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Full-Text Articles in Law
When Machines Can Be Judge, Jury, And Executioner: Justice In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence (Book Review), Stacy Fowler
When Machines Can Be Judge, Jury, And Executioner: Justice In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence (Book Review), Stacy Fowler
Faculty Articles
In When Machines Can Be Judge, Jury, and Executioner, former federal judge Katherine Forrest raises concerns over the pervasive use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the American justice system to produce risks and need assessments (RNA) regarding the probability of recidivism for citizens charged with a crime. Forrest’s argument centers on AI’s primary focus on utilitarian outcomes when assessing liberty for individual citizens. This approach leads Forrest to the conclusion that in its current form, AI is “ill-suited to the criminal justice context.” Forrest contends that AI should instead be programmed to focus on John Rawl’ 'concept of justice as …
Transforming Military Justice: The 2022 And 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts, David A. Schlueter, Lisa Schenck
Transforming Military Justice: The 2022 And 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts, David A. Schlueter, Lisa Schenck
Faculty Articles
For the past decade there have been numerous and significant changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the statutory basis for the military justice system. Although the Military Justice Act of 2016 made major changes to the UCMJ, the calls for change continued. One of the most-often heard calls for reform over the last decade has suggested removing commanders from the military justice system. Some have argued that a command-centric military justice system was outdated, and it was time to make the system look more like the federal criminal procedure system. Other critics have advocated for a military …
The Scholar: Twenty-Five Years Of Change, Catherine Casiano
The Scholar: Twenty-Five Years Of Change, Catherine Casiano
Faculty Articles
Catherine Casiano, the Assistant Dean of Admissions at St. Mary's University School of Law, a former staff writer and editor for The Scholar, reflects on the journal's twenty-fifth anniversary and evolution.
Originalism And The Meaning Of "Twenty Dollars", Michael L. Smith
Originalism And The Meaning Of "Twenty Dollars", Michael L. Smith
Faculty Articles
Originalism claims to provide answers, or at least assistance, for those hoping to interpret a Constitution filled with wide-ranging, morally loaded terminology. Originalists claim that looking to the original public meaning of the Constitution will constrain interpreters, maintain consistency and predictability in judicial decisions, and is faithful to ideals like democratic legitimacy. This essay responds with the inevitable, tough question: whether originalism can tell interpreters what the Seventh Amendment's reference to "twenty dollars" means--both as a matter of original meaning and for interpreters today.
While this appears to be an easy question, I demonstrate that rather than telling modern legal …
Policy's Place In Pedestrian Infrastructure (Book Review), Michael L. Smith
Policy's Place In Pedestrian Infrastructure (Book Review), Michael L. Smith
Faculty Articles
Angie Schmitt's Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America delves into the complex, multi-layered phenomenon of how traffic infrastructure and policies systematically disadvantage pedestrians and contribute to thousands of deaths and injuries each year. Despite the breadth of the problem and its often-technical aspects, Schmitt presents the problem in an engaging and approachable manner through a step-by-step analysis combining background, statistics, and anecdotes.
While Right of Way tends to focus on infrastructure design, it offers much for legal scholars, lawyers, and policymakers. Schmitt addresses several policy issues at length in the book. But …
Is, Ought, And The Limited Competence Of Experts, Adam J. Macleod
Is, Ought, And The Limited Competence Of Experts, Adam J. Macleod
Faculty Articles
The moral innovators whom C. S. Lewis criticized in The Abolition of Man supposed that they could draw imperatives out of their superior understanding of sentiment and instinct. They assumed that to know what human beings want to do is to know what human beings should do. But people want to do all sorts of things that are irrational, pointless, harmful, and even downright evil. And people want inconsistent things. So the innovators are incoherent. As Lewis correctly affirmed, no amount of knowledge about nature or the world is sufficient by itself to direct us to do what is good …
This Is Not Your Grandparents' Military Justice System: The 2022 And 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts, David A. Schlueter, Lisa M. Schenck
This Is Not Your Grandparents' Military Justice System: The 2022 And 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts, David A. Schlueter, Lisa M. Schenck
Faculty Articles
Despite the major reforms to the American military justice system in the 2016 Military Justice Act, the drumbeat for reform has continued. One of the most-often heard calls for reform over the last decade has suggested removing commanders from the military justice system. Some have argued that a command-centric military justice system was outdated, and it was time to make the system look more like the Federal criminal procedure system. Other critics have advocated for a military justice system that looks more like those of our allied nations. This article briefly addresses the 2022 and 2023 NDAA changes to the …
The First Woman Dean Of A Texas Law School: Barbara Bader Aldave At St. Mary's University, Vincent R. Johnson
The First Woman Dean Of A Texas Law School: Barbara Bader Aldave At St. Mary's University, Vincent R. Johnson
Faculty Articles
Long-time St. Mary's law professor Vincent Johnson details the arrival and tenure of Barbara Bader Aldave as Dean of St. Mary's University School of Law.
Taking Corrigibility Seriously, Dora Klein
Taking Corrigibility Seriously, Dora Klein
Faculty Articles
This article argues that the Supreme Court's creation of a category of "irreparably corrupt" juveniles is not only an epistemological mistake but also a tactical mistake which has undermined the Court's express desire that only in the "rarest" of cases will juveniles be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.