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104 Geo. L.J. 1479 (2015-2016)
Blue-on-Black Violence: A Provisional Model of Some of the Causes

handle is hein.journals/glj104 and id is 1496 raw text is: Blue-on-Black Violence: A Provisional Model of Some of the Causes DEVON W. CARBADO* This Article offers a theoretical model that explains the persistence of what I will call blue-on-black violence. Six features comprise the model. First, a variety of social forces converge to make African- Americans vulnerable to ongoing police surveillance and contact. Second, the frequency of this surveillance and contact exposes African-Americans to the possibility of police violence. Third, police culture and training encourage that violence (mostly implicitly). Fourth, when violence oc- curs, a range of legal actors in the civil and criminal process translate that violence into justifiable force. Fifth, the doctrine of qualified immunity makes it difficult for plaintiffs to win cases against police officers, and when plaintiffs win such cases, police officers rarely suffer financial consequences because their local government indemnifies them. Sixth, the conversion of violence into justifiable force, the qualified im- munity barrier to suing police officers, and the frequency with which cities and municipalities indemnify police officers reduce the risk of legal sanction police officers assume when they employ excessive force. This reduction in the risk of legal liability diminishes the incentive for police officers to exercise care with respect to when and how they deploy violent force. Although the foregoing factors are not exhaustive of the causes of police violence against African-Americans, they suggest that the problem is structural and transcends the conduct of particular officers engaging in particular acts of violence against particular African- Americans. * The Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles Law School. © Devon W. Carbado, 2016. For conversations about or comments on this Article, I thank Paul Butler, Beth Colgan, Scott Cummings, Ian Haney-L6pez, Justin Hansford, Cheryl Harris, Kimberle Crenshaw, Priscilla Ocen, Andrea Ritchie, Addie Rolnick, Russell Robinson, Joanna Schwartz, Jona- than Simon, Sherod Thaxton, Leti Volpp, and Noah Zatz. I also thank The Georgetown Law Journal and Paul Butler for inviting me to participate in the symposium of which this Article is a part, and the editors of the law journal for the care with which they edited the piece. Participants at African American Policy Forum's Writer's Retreat, UCLA's Critical Race Studies Symposium on race and policing, Yale Law School's Critical Race Theory Conference, and at faculty colloquia at UCLA School of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law, George Washington Law School, the UNLV Law School, and the University of Washington School of Law provided constructive engagement and feedback. Finally, I thank Ste- phen Grodski, Asleigh Washington, Scott Dewey, Flinn Milligan, and Evelyn Rangel-Medina for excel- lent research assistance. All errors are mine. 1479