BU Law: "Police Policing Police" The Kleh Lecture Featuring Zachary D. Kaufman

Professor Zachary D. Kaufman, the William & Patricia Kleh Visiting Professor in International Law at Boston University School of Law, will deliver this year’s Kleh Lecture in International Law. Police killings of George Floyd and at least 2,218 other Black Americans since 2015 have amplified a racial reckoning and intensified demands for meaningful, overdue police reform. Drawing on laws and lessons stemming from genocide and other atrocity crimes, Professor Kaufman will propose that Congress and state legislatures across the United States enact criminal laws creating a law enforcement officer duty to intervene in their colleagues’ misuse of force. Introducing criminal liability for inaction, Professor Kaufman will contend, could prod officers to stop their peers’ serious misconduct and would promote accountability for those officers who remain bystanders. During his lecture, Professor Kaufman will explain how bystanders, upstanders, and enablers of the Holocaust play a role in his proposal. Professor Kaufman will conclude by presenting a model statute for a law enforcement officer duty to intervene.