing AND Philip C. Stenning

The increased use of private policing has led to a growing awareness that policing can no longer be thought of as just being about crime, but as the enforcement of order and the way it can be both established and maintained. Private Policing charts the development of social control mechanisms -- both public and private -- from historical, legal, ethical and managerial perspectives.

SAGE PUBLICATIONS.. Newbury Park Beverly Hill. 1987. 329p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

Herman Goldstein

In his seminal work on problem-oriented policing, Herman Goldstein emphasizes the importance of addressing the root causes of crime and disorder within communities. Goldstein’s book provides a framework for law enforcement agencies to shift their focus from reactive responses to proactive measures aimed at preventing recurring issues.

The core concept of problem-oriented policing lies in identifying specific problems within a community, analyzing the underlying factors contributing to those problems, and developing tailored strategies to mitigate them. By working collaboratively with community members, local organizations, and other stakeholders, law enforcement can implement sustainable solutions that address the root causes of crime and disorder.

Goldstein’s book serves as a guide for police departments looking to adopt a more proactive and community-centered approach to policing. By encouraging officers to engage with the community, gather data on recurring issues, and implement evidence-based strategies, problem-oriented policing offers a promising alternative to traditional law enforcement practices.

Overall, Herman Goldstein’s book on problem-oriented policing provides valuable insights and practical tools for law enforcement agencies seeking to build safer and more resilient communities through proactive problem-solving strategies.

NY. McGraw-Hill. 1990. 221p.

By Kourtney A. D. Byrd, David K. Lohrmann, Cecilia Obeng, Jon Agley, Beth Cate, Y. Joel Wong, Tyler M. Nolting and Brittanni Wright

Further study is needed regarding the intersection of community violence exposure, coping strategies, and health behaviors among young adult African American men and Hispanic/Latino men. This study did so in Lake County, Indiana, which contains multiple areas with disproportionate prevalence of violence relative to population size. Approximately 22 miles from Chicago, Lake County includes noteworthy mid-sized cities such as Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago. This study explored the perceptions of African American men and Hispanic/Latino men ages 18 to 25 regarding coping strategies and both healthy and health risk behaviors after directly witnessing or indirectly experiencing a violent act or event. We used aspects of social cognitive theory to design this community-based participatory research study. Thirteen males who self-identified as African American, Hispanic/Latino, or both, completed 34- to 80-minute, audio-recorded phone interviews. Audio recordings were transcribed, and NVivo 12 Windows was used by the research team (primary researchers and two coders) to complete transcript analysis. Findings from this study provided insight around African American men and Hispanic/Latino men regarding (a) witnessing violence directly or indirectly experiencing violence; (b) changes in everyday life experiences; (c) coping strategies that involved socio-emotional health, spiritual health, social health, and risky health behaviors; (d) rationales for not asking for help; (e) observations of significant others’ coping; (f) what to do differently in the future; (g) beliefs about mentors; and (h) beliefs about mental health providers. Delving into participants’ experiences revealed that African American men and Hispanic/Latino men in Lake County, Indiana chose to adopt a range of health risk and health positive strategies after directly witnessing or indirectly experiencing violence. Becoming knowledgeable about African American men’s and Hispanic/Latino men’s diverse coping strategies and health behaviors may help inform the community about how best to cocreate spaces that aim to alleviate the traumatic experience of having directly or indirectly experienced community violence.

Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume 39, Issue 3-4 Feb 2024 Pages 477-920

By Alexandra V. Nur and Rory Monaghan

Contact with the justice system is associated with negative overall employment and wage outcomes. An understudied employment-based outcome of interest for justice-involved populations is occupational prestige attainment, or relative social status position based on occupation. This outcome is salient to justice-involved populations as embedment in low-quality, low-prestige work may have substantial impacts on later upward mobility. Using longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (n = 1,382), we assess whether arrest, probation, and jail are differentially related to occupational prestige attainment for young adults. Results indicate that justice involvement inhibits occupational prestige attainment, and that removal from the community in the form of jail may pose particular detriments to overall occupational prestige attainment compared to arrest or probation.

Crime & Delinquency Volume 70, Issue 2 Feb 2024 Pages 291-639

By Karolien Garritsen, Marija Janković, Erik Masthoff, Elien De Caluwé and Stefan Bogaerts

This study investigated which risk and protective factors, based on the 14 clinical indicators of the Historical-Clinical-Future Revised, significantly predicted violent recidivism in a sample of 315 male forensic psychiatric patients. Additionally, it was investigated whether these associations were moderated by intellectual ability. Regarding risk factors, a stronger influence of risky network members, and higher levels of hostility, impulsivity, and addiction significantly predicted violent recidivism. Likewise, regarding protective factors, poorer social and labor skills, and a lower degree of patient’s acceptance of crime responsibility were significant predictors of violent recidivism. Contrary to our expectations, better coping skills and more insight into risky behaviors that can lead to relapse also contributed significantly to an increased likelihood of violent recidivism. Intellectual ability had no significant moderating effect on the associations between the factors and violent recidivism. The results offer an insight into which factors need to be prioritized during treatment.

