Digital Commons Network^™

The Application Of Neuroscience Evidence On Court Sentencing Decisions: Suggesting A Guideline For Neuro-Evidence, Yu Du

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Cameras Down, Hands Up: How The Supreme Court Chilled The Development Of The First Amendment Right To Record The Police, Christina Murray

Mercer Law Review

You may not realize this, but the Supreme Court of the United States has possibly jeopardized one of your First Amendment rights: the right to record the police. While this right may mean little to you now, it could serve as a means of protecting your other rights and in keeping law enforcement accountable. Because of the right to record the police, we have documented footage of police brutality from Missouri to Louisiana. These recordings have sparked outrage and fueled a conversation around policing, race, and our country's values.

This Comment will track the development of the right to record …

Beat The Heat: Texas’S Need To Reduce Summer Temperatures In Offender Housing, Mary E. Adair

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s lack of air conditioning in offender housing areas is a violation of the Eighth Amendment and deprives offenders of humane living conditions. Unlike most Texans, offenders housed in the TDCJ are unable to adequately protect themselves from the higher, prolonged summer temperatures. Most Texas prisons do not provide air conditioning or other types of cooling systems in offender housing areas, so offenders are at the mercy of the elements with little protection against heat-related illnesses. Several jurisdictions, other than Texas, have recognized extreme temperatures in housing areas can lead to constitutional violations because the …

Shoot At Me Once: Shame On You! Shoot At Me Twice: Qualified Immunity. Qualified Immunity Applies Where Police Target Innocent Bystanders, Jameson M. Fisher

Mercer Law Review

Qualified immunity is a judicially created doctrine that has resulted in expansive protections for lower-level state officials for constitutional violations. Guidance from the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the interpretation of "clearly established rights" has been scarce and vague at best. As a result, district courts faced with qualified immunity assertions regarding a § 1983 claim take a restrictive approach to the doctrine's analysis often by relying on factually similar cases from binding authorities. Historically, innocent bystanders have had no clearly established right to be free from excessive force where force was applied to subdue the target of …

It's All In The Dna—How United States V. Hano Extends The Statute Of Limitations For The Eleventh Circuit, Caroline Walker

Mercer Law Review

It is likely that most professionals in all industries would agree that technology is rapidly evolving, most considering that assertion as a major understatement and some struggling to balance the variety of changes. In the legal realm, the DNA revolution has impacted both criminal prosecution and defense, specifically wrongful convictions, exonerations, proof of guilt at trial, and the reopening of cold cases. For example, since the first DNA exoneration in 1989, there have been 367 DNA exonerees in thirty-seven states to date. Forty-four percent of the exonerations involved misapplication of forensic science. Other law enforcement tools, such as rape kits …

An Uneven Playing Field: The Government Extended Rights Denied To Defendants On Appeal, Breyana Fleming

Mercer Law Review

Many people find themselves in the crosshairs of the criminal justice system as defendants. In preparing to defend themselves against the charges being brought by the government, these defendants cannot predict whether the outcome of a criminal proceeding will result in a finding of innocence or guilt. Defendants can, however, generally depend on uniformity in the law as it pertains to appellate procedure. Still, there are times where this uniformity will be sacrificed, and further, when it will be done in an unjust manner. For instance, when an appellate court allows the federal government to maintain an argument against a …

Determining Intellectual Disability In Death Penalty Cases: A State-By-State Analysis, Jennifer Laprade, John L. Worrall

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

In Moore v. Texas (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas death penalty definitions of intellectual disability were inadequate because they strayed too far from clinical definitions. This study examines how each state defines intellectual disability with regard to death penalty eligibility. It reveals a wide variation in the standards used by states, with no clear consensus on definitions of intellectual disability or who should measure it. Variations pertain to age at onset, proof of intellectual disability status at the time of the crime, burden of proof required to make the intellectual disability determination, and who makes the final …

The Life-Course Of Juvenile Lifers: Understanding Maturation And Development As Miller And Its Progeny Guide Juvenile Life Sentence Release Decisions, Robert Johnson, Margaret E. Leigey

