Digital Commons Network^™

When Public Defenders And Prosecutors Plea Bargain Race – A More Truthful Narrative, Elayne E. Greenberg

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

This paper challenges prevailing stereotypes about public defenders and prosecutors and updates those stereotypes with a more accurate narrative about how reform-minded public defenders and prosecutors can plea bargain race to yield more equitable justice outcomes.

I was invited to the discussion about criminal justice reform in plea bargaining, because of my work in dispute resolution, dispute system design, and discrimination. Plea bargaining is a justice system negotiation that is used in upwards of 97% of criminal case dispositions. Unlike many of my colleagues in criminal justice reform who have also had years of experience working in the criminal …

Addressing Racial Inequities In The Criminal Justice System Through A Reconstruction Sentencing Approach, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Justice reform is having a moment. Across the nation and in the federal government, legislation has passed “to reduce the scale of incarceration and the impact of collateral consequences of a felony conviction.” While some of these reforms were the result of fiscal concerns over mass incarceration, others were in response to the criminal justice reckoning brought on by events of 2020 and intensified calls for racial justice. In the summer of 2020 media attention on the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sparked nationwide and global protests and accompanying antiracism pledges by individuals and institutions. This …

Unshackling Plea Bargaining From Racial Bias, Elayne E. Greenberg

Faculty Publications

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, [but] if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

Dr. Maya Angelou

When an African American male defendant tries to plea bargain an equitable justice outcome, he finds that the deep-rooted racial bias that casts African American men as dangerous, criminal and animalistic, compromises his justice rights. Plea bargaining has become the preferred process used to secure convictions for upwards of 97 percent of cases because of its efficiency. This efficiency, however, comes at a cost. The structure and process of plea bargaining makes it more likely that the historical racial …

Victims, Right?, Anna Roberts

Faculty Publications

In criminal contexts, a “victim” is typically defined as someone who has been harmed by a crime. Yet the word commonly appears in legal contexts that precede the adjudication of whether a crime has occurred. Each U.S. state guarantees “victims’ rights,” including many that apply pre-adjudication; ongoing “Marsy’s Law” efforts seek to expand and constitutionalize them nationwide. At trial, advocates, judges, and jury instructions employ this word even though the existence or not of crime (and thus of a crime victim) is a central question to be decided. This usage matters in part because of its possible consequences: it risks …

Special Education No Man's Land, Adrián E. Alvarez

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Since 2014, unaccompanied immigrant children have migrated to the United States in staggering numbers. The vast majority come from the Northern Triangle countries of Central America—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—and many are fleeing some of the highest homicide rates in the world. Immigration lawyers have highlighted many problems with the federal regime that cares for these children before they are released to family members or other adults living in the United States while their immigration cases move forward. Yet there is one group of unaccompanied minors that is not even on the radar of many advocates: unaccompanied children with …

Presumed Punishable: Sentencing On The Streets And The Need To Protect Black Lives Through A Reinvigoration Of The Presumption Of Innocence, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Following the police killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, there has been a renewed focus on protecting Black people in America from excessive police violence. While the images of George Floyd were shocking to the public, that level of extreme violence and disregard for life has been a common aspect of the lives of Black Americans throughout history. In America, Black people are "pre­sumed punishable." Due to the historical and persistent biases against Black people, Black people find themselves subject to false assumptions about their criminality and presumptions that they are deserving of punishment. This stands …

Deapsecure Computational Training For Cybersecurity Students: Improvements, Mid-Stage Evaluation, And Lessons Learned, Wirawan Purwanto, Yuming He, Jewel Ossom, Qiao Zhang, Liuwan Zhu, Karina Arcaute, Masha Sosonkina, Hongyi Wu

University Administration Publications

DeapSECURE is a non-degree computational training program that provides a solid high-performance computing (HPC) and big-data foundation for cybersecurity students. DeapSECURE consists of six modules covering a broad spectrum of topics such as HPC platforms, big-data analytics, machine learning, privacy-preserving methods, and parallel programming. In the second year of this program, to improve the learning experience, we implemented a number of changes, such as grouping modules into two broad categories, "big-data" and "HPC"; creating a single cybersecurity storyline across the modules; and introducing post-workshop (optional) "hackshops." Two major goals of these changes are, firstly, to effectively engage students to maintain …

The Necessity Of Imagination: Using The Counterfactual Method To Overcome International Law's Epistemological Limitations, Mohsen Al Attar

