Digital Commons Network^™

White V. Hesse: Challenging An Oklahoma County's Bail Practices Under The Americans With Disabilities Act And The Rehabilitation Act, Andrew Hamm

Celebrating WCL Student Authors

No abstract provided.

Comparing Dadd V. Anoka County With Corbitt V. Vickers: Why Defendants Should Bear The Burden Of Establishing Qualified Immunity In A Motion To Dismiss, Aisha Green

American University Law Review

In the wake of last summer’s George Floyd protests, qualified immunity is once again at the forefront of the debate. Officials, such as police officers, can raise qualified immunity as an affirmative defense in response to allegations that they have violated an individual’s constitutional rights. The different interpretations of qualified immunity’s meaning, use, and scope among the circuit courts have contributed to the development of strong opinions on both sides of the defense.

Particularly, circuit courts are split over who bears the burden of establishing qualified immunity when defendants use it as a basis for a motion to dismiss under …

Speaking Femicide, Caroline Davidson

American University Law Review

Femicide is typically defined as the killing of a woman because she is a woman. It has been the subject of mass protests in cities from Buenos Aires to Paris and in some places has made the leap to law as a crime unto itself or basis for a sentencing enhancement in homicide cases. Proponents of the label of femicide seek to bring attention to gendered violence against women and end a culture of tolerance and impunity for such violence. Meanwhile, in the United States, it is neither legislated nor discussed.

This Article explores the concept of femicide and asks …

Improving The Legal And Regulatory Framework Of Restraint And Seclusion In D.C. Public Schools, James Gallagher

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

The Emerging Shape Of Global Justice: Retrogression Or Course Correction?, Diane Orentlicher

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Sham Subpoenas And Prosecutorial Ethics, Ira Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Prosecutors are given broad freedom to conduct their investigations through-out the grand jury process; their power is not without legal and ethical limits, however. For example, courts have discretion to quash subpoenas that have been issued without a proper purpose. Unlike law enforcement officials who may use deceptive tactics throughout an investigation, prosecutors are subject to professional rules of responsibility. All lawyers are subject to some variation of Rule 4.2 of the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility—the No-Contact Rule—which prohibits a lawyer from communicating with a represented individual. Prosecutors, however, have escaped the Rule’s reach by communicating with represented individuals …

First Step Act Of 2018: How Its Statutory Interpretation Limits Criminal Justice Reform, Adriana E. Morquecho

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Introduction

Today, the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. Nearly half a million people are incarcerated in federal and state prisons for drug offenses, up from just 41,000 in 1980. Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected communities of color, with the American Civil Liberties Union noting that one out of every three Black boys and one out of every six Latino boys born today can expect to be imprisoned, compared to one out of every seventeen white boys. Notably, the 1980s marked the beginning of the War on Drugs, which led to a spike in …

Congressional Surveillance, Aaron R. Copper

American University Law Review

In recent years, Congress has increasingly used electronic surveillance in high profile investigations. Reactions to what this Article calls “congressional surveillance” indicate a deep unease among both legal scholars and the broader public about the nature of Congress’s surveillance authority and its normative implications. Despite our ongoing preoccupation with government surveillance, congressional surveillance remains largely unexplored. There is virtually no discussion of how congressional surveillance is treated under key statutory and Fourth Amendment constraints; no consideration of the process or political limits of congressional surveillance; and little scrutiny of congressional surveillance as a tool within the separation of powers.

This …

Post-Pandemic Privacy Law, Tiffany C. Li

American University Law Review

COVID-19, the global pandemic that began in 2019, altered how we live our lives in just about every way imaginable. Some of those changes were obvious— for example, those who were fortunate enough to be able to work from home began working online—while other changes were more subtle. The latter category included unprecedented levels of data collection by governments and organizations purporting to collect information that would help stop the pandemic’s spread. Given the deadly nature of COVID-19, few would question any public health efforts, no matter their impact on privacy. However, the lack of attention to privacy issues during …

That's Not Fair Use: Why Rule 68 Copyright Defendants Canno Recover Post-Offer Attorney's Fees, Ryan Kaiser

American University Law Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 (Rule 68) is a cost-shifting rule that allows a non-prevailing defendant who made an offer of judgment more favorable than the final judgment to recover costs incurred from the point the offer was made. Until the mid-1980s, whether the rule could apply to the attorney’s fees was the source of much debate. In 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court provided a partial answer when it decided Marek v. Chesny, holding that Rule 68 operates to preclude a civil rights plaintiff from recovering post-offer attorney’s fees. The Court stated that Rule 68 costs include all costs …

Structural Sensor Surveillance, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

City infrastructure is getting smarter. Embedded smart sensors in roads, lampposts, and electrical grids offer the government a way to regulate municipal resources and the police a new power to monitor citizens. This structural sensor surveillance, however, raises a difficult constitutional question: Does the creation of continuously-recording, aggregated, long-term data collection systems violate the Fourth Amendment? After all, recent Supreme Court cases suggest that technologies that allow police to monitor location, reveal personal patterns, and track personal details for long periods of time are Fourth Amendment searches which require a probable cause warrant. This Article uses the innovation of smart …

The Failure To Grapple With Racial Capitalism In European Constitutionalism, Fernanda Giorgia Nicola Dr.

