What do the pattern or practice laws make illegal?
• Section 14141 makes unlawful a pattern or practice of violating the United States Constitution or federal law. In doing so, it prohibits law enforcement agencies from regularly violating existing constitutional protections against police misconduct, such as excessive force, false arrests, unreasonable searches or seizures, and intentional racial or ethnic discrimination. It also prohibits agencies from regularly violating existing protections against police misconduct under federal statutes, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d (discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance), the Safe Streets Act (described above), and §504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794 (discrimination on the basis of disability) . • Section 14141 makes a governmental authority directly responsible for a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct by its law enforcement officers. As a result, a court can order a
