Digital Commons Network^™

Answering The Call From Victims Of Dating Violence: Georgia’S New Dating Violence Law, Sydney K. Parish

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Dating violence is a topic that has garnered increased awareness in recent days, both in the media and in the legal field. Many states have begun to pass legislation in attempt to address this issue and provide relief for victims of dating violence. In the summer of 2021, the state of Georgia passed House Bill 231, what later became known as Georgia’s Dating Violence law. This Article first examines our nation’s history of intimate partner violence to show why dating violence legislation was so desperately needed and how these legislative reforms have attempted to heal a system that for so …

The Post-Ongwen Case Period And The Reconciliation Process In Northern Uganda: Local Communities As A Site Of Knowledge, Christelle Molima Bameka

Scholarly Articles

By providing victims with more space in the Ongwen case, the International Criminal Court (icc) has significantly contributed to the healing of the trauma and community reconciliation in northern Uganda. That said, this court has also raised issues that could affect local efforts to achieve peace, namely the positioning of victims of child soldiers vis-à-vis criminal child soldiers. Drawing on qualitative data collected through focus group discussions with some community members from locations under investigation by the icc, this sociolegal study examines the victims’ narratives about child soldiers and the different ideas of human rights that emerge. Then, it explores …

The Intenational Crimial Court (Icc) As A Mechanism For Global Justice And Rule Of Law, Paolo Davide Farah

Book Chapters

Throughout history, institutions have been the chosen platforms for governing and regulating society. However, in the twenty-first century, with unprecedented connectivity and interdependence, working toward multilateral solutions for global challenges, whether in climate change through the UNFCCC or in trade via the World Trade Organization, has become increasingly complex. This rise in complexity within the international landscape has not been met with proportional attention to cooperation, conflict resolution, and harmonizing human values.

It is relevant to highlight the intersection between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and broader questions within international humanitarian law, (IHL) its interconnections and intertwinement with International Criminal …

Accommodating Victims With Mental Disabilities, Danielle Shelton

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The #MeToo movement has brought the voices of victims of sexual assault into the public’s eye and, in turn, into the legal system. As its name suggests, the movement’s strength lies in numbers—it is, after all, hard to ignore the collective voices of a group of considerable size and visibility. This Article argues that another group of victims—namely, victims who have mental disabilities— also are desperately in need of their own movement to raise public awareness and bring about reform. However, because of their cognitive and communication impairments, this group of victims is unlikely to effectuate reform itself. Instead, these …

Victims As Instruments, Rachel J. Wechsler

Faculty Publications

Crime victims are often instrumentalized within the criminal legal process in furtherance of state prosecutorial interests. This is a particularly salient issue concerning victims of gender-based violence (GBV) because victim testimony is typically considered essential for successful prosecution of these types of crimes. Since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2004 decision in Crawford v. Washington, courts require declarants to be available for cross-examination on "testimonial" hearsay evidence. Consequently, criminal legal actors are further incentivized to employ highly coercive practices aimed at securing GBV victims' participation in the criminal legal process as evidentiary tools. These practices include arresting and incarcerating victims through …

Making A Declaration: The Rise Of Declaratory Judgment Actions And The Insurer As Regulator In The Fight To End Sex Trafficking In The Hotel Industry, Lori N. Ross

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Moral Ambiguity Of Public Prosecution, Gabriel S. Mendlow

Articles

Classic crimes like theft and assault are in the first instance wrongs against individuals, not against the state or the polity that it represents. Yet our legal system denies crime victims the right to initiate or intervene in the criminal process, relegating them to the roles of witness or bystander—even as the system treats prosecution as an institutional analog of the interpersonal processes of moral blame and accountability, which give pride of place to those most directly wronged. Public prosecution reigns supreme, with the state claiming primary and exclusive moral standing to call offenders to account for their wrongs. Although …

Acid Attacks In India: A Socio-Legal Report, Vidhik Kumar

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

India has the highest number of acid attacks globally every year, and despite the actions taken by the Indian Government and the Supreme Court of India, the crime is on the rise. This increase can be attributed to the patriarchal ideology that is prevalent in India and to India’s inadequate legal system, which does not deliver efficient remedies to the victims. This article will discuss the prevalence of acid attacks in India, motives behind the attacks, consequences on victims, and shortcomings in measures adopted to prevent the crime and provide justice to victims.

