Criminal Law Commons^™

Preview — State V. Wood. First Impressions On Accountability And Cell-Site Location Information, Sarah K. Yarlott

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

"They Just Needed To Be Given The Opportunity": Judicial Perspectives Of Drug/Dui Courts In South Dakota, Ryleigh A. Christopherson

Honors Thesis

Drug/DUI courts have existed in the state of South Dakota since 2007 when the state became the last to implement a drug/DUI court program. Currently, South Dakota has 17 problem-solving courts which include drug, DUI, mental health, and veterans courts. The drug/DUI court model works to circumvent participants out of the criminal justice system by targeting the root cause of their criminal behavior. The role of the judge in this model is essential. Previous research has found that how participants view the quality of their interactions with the presiding judge is one of the most influential factors for their success …

Regulating Food Waste Management In Indonesia: Do We Need An Omnibus Law (Again)?, Ni Gusti Ayu Dyah Satyawati, I Nyoman Suyatna, Putu Gede Arya Sumerta Yasa, I Dewa Gede Palguna, Nadeeka Rajaratnam

Indonesia Law Review

Indonesia was regarded to be the world's second-largest food loss and waste-producing country. Food waste contributes the most significant amount in Indonesia compared to other types of waste. This paper aims to discuss three legal issues. First, it identifies, in descriptive-normative means, the legal framework regulating food waste, which is the intersection of two legal regimes: 'the food management' and 'the waste and environmental management”. Second, it presents a comparative study by exploring the more advanced food waste legal frameworks, which take examples from Europe. The third objective is to recommend legal, institutional, and policy steps to mainstream food waste …

Parental Kidnapping And Domestic Violence: The Need To Reform And Enforce State Action, Anna Ratterman

Georgia Criminal Law Review

When civil family issues intersect with criminal acts, the civil and criminal systems fail to effectuate a complete remedy. Specifically, there are few effective protections for victims of domestic violence during the pendency of domestic relations proceedings. Given the complicated gender dynamics and inequalities that have developed throughout history, it is unsurprising that the criminal and civil systems have failed to prioritize prosecution of crimes against women. Current criminal laws fail to treat domestic violence and parental kidnapping as serious crimes and instead adopt the view that domestic disputes are private issues to be handled within the family. In turn, …

Paying For Prison: Equal Protection Remedies For The United States' Wealth Discrimination Problem, Alexandra Smolyar

Georgia Criminal Law Review

The American dream promises wealth, mobility, and security, yet daily millions of Americans live in abject poverty. What’s more, state and local policies render low-income people uniquely vulnerable to criminalization, further lessening their ability to attain this purported American dream. These effects are not incidental. Rather, they reflect a complexly interwoven system of wealth-based discrimination oftentimes promulgated and perpetuated by government actors. Yet, most constitutional anti-discrimination measures do not reach wealth-based discrimination despite the horrific everyday effects felt by low-income communities nationwide. The criminalization of poverty compounds these problems to create a never-ending cycle of discrimination and collateral consequences whose …

Burning The Candle At Both Ends: A Case For The Right To Counsel At The State Habeas Level, Sierra Stanfield

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Shinn v. Ramirez is the latest in a line of court decisions that place debilitating restrictions on the habeas corpus process, making it more difficult than ever for ineffective assistance of counsel claimants to prevail on a federal habeas claim. Paired with the growing restrictions placed on the criminal appellate process, both by the states and by the Supreme Court, these decisions make it near-impossible for many criminal defendants to challenge their convictions and guarantee their rights.

The decision not to guarantee counsel at the state habeas level is grounded in logic that predated these restrictions. The state habeas hearing …

The Use Of Virtual Technology In Federal Criminal Detention Proceedings During Covid-19, The Honorable Karen Wells Roby

Georgia Criminal Law Review

The COVID Pandemic presented unparalleled challenges to court operations and the administration of pretrial criminal proceedings. The combination of health concerns and constitutional considerations collided in a way requiring unprecedented creativity in court operations. While scholars have given guidance on how the state courts were functioning during the pandemic, researchers have not conducted an empirical analysis on how federal courts conducted pretrial detention hearings during COVID-19.

