Digital Commons Network^™

Justice In A Brave New World?, Jean R. Sternlight

Scholarly Works

As science fiction has become reality, we should consider the implications of our new technologies for our system of justice. In addition to DNA, we are now regularly using cameras, geo-tracking, facial recognition software, brain scans, computers, and much more to discern and record our physical and mental surroundings. Existing technology and more we cannot yet imagine will increasingly take the place of often unreliable evidence, such as that provided by eyewitnesses. Yet, we have given far too little thought as to how these advances should impact our civil and criminal dispute resolution systems.

Historically, many justice systems have emphasized …

Bridging Divides In Divisive Times: Revisiting The Massie-Fortescue Affair, Stewart Chang

Scholarly Works

This Article revisits the infamous Massie-Fortescue rape and murder cases that occurred in Hawai'i during the 1930s, in order to challenge the methods by which race scholars have previously analyzed the case by relying on gender hierarchies. Thalia Massie, a white woman, accused five "Hawaiians" of gang raping her, even though they were of various Asian Pacific ethnic identities. The rape case ended in a hung jury, and so her relatives resorted to vigilante murder of one of the defendants. The subsequent murder trial resulted in convictions, but the 10- year prison sentences for the white defendants were commuted to …

Humanizing The Tax System: What National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson Did For America's Kids And Their Families, Francine J. Lipman

Scholarly Works

At their core, taxpayer rights are human rights. They are about our inherent
humanity.—Nina E. Olson

The federal income tax system does not exist for statutes, regulations, codes, enforcement, assessments, collection, redistribution, procedures, publications, liens, levies, refunds, liabilities, litigation, compliance, or even revenue. At its core, the federal income tax system exists for people. People like you, me, and all our loved ones including spouses, partners, parents, kids, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grandparents, grandkids, friends, and neighbors. The people who eat at our tables and sleep under our roofs. The tax system is about current and future generations who live …

Papercuts: Hierarchical Microaggressions In Law Schools, Nantiya Ruan

Scholarly Works

The Article investigates law schools as locations of workplace fairness by examining its hierarchical structure and the power dynamics at work. Others have researched and written on the myriad ways in which “legal skills faculty” are treated unfairly as compared to those that primarily teach non-skills (or doctrinal classes) because of the subject matter that they teach and the assumptions that are made about their credentials and ability to contribute to the law school mission. Likewise, other scholars have critically examined the discrimination experienced by law school faculty members based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other identities. What has …

“Toughen Up, Buttercup” Versus #Timesup: Initial Findings Of The Aba Women In Criminal Justice Task Force, Maryam Ahranjani

Scholarly Works

"Practicing criminal law as a woman is like playing tackle football in a dress." Andrea George, Executive Director of the Federal Public Defender for Eastern Washington and Idaho, began her testimony to the American Bar Association's Women in Criminal Justice Task Force with that powerful observation. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the ABA has focused on ways to enhance gender equity in the profession and in the justice system. The Criminal Justice Section of the ABA has invested significant resources in the creation of the Women in Criminal Justice Task Force (WCJ TF), which launched its work in …

Evil As Privation Justifying Restorative Justice, Josh Shrader-Perry

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Atrocity Prevention: The Role Of International Law And Justice, Amb. Todd F. Buchwald, Jody M. Aremband

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"The issue of atrocity prevention has taken something of a beating in the last few years, a victim perhaps of the transactional approach to security and other foreign policy issues that seem to be engulfing us. Yet this is an issue that cannot go away. Its staying power is a testament to its deep moral roots. The horrors of the Holocaust and the knowledge of the capacity of man for cruelty to his fellow man will haunt the world forever. The experience of our modern history– in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and elsewhere – leave …

Codifying The Obligations Of States Relating To The Prevention Of Atrocities, Sean D. Murphy

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

Keynote Speech, “Codifying the Obligations of States Relating to the Prevention of Atrocities.”

..."my focus is on international obligations embedded in major multilateral treaties that address the issue of prevention, either expressly or implicitly. In doing so, I will attempt to connect the past to the present, so as to highlight six obligations of States relating to prevention that the Commission deemed essential for inclusion in its 2019 CAH Articles."

Questioning Unlimited Veto Use In Face Of Atrocity Crimes, Jennifer Trahan

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"This article discusses the need to re-visit—based on existing legal obligations—the problem of veto use by the permanent members of the UN Security Council while there are ongoing atrocity crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, and/or war crimes). Specifically, the article— which previews the arguments in my forthcoming book—raises the question of whether all such veto use is consistent with international law."

