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Article
Citizen's Arrest and Race
Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law
  • Ira P Robbins, American University Washington College of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2022
Journal

Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law

Abstract

I begin with a mea culpa. In 2016, I published an article about citizen’s arrest. The idea for the article arose in 2014, when a disgruntled Virginia citizen attempted to arrest a law school professor while class was in progress. I set out to research and write a “traditional” law review article. In it, I traced the origins of the doctrine of citizen’s arrest to medieval England, imposing a positive duty on citizens to assist the King in seeking out suspected offenders and detaining them. I observed that the need for citizen’s arrest lessened with the development of organized and widespread law-enforcement entities. I surveyed developments across the United States and highlighted numerous problems with the doctrine that led to confusion and abuse. I concluded by recommending abolition of the doctrine in most instances and proposed a model statute to address appropriate applications of citizen’s arrest.

Citation Information
Ira P Robbins. "Citizen's Arrest and Race" Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law Vol. 20 Iss. 1 (2022) p. 133 - 150
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ira_robbins/157/