Law Commons^™

Life Without Parole Is Replacing The Death Penalty -- But For Those Who Don’T Have The Possibility Of Parole, Their Future Is Bleak., Jessica Lerner

Capstones

Across the country, life sentences are increasingly being used to replace the death penalty, according to a recent study by The Sentencing Project. Nearly 162,000 people are serving life sentences – one out of every nine in prison, the study found – and for those like Darrell Powell, who don’t have the possibility of parole, their future is bleak.

https://jlerner.exposure.co/life-without-parole-is-replacing-the-death-penalty?source=share-jlerner

Out Of Reach: The Mdlea’S Impermissible Extraterritorial Reach On Maritime Drug–Traffickers, Andres Chinchilla

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

46 U.S.C. § 70503, known as the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA), prohibits individuals on board covered vessels from manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with an intent to distribute or manufacture, a controlled substance. The statute, as enacted, permits the prosecution of individuals arrested beyond U.S. jurisdiction and even within the territorial seas of other States. This provision is argued to be an impermissible extraterritorial reach absent a nexus requirement—showing a connection between the drug smuggling activity and the U.S. Recently, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held the statute’s extraterritorial reach and lack of nexus requirement as unconstitutional under …

Qualitative Leveraging Natural Language Processing To Establish Judge Incrimination Statistics To Educate Voters In Re-Elections, Aurian Ghaemmaghami, Paul Huggins, Grace Lang, Julia Layne, Robert Slater

SMU Data Science Review

The prevalence of data has given consumers the power to make informed choices based off reviews, ratings, and descriptive statistics. However, when a local judge is coming up for re-election there is not any available data that aids voters in making data-driven decision on their vote. Currently court docket data is stored in text or PDFs with very little uniformity. Scaling the collection of this information could prove to be complicated and tiresome. There is a demand for an automated, intelligent system that can extract and organize useful information from the datasets. This paper covers the process of web scraping …

Covid-19, Human Rights And Public Health In Prisons: A Case Study Of Nova Scotia’S Experience During The First Wave Of The Pandemic, Adelina Iftene

Dalhousie Law Journal

The importance of preventing outbreaks in prisons during a pandemic, such as COVID-19, cannot be overstated. The risk of the infection spreading rapidly once inside these institutions is much higher than in the community, due to the underlying vulnerabilities of prison populations and the congregated living nature of prisons. This article documents the Nova Scotia provincial prison system’s experience in dealing with COVID-19 during the first wave, including its uniquely swift decarceration efforts. One goal of this investigation is to identify a set of best practices that can help Canadian prisons systems with their short-term responses to crisis in a …

Prosecutorial Supervisions Of The Implementation Of Anti-Torture Legislation: An Analysis Of International Law And National Legislation, Barno Kadirova

ProAcademy

This article examines the analysis of national legislation and international law on the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, international standards, principles of responsibility and the improvement of prosecutorial control over the implementation of anti-torture legislation. In addition, the role of prosecutorial oversight in the prevention of torture is based on the views of legal scholars and practitioners, as well as appeals to the prosecutor's office by the Prosecutor General's Office about illegal actions by law enforcement officers and torture by the Supreme Court. Information on criminal cases on torture is provided. The author …

Surviving Interlocutory Appeals: Trial Lawyer Edition, Grace Jun

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

This presentation provides an overview of Supreme Court caselaw regarding qualified immunity and government officials’ right to interlocutory appeal from denials of qualified immunity, and provides a brief discussion of ways trial lawyers can overcome interlocutory appeals to provide their injured plaintiffs with an opportunity to be heard and vindicated at trial by a jury.

Civil Rights And Protective Orders, Michael P. Doyle, Erin Brockway

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

“Open courts” are a bedrock principal of our judicial system, and court secrecy, including concealment of pretrial proceedings, poses a serious threat to public safety. Overbroad protective orders have concealed facts uncovered during litigation regarding some of the most important public harms, keeping them secret when the public needs protection. Protective orders routinely include provisions that allow parties to designate discovery material as “confidential” without further judicial review. These orders are often abused and result in unnecessary costs to litigants, the courts, and the public’s confidence in the court system. This is always a mistake because it harms the discovery …

Procedural Order Of Carrying Out Expertise On Criminal Cases, Istam Rustamovich Astanov