Domestic Violence In Criminal Courts: The Larger Implications For Victims, Jason Johnson

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Academics have considered the treatment of domestic violence in Canada inadequate (Bell, Perez, Goodman, & Dutton, 2011) and “…an indicator of society's inattentiveness to violence against women…” (Garner & Maxwell, 2009, p. 44). Van Wormer (2009) further notes that there is still “…widespread dissatisfaction by battered women … and their advocates with the current system…” (p. 107). While much of the literature focuses on early aspects of the criminal justice system (police action, decision to prosecute, for e.g.), few authors have sought to understand victims opinions about the trial process (Hare, 2010; Smith, 2001). This paper conducts a literature review …

Me Too? The Invisible Older Victims Of Sexual Violence, Ruthy Lowenstein Lazar

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

A review of legal research on violence against women and elder abuse reveals a disturbing picture. There is hardly any American legal research examining sexual abuse of older women and its conceptualization in legal literature and treatment in the legal system.

This Article attempts to fill the abovementioned gap and to bring the hidden issue of sexual violence against older women to light. Scholars writing on rape, violence against women, and elder abuse tend to analyze age and gendered sexual violence separately from each other, without accounting for their interplay. This Article proposes a conceptual framework of sexual abuse of …

Champions For Justice 2020, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Not Everyone Is Safer At Home: The Harsh Reality That Many Domestic Violence Victims Face In Light Of Covid-19 “Stay At Home” Orders, Megan Divine

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

Domestic violence victims are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Home is not a safe place for everyone. Abuse thrives in silence and isolation. Isolation exacerbates the types of violence and abuse that victims experience. The coronavirus pandemic presents a perfect opportunity for abusers to exercise increased levels of coercive control. This includes not only physical abuse, but also emotional, financial, and psychological abuse. Survivors too, are impacted by many of these concerns. Limited finances and decreased access to housing, support, and affordable childcare increases the potential for survivors to return to their abusers. Many have considered the coronavirus crisis …

Empathy And Worthiness: The Modern Victims' Rights Movement And The Growth Of Mass Incarceration, Samantha Dresner

Scripps Senior Theses

The Victims' Rights Movement emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, at the same time as the War on Drugs and War on Crime were driving mass incarceration at unprecedented levels. This paper examines the historical roots of the victims' rights movement and its evolution from grassroots organizing into a tool of state power. It interrogates the meaning of "worthy" victims, and looks into the landmark Supreme Court case Payne v. Tennessee as an example of victim impact evidence being used to support the state project of the death penalty.

Into The Wild Blue Yonder Of Legal Representation For Victims Of Sexual Assault: Can U.S. State Courts Learn From The Military, Erin Gardner Schenk, David L. Shakes

University of Denver Criminal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mandamus Muddle: The Mandamus Review Standard For The Federal Crime Victims' Rights Act, Peggy M. Tobolowsky

University of Denver Criminal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dog Whistles And Beachheads: The Trump Administration, Sexual Violence, And Student Discipline In Education, Nancy Chi Cantalupo

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Rhode Island's Top Lawyer: Peter Kilmartin, Rwu Class Of 1998 5-2018, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Victims And The Significance Of Causing Harm, Guyora Binder

Guyora Binder

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Parameters Of A Child's Right To Redemption: Some Thoughts, Katherine Hunt Federle

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Intellectually Disabled Witness And The Requirement To Promise To Tell The Truth, Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry

Dalhousie Law Journal

Mentally disabled victims of sexual crimes may be prevented from acting as witnesses in a criminal trial if their mental capacity is challenged. They face an important obstacle to access justice if the case against their alleged aggressor mostly relies on their testimony In R. v. D.A.I., in 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada revisited the Canada Evidence Act's requirement of promising to tell the truth and lowered the previously ambiguous threshold of cognitive capacities required to satisfy this requirement. The Evidence Act has been amended in 2015 to reflect the Court's decision. While apparently facilitating people with mental disabilities' …

Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences: How United States V. James Will Affect Federal Sexual Abuse Analysis, Kelsey Wong

