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Congress and Law Enforcement Reform:
Constitutional Authority
June 4, 2020
Nationw ide protests in response to the publication of video footage of a Minneapolis police officer
pressing his knee into the neck of George Floyd leading to his death have generated renewed interesI in
the issue of reforming the policing practices of state and local officials. As discussed in more detail in this
companion sidebar, several existing federal laws seek to prevent and redress constitutional violations by
state and local law enforcement officials. However, because the Constitution generally grants states the
authority to regulate issues of local concern-which includes policing and criminal law-Congress is
limited in its ability to legislate on matters related to state and local law enforcement-limits that may
inform any new laws Congress seeks to enact on this evolving issue. This Sidebar begins with an
overview of Congress's authority to enact legislation and the limits on those powers. It then discusses in
more detail two of the enumerated powers-congressional powers that are found within the
Constitution-that may be most relevant when Congress legislates on matters relating to state and local
law enforcement.
Limits to Congressional Authority
The Constitution establishes a system of dual sovereignty between the States and the Federal
Government. Under the Tenth Amendment, [t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Thus, states generally have broad authority to enact legislation, including to regulate the states and its
localities' law enforcement approaches. In contrast, Congress may only enact legislation under a specific
pow cr that is enumerated in the Constitution and cannot use its power to intrude impermissibly on the
sovereign powers of the states. In this vein, the Supreme Court has recognized that there are certain
subjects that are largely of a local concern where states historically have been sovereign,' such as issues
related to the family, crime, and education.
Because of these principles, the Supreme Court has recognized various limitations on Congress's power
to legislate in areas that fall within a state's purview, observing that congressional power is subject to
outer limits, and that Congress must take care not to effectually obliterate the distinction between what
is national and what is local. In addition, under the anti-commandeering doctrine, Congress is prohibited
from passing laws requiring states or localities to adopt or enforce federal policies. Although these
Congressional Re search Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10487
CRS Lega i&sebar
Prepared .'r Membersand
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