Digital Commons Network^™

Is There A "Mulatto Escape Hatch" Out Of Racism?: A Reflection On Multiracial Exceptionalism During A Time Of #Blacklivesmatter, Tanya K. Hernandez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Correctional Officer Opinions About Offenders With Mental Illness: The Relationships Among Opinions, Burnout, Emotional Intelligence, And Mental Health Training, Courtney Hull

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Rates of mental illness among incarcerated individuals in the United States are high and have been well documented. Correctional officers are on the front line of identifying symptoms and alerting mental health professionals to problems as they arise. Correctional officers often lack an understating of mental illness, feel ill-equipped to manage mental health crises, and experience high levels of job-related stress. The objective of this study was to better understand the relationship between correctional officers’ emotional intelligence and opinions about mental illness, and to identify if burnout moderated the relationship between the variables. Additionally, the study sought to understand the …

Analyzing Wrongful Convictions Beyond The Traditional Canonical List Of Errors, For Enduring Structural And Sociological Attributes, (Juveniles, Racism, Adversary System, Policing Policies), Leona D. Jochnowitz, Tonya Kendall

Touro Law Review

Researchers identify possible structural causes for wrongful convictions: racism, justice system culture, adversary system, plea bargaining, media, juvenile and mentally impaired accused, and wars on drugs and crime. They indicate that unless the root causes of conviction error are identified, the routine explanations of error (e.g., eyewitness identifications; false confessions) will continue to re-occur. Identifying structural problems may help to prevent future wrongful convictions. The research involves the coding of archival data from the Innocence Project for seventeen cases, including the one for the Central Park Five exonerees. The data were coded by Hartwick College and Northern Vermont University students …

The Historical Facts About Hate Crime In America The Social Worker’S Role In Victim Recovery And Community Restoration, Mitchell A. Kaplan, Marian M. Inguanzo

Journal of Hate Studies

Attitudes and belief systems associated with social intolerance and racial bigotry have been part of American society for generations. Analysis of historical records reveals a number of examples of how these social forces have shaped society’s reaction to those they consider to be not part of the mainstream culture. A review of research documented in the literature on social psychology indicates that individuals who hold strong prejudicial beliefs about others based solely on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ancestry often express those feelings in ways that lead to the commission of criminal acts known as hate crimes. The proliferation of …

Unique Characteristics Of Bias Crimes Committed By Males Or Females In The United States, Rebecca Stotzer, Meripa T. Godinet, Janet T. Davidson

Journal of Hate Studies

Despite increased research on women’s criminal offending patterns, research on women’s involvement in bias crimes is almost nonexistent. This study examines bias crime incidences that are considered crimes against persons (e.g., assault, murder, robbery, sexual assault) collected in the National Incidence-based Reporting System from 2009–2012 to determine what features characterize crimes committed by men or women. Results indicate that female bias crime suspects choose different victims than male suspects; female suspects are more likely than men to target friends and family members, more likely to target other women, and more frequently commit crimes based on race/ethnicity/national origin than religion or …

The Indian Child Welfare Act’S Application To Civil Commitments Of Indian Children In State Court Proceeding, Courtney Lewis

American Indian Law Journal

Currently there is no clear guidance on the Indian Child Welfare Act’s (ICWA) application in the context of a civil commitment proceeding, which generally occurs at the state level. This Article argues that ICWA applies to any state court proceeding for civil commitment of an Indian child if the Indian parent cannot have their child returned upon demand. The plain language of ICWA provides for this reasonable interpretation. ICWA enacts rights for Indian children, their parents, and their tribes when a party seeks the removal of the Indian child for placement in an institution. Without adherence to these rights, an …

Seeing And Responding: How Students Perceive School Personnel To Fail To Respond To Bullying, Ethan M. Higgins, Benjamin W. Fisher, Maury Nation

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Although research has shown that students and school personnel believe that adults respond to bullying at different rates, it is unclear why these differences occur. Using open-ended survey responses from 189 students, this study investigates why students perceive that school personnel fail to respond to bullying. Students articulated a variety of reasons for school personnel’s lack of response, including ways in which they could fail to see, notice, or respond to the bullying. In turn, students used their agency to understand and counteract school personnel’s lack of response. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed."

