When police officers don’t order someone to stay and don’t frisk, civilians are legally allowed to walk away from officers who begin to question them. This right to walk away is pure legal fiction. Although the “free to leave” right is engraved in Supreme Court opinions, my Howard law students warned me that if we taught this during Know Your Rights trainings, we would endanger the teenagers. This legal fiction puts anyone approached by police officers in a lose–lose situation or “double bind.” If we don’t leave, we cannot complain later if it turns out the officer lacked a proper reason for the stop, and any evidence police find will be used against us in court. Yet, running from the police creates a possibility of being shot, and even walking away invites retaliation. We exercise our rights at our peril. Just as judges sometimes ask domestic violence victims “why didn’t you leave?” the Fourth Amendment demands that judges blame civilians for stopping and talking to police. Instead, the law should incorporate insights from the domestic violence advocates; namely, that the people stopped by police are in a better position to know whether it’s safe to leave than judges.

In March of 2011, Howard University sponsored an Alternative Spring Break trip to Chicago where law students worked with me to create several lessons in constitutional law for middle schoolers. The lesson on policing teaches civilians the constitutional limits on police power. Sometimes referred to as “Street Law,” I call the training Know Your Rights. It was a huge hit with middle school students and teachers, and became the genesis for Know Your Rights trainings in other venues. I will never forget Raven and Stanley, the two Howard students volunteering in Chicago who wrote the first drafts of skits we performed, and found ways to connect with the middle school students we taught. When another teacher brought her class to hear the two firebrands, doubling Raven and Stanley’s class size, Raven even stood on a chair to be heard.