Digital Commons Network^™

Fighting Drug Addiction In The Aftermath Of The War On Drugs: Rehabilitative Or Promoting Reoffending?, Haylee Beamer

Criminal Law Society Blog

This Article examines the evolution of drug control policy in the United States, arguing that although modern strategies target both supply and demand reduction mechanisms, they remain fragmented and insufficiently focused on rehabilitation. It traces the historical development of the War on Drugs and its lasting emphasis on punitive enforcement, highlighting the continued reliance on drug task forces and confidential informants. While contemporary reforms such as drug courts and prosecutorial diversion programs demonstrate measurable success in reducing recidivism and promoting recovery, their impact is undermined by inconsistent integration across the criminal justice system. This Article contends that a more cohesive, …

Beyond The Loop: Accountability And The Legal Abyss Of Autonomous Weapon Systems, Ahmad Khalil, Anandha Krishna Raj S

Indonesian Journal of International Law

The emergence of autonomous weapon systems (AWS) poses unprecedented challenges to international humanitarian law (IHL), particularly in relation to criminal responsibility. This article critically examines the existing legal vacuum concerning accountability for violations committed by AWS in the context of armed conflict. By analyzing the fluid and evolving nature of military autonomy and the consequences of removing human oversight from lethal decision-making processes, the article undertakes an in-depth assessment of international criminal law (ICL) mechanisms, including direct and command responsibility. It demonstrates the inadequacy of established legal doctrines to attribute criminal liability to designers, programmers, operators, or commanders when AWS …

Regression Dressed As Reform: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita And The Shifting Contours Of Political Speech, Anushka Singh

National Law School of India Review

This paper examines the shifting contours of criminal law in relation to political speech, with a focus on Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). It advances three arguments. First, the decolonising narrative behind deleting sedition glosses over substantive continuities between colonial and post-colonial periods, with Section 152 BNS refashioning the colonial-era bifurcation between ‘sedition’ and ‘sedition-like’ activity. The BNS provision represents a backslide in the way it converges the various legal and political connotations of sedition from colonial to contemporary times, creating a new criminal category constructed through popular political-extra-legal discourses. Second, Section 152 BNS borrows from the …

Online Recruitment For Interview Participants Impacted By The Criminal Legal System, Sarah Lageson, Carolina R. Caliman, Elsa Chen, Ericka Adams

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"As technology has altered communication, qualitative criminologists have turned to digital spaces for a cost-effective approach to recruit participants who have been impacted by the criminal legal system. This paper analyzes the limits and benefits of online recruitment, detailing our experience recruiting 93 interviewees online for a qualitative study of criminal record expungement. We compare three approaches: social media advertisements, Amazon’s crowdsourced MTurk platform, and the opt-in survey platform Prolific, and analyze the financial and labor costs associated with each. We detail our experience individually screening 685 interested participants to obtain 86 qualitative interviews suitable for analysis. Our experience shows …

Fragmented Responses: Variability In Law Enforcement And Prosecutorial Approaches To Sexual Assault Cases, Veronica Gonzalez

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Sexual assault (SA) remains a pervasive issue in the United States, marked by low reporting rates, inconsistent investigations, and limited convictions. In response, researchers and practitioners have promoted a range of best practices aimed at improving law enforcement and prosecutorial responses. This qualitative study draws on interviews with 13 law enforcement agencies and 12 prosecutors' offices to explore how recommended practices—such as victim advocacy, specialized units, interagency collaboration, and case reviews—are interpreted and operationalized in the field. Findings reveal substantial variability, shaped not only by resource availability but also by leadership priorities, organizational culture, and the ambiguity of guidance documents. …

To Protect And To Serve? A Phenomenological Exploration Of Interactions Between Black Transgender Women And Law Enforcement In The Midwest, Anthony Banks, Kelli E. Canada, Erin L. Robinson, Mansoo Yu, Lynn Mie Itagaki

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Current research indicates transgender women of color are experiencing what is being referred to as an “epidemic of violence.” Law enforcement personnel are in a unique position to mitigate this violence among transgender women of color, however past research shows that law enforcement may in some instances perpetuate already existing violence with this population instead of preventing and intervening in these situations. This study aimed to add to the limited research by using an intersectional theoretical framework to better understand these interactions. Research questions were answered using a phenomenological research design. Data from 36 semi-structured interviews with Black transgender women …

"This Is Not A Scam!": Assessment Of An Awareness Raising Program Tackling Older Adults' Scam Victimization In A Multi-Method Study, Katalin Parti, Pamela Teaster, Susanna Rinehart, Charles Dye

