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Hearsay In High Definition: Body-Worn Cameras And The Future Of Intimate Partner Violence Prosecutions, Kenechukwu Okocha

Working Papers

Technological advances in documenting police encounters with the public have outpaced evidentiary hearsay rules. Specifically, the rapid adoption of body-worn cameras (BWCs), fueled by racial justice and police reform advocates, has produced previously unavailable, vivid, and timely recordings of IPV victims’ accounts of abuse. Unfortunately, state and federal rules governing hearsay often prevent juries from considering these out-of-court statements. Such restrictions carry particular force in IPV cases, where victims frequently recant or decline to testify at trial due to abuser manipulation or distrust of the criminal justice system.

Courts and legislatures have eased some evidentiary restrictions in IPV cases in …

Between Blockchain And Black Markets: South Africa's Legal Readiness For Crypto-Driven Cyberfraud, Sagwadi Mabunda, Yassin Chande

Communications of the IIMA

This paper examines whether the proliferation of cryptocurrency-facilitated fraud warrants a reclassification of the terrestrial crime of fraud into the distinct statutory offence of cyberfraud under South African law. Engaging with established fraud typologies — exit scams, Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scams, Ponzi schemes, pump-and-dump schemes, and market manipulation — the article tests their definitional fit against both the common law of fraud and section 8 of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020. Through a hypothetical composite scenario combining multiple fraud typologies, the article demonstrates that whilst cryptocurrency significantly amplifies the reach and complexity of fraudulent schemes, it functions primarily …

Reconstructing The Enforcement Of The Code Of Ethics For General Elections In Indonesia: A Prophetic Law Perspective, Fradhana Putra Disantara, Ratih Listyana Chandra, Aan Efendi, Iwan Rachmad Soetijono, Souad Ahmed Ezzerouali

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

This research examines the reconstruction of ethical code enforcement for election organizers in Indonesia through the perspective of prophetic law, arguing that ethical adjudication should extend beyond procedural compliance by integrating humanization, liberation, and transcendence as normative foundations of substantive justice. Employing doctrinal legal research, the study uses statutory, conceptual, case, and comparative approaches. It compares Indonesia's regulatory framework with the ethical governance systems of India and the United States to identify institutional models that strengthen integrity while respecting distinct constitutional traditions. The findings demonstrate that ethical adjudication differs fundamentally from administrative law: it governs the forum internum of election …

More Than A Call: Why The Martha Wright-Reed Act Falls Short In Reforming Prison Communication, Carrington Wilkes

Georgia Criminal Law Review

In response to widespread criticism of exploitative prison communication costs, Congress enacted the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 (the “Act”). This legislation tasked the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) with establishing fair rates for phone and video calls made by inmates in jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers. While the Act marks a critical step in reducing financial burdens on incarcerated individuals and their families, it does not cover other widely used communication methods, such as electronic messaging, emails, and tablet-based platforms. These newer services remain largely unregulated, enabling private companies to impose excessive fees due to …

Manipulation Leading To Criminalization: The Need To Expand Georgia’S Survivors First Act, Taylor Hoying

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Nicole was seventeen when she met Juan, and they began a romantic relationship. “He was gorgeous and he had charm. I just wanted someone in my life to show me attention . . . .” He suggested that she start seeing other dates for money and sent her out onto the streets. Seven months later, when Nicole was raped by a john, Juan beat her, pepper-sprayed her, and put her in a cold shower for three and a half hours. If Nicole had been told to see another john the next day and was arrested for prostitution, would the arrest …

Sit, Stay, Overturn: How New Canine Science Is Challenging Courtroom Convictions, Kerolls Gadelrab

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Courts increasingly rely on cadaver dog evidence in criminal trials, treating canine alerts as a reliable form of forensic evidence. This naive acceptance of cadaver dog evidence, coupled with courts’ continued application of out-dated admissibility standards, threatens to perpetuate wrongful convictions in an era of rapidly advancing scientific understanding. This Article argues that courts must develop a new framework for evaluating cadaver dog evidence that incorporates modern scientific research on ca-nine olfaction and scent detection capabilities. While scholars have extensively analyzed various forensic evidence standards post-Daubert, the literature has largely over-looked how recent scientific advances in understanding ca-nine olfaction should …

Expert In The Box: Keeping The Lid On Unchallenged Testimony, Derek L. Busch

Georgia Criminal Law Review

A juror with specialized knowledge carries the potential to infringe upon the trial rights of the accused, provided to them by the Sixth Amendment and incorporated to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. These rights include the right to an impartial jury and the right of confrontation, recognized since the founding of the first colonies. When a juror possesses relevant professional expertise or background information regarding evidence adduced at trial, there is a risk in how the juror will use this personal knowledge in deliberations. Particularly, there is a concern the juror will use their knowledge to add information, rather …

