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64 Howard L.J. 161 (2020-2021)
The Puzzling Persistence of Citizen's Arrest Laws and the Need to Revisit Them

handle is hein.journals/howlj64 and id is 169 raw text is: The Puzzling Persistence of Citizen's
Arrest Laws and the Need
to Revisit Them
CHAD FLANDERS, RAINA BROOKS, JACK COMPTON & LYz RILEY*
Introduction.................................................... 162
I General Characteristics of Citizen's Arrest Laws .......     164
A .  Some  Examples.....................................    165
1.  G eorgia  Cases  ..................................  166
2. Cases from Other Jurisdictions .................     167
B. Citizen's Arrest Statutes in the States .............. 169
C. The Arbery Case, Briefly Examined ................       172
II. Situating Citizen's Arrest Laws ......................... 174
A .  Self-defense.........................................  176
B. Law Enforcement Use of Force.....................        179
C. Citizen's Arrest ..................................... 181
D .  R acism ..............................................  182
III. Suggestions for Reform.................................      185
Conclusion ..................................................... 190
Appendix: Citizen's Arrest Laws in the United States .........      192
The killing of Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of individuals
purportedly making a private person's arrest has brought new
attention to the existence of so-called citizen's arrest laws. Every state
has them, and surprisingly, most of these laws still have the same
content as the common-law doctrine that preceded them. The sheer
persistence of these laws is puzzling and demands an explanation. This
article is one of the very few in the last several decades to bring critical
* Chad Flanders is a professor of law at Saint Louis University School of Law. Raina
Brooks and Jack Compton, are second year students at Saint Louis University School of Law;
Lyz Riley is a joint degree student in law and public health at Saint Louis University. We thank
Seth Stoughton, Nathan Perlmutter, and the attendees at the Saint Louis University School of
Law Half-Baked Ideas workshop in the summer of 2020 for comments and discussion.
2020 Vol. 64 No. 1

161

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