Digital Commons Network^™

Time Out: Mandatory Holds As A Tool For Domestic Violence Response & Prevention In Rhode Island, India Awe

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Widening The Avenues For Rehabilitation And Release In The Criminal Legal System Through A Revision Of The First Step Act's Safety Valve Provision In Response To Pulsifer, Drew Svensson

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Pulsifer v. United States severely undermines the First Step Act by restrictively interpreting the safety valve provision, thereby limiting judicial discretion and increasing incarceration. To remedy this, the note proposes legislative revisions to the safety valve to expand eligibility for relief from mandatory minimums while maintaining public safety.

Breaking Patterns Of Abuse: How Amending The Federal Rules Of Evidence Would Strengthen Domestic Violence Prosecutions, Isabelle Ryan

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Closing The Door On Housing Discrimination: Why Rhode Island Must Enact A Fair Chance In Housing Act, Jessica Galego

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trial By Character, Hillel J. Bavli

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In this Article, I argue that courts regularly deviate from Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), which prohibits character evidence—evidence of a defendant’s past misdeeds offered to prove that the defendant acted in conformity with a certain character trait on the occasion in question. These deviations undermine the fairness of a trial and the presumption of innocence. The Article addresses this problem in three ways. First, it explains how courts have misinterpreted Rule 404(b)—an error that I call the permitted-purpose fallacy—and how they have fortified this misinterpretation with a body of flawed principles and precedent. Second, it reports the results of …

Let’S Modify Safety Valve To Value Family Ties, Laura Ginsberg Abelson

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Federal sentencing law has long struggled to balance the breadth of drug conspiracy liability with the prin­ciple of proportional punishment. The statutory “safety valve” provision, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and mirrored in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, was designed to provide relief from mandatory minimum sentences for low- level, nonviolent offenders. Yet its requirement that defendants disclose all information concerning the offense sometimes places family-member codefendants in an untenable position: they may avoid harsh penalties only by incriminating loved ones. The requirement also conflicts with other provisions of the Guide­lines that provide guidelines reductions, but not relief from mandatory …

Rethinking Courtroom Presence In The Virtual Era, Jenia Iontcheva Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Technological innovation has made virtual appearances by criminal defendants increasingly common. These appearances have advanced efficiency but also raised questions about the scope of both the right and the duty of defendants to be physically present in court. Should judges, for example, be allowed to hold virtual arraignments, even if a defendant wishes to appear in person? Can defendants opt for virtual appearances at will? While courts are beginning to address these questions, they have yet to develop a coherent framework to evaluate when virtual appearances are constitutional and appropriate. This Article seeks to contribute to this project by examining …

Negotiated Outcomes And Abbreviated Trials In Criminal Cases: Balancing Fairness And Efficiency In Three Legal Systems, Michele Caianiello, Jenia I. Turner, Thomas Weigend

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Facing expanded criminal dockets, justice systems around the world are looking for ways to expedite proceedings and save resources while still offering credible procedures for adjudicating criminal cases. In the United States, defendants tend to face an all-or-nothing choice between two alternatives: a full trial at which all relevant evidence is presented and examined; or a plea bargain leading to a conviction without any presentation of evidence and the waiver of the defendant’s procedural rights in exchange for a reduced sentence. Even in routine misdemeanor cases, a full trial requires substantial expenditures of resources, and its procedural complexity may be …

Front Matter

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Searches And Seizures Of The Unhoused, Shawn E. Fields

Faculty Scholarship

The United States recorded its largest ever unhoused population in 2024. Acute affordable housing shortages and climate-fueled natural disasters have exacerbated a decades-long unaddressed humanitarian crisis, straining resources in cities and rural areas alike. In response, state and local governments have pivoted to a more punitive approach to houselessness. Draconian "anti-camping" ordinances subject houseless people to fines or arrests while police destroy their property in encampment "sweeps," disconnecting the unhoused from critical social structures. Quality-of-life laws criminalize basic biological functions in public. New York, California, and other states have expanded the reach of involuntary civil commitment procedures, forcibly hospitalizing and …

Beyond The Classroom: Publics Schools As An Essential To Economic And Legal Reform, Oliver Telusma

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Education For Democratic Citizenship: Separating Purpose From Outcomes, Anne Jegede

Florida A & M University Law Review

American education is failing minority and indigent students because it disproportionately prioritizes academic achievement and economic success over creating democratic citizens and cultivating essential skills such as critical thinking, civic engagement, and cultural understanding.