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

The U.S. Supreme Court anticipated that most juveniles sentenced to life-without-parole prison terms might well “mature and develop” over the course of their lives in confinement. As a result, the Court maintained that they should be given the opportunity to demonstrate their changed characters and earn a chance at release from prison. In this article, we rely on the research on life sentence prisoner adjustment, together with our experience as experts in juvenile life-without-parole re-sentencing cases. We trace the maturation and development of juveniles sentenced to life terms, a multifaceted process that ultimately leads most juveniles sentenced to life to …

The Science Of Deception Detection: A Literature And Policy Review On Police Ability To Detect Lies, Jillian R. Yarbrough

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

Humans have a strong “truth” default, meaning that when processing incoming information, they will passively believe statements made by others. However, idle acceptance can put people at risk for deception (Levine, 2019). Research shows that 60% of people lie during a typical 10-minute conversation (Bradberry, 2017). Considering the pervasiveness of lying, it is easy to recognize deception as a challenge for individuals involved in law enforcement because they are expected to distinguish between truth and lies daily. If deception detection is an essential component of law enforcement, are techniques available that law enforcement can apply during interrogations to improve the …

Ethical And Aggressive Appellate Advocacy: The Decision To Petition For Certiorari In Criminal Cases, J. Thomas Sullivan

St. Mary's Law Journal

Over the past six decades, United States Supreme Court decisions have dramatically reshaped the criminal justice process to provide significant protections for defendants charged in federal and state proceedings reflecting a remarkable expansion of due process and specific constitutional guarantees. For criminal defendants seeking relief based on recognition of new rules of constitutional criminal procedure, application of existing rules or precedent to novel factual scenarios, or in some cases, enforcement of existing precedent, obtaining relief requires further action on the Court’s part. In those situations, the Court’s exercise of its certiorari jurisdiction is the exclusive remedy offering an avenue for …

The Case For A Federal Criminal Court System (And Sentencing Reform), Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In their article in this issue, Professors Peter Menell and Ryan Vacca describe a federal court docket that is overloaded and unable to process cases efficiently. As they depict it, justice in the federal courts is either delayed or denied, disparity in legal outcomes among circuits is increasing, and the Supreme Court is falling farther and farther behind in resolving circuit splits. While these problems have been around for a while, Menell and Vacca argue they are getting worse and will only continue to worsen if radical action is not taken. Their article provides enough of a factual record to …

State V. Bassett: Washington Courts Can No Longer Sentence Juveniles To Die In Prison, Carolyn Mount

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Decriminalizing Non-Appearance In Washington State: The Problem And Solutions For Washington’S Bail Jumping Statute And Court Nonappearance, Aleksandrea Johnson

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Holding Both: Witness Aid Workers' Experiences Supporting Intimate Partner Violence Survivors In District Attorney Offices, Ovita Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social workers and advocates practice in district attorney (DA) offices as witness or victim aid workers providing intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors counseling, advocacy, resources and information as they enter the criminal legal system (CLS). Their experiences, in particular how stress and vicarious trauma (VT) manifested for them in this unique setting within the criminal legal system, had not yet been examined. This phenomenological study sought to better understand (1) how social workers and advocates in a prosecutor’s office experience practice with intimate partner violence survivors, (2) their experiences of stress, secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, and supports, and (3) …

Controlled Observation: The Challenges Of Therapy For The Mentally Ill Incarcerated Population, Esther Tingué

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Popular perception and objective of incarceration is confinement, brutality and in some cases inhumane conditions. But what about the incarcerated population who suffer from the additional burden of mental illness? How does confinement affect mentally ill inmates? This capstone project asks: (1) how do individuals/organizations provide rehabilitative services in this evolved culture of crime and punishment? And (2) how is therapy provided in a restricted environment? I examine these questions from the perspective of the therapist, the person who (in a restricted environment) takes on the responsibility of treating and managing the effects of mental illness for this population.

Federal Sentencing: A Judge’S Personal Sentencing Journey Told Through The Voices Of Offenders He Sentenced, Mark W. Bennett

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Federal sentencing is a tragic mess. Thirty years of conflicting legislative experiments began with high hopes but resulted in mass incarceration. Federal sentences, especially in drug cases, are all too often bone-crushingly severe.

