Legalized police impunity in the modern carceral state
May 18th, 2026
The article “Legalized police impunity in the modern carceral state”, written by Stephen Wulff, has recently been published online in Punishment & Society.
The contribution offers a theoretical account of the legal production of police impunity within the contemporary carceral state. The author argues that impunity should not be understood as incidental, but rather as the outcome of a structured set of legal provisions that protect officers and undermine formal accountability mechanisms. In particular, legal doctrines such as qualified immunity are examined as instruments that effectively neutralize avenues of civil liability. The study also discusses the broader implications of this configuration and outlines directions for future research on the topic.
The full article can be accessed at the following link.