New Books in Law Jake Monaghan, "Just Policing" (Oxford UP, 2023)
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Nov 28, 2025 Join philosopher Jake Monaghan, an Assistant Professor at USC and author of Just Policing, as he dives into the complexities of modern policing. He challenges the idea that full enforcement is the path to justice, advocating instead for a nuanced understanding of police discretion. Monaghan critiques abolitionist views and highlights the necessity of policing in urban settings. He also discusses historical examples of non-punitive policing and the moral implications of law enforcement decisions in non-ideal contexts.
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Policing Imposes Unique Ethical Burdens
- Police roles carry special ethical burdens because using force adds an additional wrongmaking feature beyond ordinary wrongdoing.
- Jake Monaghan argues we need a theory of police discretion to explain when officers may justifiably decline enforcement.
Use Non‑Ideal Theory And Empirics
- Non-ideal theory requires engaging empirical facts rather than assuming full compliance or perfect laws.
- Monaghan uses proportionality and social science to judge policing tactics in real world contexts.
Policing Emerges From Urban Density
- Urbanization creates persistent needs for agencies of social control because density increases conflict opportunities.
- Abolition often aims to remove formal police yet preserves policing activities in other forms.
