Law Commons^™

Sb 336 - Law Enforcement Officers And Agencies, Richard J. Uberto Jr., Brooke Wilner

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act prohibits data carriers from disclosing to their customers the existence of a subpoena issued for the production of the customers’ records. The Act also allows the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to retain the fingerprints of individuals working in certain professions that require background checks for the duration of employment.

Hb 803 - Crimes And Offenses, Scott P. Robertson, Sharnell S. Simon

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act criminalizes the trafficking of elders, disabled adults, and residents for the purpose of appropriating their resources, such as Social Security and disability benefits. According to the Act, this conduct constitutes a felony and those convicted could serve up to twenty years in prison or receive a fine of up to $100,000, or both. The Act defines relevant terms, exempts physicians and other health care providers who act pursuant to lawful authorization, and repeals all conflicting laws.

Sb 127 - Criminal Procedure, Adriana C. Heffley, Allison S. Kim

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act introduces procedure by which victims who were not provided notice criminal proceedings, after requesting notice, may file a motion to be acknowledged by the court. This Act is meant to create a means by which a victim’s rights, as introduced by the constitutional amendment in SR 146, may be raised or enforced.

Sb 407 - Sentencing And Punishment, Abigail L. Howd, Alisa M. Radut

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act provides comprehensive reform for offenders entering, proceeding through, and leaving the criminal justice system. The Act requires all superior court clerks to provide an electronic filing option, and it requires juvenile court clerks to collect and report certain data about juvenile offenders to the Juvenile Data Exchange. In addition, the Act creates the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and the Criminal Case Data Exchange Board. The Act also changes the grounds for granting and revoking professional licenses and drivers’ licenses to offenders and modifies the provisions relating to issuing citations and setting bail. Inmates of any public institution may …

Prosecutorial Dismissals As Teachable Moments (And Databases) For The Police, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

The criminal justice process typically begins when the police make a warrantless arrest. Although police usually do a good job of bringing in the “right” cases, they do make mistakes. Officers sometimes arrest suspects even though there is no evidence to prove an essential element of the crime. Police also conduct unlawful searches and interrogations. And officers make arrests in marginal cases—schoolyard fights are a good example—in which prosecutors do not think a criminal conviction is appropriate. Accordingly, prosecutors regularly dismiss cases after police have made warrantless arrests and suspects have sat in jail for days, or even weeks. In …

The Robot-Transporter: Sex Trafficking, Autonomous Vehicles, And Criminal Liability For Manufacturers, Olivia Phillips

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Despite global condemnation, sex trafficking continues to plague our world. Even in developed countries, the problem persists. Technological advancements, like the Internet, have spurred the development of organized sex trafficking networks and have made “transactions” easier. Although law enforcement agencies have tried to adapt their investigative techniques to combat the problem, developments in technology move at a much quicker rate.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will present a new set of challenges for law enforcement agencies in the fight against sex trafficking. In the not-too-distant future, AVs, or “self-driving cars,” will dominate the roadways. An AV will be completely aware of the …

Bucklew V. Precythe : Brief Of Arizona Voice For Crime Victims, Inc., And Melissa Sanders As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents, Paul Cassell, Allyson N. Ho, Daniel Nowicki, Daniel Chen

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This amicus brief in Bucklew v. Precythe discusses how undue delay in capital cases can harm crime victims’ families. After reviewing the facts of the cases, the brief draws on the available scholarship to show how extended delays in criminal cases – and particularly death penalty cases – can compound the harms and exacerbate the trauma that victims’ families suffer. The brief concludes that the important interests of victims should be vindicated by affirming the judgment reached below.

The Uk Forensic Science Regulator: A Model For Forensic Science Regulation?, Carole Mccartney, Emmanuel N. Amoako

Georgia State University Law Review

The use of an array of scientific techniques and technologies is now considered customary within criminal justice, with technological developments and scientific advancements regularly added to the crime investigator’s arsenal. However, the scientific basis, reliability, and fallibility of the application of such “forensic science” (and the resulting scientific evidence) continues to come under intense scrutiny. In response to apparently irremediable problems with the quality of scientific evidence in the United Kingdom (UK), the government created the role of “Forensic Science Regulator” in 2007.

