Journal Title
University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class
Volume
23
Issue
1
First Page
1
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
2023
Abstract
This Article calls upon Congress to protect its citizens where state and local legislators will not. Although Congress is limited in its ability to regulate local policing, the United States Constitution does provide authority for some congressional reform and oversight into matters of state and local law enforcement through Article 1, Section 8. Congress can (and has before) conditioned the receipt of federal funds over states' conformity to federal standards or programs. This Article proposes that the millions of dollars in federal grants sent to state and local police organizations be conditioned upon each organization's compliance with a program designed to screen current and law enforcement officials for active affiliations with white supremacist or far-right militant organizations. Such a proposal would allow for a level of specificity missing from many other "defund the police" suggestions.
Recommended Citation
Jerron R. Wheeler, Defunding C.O.P.S.: Conditioning Federal Funding to State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies upon the Implementation of a Program That Screens Its Current and Future Officers for White Supremacist Affiliations, 23 U. Md. L.J. Race, Religion, Gender & Class 1 (2023).