Digital Commons Network^™

The Violent State: Black Women's Invisible Struggle Against Police Violence, Michelle S. Jacobs

UF Law Faculty Publications

Black women have a very specific history with the state and law enforcement that is not replicated among other women’s communities, and it is that unique situation that is the focus of this Article. Part I of this Article explores the historical roots of Black women’s interaction with the state. Part II of this Article is broken into two sections. The first will cover police killings of Black women. The second part of the section will explore the conditions under which Black women are physically assaulted by the police. Part III of the Article seeks to highlight when the police …

Bathroom Laws As Status Crimes, Stephen Rushin, Jenny E. Carroll

Faculty Scholarship

A growing number of American jurisdictions have considered laws that prohibit trans individuals from using bathroom facilities consistent with their gender identities. Several scholars have criticized these so-called “bathroom laws” as a form of discrimination in violation of federal law. Few scholars, though, have considered the criminal justice implications of these proposals.

By analyzing dozens of proposed bathroom laws, this Article explores how many laws do more than stigmatize the trans community—they effectively criminalize them. Some of these proposed laws would establish new categories of criminal offenses for trans individuals who use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Others would …

Bathroom Laws As Status Crimes, Stephen Rushin, Jenny Carroll

Fordham Law Review

A growing number of American jurisdictions have considered laws that prohibit trans individuals from using bathroom facilities consistent with their gender identities. Several scholars have criticized these so-called “bathroom laws” as a form of discrimination in violation of federal law. Few scholars, though, have considered the criminal justice implications of these proposals. By analyzing dozens of proposed bathroom laws, this Article explores how many laws do more than stigmatize the trans community—they effectively criminalize it. Some of these proposed laws would establish new categories of criminal offenses for trans individuals who use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Others would …

Saving Title Ix: Designing More Equitable And Efficient Investigation Procedures, Emma Ellman-Golan

Michigan Law Review

In 2011, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance on Title IX compliance. This guidance has resulted in the creation of investigative and adjudicatory tribunals at colleges and universities receiving federal funds to hear claims of sexual assault, harassment, and violence. OCR’s enforcement efforts are a laudable response to an epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses, but they have faced criticism from administrators, law professors, and potential members of the Trump Administration. This Note suggests ways to alter current Title IX enforcement mechanisms to placate critics and to maintain OCR enforcement as a bulwark against …

Left Behind: How The Absence Of A Federal Vacatur Law Disadvantages Survivors Of Human Trafficking, Jessica Emerson, Alison Aminzadeh

All Faculty Scholarship

After a hamstring injury in October of 2004 forced her to surrender her athletic scholarship at St. John's University, Shamere McKenzie chose to spend her winter break working in order to save the money she needed to pay the remainder of her tuition. In January of 2005, Shamere met a man named Corey Davis, who expressed an interest in dating her. After getting to know him for several weeks, she eventually shared with him the challenges she was having earning the money she needed to continue her enrollment in college. Davis encouraged her to consider exotic dancing as a way …

"I'Ve Got My Mind Made Up": How Judicial Teleology In Cases Involving Biologically Based Evidence Violates Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Michael L. Perlin

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article critiques the teleological reasoning employed by judges in cases involving biologically-based evidence, particularly in mental disability law. It argues that judges often prioritize pre-determined outcomes over evidence, leading to decisions that neglect valid scientific data and violate the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence.

Remembering An Abolitionist, Ambassador John R. Miller (May 23, 1938-October 4, 2017), Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

A memorial for Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, John R. Miller (May 23, 1938-October 4, 2017). Ambassador Miller believed modern-day slavery, encompassing sex trafficking and forced labor, requires a principled global offensive that the United States is morally obligated to lead. In the four formative years he led the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2002 to 2006, John Miller set the office’s course as diplomatically aggressive and programmatically creative. He made the annual Trafficking in Persons report more than a bureaucratic submission, putting daring heroes at the center, and insisting on compelling …

Today's Porn: Not A Constitutional Right; Not A Human Right, Patrick Trueman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Conflicting Definitions Of Sexual Assault And Consent: The Ramifications Of Title Ix Male Gender Discrimination Claims Against College Campuses, Tyra Singleton

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Sexual assault is pervasive on college campuses across the country. Title IX mandates that school’s receiving federal funding protect student victims of sexual assault. Some campuses have gone further than the Title IX requirements and have created internal policies that are stacked against the accused and potentially reach the level of violating the accused’s constitutional rights. This note examines how Title IX has influenced academia and how unjust campus tribunals have caused accused male students to seek redress in federal courts for gender discrimination. This note will also examine the racial implications of Title IX and consider how race contributes …