The introduction of a regulator was intended to establish quality standards for all forensic science providers in …

Criminalizing Battered Mothers, Courtney Cross

Utah Law Review

How a domestic violence survivor responds to the abuse she is experiencing depends on many factors. Some critical considerations include her access to resources, desire to stay in her relationship, and assessment of her own safety. Criminal and civil court systems place enormous pressure on survivors to separate from their abusive partners. Not only are survivors with children pressured to leave, they are punished when they stay. That punishment can come in any combination of diminished custody rights, limited parental rights, and incarceration. Yet a survivor who flees with her children is not immune to these same consequences: if she …

Whom Should We Punish, And How? Rational Incentives And Criminal Justice Reform, Keith N. Hylton

William & Mary Law Review

This Article sets out a comprehensive account of rational punishment theory and examines its implications for criminal law reform. Specifically, what offenses should be subjected to criminal punishment, and how should we punish? Should we use prison sentences or fines, and when should we use them? Should some conduct be left to a form of market punishment through private lawsuits? Should fines be used to fund the criminal justice system? The answers I offer address some of the most important public policy issues of the moment, such as mass incarceration and the use of fines to finance law enforcement. The …

The History Of Misdemeanor Bail, Shima Baughman

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Bail is one of the most consequential decisions in criminal justice. The ability to secure bail often makes the difference between guilt and innocence, retaining employment and family obligations, and keeping a place to live. These implications affect those charged with felonies and this has been the focus for many years, but it affects even more so those charged with misdemeanors. A misdemeanor is theoretically a less serious crime with less serious consequences, but the effects on a defendant’s life are just as serious in the short term. There is a growing body of important empirical work that demonstrates the …

It’S Not The Thought That Counts: Pennsylvania Quietly Made Rape And Idsi Strict Liability Crimes, Jordan E. Yatsko

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In 1982, the Pennsylvania Superior Court decided Commonwealth v. Williams, wherein the court held that a defendant charged with rape or involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (IDSI) cannot use a mistake of fact defense as to the victim’s consent. The court relied on the reasoning that a defendant’s mens rea is not an element of either rape or IDSI. Section 302 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, however, requires that where the legislature has failed to expressly require a finding of mens rea in the text of the statute, at least recklessness must be imputed to each material element.

This Comment …

Incentivizing Corporate America To Eradicate Transnational Bribery Worldwide: Federal Transparency And Voluntary Disclosure Under The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, Peter Reilly

Peter R. Reilly

In 1977, it was discovered that hundreds of U.S. companies had spent hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to improve business overseas. In response, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), thereby making it illegal to bribe foreign officials to obtain a business advantage. A major tension has emerged between the federal agencies charged with enforcing the FCPA (i.e., the DOJ and SEC), and the corporate entities trying to stay within the legal and regulatory bounds of the statute. Specifically, while the government appears to be trying to maximize discretion and flexibility in carrying out its enforcement duties, …

Individual Accountability For Corporate Crime, Gregory Gilchrist

Georgia State University Law Review

Corporate crime is too often addressed by fining the corporation, leaving the real people who committed the crime facing no consequence at all. This failure to hold individuals accountable in cases of corporate malfeasance generates an accountability gap that undermines deterrence and introduces expressive costs. Facing heightened criticism of this trend, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a policy designed to generate prosecutions of real people in cases of corporate wrongdoing. The policy reflects a strong and continuing demand for more prosecutions of individuals in the corporate context.

This Article contends that the effort to introduce accountability by increasing prosecutions …

Hb 452 - Domestic Terrorism, John J. Crowley, Tatiana E. Posada

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act creates and defines the offense of domestic terrorism in Georgia. It establishes that a person must have the intent to intimidate the public or coerce the government while causing significant harm in order to be liable for domestic terrorism. The Act also provides for training law enforcement to identify and combat domestic terrorism, to share the information with the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and for the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center to share that information with the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Sb 174 - Probation And Early Release, Andrew J. Navratil, Jobena E. Hill

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act amends Georgia’s probation laws by shortening the amount of time offenders spend on probation, providing local supervision, and creating a more efficient use of resources within the criminal justice system. The Act permits the transfer from parole to probation and the use of local supervision for certain offenders. The Act also allows for early release of probationers who meet the terms of their probation. The Act creates a process to automatically generate a request for early termination of probation for certain low-level offenses after the offender successfully completes three years of probation.