In this Article, the Honorable Mark Bennett, a retired federal judge, shares about his journey with federal sentencing and his strong disagreement with the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines by telling the stories of some of the 400 men and women he sentenced during his twenty-five years as a federal judge.

Reforming Federal Sentencing: A Call For Equality-Infused Menschlichkeit, Nora V. Demleitner

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This piece, which serves as an Introduction to the Symposium Issue of the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, addresses both questions of pedagogy and federal sentencing. It starts by highlighting the value of a symposium on federal sentencing as a teaching, research, and advocacy tool before it turns to sentencing reform specifically.

Federal sentencing remains a highly contested area because it raises stark questions of equality and equitable treatment. Sentencing has long been unfair to minority defendants, African-Americans in particular, though the guidelines have in part mitigated racial disparities. Still the injustices perpetuated through …

Sentencing Disparities And The Dangerous Perpetuation Of Racial Bias, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This Article addresses the role that racial disparities—specifically sentencing disparities—play in perpetuating the racial bias that increases the daily danger of living as a Black American in the United States. As documented in the news and by sometimes humorous internet memes, White people have called the police many times to report Black people who were simply living as any other American. This trend highlights the manner in which the U.S. criminal justice system’s racial inequities feed into biased beliefs about Black criminality. This Article argues that instead of tackling implicit bias as a means to fight sentencing and other criminal …

Technology’S Influence On Federal Sentencing: Past, Present, And Future, Matthew G. Rowland

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The comprehensive reforms that govern today’s federal sentencing processes were fashioned nearly forty years ago. Those reforms were designed to address concerns regarding the effectiveness, transparency, and fairness of the preexisting indeterminant sentencing system. Today, criticisms are mounting against the very reforms that were once held out to save the sentencing process. The more determinant system is being accused of being biased against minorities, overly harsh, and costly.

This Article explores how the criminal justice system might look to technology and build on the practical experience from the indeterminant and determinant systems. Tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help …

Article Iii Adultification Of Kids: History, Mystery, And Troubling Implications Of Federal Youth Transfers, Mae C. Quinn, Grace R. Mclaughlin

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

There is no federal juvenile court system in the United States. Rather, teens can face charges in Article III courts and can be transferred to be tried and sentenced as adults in these venues. This Article is the first of two articles in the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice seeking to shed light on the largely invisible processes and populations involved in federal youth prosecution. This Article focuses on the federal transfer and prosecution of American youth as adults. It considers constitutional and statutory law relating to these federal transfers and then considers why current …

Not All Videos Are Created Equal: Camera Perspective Bias And Video-Recorded Eyewitness Identification Procedures, Kelsey N. Doherty

Student Theses

Video-recorded eyewitness identification procedures can preserve an accurate record of the conditions under which the eyewitness made an identification. Scholars posit that having the record will allow legal actors to make better decisions on the basis of an identification. Yet limited research has examined how jurors’ judgments are influenced by this evidence. Research on other types of video-recorded evidence has demonstrated a strong camera perspective bias, wherein jurors’ judgments are influenced by the angle with which the evidence is recorded. This study examined whether the camera perspective bias similarly influences jurors’ perceptions of video-recorded identification procedures. Participants viewed a mock …

Ethical Implications Of Forensic Genealogy In Criminal Cases, Solana Lund

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The use of forensic genealogy to solve criminal cases is likely to increase in the coming years, especially given its success in solving cold cases. While its potential for good is impressive, there are also legitimate ethical concerns that need to be addressed. As society sees an increase in the use of forensic genealogy and DTC databases in criminal investigations as well as an increase in the media attention it garners, there will be more discussion regarding ethical implications. Legal scholars say that it is only a matter of time before courts weigh in on the privacy of DNA and …

Felony Disenfranchisement And The Nineteenth Amendment, Michael Gentithes

Akron Law Review

The Nineteenth Amendment and the history of the women’s suffrage movement can offer a compelling argument against felony disenfranchisement laws. These laws leave approximately six million citizens unable to vote, often for crimes wholly unrelated to the political process. They also increasingly threaten gains in female enfranchisement.

