MikeTodd
July 17th, 2010, 10:20 AM
ARE COPS CONSTITUTIONAL?
http://www.constitution.org/lrev/roots/cops.htm
Roger Roots
Police work is often lionized by jurists and scholars who claim to employ "textualist" and "originalist" methods of constitutional interpretation. Yet professional police were unknown to the United States in 1789, and first appeared in America almost a half-century after the Constitution's ratification. The Framers contemplated law enforcement as the duty of mostly private citizens, along with a few constables and sheriffs who could be called upon when necessary. This article marshals extensive historical and legal evidence to show that modern policing is in many ways inconsistent with the original intent of America's founding documents. The author argues that the growth of modern policing has substantially empowered the state in a way the Framers would regard as abhorrent to their foremost principles.
PART I
INTRODUCTION................................................................686
THE CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT..............................................688
PRIVATE PROSECUTORS....................................................689
LAW ENFORCEMENT AS A UNIVERSAL................................692
POLICE AS SOCIAL WORKERS.............................................695
THE WAR ON CRIME..........................................................696
THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTINCTIONS................................698
RESISTING ARREST............................................................701
THE SAFETY OF THE POLICE PROFESSION............................711
PROFESSIONALISM?..........................................................713
DNA EVIDENCE ILLUSTRATES FALLIBILITY OF POLICE........716
COPS NOT COST-EFFECTIVE DETERRENT.............................721
PART II
POLICE AS A STANDING ARMY...........................................722
THE SECOND AMENDMENT........725
THE THIRD AMENDMENT...................................................727
THE RIGHT TO BE LEFT ALONE...........................................728
THE FOURTH AMENDMENT................................................729
WARRANTS A FLOOR, NOT A CEILING.................................733
PRIVATE PERSONS AND THE FOURTH AMENDMENT..............734
ORIGINALISTS CALL FOR CIVIL DAMAGES...........................739
DEVELOPMENT OF IMMUNITIES..........................................743
THE LOSS OF PROBABLE CAUSE, AND THE ONSET OF PROBABLE SUSPICION................................................744
POLICE AND THE "AUTOMOBILE EXCEPTION"......................745
ONE EXCEPTION: THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE?......................747
THE FIFTH AMENDMENT....................................................751
DUE PROCESS...................................................................752
ENTRAPMENT...................................................................754
CONCLUSION...................................757
http://www.constitution.org/lrev/roots/cops.htm
Roger Roots
Police work is often lionized by jurists and scholars who claim to employ "textualist" and "originalist" methods of constitutional interpretation. Yet professional police were unknown to the United States in 1789, and first appeared in America almost a half-century after the Constitution's ratification. The Framers contemplated law enforcement as the duty of mostly private citizens, along with a few constables and sheriffs who could be called upon when necessary. This article marshals extensive historical and legal evidence to show that modern policing is in many ways inconsistent with the original intent of America's founding documents. The author argues that the growth of modern policing has substantially empowered the state in a way the Framers would regard as abhorrent to their foremost principles.
PART I
INTRODUCTION................................................................686
THE CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT..............................................688
PRIVATE PROSECUTORS....................................................689
LAW ENFORCEMENT AS A UNIVERSAL................................692
POLICE AS SOCIAL WORKERS.............................................695
THE WAR ON CRIME..........................................................696
THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISTINCTIONS................................698
RESISTING ARREST............................................................701
THE SAFETY OF THE POLICE PROFESSION............................711
PROFESSIONALISM?..........................................................713
DNA EVIDENCE ILLUSTRATES FALLIBILITY OF POLICE........716
COPS NOT COST-EFFECTIVE DETERRENT.............................721
PART II
POLICE AS A STANDING ARMY...........................................722
THE SECOND AMENDMENT........725
THE THIRD AMENDMENT...................................................727
THE RIGHT TO BE LEFT ALONE...........................................728
THE FOURTH AMENDMENT................................................729
WARRANTS A FLOOR, NOT A CEILING.................................733
PRIVATE PERSONS AND THE FOURTH AMENDMENT..............734
ORIGINALISTS CALL FOR CIVIL DAMAGES...........................739
DEVELOPMENT OF IMMUNITIES..........................................743
THE LOSS OF PROBABLE CAUSE, AND THE ONSET OF PROBABLE SUSPICION................................................744
POLICE AND THE "AUTOMOBILE EXCEPTION"......................745
ONE EXCEPTION: THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE?......................747
THE FIFTH AMENDMENT....................................................751
DUE PROCESS...................................................................752
ENTRAPMENT...................................................................754
CONCLUSION...................................757