Officer-Created Jeopardy In Corrections: Rethinking Use-Of-Force Review After Barnes V. Felix, Dr. Hayden Smith

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Courts typically evaluate correctional uses of force by zooming in on the last seconds before impact, asking what an officer reasonably perceived at the “moment of threat.” That frame obscures a basic feature of jail and prison operations: officers’ pre-force tactical choices often create or sharply heighten the risks that force is later used to manage. Building on Barnes v. Felix’s rejection of a rigid moment-of-threat rule and the broader state-created-danger line, this Article argues that officer-created jeopardy should be treated as a central component of constitutional and institutional review in corrections. It shows how Barnes, read alongside DeShaney, Kingsley, …

Deepfakes, Deep Trouble: Navigating Legal Boundaries For Child Pornography Prosecution In The Age Of Ai, Alexandra Hoffman

Georgia Criminal Law Review

This Comment explores the evolving legal landscape of child pornography law as it pertains to “nudify” apps and other AI-generated content. It examines foundational cases in child pornography law that allowed child pornography materials to bypass First Amendment constraints, the “lascivious exhibition” standard, and recent precedents allowing courts to prosecute morphed images. This Comment analyzes the viability of prosecuting “nudify” images, arguing that a holistic approach focusing on the child’s overall harm is the best analytical framework rather than one that solely focuses on the sexual nature of the image. In doing so, it emphasizes that the identifiability of the …

Cultural Considerations: A Discussion Of Schematic Information Processing In African Plea Bargaining, Emma Joy Mcarthy

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Plea bargaining is a prominent form of alternative dispute resolution: it is the method of resolution for nearly 98% of criminal convictions in the United States and is growing in popularity worldwide, including across the continent of Africa. In many ways, plea bargaining reflects traditional restorative justice models practiced in Africa prior to the introduction of adversarial and retributive Western practices. This comment discusses schematic information processing, exploring how cultural influences shape the schemas held by members of African nations in contrast to Western ways of thinking. A deep value for community and an emphasis on relationships is at the …

From Humanitarian Aid To “Counterrevolution”: Foreign Assistance To Pentecostals In Soviet Ukraine And Its Criminalization By The Gpu–Nkvd, 1932–1935, Oleksandr Korotaiev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines foreign assistance to Pentecostal communities in the Ukrainian SSR and the mechanisms of its criminalization by Soviet state security agencies in 1932–1935. Drawing on GPU–NKVD criminal investigation files, secret police reports, party-state documentation, personal correspondence, and memoir sources, the study reconstructs transnational channels of humanitarian support, practices of resource distribution, and the transformation of survival strategies into objects of political repression.

Particular attention is devoted to two distinct models of foreign assistance. The Odessa case demonstrates a centralized system connected to the former leadership of the All-Ukrainian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith and transnational Pentecostal networks …

The Normative Status Of States' Obligations To Mitigate The Climate Crisis: Implications For The Right To Adequate Housing, Erna Dyah Kusumawati, Sasmini Sasmini

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

The convergence of the global climate crisis, pursuant to the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and its implementing protocols as well as the fundamental right to housing has fundamentally disrupted established legal paradigms, necessitating a rigorous re-examination of the normative status of state obligations. This paper examines the scope of governmental responsibility to mitigate climate-induced threats to housing security. Drawing upon international human rights frameworks and contemporary legal discourse, the study interrogates the complex friction emerging at the intersection of environmental mandates and housing protections. Through a systematic analysis of the existing literature and recent developments in the international climate change framework, …

Territorial Representation In Fiscal Governance: A Comparative Constitutional Analysis Of Indonesia's Regional Representative Council And South Africa's National Council Of Provinces, Endah Yuniningsih, Deden Rafi Syafiq Rabbani

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

This article examines the institutional role of territorial chambers in fiscal governance through a comparative constitutional analysis of Indonesia's Regional Representative Council (DPD) and South Africa's National Council of Provinces (NCOP). While the DPD was established to strengthen regional representation following Indonesia's decentralization reforms, its legislative role in fiscal policymaking remains institutionally constrained. Existing scholarship has primarily focused on the DPD's constitutional status in debates on bicameralism, with comparatively little attention to how constitutional design shapes the role of territorial chambers in fiscal governance and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Using a normative legal research method that combines statutory, conceptual, and comparative …

Geoengineering And Criminal Liability Comparative Lessons For Penal Reform, Zico Junius Fernando, Deviana Yuanitasari, Chairul Huda, Muhammad Yamani, Arimbi Fajari Furqon

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

Geoengineering has emerged as a controversial climate technology involving large-scale interventions such as cloud seeding, weather modification, and unregulated carbon capture. While these practices are promoted as solutions to climate change, they also generate significant ecological risks that remain largely unaddressed within criminal law frameworks. This article examines the absence of explicit criminal liability for geoengineering-related harms and explores how comparative legal experiences can inform future penal reform. This research uses normative research methods with several approaches, including comparative, conceptual, and futuristic approaches. The collected legal materials are analysed qualitatively, and content analysis is employed to classify and interpret relevant …