National Law School of India Review

As a social phenomenon, law is subject to countless influences that shape its contours. This quality is compounded in international law, where the regime contends with the contexts, cultures, and complexities of disparate nation-states. Yet, despite international law’s evident contingency, few publicists explore the implications of this quality, preferring to engage with the regime from within the dominant history and logic. This approach narrows both scholarly imagination and regulatory potential, confining us to a contingent status quo. In the following article, I argue for the use of counterfactuals in international legal scholarship to, first, enrich our understanding of the biases …

Separating Crime From Punishment: What India’S Prisons Might Tell Us About Its Criminal Process, Abhinav Sekhri

National Law School of India Review

No abstract provided.

The Promise Of Machine Learning For The Courts Of India, Sandeep Bhupatiraju, Daniel L. Chen, Shareen Joshi

National Law School of India Review

No abstract provided.

Proving The Constitution: Burdens Of Proof And The Confrontation Clause, Enrique Schaerer

University of Richmond Law Review

In law, we never prove anything to 100% certainty. For factual propositions, the proponent has the burden of proving them to the satisfaction of a standard: a preponderance of the evidence at the low end; clear and convincing evidence in the middle; proof beyond a reasonable doubt at the high end. The standards are often explicit. Yet, for legal propositions, standards are often implicit or lacking altogether. This Article argues that, to decide legal issues, courts may look to similar burdens of proof that they use to decide factual issues. They should do so informally, using burdens of proof just …

Jour 4801/6801: Reporting Social Justice (Syllabus), Joe Hayden

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Writing and reporting news and feature stories on issues concerning social justice.

Jour 6801: Reporting Social Justice (Syllabus), Joe Hayden

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Writing and reporting news and feature stories on issues concerning social justice.

Tennessee Felon Population Update, January 2021, Tennessee. Department Of Correction.

Felon Population Reports

No abstract provided.

Office Of Criminal Justice Programs Annual Report Fy 2019/2020, Tennessee. Department Finance & Administration.

Office of Criminal Justice Programs

No abstract provided.

Overview Of The Criminal Justice System In Tennessee (2022 Plan Appendix B), Tennessee. Department Finance & Administration.

Office of Criminal Justice Programs

No abstract provided.

Tennessee Office Of Criminal Justice Programs Strategic Planning Process And Evaluation Management Strategy (2022 Plan Appendix A), Tennessee. Department Finance & Administration.

Office of Criminal Justice Programs

No abstract provided.

Tennessee Office Of Criminal Justice Programs Victim Centered Roundtable, Key Findings And Summary 2020, Tennessee. Department Finance & Administration.

Office of Criminal Justice Programs

No abstract provided.

Desoto Yearbook, Memphis State University, Memphis, 1996

Yearbook

The 1996 "DeSoto" yearbook of Memphis State University in Memphis, Tennessee, was digitized by the Internet Archive and can be found at this link: https://archive.org/details/desoto199600unse

The Cycle Of Violence And Its Effect On Revictimization, Shelby Stevens

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This thesis proposes a study that examines the link between child abuse and victimization as an adult in an abusive relationship. In using experience from an internship at a domestic violence shelter combined with a literature review with studies that have analyzed similar concepts, this study is proposed to take place across the state of Ohio. The rates of domestic violence and child abuse will be collected to determine if child abuse makes revictimization more likely later in life.

Serving The Nation Through The Height Of A Pandemic: An In-Depth Look At Five Large U.S. Cities’ Budgets And Crime Incidents Over The Course Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Daniel Cooper

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Police departments, like all public agencies, are limited by their budgets and may struggle to recruit and retain qualified officers. In policing, a majority of the budget is spend on salaries, pensions, and benefits. This is increasingly important to look because we have seen calls for defunding the police over the summer of 2020 and certain localities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City have made cuts to their police department. With a loss of budget, some departments had to downsize on specialized units, which played a role in an increase in crime rates. In the case of New …

Examining The Factor Structure And Validity Of The Triarchic Model Of Psychopathy Across Measures, Katherine L. Collison, Joshua D. Miller, Donald R. Lynam

Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications

The triarchic model of psychopathy proposes 3 distinct trait domains underlying psychopathy: boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. The original (and most widely used) measure developed from this model is the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), which yields a total psychopathy score as well as scores on each of the 3 domains. Recently, researchers have derived several alternative measures from other inventories to assess these 3 domains; however, the purported underlying 3-factor structure of the alternative scales has been relatively untested. In the present study, 431 participants completed the TriPM and its alternative measures via Amazon Mechanical Turk, and items within the scales …