Section 230 And The Duty To Prevent Mass Atrocities, David Sloss

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"Of course, any proposal to create a statutory exception to section 230 immunity raises a set of complex questions about the proper scope of such an exception. This article identifies the key issues that would need to be resolved if Congress decided to create an exception along these lines. The remainder of this article consists of three parts. The first part explains why removal of immunity from civil liability is an appropriate mechanism to help prevent use of social media to incite or induce commission of mass atrocity crimes. The second part contends that the exception to section 230 immunity …

Social Media Platforms In International Criminal Investigations, Rebecca J. Hamilton

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"YouTube’s tagline is “Broadcast Yourself.”64 People around the world have taken up the invitation, including people whose lives are being lived out in conflict zones. Proponents of international criminal justice have seized upon the resulting material for its evidentiary value, and we are seeing the field of international criminal investigations in the midst of a major transformation as a consequence. There has been plenty of commentary about this transformation in terms of the challenges and opportunities that the evidence itself brings. But less attention has been given to what these technology-driven developments have done to expand the range of actors …

The Third Wave -- Accountability For International Crimes In An Age Of Extremes, David M. Crane

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"We have come too far and have accomplished too much together to step away from accountability. The rule of law in a robust human rights paradigm keeps the world stable. In some ways, the great gyroscope balances a world in an age of extremes. We must never take our eyes off the horizon of hope, peace, and the law. We should support and encourage the efforts by many in this Third Wave of accountability." (first of three concluding thoughts)

Too Few Trials, Too Many Tribulations: The Icc's Terrible Year And Where To Go From Here, Elizabeth Evenson

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"In June 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) appeals chamber reversed what had been the court’s most significant verdict: a 2016 conviction of a former Congolese vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, for crimes committed in the Central African Republic.1 This was significant because it was the court’s first conviction for crimes of sexual and gender-based violence and on the basis of command responsibility, and because Bemba was among the most senior-ranking officials to appear for trial at the court.

An acquittal needs to be understood as a legitimate outcome to any justice process, but, in context, the decision touched off alarm bells …

Documentation For Accountability, Jessica C. Levy, Paul R. Williams

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

" In armed conflicts across the globe, it is imperative that war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and other violations of international humanitarian law are effectively documented. Providing such documentation to judicial mechanisms can be critical for efforts to hold those who commit atrocities accountable. 72 Given the delays that routinely plague efforts to secure justice, it is important that the crimes are documented and that the evidence is ready for use in prosecutions when they emerge. Fortunately, the number of civil society actors engaged in documentation projects is growing rapidly, and technological innovations are beginning to emerge to assist …

The International Criminal Court: Current Challenges And Prospect Of Future Success, Milena Sterio

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"The ICC has served as an agent of impunity since its inception in 1998, and its fundamental role in the field of international criminal justice as a permanent accountability mechanism remains undisputed. The court is, however, facing significant challenges which may threaten its legitimacy. These challenges can be surmounted if the court is willing to take a hard look at its own procedures, prosecutorial practices, and judicial attitudes. The ICC’s future may be bright if the court makes significant changes in the present." (Conclusion, p. 478)

A Program For The Next Icc Prosecutor, Alex Whiting

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"As the International Criminal Court (ICC) begins the process of selecting the next Prosecutor, it finds itself at a critical moment. Few people believe that the institution has lived up to expectations. The court has brought relatively few cases, and many have not succeeded.2 While convictions were achieved in the Lubanga, Ntaganda, Katanga, and Al Mahdi cases, as well as in the obstruction of justice cases arising out of the Bemba prosecution, many other cases failed at the confirmation stage, during or after trial, or on appeal.3 he future looks grim. Presently, there is just one case at trial (Ongwen) …

Talking Foreign Policy: October 1, 2019 Broadcast: "The Rohingya Genocide", Tfp Panel

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"According to a recent UN report, Facebook bears responsibility for the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet – the mass attacks against the Rohingya people of Burma. Welcome to “Talking Foreign Policy.” I’m your host, Michael Scharf, [co-]Dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In this broadcast, our expert panelists will help us understand the Rohingya crisis, the role of Facebook, and the prospects for achieving accountability for the international crimes that have been committed against the Rohingya people in Burma."

Modelling Interactions Among Offenders: A Latent Space Approach For Interdependent Ego-Networks, Isabella Gollini, Alberto Caimo, Paolo Campana

Articles

Illegal markets are notoriously difficult to study. Police data offer an increasingly exploited source of evidence. However, their secondary nature poses challenges for researchers. A key issue is that researchers often have to deal with two sets of actors: targeted and non-targeted. This work develops a latent space model for interdependent ego-networks purposely created to deal with the targeted nature of police evidence. By treating targeted offenders as egos and their contacts as alters, the model (a) leverages on the full information available and (b) mirrors the specificity of the data collection strategy. The paper then applies this approach to …

Academic And Practitioner Perspectives On The Ilc Draft Articles On Prevention And Punishment Of Crimes Against Humanity As Adopted On Second Reading, Charles C. Jalloh, Leila N. Sadat

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Contrasting Fates Of French Canadian And Indigenous Constitutionalism: British North America, 1760-1867, Philip Girard

Articles & Book Chapters

In the century after the fall of New France, both Indigenous peoples of Canada and French Canadians could be described as colonised peoples. Yet the treatment of each group's pre-existing laws and the ways in which each found its constitutional demands recognised (or not) varied considerably. In spite of significant rebellions in 1837-1838, French Canadians went on to achieve a high degree of autonomy within the province of Quebec in the British North America Act 1867. Meanwhile, intercultural legal arrangements with Indigenous peoples, such as the Covenant Chain, which could be termed constitutional, were gradually undermined, ignored and forgotten. This …