Social Exchange And The Formation Of Prison Visitation Communities, Adam Trahan, Douglas Evans

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Family members and significant others of incarcerated individuals suffer when their loved ones are incarcerated. The loss of a parent, sibling, child, spouse, or partner to incarceration can be painful. If they wish to stay physically connected to an incarcerated individual, visitation is their only recourse. Visiting a prison can be costly in terms of the amount of time it takes to travel to the facility, the total expenses incurred during travel, and the socio-emotional effects of limited contact. On top of these costs, visitation can be an intricate process to navigate due to the multitude of facility rules and …

Brief Of Religious Liberty Scholars As Amici Curiae In Support Of Defendants-Appellants, Michael Francisco, Richard W. Garnett

Court Briefs

No. SJC-12988
Margaret DeWeese-Boyd v. Gordon College

On Appeal from a Judgment of the Essex County Superior Court

From the Introduction

In the decision below, the trial court adopted a miserly understanding of the ministerial exception. It refused to apply it to a professor who taught social work at Gordon College, a Christian liberal arts school founded in 1889 which has a mission stating a "commitment to integrating faith and learning" and to "provide instruction in the Bible and other subjects" to prepare students "for the duties of the Christian ministry and other special forms of Christian work." RA/144,215. The …

Implementing The Rda Research Data Policy Framework In Slovenian Scientific Journals, Janez Štebe, Maja Dolinar, Sonja Bezjak, Ana Inkret

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

The paper aims to present the implementation of the RDA research data policy framework in Slovenian scientific journals within the project RDA Node Slovenia. The activity aimed to implement the practice of data sharing and data citation in Slovenian scientific journals and was based on internationally renowned practices and policies, particularly the Research Data Policy Framework of the RDA Data Policy Standardization and Implementation Interest Group. Following this, the RDA Node Slovenia coordination prepared a guidance document that allowed the four pilot participating journals (from fields of archaeology, history, linguistics and social sciences) to adjust their journal policies regarding data …

Balancing Services And Safety During The Pandemic: One Law Library’S Story, Virginia C. Thomas

Library Scholarly Publications

Michigan’s academic law libraries, which have provided access to their extensive collections to legal professionals and pro per patrons alike, have had to rethink how to do so in effective, but contactless, ways. In the middle of this pandemic, how can we continue to get legal information to those who need it— and safely?

Does “No, Not Without A Condom” Mean “Yes, Even Without A Condom”?: The Fallout From R V Hutchinson, Lise Gotell, Isabel Grant

Dalhousie Law Journal

In R v Kirkpatrick, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia held that consent to sexual activity cannot be established where a man proceeds with unprotected vaginal intercourse when his sexual partner has insisted on a condom. While this finding should be uncontroversial, it is in fact contrary to the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in R v Hutchinson. In this comment we argue that the approach taken in Kirkpatrick is correct and consistent with the landmark decision in R v Ewanchuk. We urge the Supreme Court of Canada to reconsider its majority judgment in Hutchinson in order to fully …

Disparities In Oral Health: Socioeconomic Status And Policies To Increase Access To Primary Dental Care, Mckenzie Nutter

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Primary dental care is a patient-centered service consisting of routine dental checkups. The oral cavity is the first point of entrance to the body for many harmful pathogens. Therefore, primary dental care is essential to not only prevent and treat conditions in the mouth, but to also reduce the number of systemic diseases in the rest of the body. However, people with higher incomes or wealth have increased access to primary dental care. People with low socioeconomic status have decreased access to primary dental care, at least in part due to difficulties in paying for separate dental insurance. Disparities in …

Book Review: "Privilege And Punishment: How Race And Class Matter In Criminal Court" By Matthew Clair, Kevin Buckler

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

Matthew Clair, a sociologist at Stanford University, has written a timely and salient book that describes in intricate detail how the attorney-client relationship between lawyer and defendant reproduces race- and class-based disparities in a criminal court. The book, “Privilege and Punishment: How Race and Class Matter in Criminal Court,” published by Princeton University Press, examines just over 60 criminal defendants’ cases and how these defendants interacted with the criminal courts in Boston. It is an interesting and important read for lawyers and judges who practice in criminal courts, scholars and students of criminal justice, and anyone interested in …

