Law Commons^™

The Long Road Back, Brooke Williams

Capstones

This project is a documentary film about the criminal case of Lorenzo Johnson. Johnson was convicted of a murder in the mid-90s and sentenced to life imprisonment in the state of Pennsylvania. Johnson has always maintained his innocence. In 2012, a federal appeals court sided with Johnson and released him. He returned to his home state of New York to speak out against wrongful convictions. However, less than 6 months later, the Supreme Court decided Johnson's original conviction should be upheld and he was forced to return to prison to serve the remainder of his life without the possibility of …

Flaws In The Justice System: Examining The Angel Cordero Case, Rose C. Itzcovitz

Capstones

This article examines a case in criminal law that started 17 years ago and has yet to be resolved. Despite a plethora of mounting evidence, including a confession, more than a dozen witnesses, a proven false alibi, impeaching evidence against police and DNA evidence, Bronx-born Angel Cordero's conviction has yet to be overturned. The article breaks down what went wrong in the initial trial, discusses Cordero's multiple appeals and takes a broader look at what needs to change in today's judicial system.

Content Analysis Of Pre- And Post-Jones Federal Appellate Cases: Implications Of Jones For Fourth Amendment Search Law, James A. Purdon

Master of Science in Criminal Justice Theses & (Pre-2016) Policy Research Projects

This study examines the state of Fourth Amendment search law in relationship to the decision in the recent, landmark case of United States v. Jones. This study focused on the effects of the Jones decision, trespass doctrine, relative to the former precedent of Katz v. United States, reasonable expectation of privacy doctrine, and the rates of searches being found under these two tests (or a combination of both). This study used a qualitative content analysis of federal appellate cases which cited Jones and/or Katz to answer the following questions: Which tests were being used in federal appellate cases …

Trusting To A Fault: Criminal Negligence And Faith Healing Deaths, Ken Nickel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Faith healing deaths occur infrequently in Canada, but when they do they pose a considerable challenge for criminal justice. Similar to caregivers who absent-mindedly and fatally forget a child in a hot vehicle, faith healers do not intentionally harm their children. It can seem legally excessive and unjust to prosecute achingly bereaved parents. But unlike ‘hot-car’ deaths, faith healing parents are not absent minded in the deaths they cause. Rather, significant deliberation and strength of will is necessary to treat their child’s ailment with faith alone. Two different Criminal Code provisions can be brought to bear upon these deaths, namely, …

The Globalization Of Crime Control: The Use Of Non-Criminal Justice Responses For Countering Organized Crime, Bjarni Halldor Sigursteinsson

LLM Theses

This thesis examines domestic authorities’ use of non-criminal justice responses to counter organized crime. Examples of responses used to counter outlaw motorcycle gangs in Canada, Germany, and Iceland are provided. These responses are significantly different from most international efforts focusing on criminal norms and cooperation in criminal matters.

As harmonization of legislation, policies and practices in this field become an international focus, I examine the role currently played by the European Union in promoting these non-criminal justice 'alternative' enforcement strategies for the purpose of furthering the development of international and domestic efforts to counter organized crime.

This study concludes that …

Commuting Life Without Parole Sentences: The Need For Reason And Justice Over Politics, Jing Cao

SJD Dissertations

In the last thirty years, life without parole (LWOP) sentences have flourished in the United States. Of course the very reason for a LWOP sentencing scheme is to incarcerate the convicted defendant until death. But under the Pardon Clause of the Constitution, as well as under state laws granting the Governor the pardoning power, inmates serving LWOP sentences might be eligible for early release by commutations. On the one hand, the possibility of clemency could be regarded as an impermissible loophole that could be used on a case-by-case basis to undermine the certainty of a LWOP sentencing system. On the …

Ontario College Of Teachers Cases Of Teacher Sexual Misconduct, Taryn Mototsune

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Teacher sexual misconduct in Ontario was examined by using cases reviewed by the Ontario College of Teachers between 2000 and 2013. Despite the impetus by key stakeholders to develop appropriate policies to circumvent teacher-student sexual relationships, this phenomenon is still not well understood. The current study found that around 92 percent of perpetrators are men. The results indicate that male perpetrators who abuse elementary school-aged males are more likely to have multiple victims and longer offending careers. This study found less intrusive sexual behaviour, fewer multiple victim perpetrators, and shorter offending careers in more recent cases. This suggests that the …

Addressing Demand For Sex Trafficking In Sweden And The United Kingdom: An Interpretive Policy Analysis Of Demand Reduction Policies, In Consideration Of The Principles Of Deterrence Theory, Katee Stahl

Masters Theses

In recent years, the problem of sex trafficking has migrated to the forefront of prostitution policy discussions, shifting the focus away from arguments surrounding the morality of prostitution, and instead, to consideration of the most effective prostitution policy approach to combat sex trafficking. One popular solution focuses on reducing the demand for sex trafficking by reducing the overall demand for prostitution. In order to reduce demand for prostitution, people must be deterred from purchasing sexual services, in any form, which may be accomplished by criminalizing the purchase of prostitution. The present inquiry will compare the demand reduction approaches of Sweden …

Gender Based Violence As A Continuum Of Human Rights Violations In Russia And The Czech Republic, Alena Lebron

Dissertations and Theses

Gender-based violence can take various forms – physical, sexual, psychological, and economic. Violence against women is a global public health problem and not only violates human rights, but also hampers productivity, reduces human capital, and undermines economic growth. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, human trafficking for sexual exploitation and domestic violence have become a significant problem in post-communist countries. The fall of the Soviet Union also shaped national gender policies in post-communist countries. Despite the common challenges they face, success in implementing anti-trafficking procedures and measures against domestic violence varies from country to country.

According to …

Juvenile Transfer To Adult Criminal Court: Why Transfer Is Not The Best Method In Addressing Juvenile Delinquency, Sarah E.S. Kukino

CMC Senior Theses

Reducing juvenile delinquency is an important issue because today’s juvenile population will become the next generation of contributing members to society. Therefore, the juvenile justice system is faced with the challenge of creating effective methods of decreasing delinquency and providing necessary treatment to juvenile offenders. Legislators implemented juvenile transfer to adult criminal court with the intent of increasing punishments in order to deter future juvenile crime and to hold juvenile offenders accountable for their criminal behavior. This paper shows why juvenile transfer is not an effective method in addressing the issues of juvenile delinquency by looking at several studies that …

A Philosophical Analysis Of California Determinate Sentencing, Three Strikes, And Realignment, Madeline Stein

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between philosophy and policy in the context of three California policies, Determinate Sentencing, Three Strikes, and Realignment. The philosophy portion includes theories of retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation, focusing on the tensions and conflicts within them.