The Expansive Power Of The House Of Representatives As A Precondition For Constitutional Rot, Isnawati Isnawati, Adam Setiawan

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

This study examines how the expansive powers of the Indonesian House of Representatives have contributed to constitutional rot because those powers no longer operate effectively or proportionately. It identifies dysfunction in the House of Representatives through weak legislative performance, inadequate oversight of the executive branch, and transactional political practices in appointment processes. Using a doctrinal legal method and contemporary constitutional theory as its analytical framework, this study argues that the expansive powers of the House of Representatives constitute a precondition for constitutional rot, evidenced by the poor exercise of legislative authority and institutional intervention through amendments to the Rules of …

Reconstructing Legal Certainty In Legacy Oil Well Management: A Systemic Model For Resource Governance, Azhar Azhar, Bagaskara Sagita Wijaya, Siti Darwinda Mohamed Pero, Cynthia Azhara Putri

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

Legacy oil wells present persistent legal and institutional challenges in resource-dependent regions, where ageing infrastructure, informal extraction, environmental risk, and fragmented public authority intersect. This article examines how legal certainty is weakened in the management of legacy oil wells and how it may be reconstructed through a systemic model for resource governance. Using interdisciplinary socio-legal research, the study combines doctrinal legal analysis of Indonesia's oil and gas regulatory framework with qualitative field insights from Musi Banyuasin, a subnational setting in which formally recognised legacy wells coexist with community-operated wells. The analysis shows that legal uncertainty does not arise merely from …

Bank Indonesia's Floating Rate Notes (Bi-Frn) And Federal Reserve Instruments: A Comparative Analysis From An Institutional-Legal Perspective, Abdul Madjid Podungge

Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law)

This paper analyses the legal validity of Bank Indonesia's Floating Rate Notes (BI-FRN) following the Law Number 4 of 2023 on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (P2SK Law) from a public law viewpoint. Doctrinal legal research utilises statutory, conceptual, and comparative methodologies, augmented by literature network visualisation, to pinpoint structural deficiencies. The network analysis reveals a significant divide between technical financial transactions and administrative legal oversight. The findings indicate that Article 11 of the P2SK Law enforces a stringent priority clause that centres monetary policy solely on Rupiah stability. This legal barrier prohibits abuse of power by …

Two Paths Of Criminal Law Reform: From Shared Colonial Legacies To Divergent Legal Trajectories In Indonesia And Malaysia, Ade Adhari, Charisse Evania Tansir

Indonesia Law Review

Despite sharing colonial legacies in the development of their criminal law systems, Indonesia and Malaysia have pursued markedly different paths of criminal law reform, reflecting their distinct legal traditions and legislative philosophies. This article examines how these divergent reform trajectories are manifested through a comparative analysis of Indonesia's Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code and Malaysia's Penal Code (Act 574). Focusing on three analytical dimensions—the principle of legality, criminal responsibility, and sentencing policy—the study adopts a normative legal research method supported by statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches. Legal materials were collected through library-based research and analysed qualitatively …

Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Converting Buildings Is Hard: Why Seattle’S Municipal Government Should Streamline Commercial-To-Residential Conversions, Tyler M. King

Seattle University Law Review

The conversion of commercial buildings into housing is a promising solution to the growing housing crisis in many urban areas. However, despite its potential benefits, the process of repurposing commercial spaces is often stymied by complex zoning codes, high conversion costs, and bureaucratic hurdles. This Article argues that the local and state governments in Seattle should adopt more streamlined policies and offer greater incentives to developers to facilitate these conversions. By reforming zoning regulations and providing targeted financial support, municipalities can reduce the barriers to conversion and unlock the potential of underutilized commercial properties. This article examines the legal and …

Legal Malpractice In Washington: Use Of The Rules Of Professional Conduct, Angelo Tadrous

Seattle University Law Review

Legal malpractice claims are difficult to prove. They are difficult to prove because many jurisdictions require that a plaintiff prove that, but for the lawyer’s misconduct, the client would have fared better. Thus, in a malpractice suit, a plaintiff must try a case within a case. Despite this difficulty, many jurisdictions prohibit the use of the Rules of Professional Conduct when litigating a malpractice case. Washington State is one of these jurisdictions. The Washington Supreme Court held in Hizey v. Carpenter that the Rules of Professional Conduct may not be referred to during trial. This Note argues that this prohibition …

Who Decides The Dead? Interpreting Washington’S Disposition Of Remains Statute, Wyatt Young

