Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Criminal Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law

Discretion And Disparity In Federal Detention, Stephanie Holmes Didwania Mar 2021

Discretion And Disparity In Federal Detention, Stephanie Holmes Didwania

Northwestern University Law Review

The uniquely American phenomenon of mass incarceration plagues the pretrial space. People awaiting trial make up roughly 20% of those held in criminal custody in the United States. Largely overlooked by bail-reform advocates, pretrial detention in the federal criminal system presents a puzzle. The federal system detains defendants at a much higher rate than the states—more than 60% of U.S. citizen-defendants were detained pending trial by federal courts last year. But federal defendants virtually never fail to appear in court, and they are rarely arrested for new crimes while on pretrial release. And unlike state court systems, cash bail is …


Do Mandatory Minimums Increase Racial Disparities In Federal Criminal Sentencing?, Caroline Gillette Feb 2021

Do Mandatory Minimums Increase Racial Disparities In Federal Criminal Sentencing?, Caroline Gillette

Undergraduate Economic Review

Black males received sentences about twenty percent longer than similarly situated white males from 2012 to 2016. Some of this inequality may be introduced by mandatory minimum sentences. Charges carrying a mandatory minimum sentence are brought against Black defendants at higher rates than white defendants. It has been argued that these sentences introduce bias in two ways: legislatively (the types of crimes that carry a mandatory minimum) and in the way these sentences are put into practice (increasing prosecutorial discretion). This brief explores whether mandatory minimum sentences increase racial inequality in criminal sentencing.


The Seven (At Least) Lessons Of The Myon Burrell Case, Leslie E. Redmond, Mark Osler Jan 2021

The Seven (At Least) Lessons Of The Myon Burrell Case, Leslie E. Redmond, Mark Osler

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.