A Feminist Critique of Police Stops “What’s Wrong with Stop & Frisk?”
A Zoom Presentation by Josephine Ross ’80, Professor, Howard University School of Law
Howard Law Professor Josephine Ross, a recognized expert on policing and the Constitution, will lead a conversation based on her recently published book A Feminist Critique of Police Stops. For this book, Josephine used a wide range of sources, including her law students’ experiences with police, news stories about Eric Garner and Sandra Bland, social science, and the work of James Baldwin.
Josephine’s book highlights how police use stop-and-frisk to threaten and marginalize vulnerable communities. She explores what’s wrong with the Supreme Court allowing people to waive their rights (“consent”) when actually it is dangerous to say no to a police officer who wants you to stop, answer questions and agree to a search. She argues that in reality, we can’t say no when police seek to question or search us. As with sexual harassment, what often passes as legal “consent” is actually submission. Josephine argues that three feminist principles should be imported into police reform: consent; bodily integrity; and victim/survivor’s point of view.
Josephine joined the faculty at the Howard University School of Law in 2005, where she currently teaches criminal procedure, evidence and a reentry clinic. She began her career as a public defender in Massachusetts.
Josephine's longtime friend, Dorothy Barnhouse '81, will serve as moderator.
Paper and hard cover editions of A Feminist Critique of Police Stops are available through various outlets including 20% off at Cambridge University Press (using code Ross2020). Also available on Kindle. For more information, check out https://josephineross.info.
For further information, contact Clyde Owan ’79 at: clydeobie@verizon.net.