Benevolent Feminism And The Gendering Of Criminality: Historical And Ideological Constructions Of Us Women's Prisons, Emma Stammen

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis aims to connect and analyze primary sources that contain untold histories and experiences of people incarcerated in women’s prisons in the US and Britain, from the Victorian period to the modern era. By exploring, compiling and sharing various secondary and primary texts as evidence, I hope to contribute to a better understanding of the historical and ideological constructions of the American women’s prison as we know it today. In this thesis, I argue that analyzing and understanding the historical and ideological constructions of the modern women’s prison are critical practices for theoretical and activist frameworks that seek prison …

The Historical Justification For Prohibiting Dangerous Persons From Possessing Arms, Joseph G.S. Greenlee

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

$11 Billion For What?! Incarcerated Organizers With No New Jails Nyc Explain How To Shut Down Rikers Without Building New Jails, Osha Oneeka Daya Brown, Lee Doane, Sterling Fleming, Hakim Trent, Jeremy Valerio, Outside Organizers With No New Jails Nyc

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

Traumatized To Death: The Cumulative Effects Of Serial Parole Denials, Richard Rivera

City University of New York Law Review

Content warning: discussion of suicide. If you are thinking about suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255).

The Impact Of The #Metoo Movement On Defamation Claims Against Survivors, Shaina Weisbrot

City University of New York Law Review

The #MeToo movement encouraged a collective public sharing of abuse and harassment, with some survivors identifying the individuals that caused them harm. Where accusations increased, defamation lawsuits quickly followed, raising questions about how survivors can share their stories and remain protected legally from the person or institution that harmed them. In anticipation of these claims, this article offers a roadmap for survivors and their advocates to consider when assessing the risk of a lawsuit or in preparation of their defense. It examines past and present defamation claims against gender-based violence survivors to assess the viability of their legal strategies for …

Data Battles, Platform Shutdowns, And Digital Rights In Surveillance: Labor Politics In The Online Sex Industry, Winifred R. Poster

Saint Louis University Law Journal

Sex workers are often portrayed as groups with little authority over their jobs. But lately they are making much use of online spaces, both large scale public-facing platforms and their own smaller websites. Taking a deeper ethnographic look into their online activities, I recount a story of highly adept, technologically proficient, and expert digital navigation by sex workers online.

The analysis follows the trajectory of platforms in the online sex industry over the last two decades. First it charts the rise of platforms for matching, reviewing, and identity verification, many of which developed roughly around the 2000s, and their impact …

The Pursuit Of Procedural Justice And Police Legitimacy: A Case Study Of Community Police Officers’ Perceptions Of The Perceived Benefits Of Higher Education, Tara M. Kane

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This is a case study of suburban community police officers and their perception of benefits of higher education as it relates to outcomes of procedural justice and legitimacy. Acknowledging controversial, high-profile incidents which have caused the police profession to be generalized in a negative manner, this study sought to examine community-policing initiatives as an effective strategy for promoting positive community-police relationships. Community police officers were queried about academic and professional preparation they perceived as necessary for the demands of the 21st century community police officer.

Previous literature on community policing and procedurally just policing has primarily focused on the perceptions …

2019 Foreign And International Legislative Review, Daryane Couto

Animal Law Review

This Review offers a review of foreign and international animal protection legislation enacted or proposed in the year 2019. Included are propositions by categorically international actors, such as CITES and the UN, for regulating international wildlife trade and drafting a high-seas conservation treaty. Additionally, this Review reports how some countries, such as Slovakia, Colombia, and the United Kingdom, are finally putting an end to cruel, archaic animal practices. Finally, the recognition of animal sentience in the Australian Capital Territory, and legislation that closes the gap in Canada’s Criminal Code, are addressed. Together, these changes in foreign and international animal law …

2019 State Legislative Review, Diego Alfonso Gutierrez, Benjamin Lee Cregger

Animal Law Review

This Review examines the significant changes and additions to different states’ laws throughout 2019. Among those significantly affected by these changes are farm animals, wildlife, and companion animals. ‘Ag-Gag’ and ‘Right to Farm’ bills began to flourish, but opponents have seen success in challenging their constitutionality. Wild animals found protection in fur and trapping bans, in addition to bans on killing contests. Companion animals continue to gain legal and physical protection through strengthened cruelty laws. These are a few of the many bills, regulations, and laws that impacted animals in 2019. Although some protections and regulations have seen cuts and …

Strengthening American War Crimes Accountability, Geoffrey S. Corn, Rachel E. Vanlandingham

American University Law Review

The United States needs to improve accountability for its service members’ war crimes. President Donald J. Trump dangerously intensified a growing national misunderstanding regarding the critical nexus between compliance with the laws of war and the health and efficacy of the U.S. military. This Article pushes back against such confusion by demonstrating why compliance with the laws of war, and accountability for violations of these laws, together constitute vital duties owed to our women and men in uniform.

This Article reveals that part of the fog of war surrounding criminal accountability for American war crimes is due to structural defects …