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Full-Text Articles in Law

Unclear Guidelines From The Sentencing Commission And A Prejudiced Warden Result In (Un)Compassionate Release, Mary Trotter Dec 2023

Unclear Guidelines From The Sentencing Commission And A Prejudiced Warden Result In (Un)Compassionate Release, Mary Trotter

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Congress first developed compassionate release in 1984, granting federal courts the authority to reduce sentences for “extraordinary and compelling” reasons. Compassionate release allows the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and inmates to apply for immediate early release on grounds of “particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by the court at the time of sentencing.” Questions remain about how the BOP and the courts grant compassionate release and whether the courts apply the compassionate release guidelines consistently. The uncertainty is due to the lack of clarity from the USSC to define “extraordinary or compelling circumstances,” …


Twisted Machines: Police Pursuit Policy And Accountability, Madeline Hedrick Dec 2023

Twisted Machines: Police Pursuit Policy And Accountability, Madeline Hedrick

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Part I of this comment will examine the cultural and legal approach to high-speed pursuits exemplified in Los Angeles—the national center of televised car chases. Part II will unpack the thorny judicial doctrine of qualified immunity and evaluate how it impacts the incentives and accountability of police pursuits. Part III will examine who pays for the lawsuits that survive qualified immunity and the role insurance companies have in the facilitation of police reform. In Part IV, this comment will examine the qualified immunity bills in New Mexico and Colorado, the nationwide example they set, and the pushback they have received. …


Proceeding Pro Se: Misguided Limitations On The Prison Mailbox Rule In Cretacci V. Call, Eleanor Ritter Jul 2023

Proceeding Pro Se: Misguided Limitations On The Prison Mailbox Rule In Cretacci V. Call, Eleanor Ritter

Pepperdine Law Review

Under the “prison mailbox rule,” an inmate’s notice of appeal in either a criminal or civil case is considered filed at the moment the notice is given to prison authorities to be mailed. But the prison mailbox rule originated as a common law rule––having developed in Fallen v. United States and Houston v. Lack––and was not codified in the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure until 1993. In light of its complex origins, circuit courts have split over to whom and to which types of filings the rule should apply. More specifically, courts have disagreed over whether the prison mailbox rule …


The Pathway Forward: Uncovering The Barriers Faced By Women Police Chiefs, Michael Llamas, Amor Roma, Tianshi Hao, Wendy Perkinson, Kayleigh Axtell, Anshu Lal, Jesse Llamas Jul 2023

The Pathway Forward: Uncovering The Barriers Faced By Women Police Chiefs, Michael Llamas, Amor Roma, Tianshi Hao, Wendy Perkinson, Kayleigh Axtell, Anshu Lal, Jesse Llamas

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Women have encountered many obstacles in their quest to gain leadership in law enforcement. While research has studied how well women officers strive to achieve higher-level positions within police departments, the challenges women face when they gain top leadership roles remain largely unexplored. This research paper will discuss the unique challenges faced by women police chiefs, drawing from first-hand experiences of women police chiefs and existing literature. The study finds that women police chiefs encounter challenges in communication, transferring to a new department, overtasking, introvertedness, and general police chief stress. The study also finds that women police chiefs implement ways …


Rounding Up The Three-Fifths Clause: Eradicating Prison Gerrymandering In The South, Abigail N. Falk Feb 2023

Rounding Up The Three-Fifths Clause: Eradicating Prison Gerrymandering In The South, Abigail N. Falk

Pepperdine Law Review

This Comment examines the phenomenon of prison gerrymandering, a practice that involves counting prisoners as residents of the counties where their state correctional facilities are located—rather than in their home communities—for redistricting and representational purposes. This practice of counting inflates the voting power of rural, white districts with large prison complexes and diminishes the voting power of minority communities. Prison gerrymandering has become especially pervasive across southern states while many of the South’s northern counterparts have eradicated this practice through legislative reform. This Comment proposes a solution to stop prison gerrymandering in the South, arguing a strategy to produce a …


Marsy's Law: Florida's Victim Classification Protections Are Too Broad And Wrongfully Utilized By Florida Law Enforcement Agencies, Ashley Lee Feb 2023

Marsy's Law: Florida's Victim Classification Protections Are Too Broad And Wrongfully Utilized By Florida Law Enforcement Agencies, Ashley Lee

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

While new trends in legislation may aim to reduce the use of excessive force by law enforcement, some Florida agencies interpreted their state’s Marsy’s Law to protect officers accused of using excessive force. This Comment examines the inappropriateness of Florida’s law enforcement agencies’ interpretation of Marsy’s Law, particularly in the context of the law’s original intentions. This Comment points to a potential solution to this problematic interpretation, advocating for an additional limiting clause that narrowly targets how law enforcement interpreted this statute in the context of excessive force reports.