Publication Date
6-1-2025
Abstract
The rise and expansion of private campus police forces raises critical concerns about the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. As state legislatures continue to authorize private police to act as state law enforcement officers and extend their jurisdiction beyond campus boundaries, resembling traditional public law enforcement agencies, the application of the state action doctrine and due process protections remains unclear. This Article examines the state laws that empower private campus police officers to exercise police power off-campus and evaluates the implications for due process protections under the Fourteenth Amendment. The newly established Johns Hopkins University Police Department serves as a case study to explore how the expansion of private policing may infringe on fundamental democratic principles of self-governance. Specifically, this Article argues that the statutory delegation of off-campus police powers to private campus police officers violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by undermining city residents’ right to meaningfully participate in self-governance and forcibly exposing them to private policing and surveillance. This Article advocates for a reexamination of the state action doctrine to account for the rise of private campus police forces and offers a novel interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections against private policing models.
First Page
1031
Recommended Citation
Vanessa Miller, Private Campus Police and the Fourteenth Amendment, 102 Denv. L. Rev. 1031 (Fall 2025).