Execution Without Trial: Police Homicide and the Constitution (From Police Deviance, P 241-274, 1991, Thomas Barker, David L Carter, eds. -- See NCJ-128045)

• NCJ Number: 128057
• Author(s): L W Sherman
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from Vanderbilt Law Review, V 33, N 71 (January 1980), P 71-100

Annotation

This analysis of constitutional issues related to police killings of suspects concludes that the current State laws are unconstitutional in both the common-law states and in the states that use the Model Penal Code and forcible felony laws.

Abstract

These current laws deny victims fifth and fourteenth amendment rights to due process, allow the punishment of death to be imposed in a cruel and unusual fashion, and appear to deny equal protection to black individuals. The only apparent constitutional alternative is to remove police homicide from the realm of punishment and confine justification for it to the doctrine of self defense. This approach would reflect the first section of the firearms policy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and would be both constitutional and highly practical. Reference notes, table, and 5 study questions