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Untouchable Sovereign Debts: Towards A New Model Of Transitional Justice And Global Finance, Cosmas Emeziem

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

Who bears the cost of peace in societies transitioning from oppressive regimes? Who is responsible for paying back the debts incurred by dictators? These questions are crucial in transitional justice situations, yet the discipline discusses debts and transitional justice separately. While sovereign debts are viewed within markets and global economic frameworks, transitional justice is considered within citizens and human rights frameworks. This approach is flawed as it marginalizes human dignity and social justice considerations.

To rectify this schism, this Article brings these two legal spheres together in an epistemic dialogue using sovereign debt as the point of intersection. In transitional …

Built Binary: Rethinking The Incarceration Of Transgender Individuals Within A Dual-Gendered Prison System, Amanda Graham

Georgia Law Review

There are an estimated 1.6 million transgender individuals in the United States. Yet the nation’s prison systems have retained their traditional binary structure, separating male and female inmates. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) became effective in 2012, outlining best practices for the housing of transgender inmates. In recent years, there have been several court decisions that have directly and indirectly increased the protections available to transgender inmates. Many states have also passed legislation updating their prison policies to address these issues, but these measures have not been uniform. Some states have not yet adopted the PREA recommendations while …

"Extraordinary" Times Call For "Compelling" Measures: Reforming The First Step Act's Compassionate Release Mechanism For Noncitizen Detainees, Laura Jimenez Garcia

Georgia Law Review

Year after year, America’s carceral state reaches new and more concerning heights. In this era of mass incarceration and criminalization of immigration status, imprisonment costs have skyrocketed, and the quality of life in prisons has plummeted. In response, Congress passed the First Step Act in 2018, which reformed federal sentencing practices. The First Step Act allows federal criminal defendants to request compassionate release, either for several enumerated reasons or for “extraordinary and compelling” circumstances. In the Federal Sentencing Commission’s new Sentencing Guidelines, federal courts have the discretion to define what circumstances fit under the catch-all provision defining “extraordinary and compelling” …

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: How Victims' Rights Bills Continue To Let Down Both Crime Victims And Defendants, William Colton Seidel

Georgia Criminal Law Review

There are underlying principles of law that root our criminal justice system into a balanced process between the state and the defendant. However, the victims of crime are often forgotten, and their input limited. To address these concerns, numerous victims’ rights bills have been developed all over the country. Although there are well-written sections of these laws, overall, they are underdeveloped. The newest version of this movement, Marsy’s Law, fails to fix any of the previous issues. With the passage of victims’ rights bills containing sections that serve to endanger this balance while simultaneously failing to fully empower victims, this …

Parental Kidnapping And Domestic Violence: The Need To Reform And Enforce State Action, Anna Ratterman

Georgia Criminal Law Review

When civil family issues intersect with criminal acts, the civil and criminal systems fail to effectuate a complete remedy. Specifically, there are few effective protections for victims of domestic violence during the pendency of domestic relations proceedings. Given the complicated gender dynamics and inequalities that have developed throughout history, it is unsurprising that the criminal and civil systems have failed to prioritize prosecution of crimes against women. Current criminal laws fail to treat domestic violence and parental kidnapping as serious crimes and instead adopt the view that domestic disputes are private issues to be handled within the family. In turn, …

Paying For Prison: Equal Protection Remedies For The United States' Wealth Discrimination Problem, Alexandra Smolyar

Georgia Criminal Law Review

The American dream promises wealth, mobility, and security, yet daily millions of Americans live in abject poverty. What’s more, state and local policies render low-income people uniquely vulnerable to criminalization, further lessening their ability to attain this purported American dream. These effects are not incidental. Rather, they reflect a complexly interwoven system of wealth-based discrimination oftentimes promulgated and perpetuated by government actors. Yet, most constitutional anti-discrimination measures do not reach wealth-based discrimination despite the horrific everyday effects felt by low-income communities nationwide. The criminalization of poverty compounds these problems to create a never-ending cycle of discrimination and collateral consequences whose …

Burning The Candle At Both Ends: A Case For The Right To Counsel At The State Habeas Level, Sierra Stanfield

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Shinn v. Ramirez is the latest in a line of court decisions that place debilitating restrictions on the habeas corpus process, making it more difficult than ever for ineffective assistance of counsel claimants to prevail on a federal habeas claim. Paired with the growing restrictions placed on the criminal appellate process, both by the states and by the Supreme Court, these decisions make it near-impossible for many criminal defendants to challenge their convictions and guarantee their rights.

