Unreasonable
Black Lives, Police Power, and the Fourth Amendment
by Devon W. Carbado
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Pub Date Apr 05 2022 | Archive Date Apr 05 2022
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Description
How the Supreme Court’s decision to treat unreasonable policing as reasonable under the Fourth Amendment has shortened the distance between life and death for Black people
The summer of 2020 will be remembered as an unprecedented, watershed moment in the struggle for racial equality. Published on the second anniversary of the global protests over the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Unreasonable is a groundbreaking investigation of the role that the law—and the U.S. Constitution—play in the epidemic of police violence against Black people.
In this crucially timely book, celebrated legal scholar Devon W. Carbado explains how the Fourth Amendment became ground zero for regulating police conduct—more important than Miranda warnings, the right to counsel, equal protection and due process. Fourth Amendment law determines when and how the police can make arrests, and it determines the precarious line between stopping Black people and killing Black people.
A leading light in the critical race studies movement, Carbado looks at how that text, in the last four decades, has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to protect police officers, not African Americans; how it sanctions search and seizure as well as profiling; and how it has become, ultimately, an amendment of life and death.
Accessible, radical, and essential reading, Unreasonable sheds light on a rarely understood dimension of today’s most pressing issue.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781620974247 |
| PRICE | $27.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Featured Reviews
Brandon W, Educator
As a white man, I am aware of my privilege. I know that my interactions with police and law enforcement are wholly different than they are with people of color. However, I have never had it explained to me in a such a detailed and profound way as this book. I was able to see some distinct scenarios that affect Black Americans that would not apply to me and my family, and it was truly horrific to think about and try to place myself in the position of someone in these interactions.
This book should make people unsettled, and should be a place to begin a conversation about reform. The stories of Carbado being pulled over at the beginning of the book really pulled me in to the injustice that is all too familiar in police action. The chapters look at different facets of the police system in America, and ends with some thoughts on how to combat it.
I have to be honest, I pushed through the introduction to get to the 1st chapter and thought about setting the book down and coming back to it, but glad I didn't. The first few pages are probably the book's weakest- more tome than exploration. The strength of this book is placing readers into positions where they would be questioning what to do and what the best choice to take might be.
There's a lot to digest here, and while I think on the surface there may not be a lot new in this book, he breaks down the larger issues and looks at what exactly is wrong with the system.
Don't be mistaken- this is not a "burn the system down" or "defund the police" book, but a harrowing look at how the racism in the name of justice affects citizens at their most human level