ProAcademy

Production of expertise on a scene in parallel with its survey in most cases is impossible for the reasons of procedural character: inspection of a scene is, as a rule, performed before initiation of legal proceedings that doesn't allow the investigator before making decision on its excitement to appoint expertise. At the same time to reveal signs of a crime and to fix traces it according to law requirements sometimes happens it is simply impossible without carrying out expert research. It was the cause of statement by us of a question of possibility of purpose of expertise before initiation of …

Legal Nature, Historical Developments Of Expertise And Comparative Analysis Of The Legislation Of Foreign Countries, Astanov Istam Rustamovich, Astanov Shuxrat Rustamovich

ProAcademy

This article is About expertise on criminal affairs is the separate give special status a type of the expertise, different carrying out research from the person possessing special knowledge. Expertise on criminal affairs differs from other types of expertise by that it is appointed and carried out according to strictly and precisely established Code of criminal procedure rather. The part second of article 153 Criminal Procedure Code of Moldova, devote interrogation the expert, consolidates norm on which it is forbidden to make interrogation before submission of the expert opinion and its studying. Fixing of such rule in part the second …

Johnson V. Superintendent Fayette Sci: Severing Ties With Pronoun Substitutions In Bruton Cases, Aubrey Link

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Garner: From Speeding Ticket To Drug Bust- Highlighting The Necessity Of An Alternative Approach To Analyzing Traffic Stop Extensions, Rocco Beltrami

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Non-Consensual Condom Removal In Canadian Law Before And After R. V. Hutchinson, Lise Gotell, Isabel Grant

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper examines the phenomenon of non-consensual condom removal (NCCR) and its relationship to sexual assault in Canada. Using empirical studies and the insights of feminist theory, we explore the nature of the harms caused by NCCR and contend that this pervasive practice constitutes sexual assault. We then critique the decision of R v Hutchinson, which held that condom sabotage does not negate subjective consent, ignoring the dignitary harms of NCCR. While lower court decisions before Hutchinson recognized that consent to sex with a condom does not include consent to sex without, courts after Hutchinson have struggled to distinguish the …

Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is A Bad Deal, Jacob Burns Center For Ethics In The Practice Of Law

Event Invitations 2021

When Americans think of the criminal justice system, they picture a trial. The right to a trial by jury is supposed to undergird our entire justice system – but that bedrock constitutional right has all but disappeared thanks to plea bargaining. In 2018, more than 97 percent of defendants pleaded guilty.

In Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is A Bad Deal, Carissa Byrne Hessick makes the case against plea bargaining and illustrates why we need to fix it if we ever hope to achieve lasting criminal justice reform.

Join the Jacob Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice …

Black Deaths Matter: The Race-Of-Victim Effect And Capital Punishment, Daniel S. Medwed

Brooklyn Law Review

The racial dimensions of the death penalty are well-documented. Many observers assume this state of affairs derives from bias—often implicit and occasionally explicit—against black defendants in particular. Research points to an even more alarming factor. The race of the victim, not the defendant, steers cases in the direction of death. Regardless of the perpetrator’s race, those who kill whites are more likely to face capital charges, receive a death sentence, and die by execution than those who murder blacks. This short Essay adds a contemporary gloss to the race-of-victim effect literature, placing it in the context of the Black Lives …

Due Process In Prison Disciplinary Hearings: How The “Some Evidence” Standard Of Proof Violates The Constitution, Emily Parker

Washington Law Review

Prison disciplinary hearings have wide-reaching impacts on an incarcerated individual’s liberty. A sanction following a guilty finding is a consequence that stems from hearings and goes beyond mere punishment. Guilty findings for serious infractions, like a positive result on a drug test, can often result in a substantial increase in prison time. Before the government deprives an incarcerated individual of their liberty interest in a shorter sentence, it must provide minimum due process. However, an individual can be found guilty of serious infractions in Washington State prison disciplinary hearings under the “some evidence” standard of proof—a standard that allows for …

Suspicionless Policing, Julian A. Cook

Scholarly Works

The tragic death of Elijah McClain—a twenty-three-year-old, slightly built, unarmed African American male who was walking home along a sidewalk when he was accosted by three Aurora, Colorado police officers—epitomizes the problems with policing that have become a prominent topic of national conversation. Embedded within far too many police organizations is a culture that promotes aggressive investigative behaviors and a disregard for individual liberties. Incentivized by a Supreme Court that has, over the course of several decades, empowered the police with expansive powers, law enforcement organizations have often tested—and crossed—the constitutional limits of their investigative authorities. And too often it …