The decision not to guarantee counsel at the state habeas level is grounded in logic that predated these restrictions. The state habeas hearing …

"Hired Guns": Establishing The Scope Of The Proper Cross-Examination And Argument Relating To Expert Witness' Compensation In Criminal Trials, Michael C. Kovac

Georgia Criminal Law Review

The outcomes of criminal cases can turn on the credibility of the parties’ expert witnesses. The compensation such experts receive in exchange for their work on cases can undermine their credibility, as it provides the experts with a financial incentive that might bias them in favor of the parties who retain them. While concerns with such bias have existed for decades, courts have been inconsistent in the defining the permissible scope of cross-examination and argument on the issue. Some courts have unduly curtailed such cross-examination and argument. Courts have also been inconsistent in their views of whether calling such expert …

The Unregulated Digital Playground: Why Kids Need Right Of Publicity Protections From Their Parents, Sophie Polo

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

As social media continues to become more prevalent in society, profitability on social media platforms continues to increase. Parents have discovered ways to profit online by using their children in content to gather views, therefore taking advantage of their children's right of publicity. While some parents use this profit to raise their children, there is no guarantee that children benefit from their parent's use of their name, image, or likeness. Since social media is still a relatively new space, there are not many protections for the interests of children on social media compared to other areas such as child acting. …

The "Wild West" Of State Nil Laws: Asking For Congress To Bail Out The Ncaa, Evan Crowder

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This Note explores the evolution of the amateur status in college athletics, particularly the absence of a consistent definition for “amateur collegiate athlete” by the NCAA over the years. The traditional demarcation between amateur and professional athletes blurred significantly, particularly with the exponential growth of college football revenues, leading to indistinguishable time commitments for both categories. The landmark case of NCAA v. Alston marked a pivotal moment as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing college athletes to earn compensation for the use of their name, image, and likeness ("NIL"). This decision overturned decades of prohibiting such practices in …

“[T]Here Appears To Be Intentional Discrimination In The Panel”: The Case For Abolishing Peremptory Challenges In Georgia, Ariane Williams

Georgia Criminal Law Review

In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court attempted to prevent peremptory strikes motivated by race. However, evidence and jurisprudence since Batson have indicated that the Court did not succeed. Furthermore, peremptory strikes perpetuate racial imbalance in juries and erode public faith in an unbiased legal system, as seen in reactions to the recent McMichael-Bryant trial in Georgia, in which only one black juror was seated. Given the longstanding and intractable issues with peremptory challenges, the Arizona Supreme Court decided to eliminate them entirely in 2021. This Article argues that Georgia should follow suit and abolish …

The Death Dignity Demands: The Eighth Amendment Requires Incarcerated People Decide Their Method Of Execution, Kali A. Haney

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Recently, there have been a number of incarcerated people on death-row challenging their method of execution and proposing an alternative: usually, firing squad. Courts are hesitant to grant this request for a number of reasons, including the rare use of the firing squad. But there is substantial evidence this method is the most humane. Additionally, it appears incarcerated people think so, which is why so many in recent years chose—or petitioned for—death by firing squad rather than lethal injection or electrocution. As pharmaceutical companies halt their drugs’ distribution to prisons, prisons are forced to come up with their own—often more …

The Use Of Oral Fluid Samples To Test For Driving Under The Influence Of Marijuana, Ian Wise

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) cases pose unique challenges to the criminal justice system. An evidentiary chemical test is a vital piece of evidence in a DUID prosecution because unlike alcohol, drugs do not cause impairment in a uniform fashion. Breath tests cannot detect drugs, and the intrusiveness of blood and urine tests has been the focus of Court cases over the past half-century with decisions in Missouri v. McNeely and Birchfield v. North Dakota curtailing the government’s ability to obtain this evidence without a warrant.

The need for a less intrusive alternative is driven by the doubling …

Protecting Our Nation’S Children In The Technological Age: Arguing For An Interpretation Of “Sexual Activity” In 18 U.S.C. § 2422(B) That Does Not Require Physical Contact, Allison Fine

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Our Nation’s justice system values “equal protection under the law.” This represents the belief that all individuals should be treated equally under the law regardless of personal characteristics. Traditionally, we think about this in a context of things like race, gender, or ethnicity. However, this also encompasses the general idea that individuals nationwide should be accountable to and protected by the same laws. As it relates to criminal law, this notion highlights the importance of uniformity in a criminal justice system. Without consistent application and execution, a criminal justice system will never be fair or “equal.”

The federal child enticement …

Long History Of Leniency? A Call For A Georgia Statutory Mitigation Factor For Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jonathan Fagundes

Georgia Law Review

In Georgia, criminal sentencing marks a critical period for convicted defendants. As the final moment before the superior court fashions a punishment, the defendant faces a pivotal opportunity to introduce mitigating evidence, including evidence of mental health challenges, life circumstances, and other facts. Where such evidence is offered, the superior court can properly issue a sentence that aligns with the purposes of punishment or other state policies. But some populations, especially veterans convicted of nonviolent offenses, are exposed to unique stressors that likely affect their culpability. The existing sentencing regime, however, does not guarantee that this mitigating evidence will even …