Skimmed Milk: Reflections On Race, Health, And What Families Tell Us About Structural Racism, Robin A. Lenhardt, Kimani Paul-Emile

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Recreational Marijuana In Ohio: A Cost Benefit Analysis, Noah Polanski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study aims to analyze the cost and benefits of legalizing recreational marijuana in Ohio by estimating the monetary value of major cost and benefit items caused by legal recreational marijuana being implementing in Ohio. Key areas that are used in the analysis to give an accurate picture of the costs and benefits of marijuana are the areas of: tax revenue, the labor market, the criminal justice system, public health and safety, and educational attainment. By focusing on changes experienced in other states that have legalized, a realistic estimation of what will happen in Ohio can be made.

Data shows …

The Impact Of Human Rights Abuses And Emigration In Venezuela, Caroline Hanna

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My overall goal with my Honors project is to have a better understanding of the human rights situation in Venezuela and how human rights abuses are one of the many factors in the high levels of emigration. The influx of migrants has led to serious issues in many South American countries, especially Colombia, as many countries face economic hurdles, and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the global economy. I want to address the international response to this crisis as well due to the differing responses of the Syrian refugee crisis and the Venezuelan migration crisis. In order to do this, …

The Female Experience In Law Enforcement, Matia Martz

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The following research was conducted to achieve a better understanding of what issues women face when entering the career field of law enforcement, and how to better educate the projected audience, whether that be a member of law enforcement or a future female recruit, in these issues. Outside of personal experiences from the author, this research will be done via literature review and conclude with what future research can do to aid in this field. The following passages will cover career challenges that women have faced, how gender can affect one’s perceived ability to work in law enforcement, how different …

An Analysis Of Internalized Racism In Art Created By Black Artists; Implications For Psychological Intervention, Mirjam Hatton

Theses and Dissertations

There is ample research on the effects of racism on Black people; however, less focus has been placed on struggles due to the psychological injury caused by internalized racism (IR). Strategies to alleviate symptoms related to IR are examined through the lens of art and the literature associated with IR. This dissertation explores (a) how IR is related to emotions and psychological processes, (b) how IR is expressed in art created by Black artists, and (c) implications for integration of art into psychological interventions targeting IR. Six artists were identified for the dissertation and nine works of art were selected. …

An Exploration Of Successful Housing Outcomes After Homelessness: An Experience Captured Through The Lens Of U.S. Veterans, Janice Filer

Theses and Dissertations

Homelessness is experienced by veterans at a higher percentage than nonveterans. Veterans represent eight percent of the homeless population (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2019). Also, the mortality rate of younger homeless veterans is higher than non-homeless veterans (Schinka et al., 2018). Veterans experience the lack of affordable housing, the lack of affordable health care, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and a lack of family or social support (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 2018). The purpose of this qualitative research study was to interview prior homeless veterans from Gulf War Era I (1990 - 2001) and/or Gulf …

A Systematic Review Of The Literature On Post-Traumatic Growth In Police Officers After Exposure To Potentially Traumatic Events, Michael Norfleet

Theses and Dissertations

As police departments and officers across the world take on the task of reducing crime and enhancing public safety, their jobs entail the potential of exposure to events that may be experienced as traumatic. In contrast to the larger literature on negative outcomes of potentially traumatic events (PTEs), there is limited knowledge on the potential for post-traumatic growth (PTG) and how clinicians can promote it, generally and in police officers (Westphal & Bonanno, 2007). Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996), “coined the term posttraumatic growth to describe the experience of positive changes that occur as a result of the struggle with major …

Disconnected Youth: The Journey To Educational Re-Engagement: The Alternative Education Experiences Of Black, Indigenous, People Of Color (Bipoc) Youth, Latoya L. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Over 2.5 million youth remain disconnected from education or the workforce well into their adult lives. Nearly one-third of youth who remain disconnected are Black, Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC) from low-income communities. The purpose of this research study was to gain an understanding of what systems and processes support re-engagement for formerly disconnected, and subsequently re-engaged, BIPOC students from alternative high school programs in the State of California. The following research questions guided this qualitative narrative study: How do former disconnected youth ages 19-26 years of age describe their experience in traditional public schools compared to that of alternative …