Seattle University Law Review

Washington’s disposition-of-remains statute, RCW 68.50.160, is designed to honor a decedent’s expressed wishes regarding the control and disposition of their body after death. Yet recent litigation reveals a critical gap between the statute’s intent-centered design and its practical enforceability. In Larotonda v. Blackburn, a trial court acknowledged that irreparable harm would occur if a decedent’s burial wishes were ignored but nonetheless denied relief on the grounds that the individual designated to carry out those wishes lacked standing. The result was a legal paradox: a statute that recognizes decedent autonomy in theory but withholds any meaningful mechanism for its enforcement …

Washington Search And Seizure Law: 2026 Update, Justice Charles W. Johnson, Justice Debra L. Stephens, Justice Steven González

Seattle University Law Review

This Survey is intended to serve as a resource which Washington lawyers, judges, law enforcement officers, and others can turn to as an authoritative starting point for researching Washington search and seizure law. In order to be useful as a research tool, this Survey requires periodic updates to address new cases interpreting the Washington constitution and the U.S. Constitution and to reflect the current state of the law. As the U.S. Supreme Court has continued to examine Fourth Amendment search and seizure jurisprudence, its decisions and reflections on Washington law are discussed.

Most of the Survey cases involve the Washington …

Getting Money Out Of Politics By Putting Money Into Politics: A Few Modest Proposals To Reform Seattle’S Democracy Voucher Program, Decker O’Donnell

Seattle University Law Review

Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program offers an unconventional response to the growing influence of money in American elections: rather than restricting political spending, it seeks to amplify the participation of ordinary voters by providing publicly funded vouchers that residents may assign to participating candidates. This Article examines the program’s development, operation, and constitutional foundation within the modern campaign-finance framework established by Buckley v. Valeo and subsequent Supreme Court decisions. It argues that democracy vouchers provide a constitutionally viable means of broadening participation in campaign financing while mitigating the influence of wealthy donors. The Article identifies two weaknesses in the current system: …

When Childcare Becomes A Crime Space In Contemporary Indonesia, Isyana Kurniasari Konoras, Dr. Dra. Vinita Susanti, M.Si

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Abstract. The increasing incidence of violence against children in daycare institutions reflects a structural crisis in contemporary child protection systems. This study examines the violence case at Little Aresha Daycare in Yogyakarta to identify the criminogenic factors underlying abuse in institutional childcare settings. The research applies a normative-empirical qualitative method through media-based case studies, legal analysis, and criminological interpretation. The findings demonstrate that violence emerged from the convergence of three major factors: structural strain experienced by caregivers, weak capable guardianship within daycare institutions, and the normalization of abusive disciplinary practices. Robert K. Merton’s Strain Theory explains how economic and occupational …

Criminalizing Environmental Defenders In Indonesia’S Extractive Development: A Green Criminology Perspective, Raihan Muhammad

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

This article examines how extractive development in Indonesia contributes to the criminalization of environmental defenders from a green criminology perspective. The study departs from the growing trend of intimidation, criminalization, violence, and legal retaliation experienced by communities resisting environmentally destructive projects in mining, coastal reclamation, plantation expansion, and National Strategic Projects (PSN). Using a qualitative socio-legal approach, this research analyzes statutory regulations, policy instruments, court decisions, academic literature, civil society reports, and documented cases related to environmental conflicts and environmental defenders in Indonesia. Data were collected through a literature review and document analysis, then analyzed using qualitative content analysis within …

Disrupting The Bonded Economy Of Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organised Crime Through Policy Change, Dellene Clark

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Emerging criminological research underscores how the economic drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation reinforce organised criminal markets while reproducing the structural vulnerabilities of those in prostitution. Using South Africa as a case study, this article argues that evidence-based legislative reform is necessary to confront the systemic conditions that enable exploitation. It contends that achieving substantive equality requires recognising the criminogenic role of sex‑buyer demand in sustaining trafficking pipelines and criminal profitability. The Swedish/Nordic demand‑reduction model illustrates how asymmetrical criminalisation can suppress demand, reduce reliance on trafficked persons, and diminish the financial incentives that underpin organised crime. Such an approach reorients …

Impunity: A Case Study Of Sex Trafficking In Nevada Brothel Prostitution, Christen Price

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

It is well-documented that legalization and other forms of official protection for prostitution lead to an increase in sex trafficking, including by encouraging demand for prostitution. This paper will consider the relationship between official protection, organized crime, and sex trafficking in pro-prostitution legal regimes, both historical and contemporary. Prostitution is legal in rural counties in Nevada that have fewer than 700,000 residents, if prostitution occurs within a brothel. There is significant overlap between sex trafficking and legal brothel prostitution in Nevada, as well as a nexus to corruption and organized crime, illustrating the normalization of coercion that occurs within legalized …

Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organized Crime: Introduction To A Special Issue, Marcel Van Der Watt, John A. Winterdyk

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.