Legalized police impunity in the modern carceral state

Abstract

The extant state crime literature does not theorize the legalized production of police impunity within the contemporary carceral state. Building on policing scholarship that has considered the role of law in enabling police impunity, I contend that police are structurally protected by legal provisions. Laws that immunize officers (e.g. qualified immunity) effectively neutralize legalized accountability mechanisms (e.g. civil lawsuits). Thus, this legalized impunity infrastructure produces what I term legalized police impunity. To illustrate this, I develop a theoretical framework using Weber's legal typology to explain why and how police enjoy near absolute impunity. Implications of the legalized production of police impunity are discussed, and future research directions proposed.

Keywords

Critical criminology legalized impunity Max Weber police and policing punishment and society sociology of law state crime

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