Digital Commons Network^™

In Defense Of The Juggernaut: The Ethical And Constitutional Argument For Prosecutorial Discretion, David A. Lord

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Within days of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, progressive prosecutors throughout the country announced that if their jurisdictions enacted restrictions on abortion, they would not prosecute the individuals who had these procedures or the doctors who performed them. This is the latest example of situations, like drug crimes, illegal gun possession, and other offenses, where prosecutors have declined to enforce a state law as a matter of public policy. Critics of this broad use of prosecutorial discretion have argued that it violates the constitutional separation of powers.

This Article argues that prosecutorial discretion is well-founded in American …

Building A Culture Of Scholarship With New Clinical Teachers By Writing About Social Justice Lawyering, Susan Bennett, Binny Miller, Michelle Assad, Maria Dooner, Mariam Hinds, Jessica Millward, Citlalli Ochoa, Charles Ross, Anne Schaufele, Caroline Wick

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

This Article is a collection of essays about teaching social justice lawyering, as seen through the eyes of eight practitioners-in-residence in the clinical program at American University’s Washington College of Law (“WCL”). They include: Michelle Assad, Maria Dooner, Mariam Hinds, Jessica Millward, Citlalli Ochoa, Charles Ross, Anne Schaufele, and Caroline Wick. They teach in seven clinics, including the Civil Advocacy Clinic, the Criminal Justice Clinic, the Community Economic and Equity Development Clinic, the Disability Rights Law Clinic, the Immigrant Justice Clinic, the International Human Rights Law Clinic, and the Janet R. Spragens Federal Income Tax Clinic. We use the terms …

Fifty Years Of Clinical Legal Education At American University Washington College Of Law: The Evolution Of A Movement In Theory, Practice, And People, Robert D. Dinerstein, Elliott S. Milstein, Ann C. Shalleck

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Clinical legal education has evolved substantially in the fifty years since Elliott Milstein initiated the clinical model at American University Washington College of Law (“WCL”) that, notwithstanding numerous changes in program and personnel since that time, remains essentially in effect today. In this Article, we explore the theoretical, pedagogical, structural, programmatic, and personnel developments that have occurred during this period. We link these developments to broader developments within the national and international clinical legal education spheres. WCL’s Clinical Program, and its clinical faculty, have been leaders in shaping these developments, but, in the best clinical tradition, we have not done …

Trauma-Informed (As A Matter Of) Course, Natalie Netzel

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Law students are impacted by trauma and law professors are in a position to help by adopting a trauma-informed approach as a matter of universal precaution. The 2021 Survey of Law Student Well-Being (“SLSWB”) revealed that over twenty percent of responding law students meet criteria that indicate they should be evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”). The study also revealed that almost fifty percent of responding students reported an important motivation for attending law school was experiencing a trauma or injustice. Put differently, law schools are full of law students who have experienced trauma, many of whom are actively struggling …

Stereotyping Evidence: The Civil Exception To The Federal Rape Shield Law And Its Embedded Sexual Stereotypes, Ramona Albin

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

America’S New Death Sentence: Lack Of Action To Protect Incarcerated People From Covid-19 Amounts To Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Jane Manwarring

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Laddy Curtis Valentine is a 69-year-old man suffering from high blood pressure, hypertension, nerve damage from a stroke, atrophy and weakness in the upper-left extremity, and limited ability to grip with his left hand. Richard Elvin King is a 73-year-old man with diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney failure, hyperlipidemia, and kidney disease. Mr. Valentine and Mr. King are just two of the 1,132 men imprisoned in the Wallace Pack Unit (“the Pack Unit”) in Grimes County, Texas. Like Mr. Valentine and Mr. King, approximately 800 incarcerated men housed in the Pack Unit are over the age of sixty-five, and …

Denouncing The Revival Of Pre-Roe V. Wade Abortion Bans In A Post-Dobbs World Through The Void Ab Initio And Presumption Of Validity Doctrines, Nora Greene