An Exploratory Study Of Occupational And Secondary Traumatic Stress Among A Mid-Sized Public Defenders’ Office, Elizabeth Dotson, David C. Brody, Ruibin Lu

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

The impact of stress on the mental and physical well-being of criminal justice professionals is of critical import for the effective operation of the criminal justice system. While a number of studies have examined various forms of stress among law enforcement and correctional officers, minimal research has examined the presence and impact of stressors among individuals working in the criminal courts. This exploratory study examines whether indigent defense attorneys suffer from occupational stress and secondary traumatic stress. A survey of attorneys from a mid-sized public defender’s office were found to have symptoms of severe occupational stress as well as high …

Domestic Violence In Criminal Courts: The Larger Implications For Victims, Jason Johnson

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Academics have considered the treatment of domestic violence in Canada inadequate (Bell, Perez, Goodman, & Dutton, 2011) and “…an indicator of society's inattentiveness to violence against women…” (Garner & Maxwell, 2009, p. 44). Van Wormer (2009) further notes that there is still “…widespread dissatisfaction by battered women … and their advocates with the current system…” (p. 107). While much of the literature focuses on early aspects of the criminal justice system (police action, decision to prosecute, for e.g.), few authors have sought to understand victims opinions about the trial process (Hare, 2010; Smith, 2001). This paper conducts a literature review …

Rural Resentment And Lgbtq Equality, Luke A. Boso

Florida Law Review

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges settled a decades-long national debate over the legality of same-sex marriage. Since Obergefell, however, local and state legislatures in conservative and mostly rural states have proposed and passed hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills. Obergefell may have ended the legal debate over same-sex marriage, but it did not resolve the cultural divide. Many rural Americans, especially in predominately white communities, feel that they are under attack. Judicial opinions and legislation protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination are serious threats to rural dwellers because they conflict with several core tenets of rural identity: …

Pervasive Infancy: Reassessing The Contract Capacity Of Adults In Modern America, Michael S. Lewis

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

This article argues that the law of consumer contracts should permit adults to access the same protections available to children where data about adult performance indicates that the two categories of people are similarly situated within the domain of consumer contracts. In making this claim, this article relies upon a description of capacity articulated by Professor Martha Nussbaum in her important work on the subject. Professor Nussbaum explains that capacity is a function, not only of a person’s innate capabilities, but of a person’s opportunity or ability to deploy those capabilities within environmental limitations. Capacity to contract in a free …

Sex Workers And The Best Interests Of Their Children: Identifying Issues Faced By Sex Workers Involved In Custody And Access Legal Proceedings, Julie Eleanor Dewolf

LLM Theses

Sex worker parents often lose custody of their children. The purpose of this research was to determine what impact the status of a parent as a past or present sex worker has had on judicial decision-making in custody and access disputes. Through doctrinal legal research, I explored judicial treatment of sex worker parents in custody and access disputes in Ontario Child Protection and Family Law case law. Parental involvement in sex work was often presented as an unfavourable aspect of the parent, or otherwise had a negative influence on their claim. Sex work was treated as a negative quality in …

Procedural Discretionary Decisions And Access To Justice Before Administrative Tribunals, Rachel Elizabeth Weiner

LLM Theses

This thesis considers procedural discretionary decision-making by administrative tribunals and access to justice for marginalized and low-income individuals. I begin by reviewing literature regarding discretionary decision-making, access to justice, procedural justice, and ideal theories focusing on transparent and respectful engagement and dialogue between decision-makers and litigants. I then analyze three case studies regarding procedural discretionary decision-making and accommodations in the hearing process, addressing primarily disability and language barriers experienced by litigants before the Social Benefits Tribunal, Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and Landlord and Tenant Board. I then compare theories of discretionary decision-making with actual decision-making practices employed by tribunal …

Corporate Technologies And The Tech Nirvana Fallacy, Luca Enriques, Dirk A. Zetzsche

UC Law Journal

This Article introduces the term Corporate Technologies (“CorpTech”) to refer to the use of distributed ledgers, smart contracts, Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning in the corporate context and analyzes the impact of CorpTech on the future of corporate boards. We focus on the tech manifestation of agency problems within corporations and identify—after considering possible market, governance, and regulatory solutions—elements of a governance framework for the CorpTech age. In particular, we take on a prediction often found in the literature, namely that CorpTech has the potential to solve a number of corporate governance problems for good and even …

