Law Commons^™

Future Of The Fourth Amendment: The Problem With Privacy, Poverty And Policing, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

For decades, the reasonable expectation of privacy has been the primary standard by which courts have determined whether a "search" has occurred within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court's recent decision in U.S. v. Jones, however, has reinvigorated the physical trespass doctrine's importance when determining whether there has been a "search" triggering constitutional protection. Recognizing the unpredictability of the reasonable expectation of privacy doctrine and that doctrine's bias against the urban poor, many scholars hope that the Jones opinion may ameliorate the class divide that has developed in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.

This Article argues that while …

The Inverse Relationship Between The Constitutionality And Effectiveness Of New York City "Stop And Frisk", Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

New York City sits at the epicenter of an extraordinary criminal justice phenomenon. While employing aggressive policing tactics, such as “stop and frisk,” on an unprecedented scale, the City dramatically reduced both violent crime and incarceration – with the connections between these developments (if any) hotly disputed. Further clouding the picture, in August 2013, a federal district court ruled the City’s heavy reliance on “stop and frisk” unconstitutional. Popular and academic commentary generally highlights isolated pieces of this complex story, constructing an incomplete vision of the lessons to be drawn from the New York experience. This Article brings together all …

Benefits To Adolescents Who Perform Community Service: A Perspective From Adolescent Health Researchers, Gary Hopkins, Duane C. Mcbride, Brent C. Featherston, Peter C. Gleason, Jacqueline Moreno

Faculty Publications

In the arenas of health, social scientists have learned over the past two decades that engagement in community service among adolescents often result in valuable outcomes. In other words, the persons being served are not the only ones benefiting from the experience, the providers of the service benefit as well. The purpose of this paper is to share with the legal community some of what we as social science researchers have learned from our research and also learned from the research of others in both health and education regarding benefits of community service among adolescents. We also will share with …

The Coming Crisis In Law Enforcement And How Federal Intervention Could Promote Police Accountability In A Post-Ferguson United States, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

The proliferation of aggressive, and sometimes militarized, police tactics represents the "coming crisis" in law enforcement, although many residents of [inner city] communities might argue that the crisis arrived long ago. Even more disturbing is that these heavy-handed police strategies are employed almost exclusively against racial and ethnic minorities.

This Essay argues that in order to alleviate racial bias in policing and gain the trust and legitimacy of police officers in racially and ethnically diverse communities, local police departments must not only ensure that they are hiring police officers capable of implementing community policing, but must also focus on institutional …

The Legacy Of Stop And Frisk: Addressing The Vestiges Of A Violent Police Culture, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

For many years, the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") has engaged in a practice known as "Stop and Frisk." This policy allows officers, based on reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot, to engage in investigatory stops and to conduct a pat down of the outer clothing of the individual if there is reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed.

While there is an abundance of analysis regarding the detrimental impact of the stop-and-frisk policy, particularly the allegations of racial discrimination, an under examined facet of this policy and its implementation is the inherently violent nature of these encounters. …

Jailing Black Babies, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sentencing, Drugs, And Prisons: A Lesson From Ohio, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Prison overcrowding has become a familiar story. Current data shows that more than 1 in 100 adults in America—over 2 million people—are incarcerated, earning the United States the distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world. It should not be a surprise, therefore, that state and federal prisons are reaching and exceeding capacity. Nor should it be a shock that drug offenders take up many of the beds in those overcapacity prisons. Relative to other crimes, drug sentencing in the United States has been increasingly harsh since the 1970s, and the prison population is feeling the effects …

Dislocation And Relocation: Women In The Federal Prison System And Repurposing Fci Danbury For Men, Anna Arons, Katherine Culver, Emma Kaufman, Jennifer Yun, Hope Metcalf, Megan Quattlebaum, Judith Resnik

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

This Report tracks the lack of progress in keeping federal prison space in the Northeast available for women and the impact of the absence of bed-spaces for women on the implementation of federal policies committed to reducing over-incarceration. The problems began in the summer of 2013, when the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced plans to transform its only prison for women in the Northeast—FCI Danbury—into a facility for men. The BOP explained that this self-described “mission change” was a response to the need to provide more low-security beds for male prisoners.