A Gap In The Cybertipline: Electronic Service Provider Liability And Child Safety, Brianna Evans-Sheehan

NYLS Law Review

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The online exploitation of children is a widespread problem that requires immediate action. This Note proposes that Congress …

Comparative Law: Cases, Text, And Materials, Francesca Bignami

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This new casebook offers a contemporary approach to the teaching of comparative law.  By integrating an up-to-date set of cases, code texts, and scholarly materials drawn from the civil law and common law traditions, as well as from Islamic law and customary law, it captures today’s dynamic legal landscape.  Beyond the western jurisdictions that typically feature in the general comparative law course, the book gives sustained attention to Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, and Ethiopia. Subject areas covered are private law, procedural law, labor law, administrative law, digital law, and constitutional law.  Looking to professional life after graduation, this book equips …

Constitutional Structures In Private Law And The Example Of Waste Law, Fraley, Jill M.

Santa Clara Law Review

This Article proposes three criteria for when a private law mechanism performs a structural constitutional function: when it constrains present authority in the name of future stability, when it disperses enforcement to avoid centralized authority, and when it has structural entrenchment to avoid ordinary displacement. While many private law doctrines contain constitutional resonances or echo rights, the core of constitutional law is the power structure—a precondition for the protection of those rights. Constitutional structures have three key components: self-binding through time, separation and diffusion of power, and entrenchment beyond ordinary politics. For a private law doctrine to do more than …

Get Out Of Jail Free: The Monopoly Of Big Pharma & Drug Addiction, Melissa E. Morello

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

This article analyzes the legal and social parameters of drug addiction and the opioid epidemic, arguing that pharmaceutical companies, lawmakers, and systemic institutions have effectively “gamified” public health, addiction, and their own accountability. It traces the historical trajectory of drug regulation, from early opioid use and racially motivated enforcement policies to the War on Drugs and the emergence of the prescription opioid epidemic fueled by aggressive pharmaceutical marketing. The analysis explores pivotal case law and legislation addressing addiction, highlighting the legal system’s struggle to reconcile criminal accountability with the recognition of addiction as a disease. Throughout this article, there will …

Statistical Analysis Of Evidence In Criminal Cases, Giuliana Leon Carrillo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ideally, the evaluation of relevant forensic evidence must corroborate the hypotheses that the prosecution and/or the defense holds regarding the commitment of a crime. Therefore, optimal forensic evidence would be the one that can be found all the time under the same circumstances, and cannot be found otherwise, making the forensic scientist able to evaluate this evidence given the hypotheses provided. Nevertheless, this is hard to find, as ideal evidence being only a concept.

In this project, the probabilistic interpretation of relevant forensic evidence investigated in criminal cases with the aid of Wigmore charts and Bayesian networks was proposed. Using …

Unsuccessful? Universal Human Rights And The United Nations: Russian Imperialism In Ukraine And The Post-Udhr International System, Sofiia Novytska

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Human universality has always stood as a controversial subject and remains politically contentious today. Following the humanitarian crisis of World War II, the international community was determined to protect the integrity and dignity of people worldwide by developing the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, universal human rights were not invented by the Declaration and were already conceptually established in global ancient thought, further evolved into Early Modern scholarship, and later paved the way for modern humanitarian frameworks. The UDHR was not universally well-received, and was criticized for its revolutionary legal character, postcolonial contestation, and practical ambiguity. The …

Plea Bargaining And The Destruction Of Procedural Justice: A Theoretical And Empirical Critique Of Fairness In The U.S. Legal Sphere, Emma Scillitani

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the legal process of plea bargaining as it currently operates within the criminal justice system in the United States. Through both an empirical and theoretical evaluation of this procedure, it analyzes how plea bargaining exists in practice and whether it can be considered a fair mechanism of case resolution. This project investigates the practice on a molecular level through its presence at a county-level court jurisdiction, which represents broader structural implications of the national legal system. Furthermore, it identifies three central factors that drive the overutilization of plea bargaining: power asymmetry, information, asymmetry, and case processing time. …

Constitutional Structures In Private Law And The Example Of Waste Law, Jill M. Fraley

Scholarly Articles

This Article proposes three criteria for when a private law mechanism performs a structural constitutional function: when it constrains present authority in the name of future stability, when it disperses enforcement to avoid centralized authority, and when it has structural entrenchment to avoid ordinary displacement. While many private law doctrines contain constitutional resonances or echo rights, the core of constitutional law is the power structure—a precondition for the protection of those rights. Constitutional structures have three key components: self-binding through time, separation and diffusion of power, and entrenchment beyond ordinary politics. For a private law doctrine to do more than …