State Prisons Turning Into De Facto Mental Health Institutes: A Comparative Look At The Illinois And Nebraska State Prison Systems, Margaret Kramer

Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement

This Comment discusses the systems of approaching mental health in Nebraska and Illinois state prison systems. Starting with how prison systems became some of the largest de facto mental health institutes in the country after deinstitutionalization happened on a national scale. It will then provide the guidelines and regulations in place for both Nebraska and Illinois. This Comment will then discuss what regulations would be most beneficial and how some of these can help in continuing after an individual is released from prison.

The Tax Treatment Of Student Loan Discharge And Cancellation, John R. Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The standard view is that, absent an express exclusion in the tax code, cancellation of student debt is taxable. Under this view, any immediate debt relief through administrative action would generate a tax bill. More troubling, the millions of borrowers in Income-Driven Repayment could face a “tax bomb” because of their promised loan cancellation, potentially hitting borrowers with bills for $100,000 or more in the same year that the government tells them their loan obligations have ended. These perverse outcomes are, however, based on a misreading of the tax law. The standard tax treatment of debt cancellation does not work …

How Distinctive Should Catholic Law Schools Be?, Robert K. Vischer

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

(Excerpt)

I was a teenager in the 1980s, and I was raised in evangelical Christian circles through which I was encouraged to listen to “Christian” rock music, not secular, which sometimes gave rise to some casuistic line drawing:

• Does U2 count as Christian? Yes, because of that line in Sunday Bloody Sunday about the victory Jesus won!

• How about Bob Dylan? Yes, but only during his three-album “born again” period!

• Amy Grant? Definitely, but even after she crossed over into the secular Top 40?

• Does the song need to mention Jesus? What if it mentions Jesus …

Jed D. Melnick Annual Symposium: Presumptive Adr And Court Systems Of The Future, Cardozo Journal Of Conflict Resolution

2020–2021 Flyers

On Friday, October 23, 2020, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution hosted the Melnick Annual Symposium on “Presumptive ADR and Court Systems of the Future.” This Symposium was inspired by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore’s bold new Presumptive ADR initiative for the New York Courts.

After a keynote address by Chief Judge DiFiore, six different panels examined the obstacles and opportunities in a historic move towards presumptive, mandatory and highly recommended ADR and mediation, in the United States and around the world.

2019 Inamori Ethics Prize Speech: The Power Of Storytelling, Levar Burton

The International Journal of Ethical Leadership

No abstract provided.

No One Is Disposable: Towards Feminist Models Of Transformative Justice, Hannah Barrie

Journal of Law and Social Policy

This article looks toward a future of prison abolition by arguing for feminist models of Transformative Justice (TJ), a strategy that responds to harm by aiming to transform the conditions that make violence possible. Autoethnographic reflections of the author’s experience volunteering with Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA), a TJ initiative based on friendship and accountability working to reintegrate people incarcerated for perpetrating sexualized violence back into communities, are combined with a critical analysis of the existing literature about TJ principles and initiatives. Insights from the author’s experience with COSA are examined for their potential use in a feminist TJ …

Climate Cages: Connecting Migration, The Carceral State, Extinction Rebellion, And The Coronavirus Through Cicero And 21 Savage, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Shelter Mobility, And The Voucher Program, Ezra Rosser

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

What is to be done about the poor and about poor neighborhoods? When it comes to housing policy, the current hope is that the Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly the Section 8 Voucher Program) can provide an or ambitiously the answer to this perennial societal question. By piggybacking on the private rental market, the voucher program supposedly has numerous advantages over traditional, project-based, public housing. Not only is it less costly to house poor people in privately owned units compared to the cost of constructing and maintaining public housing, but the voucher program also offers the possibility of deconcentrating the …

Joint Identities?: A Self-Case Study Of The Professional Identity Development Of J.D./Ph.D. Professionals In Education Law, Raquel Muniz, Dwayne Wright, Rafael E. Alvarado, Vanessa Miller, J. Queen Mcgrew

The Journal of Law and Education

No abstract provided.