Criminal Law Commons^™

Lessons In Movement Lawyering From The Ferguson Uprising, Maggie Ellinger-Locke

Human Rights Brief

Michael Brown was killed by Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. That day, I was on vacation in Michigan with my family, hanging on the beach and playing in the water. My father passed away from liver cancer exactly four months before, and I made the decision to close down his law practice in the St. Louis, Missouri area, and move to Washington, DC, where my longterm partner had taken a job. The trip to Michigan was supposed to be a stopover on my way to DC; my car was packed to the brim.

Capital Punishment And The ‘Acnestis’ Of Its Modern Reformation, Sudarsanan Sivakumar

Human Rights Brief

The term “Capital Punishment” encompasses any penalizing punishment that results in the death of people accused of committing a crime.1 This damnation dates back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the “Code of Hammurabi,” a misemployed code that ensured the death penalty for twenty-five distinct crimes. People convicted of crimes were made to suffer for their actions in horrific ways, including being burnt alive and drowning.2 Since then, death by hanging has been the conventional method for capital punishment in most of the world.

When Jail & Prison Sentences Become Death Sentences: How Willfully Exposing Incarcerated Persons To Covid-19 Amounts To Cruel & Unusual Punishment, Arielle Aboulafia

Human Rights Brief

Eric Warner called his older brother Hank from San Quentin State Prison almost every Sunday. Though the prison only allowed the brothers to speak for fifteen minutes each week, the two spoke about their lives. In June 2021, Eric stopped calling, and Hank became worried. Hank tried to get in touch with the prison. However, his calls were met with a dead-end voicemail each time. He recalls that he “knew, by not hearing anything, that something was not good.” The following month, prison personnel returned Hank’s calls and told him that his brother Eric had been hospitalized. Later that month, …

Platform-Enabled Crimes: Pluralizing Accountability When Social Media Companies Enable Perpetrators To Commit Atrocities, Rebecca Hamilton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Online intermediaries are omnipresent. Each day across the globe, the corporations running these platforms execute policies and practices that serve their profit model, typically by sustaining user engagement. Sometimes, these seemingly banal business activities enable principal perpetrators to commit crimes. Online intermediaries, however, are almost never held to account for their complicity in the resulting harms. This Article introduces the concept of platformenabled crimes into the legal literature to highlight the ways in which the ordinary business activities of online intermediaries enable the commission of crime. It then focuses on a subset of platform-enabled crimes—those in which a social media …

Human Trafficking Victims' Need For Vacatur: Demolishing Roadblocks To Freedom: An Analysis Of The Current State Laws In The United States, The Current Federal Landscape, And A Call For The United Nations To Amend An Existing Protocol To Allow Victims Of Human Trafficking To Vacate Their Criminal Records, Melissa Owens

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

The Bemba Appeals Chamber Judgment: Impunity For Sexual And Gender-Based Crimes?, Susana Sacouto, Patricia Viseur Sellers

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

On June 8, 2018, a majority of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) reversed the conviction of former military commander Jean-Pierre Bemba for the crimes against humanity of rape and murder and the war crimes of rape, murder, and pillaging committed by his troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) between October 2002, and March 2003. The decision was clearly a disappointment for the victims of the crimes committed by Bemba’s troops, who have been waiting for more than fifteen years for a measure of justice. Significantly, the acquittal also means that sixteen years after the Rome …

Talking Foreign Policy: Responding To Rogue States, Paul Williams, Todd F. Buchwald, James Johnson, Michael P. Scharf, Milena Sterio

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Punished For Poverty, Andrew Rock

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.

Talking Foreign Policy: North Korea Summit, Paul Williams, Shannon French, Michael P. Scharf, Milena Sterio, Tim Webster

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Atrocity Prevention In The New Media Landscape, Rebecca Hamilton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Journalists have traditionally played a crucial role in building public pressure on government officials to uphold their legal obligations under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. But over the past twenty years there has been radical change in the media landscape: foreign bureaus have been shuttered, young freelance journalists have taken over some of the work traditionally done by experienced foreign correspondents, and, more recently, the advent of social media has enabled people in conflict-affected areas to tell their own stories to the world. This essay assesses the impact of these changes on atrocity prevention …

Indefinite Detention, Deadly Conditions: How Brazil's Notorious Criminal Justice System Violates The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights, Layla Medina

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Talking Foreign Policy: The Iran Nuclear Accord, Paul Williams, Milena Sterio, Avidan Cover, Mike Newton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Transformative Influence Of International Law And Practice On The Death Penalty In The United States, Richard Wilson

Contributions to Books

No region of the world has been more vocal and persistent in its opposition to U.S. death penalty practice than Europe, which has itself become a death penalty-free zone. The chapter will examine the actions taken by European legislative and judicial bodies against U.S. practice of the death penalty, as well as those of the other regional treaty bodies, with particular attention to the Inter-American human rights system, in which the U.S. reluctantly participates. It then will examine U.S. interactions with its treaty partners in the area of extradition, where death penalty policy is acted out in the exchanges of …

State-Enabled Crimes, Rebecca Hamilton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

International crimes are committed by individuals, but many – from genocide in Rwanda to torture at Abu Ghraib – would not have occurred without the integral role played by the State. This dual contribution, of individual and State, is intrinsic to the commission of what I term “State-Enabled Crimes.” Viewing international adjudication through the rubric of State-Enabled Crimes highlights a feature of the international judicial architecture that is typically taken for granted: its bifurcated structure. Notwithstanding the deep interrelationship between individual and State in the commission of State-Enabled Crimes, the international legal system adjudicates the responsibility of each under two …

