Digital Commons Network^™

Extreme Prison Sentences: Legal And Normative Consequences, Melissa Hamilton

Cardozo Law Review

The article examines the phenomenon of extreme sentences—defined as those exceeding 200 years—in the federal criminal justice system, raising critical questions about their rationale, proportionality, and alignment with traditional theories of punishment. Through an empirical study of 55 such cases, the analysis highlights the role of mandatory minimums, cognitive biases, and an exclusionist mindset in driving these sentences. It critiques the normalization of extreme penalties and their implications for mass incarceration, deterrence, and human dignity.

Can Ai Empower The Rule Of Law?, Eleftheria Papadaki

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Future Crime: A Theoretical Foundation For Designing Effective Cybercrime Laws In The Age Of Ai And Ransomware, Thi Ha Do, Niloufer Selvadurai

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Judicial Enforcement Of Evidence Law, G. Alexander Nunn

Faculty Scholarship

The truth matters. At least it should. In the courtroom, truth can serve as the cornerstone of justice, liberating the innocent, vindicating victims, and holding the guilty to account. Indeed, truth is such a normative imperative that an entire legal discipline now focuses on fostering its discovery at trial—evidence law. By regulating both the reliability of proof and the rationality of cognitive inferences, evidence law seeks to help factfinders discern truth and reach an accurate verdict. And given the importance of that role, one might naturally assume that the strict enforcement of evidence law would be a legal mandate of …

Profiles Of Academic Majors - 2025, Office Of Institutional Research And Effectiveness

Profiles of Academic Majors

The Profiles of Academic Majors (PAM) is an annual publication that provides a ten-year longitudinal snapshot of enrollments, degrees awarded and student demographics arranged by fall term or academic year as appropriate

Seeing Is Believing: Identifying The “Ideal Manifestation Of Hidden Disability” In Ontario’S And Quebec’S Social Benefits Tribunals, Pascale Malenfant

Dalhousie Law Journal

The phenomenon of disability skepticism, especially in relation to “hidden” disabilities like chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), has fostered a culture of doubt among medical, legal, and public entities. This paper explores the intersection of such skepticism with the social benefits adjudication processes in Ontario and Quebec. In drawing parallels to feminist critiques of the “ideal victim” in sexual assault cases, it argues that the tribunals’ biased framework for believability is based on a claimant’s conformity to stereotypical expectations of what an “ideal” claimant with a hidden disability looks like. By comparatively examining 10 years worth of Ontario and Quebec tribunal …

Getting There From Here: Reflecting On Compassionate Migration Policy, Steven W. Bender

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Having written about Latinx issues for more than three decades, with a focus on immigration policy for at least the last two decades, I see no middle ground in this time of Trump. Those who relish hurt and hate, and those scholars who wrote the kindling for that bonfire, must be basking in the glow of their handiwork. Those of us who I claim are on the right side of history must search through the ashes for hope—the where, when, and how to nurture humanity on scorched ground. Counting myself among those searching for hope, I acknowledge the indulgence offered …

The Lawyer: Fall 2025, Seattle University School Of Law

Lawyer

The Briefcase

Faculty Showcase

A look at the Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) Institute

Out & About

The Legal Writing Program's past, present, and future

Alumni Profile: Stephanie Nichols

Alumni Profile: Kelly Vomacka

Class Notes

Thou Shalt Not Castrate: The Conflict Between Louisiana’S Surgical Castration Law And The Principles Of Medical Ethics, Morgan Ambrosecchia

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In 2024, Louisiana became the first state to permit courtordered surgical castration for sex offenders who have been convicted of certain sex crimes against children. Under the law, an offender who refuses to submit to the procedure will face an additional three to five years in prison without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The court’s order is contingent on confirmation by a court-appointed expert that the offender is an “appropriate candidate for surgery.” However, the statutory language is vague and does not clearly define who can serve as an expert nor does it define the scope …

Look What You Made Me Do, Russell M. Gold

Washington and Lee Law Review

We have understood for centuries that crime is both the product of social forces and individual choice. We know now that crime is affected by economic deprivation, addiction, trauma, and mental health issues. But American criminal legal processes hide this reality by coercing defendants into expressing a profoundly simple narrative: crime is solely individual choice to do wrong. This coerced narrative finds defendants during a plea colloquy standing up in court saying that they are pleading guilty because they are guilty and for no other reason. A defendant who goes off-script to tell the judge that they have been repeatedly …

I Was In Prison And You Educated Me: A Missiological Analysis, Paul H. De Neui

Great Commission Research Journal

With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of the world’s prisoners. The U.S. detains more of its own population than any other country in the world. Providing theological education to men and women who are incarcerated in U.S. prisons presents possibilities for mutual transformation, culture shaping, as well as numerous complex challenges. This article reviews the ten years of North Park Theological Seminary’s involvement in this effort in three state prisons in Illinois, drawing out lessons learned in the process. The opportunities and potential pitfalls are presented from a missiological perspective to …

