Digital Commons Network^™

Role-Reversibility, Ai, And Equitable Justice - Or: Why Mercy Cannot Be Automated, Stephen E. Henderson, Kiel Brennan-Marquez

JCLC Online

A few years ago, we developed the concept of “role-reversibility” in AI governance: the idea that it matters whether a party exercising judgment is reciprocally vulnerable to the effects of judgment. This idea, we argued, supplies a deontic reason to maintain certain spheres of human judgment even if (or when) truly intelligent machines become demonstrably superior in every utilitarian sense. While computer science remains far from that holy grail, generative AI is raging through systems as diverse as healthcare, finance, advertising, law, and academe, making it imperative to further shore up our claim. We do so by situating role-reversibility within …

Not All Evidence Is The Same: Habeas Corpus And Actual Innocence. A Practically Unusable Exception For Fundamental Miscarriages Of Justice?, Samantha C. Olexa

JCLC Online

For many, being convicted of a crime they did not commit would be a living and breathing nightmare. However, for some American prisoners, that nightmare is an unfortunate reality. Although reform focused on how an innocent individual came to be wrongfully convicted—via prosecutorial inaccuracies, forensic and eyewitness errors, jailhouse informants, forced confessions and inadequate representation—and how to prevent it in the future has seen success in recent years, the American legal system continues to fail those currently incarcerated trying to prove their innocence. When seeking habeas relief, the utmost hurdle in proving actual innocence is what type of “new” evidence …

The Need For Fairness And Accuracy For Women In Sentencing: Surmounting Challenges To Gender-Specific Statistical Risk Assessment Tools, Elizabeth E. Wainstein

JCLC Online

States across the country have increasingly adopted statistical risk assessment tools in multiple stages of their criminal legal systems with the hope of reducing incarceration without increasing crime. These tools use various characteristics to estimate an individual’s future risk of recidivism, and judges consider the results of these assessments when determining levels of custody or community supervision for convicted individuals. Despite much debate amongst academics and activists on the utility and fairness of these tools, one critique seems beyond debate: the tools are built for men, not women. These tools are based on criteria, statistics, and theory drawn from the …

The Neuroscience Of Trauma Supports Diminished Capacity As A Nuanced Approach To The Icc Case Of An Ex-Child Soldier, Lee Hiromoto, Ramail Siddiqui, Landy F. Sparr

JCLC Online

The 2021 conviction of former child soldier Dominic Ongwen by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed as an adult commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda raises questions about the ICC’s approach to mental illness.  During his trial, the defendant unsuccessfully raised defenses of insanity and duress, based on his kidnapping into the militant group as a child.  The court rejected not only those defenses, but also the claim that he had mental illness at all, in spite of his traumatic childhood.  Integrating scientific research, we argue that both the ICC and the defense failed to …

The Saga Of Reginald Mcfadden—"Pennsylvania's Willie Horton" And The Commutation Of Life Sentences In The Commonwealth: Part Ii, Regina Austin

JCLC Online

The saga of the commutation of Reginald McFadden is a tortuous story of blunders, coincidences, and numerous instances of governmental officials tempting fate. It has the makings of a Serial true-crime podcast. In states throughout the country, there are lifers who are unfairly paying the price for the actions of one person who should never have had her or his life sentence commuted. This is the second in a series of two essays that explore Reginald McFadden’s commutation. This Part considers whether, in hindsight, there was any sound basis for McFadden’s release given the policy grounds for commutations and describes …

Of Law And Men, @Badgaltranny -

JCLC Online

This article was written in conjunction with the 2021-2022 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Symposium: Do Hate Crime Laws #stophate, #stophatecrimes, and #standagainstthehate? that occurred on April 8, 2022.

I, an Indian-American transgender woman, share stories of my sexual escapades with seven Trump supporters to move us towards new mountains in jurisprudential scholarship. I do so with the hope that my stories will expose some long-sunken truths (truths perhaps buried by our own law schools) about the human desires which drive people to police, and democracies to dominions.

The rabid protestations of Law Professor Storyhaters, triggered by the …

Sick Deal: Injustice And Plea Bargaining During Covid-19, Ryan T. Cannon

JCLC Online

No abstract provided.

Following Data: The "Defund The Police" Movement's Implications For Elementary And Secondary Schools, Michael Heise, Jason P. Nance

JCLC Online

Nationwide calls to “Defund the Police,” largely attributable to Black Lives Matter demonstrations, have motivated derivative calls for public school districts to consider “defunding” school resource officer (“SRO/police”) programs. To be sure, school districts’ SRO/police programs endure as a subject of persistent scholarly and public scrutiny, particularly relating to how a school’s SRO/police presence influences the school’s student discipline reporting policies and practices. How schools report student discipline and whether the process involves referrals to law enforcement agencies matter, particularly as they may fuel a growing “school-to-prison pipeline.” The “school-to-prison pipeline” research literature features two general empirical claims. One is …