"Several high-profile police shootings and other law enforcement-related deaths in the United
States have sparked intense protests throughout the country and a fierce debate in Congress
concerning the appropriate level of force police officers should wield in a society that equally
values public safety and the lives of each of its citizens under law. These incidents have been the
subject of several congressional hearings, have prompted the introduction of various legislative
measures, and have catalyzed a new civil rights movement in the United States aimed at
reforming the criminal justice system. Reformers claim that police work too closely with local
prosecutors resulting in insufficient oversight and have called for greater involvement by the
federal government. The law enforcement community and its supporters have countered that
these recent deaths are anomalous in otherwise exemplary police conduct, and that placing the
federal government in direct regulation of state and local police would present an unwarranted
intrusion into state and local affairs.
To provide legal context for this debate, this report will address three overarching questions: (1)
what are the constitutional rules governing an officer’s use of force; (2) what role has Congress
played in providing a remedy for a violation of these rules; and (3) what are the potential reforms
to these rules and remedies?..."
Police
There's no question that the tragic events in Paris underscore the urgency of our campaign to defeat and ultimately destroy ISIL. As President Obama has said, the fight against ISIL will be long -- ISIL is a determined, well-resourced, and brutal enemy that aims to establish branches beyond Iraq and Syria, preying on vulnerable populations.
This is why, at the President’s direction, the U.S. government for more than a year has executed a comprehensive and sustained strategy to defeat ISIL. Since last summer, we’ve built a global coalition of 65 partners who are working together to degrade and destroy ISIL..."ISIL defeat strategy