1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Congress and Police Reform: Current Law and Recent Proposals Updated June 25, 2020 In May and June 2020, protests erupted nationwide after the publication of video footage of a Minneapolis police officer
2、pressing his knee into the neck of George Floyd, leading to his death. That incident and its aftermath have sparked heightened interest in Congresss ability to implement reforms of state and local law enforcement. As a companion to this Sidebar outlines in greater detail, congressional power to regu
3、late state and local law enforcement is not without limits. The Constitution grants the federal government only certain enumerated authorities, with the Tenth Amendment reserving all other powers for the states. The regulation of state and municipal law enforcement is an area that the Constitution g
4、enerally entrusts to the states. However, Congress possesses some authority to legislate on that subject, primarily through statutes designed to enforce the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment and legislation requiring states to take specified action in exchange for federal funds disbursed under