Male Disposability, Law, And Feminism, Edward Cantu

Faculty Works

This article explores scientific evidence that societies care more about the welfare and safety of females than that of males, and that this dynamic of "male disposability" is deeply entrenched in culture, and thus in law. The recognition and integration of male disposability theory would mean an evolutionary leap in modern theorizing about gender and the law, but it is ignored. Why? Feminist theory dominates current academic gender discourse. Far from appreciating the explanatory power of male disposability theory, feminist theorists are often invested in theorizing gendered problems in ways that mischannel compassion away from men and toward women. The …

Shotspotter In The Courtroom: Addressing The Evidentiary Challenges Of Acoustic Gunshot Detection Technology, Samantha Mazzone

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Criminal Procedure—When Procedure Overrides Purpose: The Fight Over Judicial Authority To Modify Restitution—United States V. O’Hara, 114 F.4th 557 (6th Cir. 2024), Alexandria Cormier

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Criminal Law—What Was Its Intent? First Circuit Presumes Mens Rea For Machinegun Provision, Ignoring Congress’S Purpose—United States V. Pérez-Greaux, 83 F.4th 1 (1st Cir. 2023), Allison O’Heany

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Legalizing Magic Mushrooms: A Different Set Of Laws For A Different Kind Of Drug, Edward S. Adams

Articles

This Article explores the regulation of the cannabis industry, highlighting its origins, history, and shortcomings. The Article then compares the cannabis and psilocybin industries, arguing against the replication of the cannabis regulatory structure for psilocybin. Instead, this Article will propose tailored regulatory solutions designed to address the unique characteristics of psilocybin and foster a well-regulated, safe, and effective market.

Court Review: Journal Of The American Judges Association, Vol. 62, No. 1, Eve M. Brank, David J. Dreyer, Reba Ann Page, Ana Cienfuegos-Silvera

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Contents

Creating “Buy-in” for Juvenile Restorative Justice Programs: Lessons from Nebraska’s Community Mediation Centers, Kristen M. Blankley, Lisa M. PytlikZillig, and Ashley M. Votruba

Consensus and Conflict Over Context: Select Criminal Law and Procedure Cases from the Supreme Court’s 2024-25 Term, Eve Brensike Primus and Elena Schultz

In the Shadow of Trauma: Opportunities and Obstacles of Restorative Justice with Young People Who Offend, William R. Wood

Restorative Transitional Justice: The Judicial Role in Colombia’s Peace Tribunal, Gabriel Rojas-Andrade

Editor’s Note: Restorative Justoce: Repairing Harm, Rebuilding Community, Eve Brank

Thoughts from Canada: Restorative Justice Through Prohibition on Arrest, Wayne K. Gorman …

Off-Label Abuse: The Prosecution Of Individuals For Pesticide Crimes Under The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, And Rodenticide Act, Joshua Ozymy, Melissa Jarrell Ozymy

Natural Resources Journal

When individuals commit pesticide crimes involving significant harm or culpable conduct, they may be prosecuted for criminal violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), but we have little knowledge of how individual offenders have been prosecuted historically for such crimes. Using content analysis of 2,728 environmental crime prosecutions resulting from U.S. EPA criminal investigations, 1983 to 2021, we select all cases of individuals prosecuted under FIFRA for our analysis. We find that 100 cases were adjudicated, resulting in 135 years of probation, 75 years of incarceration, and $4.2 million in monetary penalties assessed at sentencing. Of those …

Tia B. Paulette And Erika S. Gustin Award, Notre Dame Law School

Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards

Given to the third-year law students who have demonstrated a personal and professional commitment to criminal justice and the public interest while furthering the goals of the Exoneration Justice Clinic and Notre Dame Exoneration Project student group.

Champions For Justice Award, Notre Dame Law School

Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards

The students recognized during the Champion for Justice reception have exemplified Father Theodore Hesburgh’s call to hunger for justice and “realize that competence in the law without compassion leads the lawyer to use the law for other purposes than the works of justice and blinds him to the sad plight of persons who suffer injustice for want of a lawyer champion.”

The following graduating law students have exhibited extraordinary commitment to public service during their time in law school. Through their participation in summer internships and/or law school clinics and externships, they have demonstrated a lasting commitment to serving others …

Reproductive Rights & Absolutist Abortion Bans: Beatriz V. El Salvador & Human Rights Standards In The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights, Jordan Schucker

Human Rights Brief

On December 20, 2024, the Inter-Amer­ican Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) issued its judgment in Beatriz v. El Salvador. The case concerned an impoverished Salvadoran woman, known as Beatriz, who had severe pre-existing conditions impacting her pregnancy, including systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. After a first pregnancy,  in 2012 that triggered severe preeclampsia, she became pregnant again in 2013. Ultrasounds showed the fetus was anencephalic, making it incompatible with life outside the uterus.