Law Commons^™

Uncovering The Legislative Histories Of The Early Mail Fraud Statutes: The Origin Of Federal Auxiliary Crimes Jurisdiction, Norman Abrams

Utah Law Review

The federal crime of mail fraud is generally viewed as the original federal auxiliary jurisdiction crime, that is, a crime that does not protect direct federal interests against harm. Rather, it functions as an auxiliary to state crime enforcement. In the almost 150 years since Congress enacted the mail fraud statute, federal auxiliary crimes have proliferated and have become the most important part of federal criminal jurisdiction—so that, today, they largely duplicate state crimes. It is important to know how this form of federal criminal jurisdiction originated.

Mail fraud is a crime that scholars, judges, and lawyers have viewed as …

Justice Delayed Is Not Justice Denied: Considerations And Concerns For Addressing The National Sexual Assault Kit Backlog, Bryan Schwartz

University of Cincinnati Law Review

Across the nation, many states have started clearing their backlogs of thousands of untested sexual assault kits. Most states have also implemented legislative and procedural safeguards to improve sexual assault investigation and prevent future backlogs. This article first posits that states seeking to address their sexual assault kit backlog should consider Nevada’s approach, which successfully eliminated the backlog and simultaneously reformed its sexual assault investigation procedures. However, this article primarily argues that, without allocating reoccurring future funding to support the recent legislative and procedural changes, states run the risk of future backlogs of sexual assault cases. State legislatures and policymakers …

Design Justice In Municipal Criminal Regulation, Amber Baylor

Faculty Scholarship

This Article offers a model for addressing current inequities in U.S. municipal criminal regulation through design justice theory. Historically, municipal courts in the United States have been the arbiter of minor crimes, processing traffic tickets and other low-level criminal charges. They have also served to uphold Black Codes, segregation, anti-protest laws, and “broken windows” criminal regulation. Enhancing equality in municipal courts requires meaningful participation from across the city’s populace. Participatory design- a framework within urban planning, architecture and design fields- is a practice with honed protocols for implementing meaningful participation from “users” of a place or product. The goal of …