The American Law Institute Announces Project on Police Investigations

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Law Institute announced today that it will begin a new Principles project titled Principles of the Law, Police Investigations.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150219/176584LOGO

"This Principles project will focus on the legal issues related to the investigative, or pre-arraignment, aspect of police procedures," explained Lee H. Rosenthal, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas and Chair of The American Law Institute's Projects Committee.  "This project is intended to bring together experience, learning, and insights not only from courts and legal scholars, but also from those responsible for, and affected by, police agencies, decisions, and policies.  The potential audience for this project will include police agencies and legislative and executive officials, as well as courts."

The American Law Institute is currently considering the scope of the project and the elements of police investigations that will be examined. A preliminary list of topics includes the form of eyewitness identification (building on the National Research Council's 2014 report), forensic evidence-gathering and preservation of exculpatory material, search and seizure, and remedies and accountability.

"Advisers for the project will include judges, academics, and legal practitioners, which is typical for an ALI project, but also current and former police chiefs and legal counsel for police departments," Rosenthal added.      

Barry Friedman, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, New York University School of Law, will serve as project Reporter. Brandon L. Garrett, Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law; Tracey L. Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law, Yale Law School; Christopher Slobogin, Milton R. Underwood Chair in Law, Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Criminal Justice Program, Vanderbilt Law School; Jeffrey Rosen, Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School; and Rachel A. Harmon, Sullivan & Cromwell Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law will serve as Associate Reporters.

"This project aims to tackle some of the hardest questions, where courts, legislatures, and police are most in need of guidance, and where technology, experience and knowledge quickly are rendering current approaches obsolete," said Friedman. "There are a variety of model rules in existence. For example, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and other policing organizations have produced model policies to address such topics as the use of drones or the problem of wrongful convictions. Our project will examine and expand on these topics, as well as analyze and report on less documented areas of the law."

Project ideas are generated from many sources and reviewed initially by the ALI's Director and Projects Committee.  Once the ALI's Council votes to begin a new project, the initial draft is prepared by project Reporters in close consultation with Advisers and an ALI Members Consultative Group (MCG). When the Director determines that the Preliminary Draft is ready for consideration by the Council, the Reporter prepares a Council Draft, incorporating revisions made in light of the previous review by the Advisers and MCG, for review, discussion, and approval by the Council. If the Council approves this draft, the Reporter prepares a Tentative Draft, incorporating any revisions directed by the Council, for review and approval by the membership at an Annual Meeting.  Courts, legislatures, and government agencies have come to rely on the ALI's work due to its careful drafting process, its independence and integrity, and the intellectual caliber of those who participate in the projects.

ALI Project Preliminary Drafts and Council Drafts are available to project participants and to the Council. Tentative Drafts, Discussion Drafts, and Proposed Final Drafts are publicly available. Only drafts approved by both the Council and the membership at an Annual Meeting represent The American Law Institute's position on the subject and may be cited in opinions or briefs.

About The American Law Institute
The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. The ALI drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law that are enormously influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education.

By participating in the Institute's work, its distinguished members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas, to work with other eminent lawyers, judges, and academics, to give back to a profession to which they are deeply dedicated, and to contribute to the public good.

For more information about The American Law Institute, visit www.ali.org.

CONTACT: Jennifer Morinigo, 215-243-1655, [email protected]

SOURCE American Law Institute

Related Links

http://www.ali.org