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Interactive theatre has long been used to educate and empower communities and prevent crime across all age groups. Although older populations are disproportionately victimized through fraudulent online schemes, effective educational interventions, like interactive theatre, have not been utilized to increase crime awareness. This paper describes an explorational research project, analyzing the results of a theatre-based fraud awareness program aimed towards educating victims and their communities about scams targeting older people. The study employs a mixed-method research design to examine program impact. In applying multifaceted tools of data collection, such as survey, participant observation, and follow-up interviews, the research team identified …

Aging On Parole: A Thematic Analysis Of The Parole Officer’S Perspective, Angela Murolo

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"A growing proportion of people leaving prison are over 50 years old and will live at least temporarily under the supervision of a parole officer. While recidivism rates are lower for older people, there are physical, mental, and societal challenges that accompany advancing age that make successful reentry and reintegration a challenging experience compared to their younger counterparts. This presents novel challenges for parole officers who are tasked with supervising and counseling elderly people on parole. Surveys containing closed and open-ended questions were administered to N=25 parole officers to understand the differences in working with, counseling, and supervising older and …

The Multi-Hatted Court: Community Courts As Boundary Organizations, Peter Dixon, Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg

Northwestern University Law Review

As a variety of the problem-solving court model, community courts have received significant scrutiny and debate. Do they help individuals by addressing the underlying needs that contribute to criminal behavior? Do they extend an unjust criminal legal system by making help conditional upon judicial involvement? This Article moves beyond such debates to ask how community court professionals and the communities who engage with them manage these and other tensions that are inherent to the model itself. As the second in a series of articles drawing on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with diverse stakeholders at the Red Hook Community Justice …

Negligent Hiring: Recidivism And Employment With A Criminal Record, Benjamin Pyle

Northwestern University Law Review

This Article tackles a difficult legal and policy challenge— reducing the impact of criminal records on job applicants’ chances in a manner that does not spur more discrimination—by looking at how another area of law, tort liability, impacts employers’ decision-making. It uses theoretical and empirical methods to study the most common reason employers report being reluctant to hire workers with a criminal record: legal liability generated by the tort of negligent hiring. While the purpose of the tort is ostensibly to protect and make whole those harmed when an employee misbehaves in a foreseeable manner, I show that, in practice, …

Litigating With No Receipts: How The Denial Of Access To Trial Transcripts Denies People The Opportunity To Access Justice, Madisen Zent

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hukum Kedokteran, Aspek Hukum Pidana Dan Hukum Perdata, Prof. Oemar Seno Adji, S.H.

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Capital Punishment And Domestic Terrorism: Reconsidering Domestic Terrorism As An Aggravating Factor, Josh B. Starner

Criminal Law Society Blog

Federal law permits the death penalty when an individual commits an offense after substantial planning to cause death or commit terrorism. Yet the ambiguity surrounding the term “terrorism,” particularly in domestic contexts, complicates the application of the federal statute. This Article argues that invoking the terrorism aggravating factor in domestic cases undermines the justifications for capital punishment and risks inconsistent enforcement. Drawing on recent examples, including the prosecution of Luigi Mangione and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officials, this Article illustrates how the “domestic terrorist” label can cause harsh prosecutorial discretion, intensify political polarization, and …

Weaponized Bureaucracy At The Criminal Immigration Divide, Dorien Ediger-Seto

Washington Law Review

Despite deportation being entrenched as a civil consequence rather than a punishment over 100 years ago, today’s immigration enforcement and deportation scheme relies heavily on state-level criminal arrests, convictions, and data sharing systems. And immigration-based crimes have accounted for between twenty-five and fifty percent of all federal criminal charges over the past decade. But the fact that the systems are bureaucratically and doctrinally separate from each other has practical impacts that go beyond these formalized intersections. Not only do federal law enforcement actors often have dual mandates to investigate and prosecute federal crimes alongside related civil removal cases, but criminal …

Facing State-Created Danger In Facial Recognition Technology, Esha Jain

Washington Law Review

When the police wrongfully arrest someone, that person faces distinct harms. Various scholarship, news articles, and studies document that AI-powered facial recognition technology (FRT) disproportionately misidentifies individuals from marginalized racial groups when used irresponsibly. Many of those sources indicate that police reliance on FRT without adequate vetting results in wrongful arrests. Yet law enforcement continues to misuse FRT.

