About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

76 Stan. L. Rev. 1 (2024)

handle is hein.journals/stflr76 and id is 1 raw text is: ARTICLE The Invisible Driver of Policing Farhang Heydari* Abstract. This Article connects the administrative state and the criminal system-two dominant modes of governance that too often are discussed in isolation. It presents an original account of how the policies and the failures of federal administrative agencies drive criminal law enforcement at the local level. In doing so, this Article exposes a significant driver of criminal policy and possible interventions to correct some of its failures. The primary vehicle for this analysis is an in-depth case study of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)-the federal agency best known for crash test dummies and five-star ratings as part of its traffic-safety mission-and its support for pretextual traffic stops. This Article unearths a series of NHTSA programs that have, for decades, trained state and local police to use traffic stops to ferret out drug traffickers, violent criminals, and even terrorists. NHTSA's embrace of a policing mindset has become an unexpected enabler of pretextual stops, one that has pulled agency resources away from systemic regulation of the auto industry. The impact of NHTSA's quiet campaign has been significant, engraining its view of traffic stops within policing agencies across the country without public visibility or oversight. These revelations come at a critical moment for a nation struggling with twin crises of traffic safety and policing. * Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt Law School. This paper benefited tremendously from feedback received during talks at Boston University, Cardozo School of Law, University of Connecticut, Cornell University, George Washington University, University of Maine, University of Minnesota, University of San Diego, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Washington. For their insight and feedback, a special thank you to Deborah Archer, Rachel Barkow, Hannah Bloch-Wehba, Ryan Calo, Brett Dignam, Donald Dripps, Andrew Ferguson, Daniel Francis, Barry Friedman, Brandon Garrett, Rachel Harmon, Alissa Marque Heydari, Olatunde Johnson, Emma Kaufman, Jennifer Laurin, Christy Lopez, Gillian Metzger, Tejas Narechania, Michael Pollack, Maria Ponomarenko, Sarah Seo, Chris Slobogin, Vincent Southerland, and Seth Stoughton. As always, I am grateful to the staff and interns of The Policing Project, past and present, especially Julian Clark, Eleanor Citron, Alice Hindanov, Annie Hudson Price, Helen Griffiths, Kate Mather, Jonte-Deandre Simpson, Lauren Speigel, Sylvie Watts, and Marissa Zanfardino. A special thank you to S. Foley, who first alerted me to the DDACTS program, and to the Transportation Equity Caucus and our coalition partners for their tireless advocacy efforts. Finally, my immense gratitude to the editors of the Stanford Law Review, who performed wonders with this Article. 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most