Citation

Stolz BA. Crim. Justice Policy Rev. 2015; 26(5): 463-487.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0887403414523648

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

To expand the federal criminal justice role, Congress has generally used one of three authorities: (a) the interstate commerce clause, (b) the power to tax, and (c) the "power of the purse" to provide grants-in-aid to states and localities. This article, however, focuses on the use of the federal responsibility to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of citizens to expand this role. Specifically, it analyzes the instrumental (tangible) and expressive (symbolic) functions of civil rights laws on the (a) trafficking of persons; (b) civil rights of persons institutionalized in state prisons, jails, and juvenile justice facilities and systems; and (c) conduct of state and local law enforcement agencies. This analysis will contribute to our understanding of how such laws have expanded the federal criminal justice role by establishing new federal crimes and violations and defining good policy and practice for state and local criminal justice systems.

Keywords: Human trafficking