Gulf Of Guinea And Maritime (In)Security: Musings On Some Implications Of Applicable Legal Instruments, Edwin E. Egede

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The Gulf of Guinea (GoG) is an enormous and diverse region consisting of approximately 6,000 km of coastline extending from Senegal to Angola. It is a maritime area of strategic importance because it is resource-rich with hydrocarbons, fish and other resources. Also, it is important as a vital maritime transit hub. Unlike certain other shipping lanes that have been identified as chokepoints, the GoG, because of its width, is not susceptible to blockades and major shipping accidents. Previously the maritime (in)security in the GoG had not received the same high-profile attention from the international community as the situation in the …

Hong Kong’S Extradition Bill: Implications & Ramifications, Grace Wang

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Since June 2019, millions of people in Hong Kong protested against the proposed extradition bill, which would permit the HKSAR government to extradite anyone residing, visiting, or passing through Hong Kong to mainland China with which it has no formal extradition agreement with. This Note will argue that the proposed extradition bill not only created a legal loophole in the existing system by removing legislative scrutiny and judicial oversight, but also violated international human rights law in light of mainland China’s record of serious human rights violation. Instead, the HKSAR and PRC governments should cooperate to create an impartial special …

High Time For A Change: How The Relationship Between Signatory Countries And The United Nations Conventions Governing Narcotic Drugs Must Adapt To Foster A Global Shift In Cannabis Law, Alexander Clementi

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Since the early 1970’s, the inclusion of cannabis and its byproducts in the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has mandated a strict prohibition on cultivation and use of the substance, which has led to a largely global practice of criminalization and imprisonment of anyone found to be in its possession. Yet recently, mostly in response to growing public health concerns, countries like Uruguay, Portugal, The Netherlands, Canada, and the United States have enacted laws which seek to decriminalize or even legalize cannabis use and possession. Yet, cannabis remains classified as a Schedule IV narcotic under the Single Convention, …

Mental Illness In The Criminal Justice System: Erasing The Stigma On A Global Scale, Jennifer Rabbino

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Mental illness has long been misunderstood and severely stigmatized worldwide. For several hundred years, rather than offering prompt and proper treatment, most countries treated mental illness by isolating patients from society. Moreover, that ill treatment remains to this day, with over 90% of the developing world's population living with a mental illness completely untreated and legal systems the world over struggling with how best to treat mentally ill defendants fairly. This Note will scrutinize and compare the treatment of the mentally ill defendants in Western and African nations. It will then focus on the legal systems in Uganda and Ghana …

Digital Privacy Rights And Cloud Act Agreements, Tim Cochrane

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) will soon bring into force a new international law enforcement data sharing ‘CLOUD Act agreement’ (US-UK Agreement), the first of its kind under the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act 2018 (CLOUD Act). These agreements enable law enforcement in one state to directly request data from service providers based in the other state. They respond to long-standing concerns with the main mechanism for obtaining overseas data, mutual legal assistance (MLA). The US and UK claim the US-UK Agreement will significantly speed up data access relative to MLA while “respecting privacy and …

Prosecuting The Phone Scammer When Extradition Fails And Concurrent Jurisdiction Exists, Michelle Lepkofker

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Advancements in technology allow people to place phone calls half a world away via the internet. This technology has made it easier and cheaper for consumers to communicate, but it has also made it easier for scammers to reach more unsuspecting victims. In 2020, TrueCaller, an app designed to block scam phone calls, successfully blocked, and identified 31.3 billion spam calls in 20 countries. In the same year, Americans alone lost a total of USD $ 29.8 billion to scam calls. This Note argues that phone scams continue to be lucrative, in part, because criminal prosecutions of transnational crimes are …

Venezuelan Prisons' Human Rights Violations And Suggested Reforms Based On The Success Of Norway's Restorative Justice-Focused Approach To Incarceration, Nadiya Singh

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Venezuela holds the title for having the highest crime index in the world, serving as a microcosm of the country’s widespread and devastating political and humanitarian inadequacies. Its prisons are rife with deadly disease, severe overcrowding, and starving prisoners whose entry into these facilities calls into question their guaranteed human rights under the Venezuelan Constitution. This Note highlights these injustices and argues that the starvation, physical and mental abuse, and extreme neglect that Venezuela’s prisoners are subject to, violate the protection of their guaranteed human rights under Articles 46 and 83 of Venezuela’s Constitution. A comparative analysis of Norway, which …

