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17 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y 1 (2021-2022)

handle is hein.journals/nwjlsopo17 and id is 1 raw text is: Copyright 2021 by Christina Payne-Tsoupros Volume 17 (Fall 2021) Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy Removing Police From Schools Using State Law Heightened Scrutiny Christina Payne-Tsoupros* ABSTRACT This Article argues that school police, often called school resource officers, interfere with the state law right to education and proposes using the constitutional right to education under state law as a mechanism to remove police from schools. Disparities in school discipline for Black and brown children are well-known. After discussing the legal structures of school policing, this Article uses the Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) theoretical framework developed by Subini Annamma, David Connor, and Beth Ferri to explain why police are unacceptable in schools. Operating under the premise that school police are unacceptable, this Article then analyzes mechanisms to effect the abolition of police in schools, focusing on solutions to school policing that are consistent with DisCrit principles. This Article proposes using the state law constitutional right to education as that mechanism. Every state, in its constitution, provides for some form of a right to education. While an imperfect solution, this Article considers the state constitutional right to education as an approach to remove police from schools with broader ramifications for dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. Keywords: school police, resource officers, right to education, state law, heightened scrutiny, race, Disability Critical Race Theory, abolition, constitutional law, school-to- prison pipeline Table of Contents INTRODUCTION I. STRUCTURE OF SCHOOL POLICING A. Brief History of School Policing B. Roles and Effectiveness of SROs II. DISCRIT ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL POLICING A. Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) B. Using DisCrit to Analyze School Policing 1. Examples of Activism Within the Police Free Schools Movement 2. Abolition Versus Reform * Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Thank you to Derek Black, Joshua Weishart, and Philip Lee for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this Article. Thanks also to the editors of the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy for their work editing this piece. All errors are my own.