This Comment contends that the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 state-created danger doctrine offers a potential remedy for plaintiffs harmed by police reliance on FRT. To prevail under this doctrine, plaintiffs must prove affirmative conduct, deliberate indifference, and proximate causation. If successful, these …

Contagious Discrimination: Why Race-Blind Justice In Courtrooms Is Not Enough, Yijia Lu, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

Existing theories of discrimination focus on discrimination at the individual, societal, or organizational level. We highlight the importance of the dynamic relationship between different institutional actors who jointly give rise to discriminatory outcomes. This reveals that discrimination can be contagious: discrimination that would otherwise not occur at one institutional level can arise due to discrimination at another institutional level. Therefore, discrimination by some actors can trickle down and create disparate impacts in processes that would otherwise be free of discrimination. This phenomenon, which we term “contagious discrimination,” can manifest itself in various settings such as employment and commercial trade negotiations. …

Time Out For Transfer: Youth Transfer As Punishment, Kristina Kersey

Nevada Law Journal

The confidentiality of the juvenile court, while laudable in protection of the children charged, often means that people, in general, have little understanding of the inner workings of the court. One of the opaquest practices in juvenile court is how, when, and under which circumstances youth are prosecuted as adults. The cases that do reach the headlines are the most salacious, which leads to a confirmation bias on both the need and the appropriateness of the practice of transfer.

Many scholars have discussed the undeniable impact of adolescent development research on juvenile legal jurisprudence and a general reimaging of diminished …

Marked For Prosecution: The Use Of Tattoo Recognition Technology In Criminal Trials And The Case For Evidentiary Limits, Marc Consalo

Mercer Law Review

In recent years, tattoos have taken on a new and largely overlooked role in our criminal trial system. Once viewed primarily as personal or cultural expression, tattoos are now treated by law enforcement as biometric data which can be analyzed, codified, and then searched by artificial intelligence (“AI”). Police departments and prosecutorial offices have begun using tattoo recognition software to identify suspects, assume gang membership, and establish guilt based on imagery or symbols. Yet, despite the rapid growth of this technology, its use in the courtroom has received almost no scholarly attention and even less judicial scrutiny.

This Article seeks …

Violent And Property Crime In The Mountain West, 2024-2025, Sydney Mitchell, Kian Parikh, Kristian Thymianos, Olivia K. Cheche, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents 2024-2025 violent and property crime data for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Crime data are sourced from the Real-Time Crime Index (RTCI) created by AH Datalytics. The RTCI table, “Reported UCR Part One Crimes Year to Date” compares violent and property crime rates during the time frames of January-October 2024 and January-October 2025 for states across the U.S. This fact sheet highlights the violent and property crime rates in each Mountain West state and considers how these data have changed between January-October 2024 and January-October 2025.

Nilai Dan Fungsi Keterangan Ahli (Dokter) Terhadap Suatu Tindak Pidana Di Depan Pengadilan, B.Z. Koemolontang, S.H.

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Collateral Damage: Parental Incarceration As Family Punishment, Hatim M. Husainy

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

The United States stands alone among UN members in refusing to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. That absence reflects a deeper failure: the American legal system continues to allow parental incarceration to inflict punishment on children who have committed no crime. This paper explores how the structure of U.S. mass incarceration—especially within Black and Native American communities—conflicts with both domestic legal ideals and international human rights standards. It calls for legal and policy reform that recognizes families as indivisible social units and restores justice to those most affected by incarceration’s collateral damage.

Confinement And Consent: A Comparative Analysis Of Sexual Abuse In Finnish And U.S. Prisons, Madison A. Greico

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

The Bangkok Rules and The Basic Principles for The Treatment of Prisoners are a specific outline of protections and rights for individuals( Bangkok specifically about women) within prisons adopted by the United Nations compromising states. While The United States is a leader in the United Nations and adopted this set of rules, their failures of commitment are extremely apparent. Every year, thousands of prison rapes occur behind bars in New York alone by the very guards meant to protect them. In Finland, another United Nations member, however, has virtually no record of sexual abuse within their prisons. In investigation of …

Stuck Behind Bars: How Neglect Of The Mental Health Epidemic In U.S. Correctional Facilities Fuels Recidivism, Alayna Bhatti

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

The nation is failing to protect the rights of all citizens. Various studies and sources of academic research show that health services in U.S. prisons fall far below the standards for health services on the ‘outside world’. Legal scholar Joshua Price highlights how mentally ill inmates are victims of the U.S. criminal justice system. “A set of institutions disavowed responsibility, leading to conditions where their own demons got the better of them, with awful consequences. Did these institutions, or the people in them, love justice?” (Price, 501) How is justice really served when these inmates are destined to be trapped …

