Professor Steven Morrison Featured in UND Faculty Lecture Series

Lecture titled 'Modern American Policing: Past, Present, and a Roadmap for the Future' held on October 21, 2020

Modern American policing is at a crossroads. At only approximately 160 years old, modern policing is a very new institution. Begun in response to the ending of slavery and society’s perceived need to continue to oppress that population, recent years have shown that policing cannot be understood without acknowledging its racially discriminatory nature. While experts have known this since modern policing’s advent, we all now must confront this discrimination.

Professor Morrison's lecture did three things:
First, it detailed the past of modern American policing, from its advent in the mid-19th century, through the sanctioned torture that police called the third degree, and the continued use of the police to oppress racial, political, and religious minorities, creating a system of criminal justice that favors white people over others.

Second, it discussed the current reality of modern American policing, along with the debates for reform or retrenchment that have arisen in the Black Lives Matter era, and mass media’s role in this time.

Third, it suggested a roadmap forward, based on two true, and competing, but not mutually exclusive narratives: that modern American policing is dangerous and police should enjoy great deference to act in dynamic situations, and that modern American policing is fundamentally, and deeply, racially discriminatory.

Watch Professor Morrison's Lecture

Related articles:

UND Today Story - Pay Police Officers More - by Tom Dennis, October 27, 2020

Inforum Story - Should citizens overseee Fargo police? New chief's arrival may spur creation of review board - by David Olson, October 25, 2020

Steven R. Morrison is an Associate Professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law. He teaches and writes in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, post-conviction remedies, white collar crime, and constitutional law. He is also a practicing criminal defense attorney and is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

His scholarship has tackled substantive criminal law issues, including the criminalization of false statements and conspiracies, and the usefulness of sex offender registries. He has also published articles on the 5th Amendment Miranda right, the 4th Amendment, and the 1st Amendment.

Professor Morrison is also an active member of the Grand Forks community, where he volunteers his time for the Special Olympics and as a firefighter/EMT for the Manvel Volunteer Fire Department.