This analysis reports the results of both qualitative and empirical findings pretrial detention hearings in federal courts during COVID-19. I examined the state of operations of the district court in several the Fourth, Fifth, …

"Hired Guns": Establishing The Scope Of The Proper Cross-Examination And Argument Relating To Expert Witness' Compensation In Criminal Trials, Michael C. Kovac

Georgia Criminal Law Review

The outcomes of criminal cases can turn on the credibility of the parties’ expert witnesses. The compensation such experts receive in exchange for their work on cases can undermine their credibility, as it provides the experts with a financial incentive that might bias them in favor of the parties who retain them. While concerns with such bias have existed for decades, courts have been inconsistent in the defining the permissible scope of cross-examination and argument on the issue. Some courts have unduly curtailed such cross-examination and argument. Courts have also been inconsistent in their views of whether calling such expert …

Proportionalities, Youngjae Lee

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

“Proportionality” is ubiquitous. The idea that punishment should be proportional to crime is familiar in criminal law and has a lengthy history. But that is not the only place where one encounters the concept of proportionality in law and ethics. The idea of proportionality is important also in the self-defense context, where the right to defend oneself with force is limited by the principle of proportionality. Proportionality plays a role in the context of war, especially in the idea that the military advantage one side may draw from an attack must not be excessive in relation to the loss of …

Mass Incarceration, Violent Crimes, And Lengthy Sentences: Using The Race-Class Narrative As A Messaging Framework For Shortening Prison Sentences, Eric Petterson

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Profiling Cybercriminals: Behavioral Analysis And Motivations Behind Cybercrime Activities, A'Shya Latrice Reynolds

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The study of cybercriminal behavior and motivations is crucial for understanding and combating the evolving landscape of digital crime. This paper delves into the intricate realm of cybercrime profiling, employing a multidisciplinary approach to dissect the behavioral patterns and underlying motivations of cybercriminals. Drawing from psychology, sociology, and criminology, the research examines the intricate interplay of individual traits, social dynamics, and technological factors that shape cybercriminal activities.

Through analysis of case studies and research, this paper uncovers the diverse range of motivations driving individuals towards engaging in cybercrime. From financial gain and ideological extremism to thrill-seeking and revenge, cybercriminals exhibit …

Barcoding Bodies: Rfid Technology And The Perils Of E-Carceration, Jackson Samples

Duke Law & Technology Review

Electronic surveillance now plays a central role in the criminal legal system. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are tracked by ankle monitors and smartphone technology. And frighteningly, commentators and policymakers have now proposed implanting radio frequency identification (“RFID”) chips into people’s bodies for surveillance purposes. This Note examines the unique risks of these proposals—particularly with respect to people on probation and parole—and argues that RFID implants would constitute a systematic violation of individual privacy and bodily integrity. As a result, they would also violate the Fourth Amendment.

Lgbtq+ Youth In The Juvenile Justice System, Matthias B. Pearce, April Terry

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

Many experts agree that the juvenile justice system has flaws, resulting in the need for different modifications. One area of particular concern within the juvenile justice system is the involvement of LGBTQ+ youth. LGBTQ+ youth are grossly overrepresented in both the juvenile and adult systems, including those who are incarcerated. This rate is highest for queer women and trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals (Buist, 2020; Donohue et al., 2021; Hereth & Bouris, 2020). This known pathway clearly depicts a systemic issue—one that warrants attention and remediation. This poster provides background information on the disparities that exist for LGBTQ+ youth …

All Eyez On Rap & Hip-Hop: Analyzing How Black Expression Is Criminalized And The Language Of The Rap Act Of 2022, Maia Young

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The Black existence, in the United States of America, has always been regarded as a conditional right. Conventionally, Blackness must always be nonviolent and non-disruptive to safely exist. Because of this, Blackness cannot be confined to restraints and disrupts these conventions with acts of joy and creative expression. Black creativity is both unconventional and sacred. Black creative expression documents, preserves, and unifies cultural lived experiences, from a first-hand lens of those oppressed. Creative and artistic expression celebrates the myriad of stories that are a part of the collective Black experience. Yet, Black creative expression is now being weaponized by prosecutors …

