Learning in Lockdown: School Police, Race, and the Limits of Law

Nationally, K-12 schools are increasingly relying on police officers and criminalized security measures in an attempt to make schools safer. In New York City, officers patrolling prison-like schools have acutely harmful effects, leading the New York Civil Liberties Union to file a class action lawsuit in 2010 alleging the systemic violations of students' Fourth Amendment rights. The reality of the harm, though, is far deeper than the law is presently capable of recognizing. In New York City, the vast majority of students harmed by school police practices attend highly racially segregated schools, all of whom attend schools comprised of at least 98% students of color. In this comment, the author explores the many layers of this harm through the lenses of the school-to-prison pipeline, psychological effects, citizenship, and the economic system. Significant reform for students harmed by school policc officers will only come when antidiscrimination law recognizes the full racial nature of the harm.