Terror For Profit: A New Paradigm For Understanding Terrorism And Organised Crime. By Martin Gallagher. Boulder, Co: Keypoint Press, 2024., Colin Atkinson

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Gulf Coast Faculty Council Minutes - September 23 2025, Eric A. Saillant

Gulf Coast Faculty Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of Federal Oversight In Police Misconduct Investigations, Ilana M. Friedman

Denver Law Review

This Article examines the relationship between state prosecutors, federal prosecutors, and the Civil Rights Division inside the United States Department of Justice in conducting police misconduct investigations and prosecutions. While previous literature documents prosecutors’ enormous concentration of power, they remain an understudied population in the criminal legal system, particularly in how they investigate and prosecute police officers accused of crimes. To remedy this gap, I conducted over fifty interviews with prosecutors, civilian investigators, and other legal professionals working in the domain of police misconduct investigations and prosecutions in multiple field sites around the United States. This Article is one of …

Restorative Justice: How Can It Be Effectively Implemented In Schools To Resolve Conflicts And Improve Student Behavior And School Culture?, Aaron Melander

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Schools have addressed student misbehavior and conflict resolution in many ways. Historically, many interventions have been punitive and have done little to help students develop healthy conflict resolution skills. Restorative justice is an approach that seeks to empower students to participate constructively in the conflict-resolution process. This capstone project is a professional development series that addresses the research question: Restorative Justice: How Can It Be Effectively Implemented in Schools to Resolve Conflicts and Improve Student Behavior and School Culture? Research concludes that restorative justice can benefit students, teachers, and school communities by actively teaching skills such as reflection, empathy, self-awareness, …

C. Stephen Evans, Living Accountably: Accountability As A Virtue, Michael W. Austin

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Solutions: Reclaiming Reproductive Autonomy In Oklahoma Indian Country After Dobbs, Morgan Sandler

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In the United States, Native American women face disproportionately high rates of sexual violence and adverse maternal health outcomes. In addition to these ongoing challenges, they continue to face significant barriers to reproductive healthcare access. Oklahoma’s near-total abortion ban—without exceptions for rape or incest—exacerbates these negative trends, particularly for Native women and the Two-Spirit community. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, approximately 42 percent of Oklahoma’s land area is recognized as Indian Country. This Comment explores how Oklahoma’s abortion ban disproportionately impacts Native women due to systemic inequities stemming from the federal government’s long history of …

A Call For Canceling Compassionate Release And Restoring Federal Parole, Honorable Chief Judge C.J. Williams

Washington and Lee Law Review

The current federal sentencing scheme is a patchwork quilt of provisions that grant judges virtually unfettered and unreviewable discretion imposing sentences on the front-end and in granting compassionate release on the back end. It was not designed in the beginning to be this way. The advisory-only sentencing guidelines scheme we have now resulted from the Supreme Court’s finding that mandatory guidelines violated the Constitution. The recent sentencing reform movement—of which compassionate release is a significant part—has sought to find ways of ameliorating what is seen as the draconian result of the war on drugs. The question is whether granting Article …

Case Global: A Winning Tradition, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law, The Frederick K. Cox International Law Center

Case Global Newsletter

Volume 17, No. 1 (2025)

• CWRU once again ranked among the best in 2025 PreLaw magazine and US News & World Report rankings of International Law Program...
• Case Western Journal of International Law Tackles the Need to Update the Geneva Conventions
• Building on a Winning Tradition
• CWRU Launches New International Development Law Lab
• CWRU Establishes Spring Break in the Hague Program
• Professor Michael Scharf leads Team to Prepare Ukrainian Judges and Prosecutors to Try Environmental War Crimes
• Professor Rapp teaches Comparative Law to Saudi Administrative Judges in Riyadh
• Yemen Accountability Project publishes two new White Papers
• Immigration Clinic Builds Momentum …

Arcadia Magazine, 2025-10

Alumni Magazine

No abstract provided.

Columns Fall 2025, Southern Adventist University

Alumni Newsletter

The Fall 2025 issue of Columns features articles about Southern's inaugural Bachelor of Science in Engineering graduates, Homecoming Weekend 2025, notes from God in nature, and service opportunities.

Reduction And Prevention Of Intimate Partner Violence In King County, Wa, Leta Whitney

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The goal of my social change project is to reduce and prevent intimate partner violence in King County, WA, through educational awareness, training, and supportive resources for victims and perpetrators, as well as the communities in which they reside. Significant Findings: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a preventable public health issue that affects millions of Americans and their communities, and it can occur across an entire lifespan. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) suggests that an estimated 8.5 million women and 4 million men in the United States have reported experiencing a level of IPV …

Identifying Coercion To Prevent Human Trafficking Of At-Risk Youth In Duval County, Florida, Maeve G. Coen

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: Preventing at-risk youth, adolescents, and teenagers from human trafficking victimization.

