Title 34, NavyRelease 119-110

§12601 Cause of Action

Title 34 › Subtitle I — Comprehensive Acts › CHAPTER 121 — VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › SUBCHAPTER VIII — STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part B — Police Pattern or Practice › § 12601

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

Government agencies, their agents, or people acting for them cannot keep using police or juvenile justice staff in a repeated way that takes away rights that the U.S. Constitution or federal law protect. If the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe this is happening, the Attorney General can bring a civil lawsuit for the United States in federal court to get orders and official rulings that stop the practice and make the agency change.

Full Legal Text

Title 34, §12601

Navy, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Unlawful conduct

It shall be unlawful for any governmental authority, or any agent thereof, or any person acting on behalf of a governmental authority, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers or by officials or employees of any governmental agency with responsibility for the administration of juvenile justice or the incarceration of juveniles that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

(b)Civil action by Attorney General

Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of paragraph (1) has occurred, the Attorney General, for or in the name of the United States, may in a civil action obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 14141 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

34 U.S.C. § 12601

Title 34, Navy

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110