Today’s arguments in support of felony disenfranchisement laws bear striking similarities to the arguments of anti-suffragists more than a century earlier. Both suggest that a traditionally subordinated class of citizens is inherently incapable of bearing the responsibility that the right to vote entails, and that their votes are somehow less worthy than others. …

Pay To Play? Campaign Finance And The Incentive Gap In The Sixth Amendment's Right To Counsel, Neel U. Sukhatme, Jay Jenkins

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For nearly 60 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees felony defendants the right to counsel, regardless of their ability to pay. Yet nearly all criminal procedure scholars agree that indigent defense as practiced today falls far short of its initial promise. These scholars frequently cite a lack of political support, insufficient public funding, and a failure to address instances of inadequate legal representation, among other things, as causes for the underlying systemic dysfunction.

We contend that these conventional critiques are incomplete. Rather, indigent defense systems often fail due to poor …

Griffin V. Illinois: Justice Independent Of Wealth, Neil Sobol

Faculty Scholarship

More than sixty years ago in Griffin v. Illinois, Justice Hugo Black opined that equal justice cannot exist as long as “the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has.” While Griffin dealt with the limited issue of the inability of a defendant to pay for an appellate transcript, the Supreme Court and legislatures would subsequently extend Black’s equal justice analysis to cases involving other forms of criminal justice debt assessed at trial, appeal, incarceration, and probation. Despite the promise of these judicial and legislative pronouncements, indigent defendants, relative to defendants with financial …

Sanctuary Cities And Their Respective Effect On Crime Rates, Adam R. Schutt

Undergraduate Economic Review

According to the U.S. Center for Immigration Studies (2017), cities or counties in twenty-four states declare themselves as a place of “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants. This study addresses the following question: Do sanctuary cities experience higher crime rates than those cities that are not? Using publicly available data, this regression analysis investigates the relationship between crime rates in selected cities and independent variables which the research literature or the media has linked to criminal activity. Results of this research reveal that sanctuary cities do not experience higher violent or property crime rates than those cities that are not sanctuary cities.

Book Review - Canadian Justice, Indigenous Injustice: The Gerald Stanley And Colten Boushie Case By Kent Roach, Benjamin Berger

Articles & Book Chapters

Kent Roach’s important book exploring the 2018 acquittal of Gerald Stanley for the killing of Colten Boushie, a twenty-two-year-old Cree man from the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan, begins by asking, “Why write a book about this case?” His answer is that the “Stanley/Boushie case will not and should not go away”

Protocol: Protocol For Corporate Crime Deterrence: An Updated Systematic Review, Natalie Schell-Busey, Melissa Rorie, Sally S. Simpson

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

This is the protocol for an updated Campbell review on corporate crime deterrence. Our overall objective is to identify and synthesize the extant empirical literature on formal legal and administrative prevention and control - that is, the actions and programs of government law enforcement agencies, legislative bodies, and regulatory agencies within a specific focus, as further discussed in this study. This review will consider all types of legal and regulatory practices as long as corporate crime prevention is part of the outcome. Other outcomes and information, if relevant, will also be collected.

Breaking The Cycle: How Nevada Can Effectuate Meaningful Criminal Justice Reform, Scott Cooper, Scott Whitworth

Nevada Law Journal Forum

Why does society punish criminals? This paper examines what Nevada is attempting to accomplish through enacting and enforcing its criminal laws. We examine the current state of, as well as the challenges facing, Nevada’s criminal justice system. Additionally, we identify and propose certain solutions to reduce both recidivism and the financial burden that incarceration imposes on the state by looking to best practices in other states, as well as certain mechanisms and provisions that were, for one reason or another, removed from Nevada Assembly Bill 236.

A Phenomenological Qualitative Study To Discover The Attitudes And Perceptions Of Police Officers On The Legalization Of Recreational Cannabis And Crime, Izedomi Ayeni

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to discover the attitudes and perceptions of police officers on the legalization of recreational cannabis and crime.

Methodology: This qualitative, phenomenological methodology employed the use of semi-structured interview questions consisting of open-ended questions to understand the lived experiences of Colorado Police and Sheriff Officers and their perspectives on the experiences with the legalization of cannabis and crime. The sample size of 16 officers was selected from the sampling frame, which included Denver Police officers and Larimer County Sheriff officers.

Findings: Analysis of the data from interviews resulted in the identification of …