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Resarh Service
Reforming Patterns of Unconstitutional
Policing: Enforcement of 34 U.S.C. § 12601
June 15, 2020
In the early 1990s, bystander video footage of Los Angeles police beating, clubbing, and stomping on
black motorist Rodney King sparked national outrage, protests, and rioting. in response, Congress passed
the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which contained a notable provision
originally codified as 42 U.S.C. § 14141 and now found at 34 U.SoC. § 12601 (Section 12601).
Specifically, Section 12601 serves as the primary federal law aiming to ensure that law enforcement
agencies comply with the Constitution. More recently, bystander footage of Minneapolis police pinning
George Floyd in a neckhold ignited protests, anger, and violence throughout the nation, prompting
renewed interest among lawmakers in the role of the federal government in ensuring constitutional
policing. Indeed, Floyd's death is only one in a series of similar incidents arousing public concern and
protest. Some of these events, including the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore police custody and the
fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri, police, spurred not only public outcry but also
legal action by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Section 12601. This Sidebar discusses the
Section's requirements, DOJ's enforcement actions in recent years, and considerations for Congress.
Section 12601's Requirements and Procedures
Section 12601 authorizes the Attorney General to sue local law enforcement agencies for engag[ing] in a
pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or
protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The statute provides no private right of action,
meaning that individuals cannot sue to enforce it. Private parties may pursue other civil remedies for
unconstitutional behavior, and separate, criminal statutes empower DOJ to prosecute individual officers
for unconstitutional behavior. Section 12601, however, aims at institutional reform. These cases, as DOJ
explains, are geared toward changing polices, practices, and culture across a law enforcement agency.
The term pattern or practice, used in other statutes authorizing the Attorney General's enforcement,
requires more than an isolated, sporadic incident, and wrongdoing must be repeated, routine, or of a
generalized nature.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10494
CRS Lega Sidebar
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