Working Papers

Since the 1980s prominent scholars of European legal integration have used the example of U.S. constitutionalism to promote a federal vision for the European Community. These scholars, drawing lessons from developments across the Atlantic, concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court had played a key role in fostering national integration and market liberalization. They foresaw the possibility for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to be a catalyst for a similar federal and constitutional outcome in Europe. The present contribution argues that the scholars who constructed today’s dominant European constitutional paradigm underemphasized key aspects of the U.S. constitutional experience, including judgments …

Letter And Introduction: An Introduction By Angela J. Davis, Angela J. Davis

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The Failure To Grapple With Racial Capitalism In European Constitutionalism, Jeffrey Miller

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Since the 1980s prominent scholars of European legal integration have used the example of U.S. constitutionalism to promote a federal vision for the European Community. These scholars, drawing lessons from developments across the Atlantic, concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court had played a key role in fostering national integration and market liberalization. They foresaw the possibility for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to be a catalyst for a similar federal and constitutional outcome in Europe. The present contribution argues that the scholars who constructed today’s dominant European constitutional paradigm underemphasized key aspects of the U.S. constitutional experience, including judgments …

Introduction, Angela J. Davis

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

An Introduction by Angela J. Davis Distinguished Professor of Law, American University Washington Collge of Law

The scourge of mass incarceration has plagued the United States for decades. With roughly 2.3 million people in federal and state prisons and close to 7 million people under some form of criminal justice control' in prison or jail or on probation and parole-this country maintains the unenviable status of having the highest incarceration rate in the world. Demands for reform have come in fits and starts, resulting in modest changes that have done little to reduce the number of people incarcerated or under …

Innovative Approaches To Diversion Data, Sean Flynn, Robin Olsen, Maggie Wolk

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Prosecutors across the country are collecting and using data to make decisions in their offices. At the same time, prosecutors are interested in developing and sustaining prosecutorial diversion approaches. Prosecutors can use data to assist in decision-making regarding diversion case processing choices as well as to make office policy and resource allocation decisions that, in turn, support expanded diversion programs. Data collection can help prosecutors decide if a prosecutorial diversion program will work for them, and if so, what characteristics it should have. Finally, data can help prosecutors see whether they are obtaining their intended outcomes. Prosecutors possess varying levels …

Worth The Effort?: Assessing The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Diane Orentlicher

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Every international and hybrid war crimes court has attracted a measure of controversy, but none more than the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). While myriad aspects of the ECCC’s record are crucial to its legacy, this article explores one question of overarching importance: whether its performance has justified a key risk the UN assumed when it agreed to support the court — that case selection would be improperly influenced by the Cambodian government. More particularly, it assesses the ECCC’s performance in light of two questions: How well have safeguards against political interference worked? Are survivors of Khmer …

Buprenorphine: Medication-Assisted Treatment: The Role Of Informed Consent, John Tyler Stocking

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

Telemedicine: The Solution To The Opioid Crisis?, Margaret Reiney

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

"Patient Privacy": The Illusory Barrier To Fixing Missouri's Opioid Overdose Problem, Charlie Mckiver

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

Can Courts Stop Citizens From Prosecuting Criminal Cases Under The Clean Water Act?, Hannah Gardenswartz

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Collective Criminality And Sexual Violence: Fixing A Failed Approach, Susana Sacouto

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

International criminal tribunals have developed a number of legal theories designed to hold individuals responsible for their role in collective criminal conduct. These doctrines of criminal participation, known as modes of liability, are the subject of significant scholarly commentary. Yet missing from much of this debate, particularly as regards the International Criminal Court, has been an analysis of how current doctrine on modes of liability responds to the need to hold collective perpetrators criminally responsible for crimes of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Indeed, many writings in this area of the law address perceived shortcomings in the theoretical underpinnings of …

Brief Of Nat’L Assoc. Of Crim. Defense Attorney & Nat’L Assoc. Of Fed’L Defenders As Amicus Curiae, Pereida V. Barr, No. 19-438 (U.S.) (Feb. 2020)., Jenny Roberts

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

Brief of Nat’l Assoc. of Crim. Defense Attorney & Nat’l Assoc. of Fed’l Defenders as Amicus Curiae, Pereida v. Barr, No. 19-438 (U.S.) (Feb. 2020).

Global Legal Constraints: How The International System Fails Small-Scale Farmers And Agricultural Biodiversity, Harming Human And Planetary Health, And What To Do About It, Susan H. Bragdon

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child-Friendly Justice Behind Bars: A Comparative Analysis Of The Protection Mechanisms Of The Rights Of Arrested Children In The Practice Of The Working Group On Arbitrary Detention And Of The European And Inter-American Courts Of Human Rights, Áquila Mazzinghy

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Domestic Violence And Self-Defense: Respecting Women's Autonomy By Creating A Woman-Centered Law Of Self-Defense, Caroline Gillis

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Incarcerated Women: Reproductive Healthcare Concerns Silenced By The Prison Litigation Reform Act, Amanda Feldman

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Universal Protocol For Investigative Interviewing And Associated Safeguards: Taking Jordan As An Example, Lubna N. Nasser

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Special Coverage

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

The Risks Of Criminalizing Covid-19 Exposure: Lessons From Hiv, Naomi K. Seiler, Anya Vanecek, Claire Heyison, Katherine Horton

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.