School-To-Prison Pipeline, Samuel S. Honas, April Terry

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

Kindergarten through grade 12 schools are institutions where youth go to learn, grow, and sculpt their minds for their future. For some youth, schools do not present a warm and welcoming environment, and instead, respond in ways that create negative outcomes for certain youth. Factors like bullying, poor student-to-teacher interactions, and negative parental attachment can cause youth to have problems in school. Minority youth are also more likely to get in trouble in school for the same behaviors as their white counterparts. The school-to-prison pipeline is a pathway that begins in the school system that operates under the notion of …

1l Final Review Sessions, Cardozo Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Cardozo Office Of Student Services & Advising

Flyers 2023-2024

Con Law - April 8, 2024

Property - April 10, 2024

Contracts - April 15, 2024

Criminal Law - April 17, 2024

5th Annual Women In Law Leadership Lecture, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Burden Of The Bargain: Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel Claims In The Absence Of A Plea Offer, Sriram H. Ramesh

Fordham Law Review

The modern criminal justice system in the United States is a “system of pleas.” Plea bargains have largely supplanted trials as the primary method of resolving criminal proceedings in this country. Acknowledging their prevalence, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel extends to the plea-bargaining process. Thus, defendants may bring ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) claims for alleged ineffectiveness during the plea-bargaining phase.

In two companion cases, Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper, the Court held that its two-pronged test for IAC, laid out in Strickland v. Washington, …

The Efficacy Of The Legal Infrastructure Of Proportionality In Contemporary Armed Conflicts, Reed Caney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Proportionally in armed conflict is one of the key principles of international law, playing a crucial role in ensuring that both civilians are protected in armed conflict, but also that a military is able to accomplish its goals. This paper attempts to discern if the international legal infrastructure is well equipped to deal with proportionality in armed conflicts, especially in regard to contemporary armed conflicts. In an attempt to answer this question, this paper explores the existing legal infrastructure, looking at International Humanitarian Law as a moral system and International Criminal Law as the accompanying legal system to see how …

Criminal Subsidiaries, Andrew K. Jennings

Fordham Law Review

Corporate groups comprise parent companies and one or more subsidiaries, which parents use to manage liabilities, transactions, operations, and regulation. Those subsidiaries can also be used to manage criminal accountability when multiple entities within a corporate group share responsibility for a common offense. A parent, for instance, might reach a settlement with prosecutors that requires its subsidiary to plead guilty to a crime, without conviction of the parent itself—a subsidiary-only conviction (SOC). The parent will thus avoid bearing collateral consequences—such as contracting or industry bars—that would follow its own conviction. For the prosecutor, such settlements can respond to criminal law’s …

Distorted Burden Shifting & Barred Mitigation: Being A Stubborn 234 Years Old Ironically Hasn’T Helped The Supreme Court Mature, Noah Seabrook

Journal of Law and Health

This Note explores the intricate relationship between emerging adulthood, defined as the transitional phase between youth and adulthood (ages 18-25), and the legal implications of capital punishment. Contrary to a fixed age determining adulthood, research highlights the prolonged nature of the maturation process, especially for individuals impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The Note challenges the current legal framework that deems individuals aged 18 to 25 who experienced ACEs as eligible for capital punishment, highlighting the cognitive impact of ACEs on developmental trajectories. Examining cases like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Billy Joe Wardlow, this Note argues that courts often bypass mitigating …

Long-Range Analogizing After Bruen: How To Resolve The Circuit Split On The Federal Felon-In-Possession Ban, Sean Phillips

Fordham Law Review

In 2023, over the course of one week, two U.S. courts of appeals ruled on Second Amendment challenges to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the federal statute prohibiting firearm possession for those convicted of felonies. Both courts applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s “history and tradition” test from New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, criminal defendant Edell Jackson did not succeed. There, the court found that the nation’s history and tradition supported the validity of a law banning firearm possession by felons, regardless of the details of their …

A Psa On The Csaa: How The Child Soldiers Accountability Act Should Guide The United States’ Approach To Criminalizing The Recruitment Of Minors Into Gangs, Chandler Marshall

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The use and recruitment of child soldiers in situations of armed conflict has been widely documented over the past century, discussed in the media and in academia, and condemned by prominent members of the international community. Beginning in the 20th century, international legal frameworks were developed to protect children in vulnerable communities across the globe and punish those responsible for their recruitment in regions of armed conflict. While the international community and the United States have taken great strides to protect children from recruitment and militarization, the United States lacks any effective domestic laws to protect vulnerable children on American …