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Crime Victims' Rights, Paul Cassell

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Over the last 40 years, advocates for crime victims have succeeded in enshrining victims’ rights in state constitutions and other enactments. These provisions show that a consensus has developed around the country on certain core victims’ rights. Included in the core are, among other things, the right to notice of court hearings, to attend court hearings, to be heard at appropriate court hearings, to proceedings free from unreasonable delay, to consideration of the victims’ safety during the process, and to restitution. The current challenge for the country is ensuring that these core rights are fully and effectively implemented and that …

New Rights And Remedies: The Federal Crime Victims' Rights Act Of 2004, David E. Aaronson

David Aaronson

No abstract provided.

People With Secrets: Contesting, Constructing, And Resisting Women’S Claims About Sexualized Victimization, Rose Corrigan, Corey S. Shdaimah

Catholic University Law Review

What do sexual assault victims and women charged with prostitution have in common? Both are processed through a criminal justice system where legal actors assess their claims of victimization and either provide or deny resources and recognition in response to those claims. Ideal victim theory posits that not all victims’ claims are treated equally due to static factors such as personal characteristics or case facts. Professor Corrigan and Professor Shdaimah present the Arena of Intelligibility, an original analytical tool developed from their empirical data, to more effectively explain case outcomes for women affected by sexual crimes.

The Arena explains criminal …

The Pro Bono Collaborative: Celebrating 10 Years Of Pro Bono Partnerships, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Pro Bono Collaborative Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Immigrant Victims, Immigrant Accusers, Michael Kagan

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The U visa program provides immigration status to noncitizen victims of crime, ensuring unauthorized immigrants do not become easy prey because they are too afraid to seek help from the police. But under the federal government’s structuring of the U visa program, a victim must also become an accuser to receive immigration benefits. Thus, the U visa implicates the rights of third parties: accused defendants. These defendants are often immigrants themselves who may be deported when U visa recipients level their accusations. Recent state court decisions have created complications in the program by permitting defendants to cross-examine accusers about their …

From Prosecutorial To Reparatory: A Valuable Post-Conflict Change Of Focus, Nancy A. Combs

Michigan Journal of International Law

The ICC is well known in international legal circles. Indeed, everyone who knows anything about international law knows that the ICC is the acronym for the International Criminal Court, the body charged with prosecuting international crimes around the globe. Created in 2002, the ICC was intended to “put an end to impunity” for the perpetrators of international crimes” and to affirm “that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished.”1 Imagine, however, a world where the “ICC” instead was an acronym for the International Compensation Court. That is, what if the …

Criminal Infliction Of Emotional Distress, Avlana K. Eisenberg

Michigan Law Review

This Article identifies and critiques a trend to criminalize the infliction of emotional harm independent of any physical injury or threat. The Article defines a new category of criminal infliction of emotional distress (“CIED”) statutes, which include laws designed to combat behaviors such as harassing, stalking, and bullying. In contrast to tort liability for emotional harm, which is cabined by statutes and the common law, CIED statutes allow states to regulate and punish the infliction of emotional harm in an increasingly expansive way. In assessing harm and devising punishment, the law has always taken nonphysical harm seriously, but traditionally it …

Sex Offender Law And The Geography Of Victimization, Amanda Y. Agan, J. J. Prescott

Articles

Sex offender laws that target recidivism (e.g., community notification and residency restriction regimes) are premised—at least in part—on the idea that sex offender proximity and victimization risk are positively correlated. We examine this relationship by combining past and current address information of registered sex offenders (RSOs) with crime data from Baltimore County, Maryland, to study how crime rates vary across neighborhoods with different concentrations of resident RSOs. Contrary to the assumptions of policymakers and the public, we find that, all else equal, reported sex offense victimization risk is generally (although not uniformly) lower in neighborhoods where more RSOs live. To …

Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

In 2000, the international community formally launched the modern movement to combat human trafficking with the United Nations' adoption of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Trafficking Protocol). With the Trafficking Protocol, the international community created a new cornerstone upon which to build a global initiative to combat this modem form of slavery. As the first major international treaty on human trafficking in half a century, the Trafficking Protocol represented a significant step forward. One hundred forty-seven countries are now party to the …