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume 68, Issue 2-3 Feb 2024 Pages155-295

By the Texas Center for Justice and Equity: Edited by América Malacara, Will Cover, and Jay Jenkins

Since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the death penalty in 1976, Harris County, Texas, has executed more people than any other non-Texas state in the union. 1 In part, this can be atributed to systemic issues with the county’s capital representaton process: despite a dramatc reducton in the number of defendants sentenced to death in the recent past, Harris County’s justice system remains rife with dysfunction in capital cases.

Harris County’s shortcomings were recently detailed in Death by Design, a report by the nonprofit Wren Collective that highlights failures in how the County handles cases where a defendant is accused of a capital crime and faces the death penalty or a sentence of life without parole – effectively death by incarceration. The full Death by Design report is a damning and comprehensive indictment of capital representation in Harris County, based on a detailed analysis of evidence presented in capital cases, attorney caseload numbers, attorney billing records, and case outcomes. Among other things, the report uncovered four cases wherein a defendant facing capital murder charges had no contact with their attorneys outside of court appearances. Not everyone agreed with the conclusions of Death by Design; one local defense attorney (whose law practice has previously represented defendants facing the death penalty) opined that, “Academicians should shut up about something they know nothing about, which is running a small business.” This response is telling, given that community members and advocates have long raised criticisms regarding the financial element of indigent defense in Harris County, largely stemming from the attorney appointment system. While the establishment and slow growth of the Harris County Public Defender’s Office within the last 15 years has been encouraging, the County’s elected criminal court judges retain control as to which attorneys are appointed to represent indigent defendants. Previous research has revealed that defense attorneys from the private bar who donate to judicial election campaigns are often rewarded by those same judges with indigent defense appointments. These attorneys are paid for their services out of the public coffers, but the judge must approve expenses related to their cases, such as hiring experts and investigators, as well as approve the amount of compensation to be paid to lawyers for their work. In years past, several attorneys have regularly received hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in reimbursement per year in these cases, with one attorney recently topping one million dollars in yearly fees.6 Unfortunately for indigent defendants in Harris County, the Public Defender’s Office does not accept capital cases, leaving those defendants’ attorneys to be chosen by the judge presiding over their case. These attorneys steadfastly maintain that this appointment system in no way affects their representation.

Austin, TX: Texas Center for Justice and Equity, 2024. 6p.

By Lenny Roth

The issue of criminal responsibility for workplace deaths has generated debate in NSW and nationally for many years. In October 2023, the New South Wales government announced that it would introduce an industrial manslaughter offence in the first half of 2024, with severe penalties for serious work health and safety breaches that result in death.

The purpose of this paper is to put the proposed reforms in their current and historical context. The paper discusses the general criminal offence of manslaughter, outlines the key offences in current work health and safety laws, summarises the debate, and examines industrial manslaughter laws in other Australian jurisdictions.

Sydney: State of New South Wales through the Parliament of New South Wales , Parliamentary Research Service, 2024. 28p.

By Ira P. Robbins

The law of burglary has long played a vital role in protecting hearth and home. Because of the violation of one’s personal space, few crimes engender more fear than burglary; thus, the law should provide necessary safety and security against that fear. Among other things, current statutes aim to deter trespassers from committing additional crimes by punishing them more severely based on their criminal intent before they execute their schemes. Burglary law even protects domestic violence victims against abusers who attempt to invade their lives and terrorize them. However, the law of burglary has expanded and caused so many problems that some commentators now argue for its elimination. Given broad discretion, prosecutors use burglary to over-punish a wide variety of offenses. The law can even encompass mere instances of shoplifting. Additionally, by punishing perpetrators before they accomplish their target crimes, burglary law often acts as a general law of attempts. Much of the law’s expansion stems from adding the word “remaining” to many burglary statutes. This inclusion allows burglary convictions in circumstances in which a perpetrator enters a structure legally, but then “remains unlawfully.” While this language has led to confusion among courts and legislatures about the scope of burglary, there is scant legal literature addressing this confusion. Scholars have yet to untangle the conflicting interpretations of unlawful remaining, and legislatures have failed to provide guidance that captures the nuances of burglary law. This Article unravels the complexities of burglary law and proposes a model statute that retains burglary law for its protective purposes, while also considering its problematic expansion.