Significant Findings:Duval County faces the ongoing public health issue of human trafficking at-risk youth. At risk youth can be identified based on risk and protective factors identified through the social-ecological model. Individual risk factors may include child maltreatment, sexual abuse, and exposure to antisocial behaviors throughout childhood. Children with increased exposure to child abuse and maltreatment will escape their homes and engage in endangering behaviors with peers and adults exhibiting antisocial and coercive behaviors. Institutional, Community and Public Policy in Duval County has made advances in treating youth …

Burdens Of Proof In Criminal Procedure, Eve Brensike Primus

Articles

The Supreme Court’s haphazard approach to allocating burdens of proof in criminal procedure has created a system in which constitutional rights can be rendered meaningless simply because defendants are required to prove things they cannot possibly know. Even though allocations of the burden of proof often drive litigation outcomes, the Court has failed to establish clear burden allocation structures for cases arising under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, leaving lower courts split about how to allocate the burdens. When the Supreme Court does allocate burdens, it often does so without explanation or consideration of key factors. Recent Supreme …

From Altamont To Astroworld: An Analysis Of Management Issues In Large Scale Music Festivals, Jennifer Morriss

Honors College Theses

The most common problems in music festivals can largely be broken into two categories: risks to the individual and risks on a grand scale. It is the responsibility of event managers to consider how to best keep everyone safe and maintain proper organization. Risks to the individual are often things like substance use and abuse, harm reduction, and sexual assault or harassment. Meanwhile, broad risks tend to be issues of evacuation and emergency management, crowd safety, stampedes, and casualties or violence. It is crucial to reflect on prior common safety and security issues when setting out to produce a large …

Mentoring Programs For Youth In Hagerstown, Maryland: Addressing The Opioid Epidemic, Stephane Reed

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The goal of this social change portfolio is to help develop and promote mentoring programs for youth in Hagerstown, Maryland as preventive strategy to reduce the impact of the opioid epidemic. This initiative seeks to strengthen resilience, enhance academic performance and foster healthy decision-making among adolescents through consistent, supportive adult-youth relationships. The proposed mentoring framework to integrate culturally responsive, trauma-informed and community-based approaches address the systemic and interpersonal factors contributing to misuse in Washington County. Significant Findings: In Washington County, where Hagerstown is located, it continues to experience one of the highest opioids overdoes within Maryland which is …

Housing Instability And The Prevention Of Recidivism In Travis County, Helen Carter

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: To reduce and prevent homelessness for those individuals being released from incarceration to aid recidivism prevention, through the expansion and maximization of re-entry programs prior to release. Significant Findings: Both homelessness and recidivism are significant problems in the Travis County area. Data showed over 6,000 individuals were unhoused per day in 2024 (ECHO, n.d.), with recidivism costing the state of Texas almost $370 million per year. There is also a strong association between having been incarcerated, being unhoused, and subsequent recidivism, with a 10 times higher likelihood of being homeless (Couloute, 2018). In addition, this demographic faces many …

Buncombe County Overdose Prevention, Alexandra Decker

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Goal Statement: The goal of this social change project is to prevent overdoses in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Significant Findings: Individuals experiencing polysubstance use within Buncombe County’s homeless population face an elevated risk of fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Contributing factors include co-occurring mental health disorders, unstable housing, and lack of harm reduction services (Khan et al., 2022; Lyons et al., 2019). In 2024, Buncombe County had one of the highest overdose rates throughout the state (North Carolina Overdose Epidemic Data | Division of Public Health, 2022). Key findings show the need for integrated, trauma-informed prevention efforts, including expanding dual-diagnosis programs, …

Syllabus: Gen140 Gender, Activism, And Social Change, Ellie Bell

Open Educational Resources

This course introduces students to general topics in activism, gender studies, and justice. The course will draw connections between gender, race, sexuality and grassroots, community and organizational activism and social justice and change. Students will be expected to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to observational and documentation projects focusing on the activism occurring on the college campus and in the larger community. The course will introduce key terms in the interdisciplinary fields of gender and activist studies and some of the important debates in these fields. It will then focus on a specific form of activism toward social …

Spectrum, Volume 55, Issue 4, Sacred Heart University

Newspapers (Obelisk & Spectrum)

Highlights include: Second Annual P.I.E.R. Conference -- Laudato Si’ Initiative Expands to Office -- PRSSA Prepares Students for Real-World Success -- Fall Festivities at SHU -- TAP Presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” -- Sacred Heart Hockey Ranked First in Preseason Polls