Artificial Intelligence As Evidence, Paul W. Grimm, Maura R. Grossman, Gordon V. Cormack

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

This article explores issues that govern the admissibility of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications in civil and criminal cases, from the perspective of a federal trial judge and two computer scientists, one of whom also is an experienced attorney. It provides a detailed yet intelligible discussion of what AI is and how it works, a history of its development, and a description of the wide variety of functions that it is designed to accomplish, stressing that AI applications are ubiquitous, both in the private and public sectors. Applications today include: health care, education, employment-related decision-making, finance, law enforcement, and the legal …

Trouble With Treble Damages For Third Parties: The Georgia Streetgang Terrorism And Prevention Act, S. Meghan Pittman

Mercer Law Review

As the Georgia Supreme Court has issued its final opinion on the Georgia Streetgang Terrorism and Prevention Act, several issues are now raised. While the interpretation of the statute appears to be correct, the question still arises of whether or not this interpretation is consistent with the legislative intent of this Act as a whole.

Clearly, the issue which the Act was enacted to prevent was harm to innocent third-parties by criminal streetgangs. While a commercial property owners may not be able to fully police the area in which their property is located, shouldn’t these individuals be held to a …

Criminal Law, J. Scott Key

Mercer Law Review

This Article reviews some of the most important opinions impacting the practice of criminal law delivered by the Supreme Court of the United States and the Georgia Supreme Court covering the period from June 1, 2020, up until May 31, 2021, as well as legislation adopted by the Georgia General Assembly during the 2020 session. This Article is designed to be a mere overview to both prosecutors and defense attorneys of decisions and new statutes and serves as a broad guideline on how these decisions will affect the practices.

East Tennessee State University Student Perceptions Of Gun Legislature, Brieann Boyle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many Americans are pushing for legislation supporting increased gun control; however many critics argue that increasing gun control will limit Americans’ rights as defined in the Second Amendment. With Tennessee’s passing of the Constitutional Carry, the researcher found it relevant to build on past research and to evaluate East Tennessee State University students’ perceptions of current Tennessee gun legislation in the light of this new act. East Tennessee State University students were surveyed in-person about their perceptions and knowledge of the current Tennessee gun legislation and support for gun control. No significant relationship was found between major and knowledge of …

Through A Glass, Darkly: Systemic Racism, Affirmative Action, And Disproportionate Minority Contact, Robin Walker Sterling

Michigan Law Review

This Article is the first to describe how systemic racism persists in a society that openly denounces racism and racist behaviors, using affirmative action and disproportionate minority contact as contrasting examples. Affirmative action and disproportionate minority contact are two sides of the same coin. Far from being distinct, these two social institutions function as two sides of the same ideology, sharing a common historical nucleus rooted in the mythologies that sustained chattel slavery in the United States. The effects of these narratives continue to operate in race-related jurisprudence and in the criminal legal system, sending normative messages about race and …

Civil Asset Forfeitures: How Prosecutors Can Facilitate Community-Based Criminal Justice Reform, Lane Waples

Journal of Law and Policy

Criminal justice reform is elusive in the United States. Despite evidence that the system is broken, change remains ephemeral at best. This is partially attributable to the fact that most attempts to reform the criminal legal system have occurred through the political process. However, another method of criminal justice reform is to assist communities as they address the root causes of crime. Undergirding this approach is the belief that building stronger communities contributes to less crime and reduces recidivism. After seizing $250 million via prosecutions of financial crimes in 2016, the New York County District Attorney’s Office created a “first-of-its-kind” …

The Ostensible (And, At Times, Actual) Virtue Of Deference, Anthony O'Rourke

Journal Articles

In Rethinking Police Expertise, Anna Lvovsky exposes how litigators leverage judicial understandings of police expertise against the government. The article is rich not only with descriptive insights, but also with normative potential. By rigorously analyzing the relationship between expertise and authority in specific cases, Professor Lvovsky offers guidance as to how judges and lawyers should factor a police officer’s expertise into an assessment of whether the officer’s conduct is lawful. This Response argues, however, that Rethinking Police Expertise’s normative potential is weakened by the sharp conceptual distinction it draws between judicial understandings of expertise as a “professional virtue” (which it …