UC Davis Law Review, vol. 57, February 2024

By: Sandhya Kajeepeta, Daniel K. N. Johnson

On July 11, 2020, 26-year-old Donavan La Bella was participating in a protest against racialized police violence in Portland, Oregon when a federal law enforcement officer fired an impact munition into his face, causing severe injury including a fractured face and skull. Video footage from the event shows Mr. La Bella standing unarmed with both hands over his head, holding a speaker playing the song “Black Lives Matter” by the recording artist Dax. Federal law enforcement officers then threw a canister of smoke or tear gas toward him, which Mr. La Bella pushed away from his feet. Then, a federal officer fired the impact munition at Mr. La Bella, hitting the young man directly in the face. Mr. La Bella was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. He survived the assault, but he has suffered permanent brain damage, including impairments to his cognitive function and impulse control. Donavan La Bella is one of tens of millions of people in the U.S. (and many more across the world) who participated in racial justice demonstrations during the summer of 2020 in response to police killings of Black Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In the U.S., there were well over 7,000 public demonstrations for racial justice across more than 2,400 locations in all 50 states, arguably the largest protest movement in the nation’s history. An overwhelming majority (an estimated 93%) of racial justice demonstrations in the summer of 2020 involved no violence, property destruction, or road blockades. However, police responses to protests varied widely, ranging from no presence at all to mass arrests, indiscriminate use of projectiles and chemical weapons (e.g., rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray), and driving police vehicles into crowds of protestors. Those types of police responses served as yet another example of the very police violence that protestors were calling to end. During the summer of 2020, there were also thousands of public demonstrations about issues other than racial justice, such as protests related to COVID-19 pandemic measures, labor movements, LGBTQ rights, political candidates, support for white nationalism, and more. This presented a unique opportunity to study how police responses to protests may have varied depending on the issue being protested. We found striking disparities in police responses to protests in the summer of 2020. At racial justice demonstrations, police were more likely to be present, more likely to have an escalated presence (i.e., riot police, state police, or national guard), and more likely to escalate their response to include arrests, projectiles, and chemical weapons, compared to similar demonstrations unrelated to racial justice. We begin this brief by describing the significance of the right to protest and how inequitable police responses to protest can undermine U.S. Constitutional rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments. We then present the findings from our analysis of protests in the summer of 2020, discuss the implications of these findings, and argue that police, ultimately, should not be tasked with managing protests.

Washington, DC: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,2023. 23p.

By NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Ferguson, Missouri has emerged as the site of the most disturbing display of racial tension, political powerlessness, and police violence in recent memory. The fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, is the latest tragic incident in a recent spate of police-involved homicides. Ferguson’s history of economic exclusion, disenfranchisement, segregation and poverty helped create a political system in which African Americans are grossly underrepresented in local government as well as an environment in which protesters and journalists from around the country were met with tear gas, rubber bullets, assault rifles, Kevlar vests, and military tanks as they bore witness to and reported on the aftermath of Michael Brown’s killing. This briefing paper aims to put Ferguson in focus by opening a window into the political, social, and economic conditions surrounding the life of Michael Brown. The report will look at Ferguson through the lenses of educational inequality, political disenfranchisement, economic inequality, and the criminal justice system – areas in which the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.’s historically has rooted its advocacy in support of African-American and other marginalized communities. Ferguson’s unadorned image revealed here is a candid snapshot into many of fault lines in American society. The challenges facing Ferguson are shared by locales across the country, and we can no longer turn a blind eye.

Washington, DC: NAACP Legal Defense Fund, 2024. 9p.

By Patrick Naef

Although the use of resilience in international relations and urban planning has given rise to a growing body of critical research, this contested concept continues to feature prominently in the conversation on the development of cities. Taking the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation as a case study, this article exposes some of the challenges inherent in the implementation of a global model of resilience. Exploring initiatives related to violence prevention in the member cities of Medellin, Cali (Colombia), Chicago (United States), and Belfast (Northern Ireland), this study will look at the practices of resilience officers, a position created by the 100RC network, and determine whether it can be considered as a new profession in the field of resilience planning. It will also use urban resilience to question the category of global cities, by suggesting that networks centered on resilience can serve as globalizing agents for “ordinary cities” (Robinson 2006). Finally, this article maintains that although the flexible and elusive definition promoted by 100RC facilitated a global circulation of the concept, its one-size-fits-all approach implied significant challenges and led in some cases to its depoliticization.

Annals of the American Association of Geographers 2022.