Civil Arrest? (Another) St. Louis Case Study in Unconstitutionality

Abstract

This Article, by Mae C. Quinn, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis, and attorney Eirik Cheverud, discusses the unconstitutional arrest of individuals for engaging in civil infractions. Using St. Louis area policing as a case study, Quinn and Cheverud first show how arresting individuals for committing civil infractions is unconstitutional, and then discuss how the civil arrests have been widely used in practice. Quinn and Cheverud argue that states should mandate citations for non-criminal and quasi-criminal cases to ensure faithful practice by local police officers.