Inextricably Bound: Strip Clubs, Prostitution, And Sex Trafficking, Dan O'Bryant

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Amend The Communications Decency Act To Protect Victims Of Sexual Exploitation, Samantha Vardaman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Criminalizing Pregnancy, Cortney E. Lollar

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The state of Tennessee arrested a woman two days after she gave birth and charged her with assault of her newborn child based on her use of narcotics during her pregnancy. Tennessee's 2014 assault statute was the first to explicitly criminalize the use of drugs by a pregnant woman. But this law, along with others like it being considered by legislatures across the country, is only the most recent manifestation of a long history of using criminal law to punish poor mothers and mothers of color for their behavior while pregnant. The purported motivation for such laws is the harm …

Prosecuting Islamic State Members For Sexual And Gender-Based Crimes Committed Against Yazidi Women And Girls, Samantha Hechler

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the systematic sexual enslavement and gender-based violence perpetrated by ISIS against Yazidi women and girls, emphasizing the legal and jurisdictional challenges in prosecuting these crimes under international law. It argues that while the International Criminal Court (ICC) lacks jurisdiction over Iraq and Syria, alternative mechanisms such as ad hoc tribunals, hybrid courts, or prosecutions in foreign national courts offer feasible pathways to justice for the victims

Introduction To Dignity Special Issue: Freedom From Sexploitation, Lisa L. Thompson, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Meeting Of The Minds And Bodies: Contract Law And The Mutuality Of Sexual Exchanges, Kelly Jo Popkin

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

Though it may seem like an obvious analogy, a comparison of consent to sex and consent to contract has rarely been explored in such detail. The legal concepts protecting bargainers to a contract can be applied to analyses of sexual coercion in consent to sexual encounters, thereby affording survivors with greater protection against instances of sexual violence that seem to consistently slip through the cracks of our criminal justice system. More importantly, this analysis has never before been applied to the Title IX campus sexual assault adjudication process and policies. As a procedure involving civil law, rather than criminal law, …

Immigrating While Trans: The Disproportionate Impact Of The Prostitution Ground Of Inadmissibility And Other Provisions Of The Immigration And Nationality Act On Transgender Women, Luis Medina

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Swaying The Jury: The Effect Of Expert Witness Testimony On Jury Verdicts In Rape Trials, Christina E. Ball

Senior Capstone Theses

With the reliance on rape myths to form opinions towards rape victims, the use of expert witnesses is of increased importance. Rape myths may give jurors misinformed notions about why, how, or to whom rape happens. This indicates a need for educational expert testimony in rape jury trials. It is proposed the use of this testimony will help dispel these myths and social biases towards victims of rape. This paper explores the need for expert witness testimony and the relationship between expert witness and jury. It discusses what type of testimony may be presented and who qualifies as an expert. …

Sex Reassignment Surgery & The New Standard Of Care: An Analysis Of The Role The Federal Court System, The States, Society, And The Medical Community Serve In Paving The Way For Incarcerated Transgendered Persons' Constitutional Right To A Sex Change, Victor J. Genchi

Barry Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Uneven Scales Of Lady Justice, Jessica H. Shepard

Georgia College Student Research Events

For centuries, women have been assigned a specific gender role, and men hold them accountable to stay within this role. When these roles are broken, severe punishment or dismissal can be the result. From the Demonic age to today, as well as the different schools of criminology, the way women have been treated has been documented. The evil woman theory introduces the idea that when women commit a crime, they are no longer acting in the stereotypical way of a woman; therefore, punishment should be more severe. On the other side, some men treat women with chivalry, seeing them as …

The Pre-Furman Juvenile Death Penalty In South Carolina: Young Black Life Was Cheap, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Hannah L. Freedman

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

If It Walks Like Systematic Exclusion And Quacks Like Systematic Exclusion: Follow-Up On Removal Of Women And African-Americans In Jury Selection In South Carolina Capital Cases, 1997-2014, Ann M. Eisenberg, Amelia Courtney Hritz, Caisa Elizabeth Royer, John H. Blume

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article builds on an earlier study analyzing bases and rates of removal of women and African-American jurors in a set of South Carolina capital cases decided between 1997 and 2012. We examine and assess additional data from new perspectives in order to establish a more robust, statistically strengthened response to the original research question: whether, and if so, why, prospective women and African-American jurors were disproportionately removed in different stages of jury selection in a set of South Carolina capital cases.

The study and the article it builds on add to decades of empirical research exploring the impacts (or …

Twenty Reasons To Publish In Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Stripping Agency From Top To Bottom: The Need For A Sentencing Guideline Safety Valve For Bottoms Prosecuted Under The Federal Sex Trafficking Statutes, Sarah Crocker

Northwestern University Law Review

In domestic sex trafficking, the trafficker often promotes a victim to the coveted position of “lead prostitute,” or “bottom.” Once in this position, the victim engages in acts for which she can be prosecuted under federal sex trafficking statutes that carry ten- and fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentences. To recognize bottoms’ victimization and resulting lack of genuine agency, this Note proposes a Sentencing Guideline safety valve provision. Creating a safety valve would provide sentencing judges with necessary discretion to impose sentences below statutory floors in appropriate cases.

