"Nationwide protests during the spring and summer of 2020 related to police use of force have prompted calls for increased congressional regulation of federal, state, and local law enforcement.There are an array of legal issues related to federal regulation of law enforcement, including the scope of Congress’s constitutional authority to legislate on law enforcement reform, current federalregulation of law enforcement, and various questions raised by reform proposals introduced in the 116th Congress.
Congress has extensive power to regulate federal law enforcement. However, federalism principles embodied in the Constitution place limits on Congress’s power to regulate state and local police—an issue that the Constitution generally entrusts to the states.Congress, however, possesses some authority to regulate state and local law enforcement.Two primary tools Congress may use to act in this area are statutes designed to enforce the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment and legislation requiring states to take specified action in exchange for federal funds disbursed under the Spending Clause.
Legislating within the scope of its enumerated powers, Congress has enacted multiple statutes that regulate federal, state, and
local law enforcement. Key existing legal authorities related to federal regulation of law enforcement include Department of
Justice (DOJ) civil enforcement against patterns and practices of unconstitutional policing, laws imposing civil and criminal
liability for officer misconduct, and grant conditions designed to spur state and local compliance with federal policies.
Federal courts have supplemented these statutory authorities with certain judicially created doctrines defining the contours of
liability for police misconduct..."
Police reform
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