Research Guides: Law Enforcement and Racial Justice: Home

About this guide

This research guide brings together a variety of resources for researching issues related to policing and racial injustice. General research databases and reference resources for researching criminal justice topics generally are also listed. The databases in the General Research section, can be particularly helpful in locating periodical articles, working papers and other publications. Other sections of this guide focus on more specific issues such as police tactics and use of force; police/community relations, community policing and community activism; police oversight/accountability, and efforts/proposals to reform, defund and abolish police departments. Note: some of the resources (primarily books) listed under a particular topic (e.g. police tactics) may also contain content that address other topics such as police oversight.

The guide has a separate section devoted to law enforcement and racial justice issues in Minnesota. It also includes a section with useful links to federal government publications and resources for researching law enforcement and racial justice issues in other states. This guide was compiled in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the global outrage and protest that followed. Links related to the response of the University of Minnesota Law School, (official statements, a panel discussion webinar, and the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship in Law) can be found below.

Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources Policy
Access to some of the databases in this guide is restricted to members affiliated with the Law School or the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Please see our Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources Policy for details.

UMN Law School Response

Commitment to Racial Justice
"The University of Minnesota Law School is committed to creating a more just society for our local, national, and international communities. This page is dedicated to providing information and resources about Minnesota Law’s shared sense of responsibility for bringing about justice and change. The lives of our Black students, faculty, staff, and community members matter and we want to use this page to share ideas, provide resources, and give you information that you can use."
George Floyd Memorial Scholarship in Law
This fund provides scholarship support for full time professional students who are enrolled in the Law School. To the maximum extent possible, preference will be given to students who will enhance the diversity of the student body as described by the University. An additional consideration will be given for Black or African American students.

Selected Statements

Dean Garry W. Jenkins' Message to the Law School Community On the Death of Daunte Wright
Garry W. Jenkins, A Message from the Dean: On the Death of Minneapolis Resident George Floyd (May 27, 2020)
Garry W. Jenkins, A Message from the Dean: George Floyd and the Fight for Justice (June 1, 2020)
Garry W. Jenkins & Laura L. Bloomberg, To achieve justice, we need new legislation, new policies, new training, new organizational cultures, MinnPost, June 1, 2020
University of Minnesota Law School Black Law Students Association, Statement to the Law School Community on Justice for George Floyd, June 2, 2020
University of Minnesota Human Rights Lab, The Killing of George Floyd: A Statement from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Community (June 8, 2020)
The Human Rights Lab is jointly administered by the Human Rights Program in the College of Liberal Arts and the Human Rights Center at the Law School.

Webinar Program

Policing, Racism, and the Law Webinar, June 11, 2020
Program description:
Justice for Black Americans, people of color, marginalized groups, and for the America of our highest ideals will depend on all of us to work collaboratively to change institutions and practices so that equity and equality are fully realized. This discussion will focus on policing and the law in addition to exploring current realities, policy, and legal solutions to racial violence and bias in policing. It will feature Dean Garry Jenkins, Professor Susanna Blumenthal, Professor Perry Moriearty, Professor Maria Ponomarenko, and Nadine Graves with “We Are All Criminals.”

Law Enforcement and Racial Justice

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About this guide

UMN Law School Response