Boys, Rape And Masculinity: Reclaiming Boys' Narratives Of Sexual Violence In Custody, Brenda V. Smith

Project on Addressing Prison Rape - Articles

This article examines a little studied area at the intersections of masculinity, feminist studies, and criminal justice – sexual abuse of boys in custody by female staff. Professor Smith will outline the scope of the problem and discusses competing narratives that attempt to explain the phenomena: (1) female staff as “mother, sister, friend”; (2) adolescent development theory; (3) complex early childhood trauma; and (4) female authority and power. There is a gap in both masculinity and feminist theory in analyzing sexual aggression and power by women over boys. The talk will colclude with policy and practice prescription and recommendations for …

An End To Silence: Inmate's Handbook On Identifying And Addressing Sexual Abuse, 3rd Edition, Brenda V. Smith

Reports

"Though many correctional agencies have taken steps to comply with PREA standards and create safer environments for individuals in their care, inmates in custody still face sexual abuse and harassment by staff or other inmates. Staff and inmates still report problems identifying those at risk of sexual abuse, reporting sexual abuse, and holding those responsible for sexual abuse accountable. This publication is a tool for educating inmates about legal and other mechanisms, including the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), that can provide protection and redress from sexual abuse in custodial settings" (p. 5). Sections of this handbook are: introduction; what …

Ending Silence: Demanding Safety From Sexual Assault - I Reported, Brenda V. Smith, Caleb J. Bess, Rebecca I. Heinsen, Jaime V. Yarussi, Michael J. Auger

Reports

Ending Silence: Demanding Safety from Sexual Assault & Youth Speaking Up about Sexual Abuse in Custody are a series of graphic novels for adult and juvenile inmates in custodial settings. These graphic novels are intended to educate inmates about how to identify and address incidents of sexual assault. The plot lines in these graphic novels dramatize situations we know occur in custodial settings. The use of graphic novels in community education projects is well established. By presenting information through an illustrative medium, these novels aim to disseminate information about the sexual abuse reporting process to inmates at all literacy levels. …

Regulation 55 And The Rights Of The Accused At The International Criminal Courts, Susana Sacouto, Katherine Cleary Thompson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Crashing The Misdemeanor System, Jenny M. Roberts

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

With “minor crimes” making up more than 75% of state criminal caseloads, the United States faces a misdemeanor crisis. Although mass incarceration continues to plague the nation, the current criminal justice system is faltering under the weight of misdemeanor processing.

Operating under the “broken windows theory,” which claims that public order law enforcement prevents more serious crime, the police send many petty offenses to criminal court. This is so even though the original authors of the theory noted that “[o]rdinarily, no judge or jury ever sees the persons caught up in a dispute over the appropriate level of neighborhood order” …

Panel Iv: Challenges To Proving Cases Of Torture Before The Committee Against Torture, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Saving Their Own Souls: How Rluipa Failed To Deliver On Its Promises, Sarah Gerwig-Moore

Legislation and Policy Brief

In the summer of 2001, as a graduate student in law and theology, I began work on a master’s thesis that examined the predicament of men of faith on San Quentin’s Condemned Row. I was working in the California Appellate Project—mostly assisting with direct appeals and state habeas petitions on behalf of men under a death sentence—when a colleague guided me into theological conversations with some of our clients. On Condemned Row, they waited—up to five years to be assigned a court-appointed appellate attorney, on judges’ rulings, and to find whether the legal system would ultimately exact the penalty it …

Juveniles Convicted As Adults: An Annotated Bibliography Of Current Research., Brenda V. Smith, Jaime Yarussi

Project on Addressing Prison Rape - Articles

This publication compiles case law, new stories, reports and helpful sites on the issue of juveniles convicted as adults (as of 2012).

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Claire Grandison, Sofia Vivero, Andra Nicolescu, Danielle Dean, Benjamin Watson

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

International Criminal Court's Protection Of Women: The Hands Of Justice At Work, Tina R. Karkera

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Transitional Justice, Peace, And Prevention, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Somali Piracy Problem: A Global Puzzle Necessitating A Global Solution, Milena Sterio

American University Law Review

Over the past few years, piracy has exploded off the coast of Somalia. The Somali pirates congregate on a mother ship and then divide into smaller groups that sail out on tiny skiffs. Using potent weapons like AK-47’s and hand-propelled grenades, the Somali pirates then attack civilian ships carrying cargo through the Gulf of Aden, toward South Africa or Asia. Once they have overtaken the victim vessel, pirates typically hijack the vessel’s cargo and crewmembers. The former is often resold to willing buyers (some of which include terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda). The latter are taken to the Somali shore …

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Slava Kuperstein, Lindsay Roberts, John Coleman, Beka Feathers, Anna Naimark, Ivan Carpio

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts , Slava Kuperstein, Lindsay Roberts, Catlin Meade, Elizabeth Francis, Ivan Carpio

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International And Internationalized Criminal Courts, Claire Grandison, Benjamin Watson, Brynn Weinstein, Adam Dembling, Yaritza Velez, Michelle Flash

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Mugged Twice?: Payment Of Ransom On The High Seas, Lawrence Rutkowski, Bruce G. Paulsen, Jonathan D. Stoian

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.