Reflections Of A Non-Abolitionist Admirer Of The Police Abolition Movement, Corey Stoughton

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

To acknowledge that the abolition movement made reform better is not to reduce the movement to that purpose. For the non-abolitionist, the end of reform is better policing. For the abolitionist, reform is at best “a strategy or tactic toward transformation,” meaning contesting and ultimately eliminating policing. These are not compatible visions. But even if the collaboration between holders of these visions is just a tactical alliance, it is a tactical alliance that is producing good results. Perhaps those good results will lay a foundation for abolition, or perhaps they will seed in abolitionists’ fertile imaginations a positive vision of …

Skirting The Fourth Amendment: How Law Enforcement Agencies Abuse Technology And Constitutional Exceptions To Surveille The Public, Matthew Lloyd

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Existing Fourth Amendment law does not protect against law enforcement use of data gathered through the internet either by private companies who actively search their customer’s data and submit evidence of misconduct to law enforcement or from private companies who acquire the data on behalf of law enforcement. In an effort to pursue criminals, courts have permitted Fourth Amendment jurisprudence to develop in a manner that permits sweeping invasions of privacy without any probable cause through the private search doctrine or without any procedural protections through the third-party doctrine. It will require substantial judicial or legislative action to return the …

Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Will Never Hurt Me. Or Will They? The Eleventh Circuit Expands The “Extreme Cruelty” Definition In 8 U.S.C. §1229b(B)(2) To Encompass Mental And Physical Abuse In Ruiz V. United States Attorney General, Sydnie N. Winter

Mercer Law Review

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), originally passed in 1994, was the first federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence as a crime. As part of this Act, Congress enacted 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(2), a rule that allows battered spouses (or children) who are not citizens or nationals of the United States of America to seek the discretionary cancellation of the government’s removal of them from the country. The VAWA special-rule was enacted as a way to enable abuse victims to obtain discretionary deportation relief, allowing them to leave their abusers without fear of deportation or other immigration-related consequences. ...

The United …

Why Mississippi Should Reform Its Penal Code, Judith J. Johnson

Mississippi College Law Review

The Mississippi Penal Code was determined at the turn of this century to be the fifty-second-worst penal code in the United States. As much as Mississippi is often used to being - and is even proudly defiant for being - ranked low on national scales, this is an issue about which we should be deeply concerned. A well-drafted penal code is crucial because it is at the core of the primary value of justice. While we are experienced with being ranked last in many situations, often unfairly, the criticism of the Mississippi Penal Code is accurate. Although many of the …

Whom Do Prosecutors Protect?, Vida Johnson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Prosecutors regard themselves as public servants who fight crime and increase community safety on behalf of their constituents. But prosecutors do not only seek to protect those they are supposed to serve. Instead, prosecutors often trade community safety, privacy, and even the constitutional rights of the general public to enlarge police power. Prosecutors routinely advocate for weaker public rights, shield police from public accountability, and fail to prosecute police when they break the law.

This Article will show how prosecutors often protect police at the expense of the public. This Article suggests a novel theory of evaluating the conduct of …

Immunity Through Bankruptcy For The Sackler Family, Daniel G. Aaron, Michael S. Sinha

All Faculty Scholarship

In August 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked one of the largest public health settlements in history: that of Purdue Pharma, L.P., reached in bankruptcy court. The negotiated bankruptcy settlement approved by the court would give a golden parachute to the very people thought to have ignited the opioid crisis: the Sackler family. As the Supreme Court considers the propriety of immunity through bankruptcy, the case has raised fundamental questions about whether bankruptcy is a proper refuge from tort liability and whether law checks power or law serves power.

Of course, bankruptcy courts often limit liability against a distressed …

The Twenty-First Century Death Penalty And Paths Forward, Jeffrey Omar Usman

Mississippi College Law Review

Today, states are moving closer to another moment of critical decision-making in charting the course of the death penalty in the United States. Unlike the sudden and dramatic immediacy of Furman, however, this moment is arriving through a slower and quieter progression, or perhaps more accurately a deceleration. While not abolished, in many states application of the death penalty is grinding or has ground to a halt. If the status quo holds, the vast majority of defendants who are sentenced to death by the states will instead live out their natural lives in prison for decades dying of old age …