Criminal Law-Case study

Criminal Law-Case study

In recent years, several fatal encounters between police officers and people of color sparked mass public protests under the banner of the Black Lives Matter movement. These protests are merely the most recent in a long series of social uprisings rooted in the frequently-contentious relationship between communities of color and the police departments tasked with serving and protecting those communities. To properly understand why recent incidents provoked such a strong, public reaction, you must know the historical context that influences the perceptions of police among communities of color.

First, read the following report and news articles posted on Blackboard under the “assignments” link. • National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders & Kerner, O. (1968). Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, March 1, 1968. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. • Bates, K.G. (2017, April 26). When LA erupted in anger: A look back at the Rodney King Riots. NPR. • Allam, H. (2015, May 15). In Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester, every day is an ongoing Katrina. McClatchy DC.

Second, answer the following short essay questions:

1. Briefly summarize the events of 1967 that the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (referred to as the “Kerner Commission”) was charged with investigating. You may describe broad patterns and similarities; you do not have to describe specific details of each individual event that the Commission recounts. When summarizing events you should give examples of typical 1) precipitating incidents that caused a public outcry and 2) the manner in which communities of color responded to precipitating incidents. 2. Summarize the social factors that the Kerner Commission identified as the causes of mass public backlash to precipitating incidents; pay particular attention to the social and economic conditions of African American neighborhoods. In other words, why did the Commission say, “Our Nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal”? a. Use any theories of crime we discussed earlier in the class that you feel are appropriate to explain why these social factors provoked public backlash. 3. Describe the similarities and differences you see between the 1) social conditions and community context and 2) the precipitating incidents that sparked the public backlashes in several cities in 1967, in Los Angeles in 1992, and in Baltimore in 2015. Does it seem to you that the recommendations proposed by the Kerner Commission to prevent future riots were implemented or ignored in the decades since the Commission issued its report?

https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/crime/article24784570.html