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

The United States Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in a leaked draft of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Written by Justice Alito and joined by four of the other conservative justices, the decision describes Roe as “egregiously wrong from the start” and blatantly overrules the landmark holding and its prodigy, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In their state codes, nine states—Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin— have unrepealed criminal abortion bans enacted before Roe. These bans prohibit abortion at any point in pregnancy unless to preserve the life of the pregnant person …

First Step Act Of 2018: How Its Statutory Interpretation Limits Criminal Justice Reform, Adriana E. Morquecho

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Introduction

Today, the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. Nearly half a million people are incarcerated in federal and state prisons for drug offenses, up from just 41,000 in 1980. Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected communities of color, with the American Civil Liberties Union noting that one out of every three Black boys and one out of every six Latino boys born today can expect to be imprisoned, compared to one out of every seventeen white boys. Notably, the 1980s marked the beginning of the War on Drugs, which led to a spike in …

Sexual Contact Between A Suspect And Police Officers: How Far Should Police Go To Prove Prostitution?, Paula Del Valle Torres

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Em>Mama Tried: Shifting Thinking (And Practice) In Child Welfare Cases When A Parent Is Incarcerated, Brent M. Pattison

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Tweeting With A Purpose: Interpreting "Corrupt Persuasion" In 18 U.S.C. § 1512(B), Jessica Ochoa

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Defenseless Against Rape: Outdated Laws And A Proposed Legal Solution, David E. Missirian, Marianne D. Kulow

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Overcoming Institutional And Legal Barriers That Prevent Abused Females From Accessing Justice In Fragile Nigerian Regions, Valentina Okaru-Bisant

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

There Isn't Any Dumpster, Jill C. Engle

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Paypal Or Plastic, Don't Matter The Court Won't Have It: Why The Case For Removing "In God We Trust" From The Dollar May Still Gain Traction Under The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Olivia Firmand

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

There Isn't Any Dumpster, Jill C. Engle

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

The Confluence Of Language And Learning Disorders And The School-To-Prison Pipeline Among Minority Students Of Color: A Critical Race Theory, Shameka N. Johnson, Bahiyyah Muhammad

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

From Criminals To Survivors: Recognizing Domestic Sex Trafficking As Violence Against Women In The District Of Columbia, Alice Mutter

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of The War On Drugs On Black Women: From Early Legislation To Incarceration, Tiffany Simmons

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Pressing Pause: Tolling Statutes Of Limitations For Sex Offenses While Rape Kits Remain Untested, Hunter Grolman

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Effects Of A Guilty Plea On The Right To Challenge One's Statute Of Conviction, Hannah Roberts

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Domestic Homicides: The Continuing Search For Justice, Caroline Anne Forell

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

A Higher Power Produces Greater Problems: How Religious Honor Codes And Religious Schools Exacerbate Campus Sexual Assault, Samuel T. Jay

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

The Overrepresentation Of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, Gender Nonconforming And Transgender Youth Within The Child Welfare To Juvenile Justice Crossover Population, Angela Irvine Ph.D., Aisha Canfield M.P.P

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Restitution For Enticing A Minor For Sexual Purposes: Additional Punishment Or Compensation For The Victim?, Myra S. Reyes

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Salvaging "Safe Spaces": Toward Model Standards For Lgbtq Youth-Serving Professionals Encountering Law Enforcement, Brendan M. Conner Esq.

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Fashioning Children: Gender Restrictive Dress Codes As An Entry Point For The Tans School To Prison Pipeline, Deanna J. Glickman

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Gender Respect Education: A Proposal To Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Serena Patel

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

High Times: Is The Federal Legalization Of Marijuana Next? What The Food And Drug Administration Could Learn From Its Existing Regulations, Christopher B. Erly

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

This student comment examines the efficacy of marijuana being regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The author discusses and applies potential FDA regulatory models that could be used to regulate marijuana. The comment concludes marijuana could be easily regulated under the current Food and Drug Administration regulatory scheme and suggests that marijuana should be regulated in a manner akin to tobacco rather than as a drug.

Growing Inequality And Children, Naomi Cahn, June Carbone

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.