Incarcerated Youths In Canada And The United States: A Comparative Analysis, Grace A. Mastrangelo

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Are children, who commit adult crimes, deserving of adult punishments? According to the United Nations, not if it harms their well-being. Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the United Nations in November 1989, states that 1) the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration of all state actions involving children, 2) governments must allot children the protection and care necessary for their well-being, and 3) governmental institutions, services, and facilities that deal with children must uphold adequate standards for the safety, health, and supervision of children. The CRC is …

Collaborative Nullification: Bending Or Ignoring The Law To Free The Over-Punished, David A. Singleton

Arkansas Law Review

The United States accounts for about 25% of the world’s prisoners but only about 5% of its population. It has the fifth- highest imprisonment rate—higher than China and Russia—with people of color disproportionately impacted. This racialized mass incarceration, and the lack of political will to meaningfully address it, demands bold remedies. Certainly, sentencing reform for low-level, non-violent offenders is needed, but contrary to popular belief, these offenders are not driving mass incarceration. Instead, the problem largely results from increasingly long sentences for violent offenders.

This article proposes that the option, which I call “collaborative nullification,” can provide the over-punished needed …

Artificial Intelligence In The Prosecution Of International Crimes, Marta Bo

International Law Studies

International criminal prosecutions face growing evidentiary challenges due to the vast and heterogeneous digital material generated during conflicts, including user-generated videos, social media, and intercepted communications. This article examines the potential role of artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting investigations and trials before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Rather than replacing judicial decision-making, AI can assist with specific tasks, particularly in establishing contextual elements and linkage evidence central to international crimes. The article explores three main areas: AI-driven biometric tools for facial and speech recognition; AI techniques for detecting patterns of violence and mapping command structures; and applications during trial proceedings, …

“I Plead Ignorance”: Autonomous Weapons And Criminal Liability For Not Knowing The Knowable, Jonathan Kwik

International Law Studies

This article argues that the unpredictability and unintuitive behavior of modern artificial intelligence provide more opportunities for users of autonomous weapon systems (AWS) to remain ignorant of risks posed by their systems to protected entities on the battlefield, and that this ignorance can be maintained even in iterative situations featuring a prior civilian casualty event. It demonstrates this theorem through illustrative targeting scenarios, before formalizing the argument through a model showing the evolution of an AWS-user’s mens rea as they receive notice of a prior incident, and choose to pursue—or not pursue—an inquiry. This analysis reveals a perverse incentive structure, …

The Perlmutter Center For Legal Justice And The Death Penalty And Criminal Defense Clinic Present A Screening Of The Oscar-Nominated Film: The Alabama Solution, Perlmutter Center For Legal Justice At Cardozo Law, Death Penalty And Criminal Defense Clinic

2026 Event Invitations

The Alabama Solution is a groundbreaking, critically-acclaimed HBO documentary released in 2025, documenting prison conditions in Alabama from footage recorded by people experiencing incarceration. The screening will be followed by a panel led by Perlmutter Center Deputy Director Derrick Hamilton.

Panelists

• Jose Saldana: Director, Release Aging People in Prison Campaign

• Dr. Donna Hylton: Founder and CEO, A Little Piece of Light

• Alex Duran: Co-Producer of Academy Award Nominated Film, The Alabama Solution

• David Garlock: Reentry professional and criminal justice reform advocate

• Sumeet Sharma: Director, Policy and Communications at the Correctional Association of New York

A "Simple" Second Look: The Argument For Mandatory Judicial Recusal In Pennsylvania Post Conviction Hearings, Taylor Banks

Criminal Law Society Blog

The Due Process Clause guarantees criminal defendants an impartial adjudicator, yet post-conviction proceedings often escape meaningful judicial recusal. In Pennsylvania, the same judge who presided over a criminal trial commonly adjudicates that defendant’s post-conviction review, even when prior rulings are challenged. This Article argues that such self-review creates an objectively intolerable risk of bias, undermining due process and public confidence in the judiciary. Drawing on Supreme Court precedent and psychological research on confirmation bias, the Article demonstrates that existing recusal standards fail to address structural risks in post-conviction adjudication. It proposes legislative reform mandating judicial recusal when a judge previously …

Milbank Expands Partnership With The Perlmutter Center For Legal Justice At Cardozo Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Milbank LLP announced a significant expansion of its partnership with the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo School of Law, increasing its charitable commitment to $2.5 million through 2029. The expanded funding will strengthen the Milbank Exoneration Review Unit, support additional staffing, and advance post-conviction advocacy for wrongfully convicted and excessively sentenced individuals.