Refugee Roulette: A Comparative Analysis Of Gender-Related Persecution In Asylum Law, Joanna J. Kallinosis

DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law

From the moment Rodi Alvarado Pena married a Guatemalan army officer at the age of 16, she was subjected to intensive abuse, and all her efforts to get help where unsuccessful. Her husband raped and sodimized her repeatedly, attempted to abort their child by violently kicking her in the spine, dislocated her jaw, attempted to cut her hands off with a machete, kicked her in her genitals and used her head to break windows. He terrified her by bragging about his power to kill innocent civilians with impunity and all of Rodi’s pleas for help from the Guatemalan government were …

The Case For Trauma-Informed, Gender-Specific Prevention/Early Intervention Programming In Reducing Female Juvenile Delinquency In Florida, Joan Flocks, Emily Calvin, Simone Chriss, Marina Prado-Steiman

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This article describes the statutory recognition of the need for prevention/early intervention juvenile services in Florida that are both trauma-informed and gender-specific. It examines how childhood trauma can impact at-risk children and the gendered aspects of such trauma. The article then describes the PACE Center for Girls, a Florida-based school, currently undergoing a comprehensive evaluation, which attempts to incorporate elements that fulfill statutory recommendations into its programming.

Shortlisted, Hannah Brenner, Renee Knake

Faculty Scholarship

As the New York Times noted in 1971, Mildred Lillie fortunately had no children. Even in her fifties, she maintained "a bathing beauty figure." Lillie was not, however, a swimsuit model. She was one of President Nixon's possible nominees for the United States Supreme Court. This Article tells the stories of nearly a dozen extraordinary women considered, but ultimately not nominated, for the Court before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor became the first in 1981. The public nature of the nomination process enables us to analyze the scrutiny of these women by the profession and media, and analogize to those similarly …

Domestic Violence Law, Abusers’ Intent, And Social Media: How Transaction-Bound Statutes Are The True Threats To Prosecuting Perpetrators Of Gender-Based Violence, Megan L. Bumb

Brooklyn Law Review

The rapid expansion of social media has brought with it a new platform for perpetrators of domestic violence to assert power and control over their victims. The statutes presently used to prosecute abusers fail to protect victims from social media threats and to punish abusers for making those threats. Using the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Elonis v. United States, this note proposes a straightforward solution to a multifaceted problem—how to better protect victims of domestic violence from social media threats while maintaining abusers’ First Amendment rights. The answer is not mere clarification of the true threat doctrine; it is …

The Conundrum Of Voluntary Intoxication And Sex, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

Brooklyn Law Review

Research shows that a significant number of sexual assaults occur after victims have consumed an excessive amount of intoxicants, rendering them substantially impaired and incapable of opposing nonconsensual sexual acts. Existing sexual assault statutes mostly criminalize sexual acts with involuntarily intoxicated people, namely when the defendant administered the intoxicants to the victim. Most of these statutes, however, do not directly prohibit sexual intercourse with voluntarily intoxicated victims whose intoxication was self-inflicted. While general prohibitions against sexual intercourse with physically and mentally incapacitated individuals may be used to prosecute sexual assaults of intoxicated victims, they offer only an incomplete solution to …

The Community Politics Of Domestic Violence, Deborah M. Weissman

Brooklyn Law Review

Gender violence has long been identified as a crisis of epidemic proportions that defies facile solution. Despite decades of intellectual and practical engagement, law reform, and notwithstanding increased social services and public health interventions, the rates of gender violence have not appreciably declined. The field of domestic violence advocacy is itself in a crisis, and it has been difficult to discern the best way forward. Reliance on the criminal justice system has tended to fracture the domestic violence movement even as it marginalized itself from disenfranchised populations. This article offers a case study of an incident that occurred between the …

Mothers In The Margins: Addressing The Consequences Of Criminal Records For Young Mothers Of Color, Jesse Krohn, Jaime Gullen

University of Baltimore Law Review

As young women pull ahead of young men in higher education, the wage gap narrows, and young men continue to be arrested and incarcerated at higher rates than young women, there has been much discussion at the policy level and in the media regarding the need to concentrate resources on men and boys. President Barack Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper" and “Responsible Fatherhood” initiatives typify this shift.

As legal aid lawyers who represent youth, many of whom have been involved in the juvenile and criminal legal systems, we are pulled into the debate and asked to answer with increasing frequency: “What …