Professor Michael Mannheimer of 海角视频聽Salmon P. Chase College of Law is using old words to create a new concept for聽police in law enforcement.
Professor Mannheimer is the author of The Fourth Amendment: Original Understandings and Modern Policing,聽published recently by University of Michigan Press. In the book and speaking聽engagements around the nation, Professor Mannheimer proposes that a reimaging聽of two amendments to the United States Constitution 鈥 the Fourth, which forbids unreasonable search and聽seizure, and the Fourteenth, which applies the prohibition to state laws 鈥 could reduce the number聽of deadly police encounters with citizens throughout the nation.
Professor Mannheimer will present readings from his book聽March 27, beginning at 5 p.m., in the Votruba Student Union on the Northern聽Kentucky University campus. He will also discuss his theory in a聽question-and-answer session with Chase Professor John Bickers, prior to a聽reception and book signing.
His reimaging seeks to eliminate a major factor in聽confrontations between police and citizens 鈥 the amount of discretion individual officers can聽exercise in deciding whether to detain or enforce a law against one person but聽not another.
鈥淭he big problem with excessively broad discretion is under-enforcement 鈥 the discretion聽police have to ignore infractions by the privileged many and enforce the law聽only against the unlucky few,鈥 Professor Mannheimer says.
鈥淲e can solve that by requiring enforcement against everyone. It鈥檚聽a representation-reinforcing view of the Fourth Amendment: Whatever聽search-and-seizure rules the majority would impose on the minority, they also聽have to impose on themselves. What we have today are rules that ostensibly聽apply to everyone equally but police have so much discretion that we end up聽with really stark inequalities 鈥 racial and otherwise 鈥 in policing.鈥
Professor Mannheimer has been a member of the Chase faculty聽since 2004, and has taught courses in criminal law, criminal trial procedure, the聽death penalty, evidence and sentencing.