Policing The Prosecutor: Race, The Fourth Amendment, And The Prosecution Of Criminal Cases, Renee Mcdonald Hutchins

Journal Articles

As this article explores, while the Fourth Amendment is commonly criticized for the discretion it affords police officers, an overlooked result of the amendment’s lax regulation of the police is the enhanced power it affords prosecutors. Though for a time a warrant was the notional measure of reasonableness, over the last century the Court has crafted several exceptions to that measure to give the police greater leeway during on-the-street encounters. The Court has concurrently retreated from robust application of the exclusionary rule to remedy constitutional violations. These shifts have meant far more predictable wins for the prosecution at the suppression …

2017 Symposium Discussion: The Life Of An Immigration Attorney, Cori Alonso-Yoder

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Progressive Prosecutor: An Imperative For Criminal Justice Reform, Angela J. Davis

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Innocence Movement And Misdemeanors, Jenny M. Roberts

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In recent years, the Innocent Movement has begun to focus its attention on wrongful misdemeanor convictions as a systemic problem. This Article analyzes eighty-five documented misdemeanor exonerations and concludes that innocence has been demonstrated primarily in two ways: laboratory tests of alleged unlawful drugs that reveal “no controlled substance” despite the individual having pled guilty to misdemeanor drug possession; and police body camera or citizen videos that surface after a misdemeanor conviction to contradict the factual basis for that conviction. Strategic use of these relatively definitive methods of revealing wrongful misdemeanor convictions can call attention to the flaws in misdemeanor …

Facilitators’ Report: A Restorative Review Of The In-Custody Death Of Jason Leblanc, Jennifer Llewellyn, Jacob Macisaac, Heather Mcneil

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This report has been prepared by the process facilitation team made up of: Jennifer Llewellyn, Jake MacIsaac, Heather McNeil. The central parties to the process have reviewed the report for accuracy. The parties committed at the outset of the process to share the facts of what happened in this case and the justice process they undertook together to learn from what happened and to ensure that these lessons contribute to improving the lives of individuals and families in Nova Scotia. As such, this report does not make findings of fact or recommendations. It describes the situation, the parties involved, the …

Microsoft Ireland, The Cloud Act, And International Lawmaking 2.0, Jennifer Daskal

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

On March 23, President Trump signed the CLOUD Act, 1 thereby mooting one of the most closely watched Supreme Court cases this term: the Microsoft Ireland case. 2 This essay examines these extraordinary and fast-moving developments, explaining how the Act resolves the Supreme Court case and addresses the complicated questions of jurisdiction over data in the cloud. The developments represent a classic case of international lawmaking via domestic regulation, as mediated by major multinational corporations that manage so much of the world's data.

Corporate Culture And Competition Compliance In East Asia, Jingyuan Ma, Mel Marquis

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

It’S All Your Fault!: Examining The Defendant’S Use Of Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel As A Means Of Getting A “Second Bite At The Apple.”, Prentice L. White

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The United States Constitution provides individuals convicted of a crime with “a second bite at the apple.” The Sixth Amendment provides an avenue to appeal one’s conviction based on the claim of “ineffective assistance of counsel.” What were the Framers’ true intentions in using the phrase “effective assistance of counsel”? How does the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996 affect habeas corpus appeals? This article answers these questions through the eyes of Thomas—a fictional character who is appealing his murder conviction.

This article first looks at the history surrounding effective assistance of counsel and discusses the difficulties …

Racial Justice And Federal Habeas Corpus As Postconviction Relief From State Convictions, Leroy Pernell

Journal Publications

It is the purpose of this Article not to simply document the influence of race on our criminal system and its role in the current racial crisis of overrepresentation of minorities in our prisons, but rather to focus on the future and importance of a key tool in the struggle for racial equity – federal habeas corpus as a postconviction remedy. By looking first at the racial context of several “landmark” criminal justice reform decisions, this Article considers how race serves as the root of the procedural due process reform that began in earnest during the Warren Court. This Article …

Rethinking The Boundaries Of “Criminal Justice", Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

This review of The New Criminal Justice Thinking (Sharon Dolovich & Alexandra Natapoff, eds.) tracks the shifting and uncertain contours of “criminal justice” as an object of study and critique. Specifically, I trace two themes in the book: (1) the uncertain boundaries of the “criminal justice system” as a web of laws, actors, and institutions; and (2) the uncertain boundaries of “criminal justice thinking” as a universe of interdisciplinary scholarship, policy discourse, and public engagement. I argue that these two themes speak to critically important questions about the nature of criminal justice scholarship and reform efforts. Without a firm understanding …

The Consensus Myth In Criminal Justice Reform, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

It has become popular to identify a “bipartisan consensus” on criminal justice reform, but how deep is that consensus, actually? This article argues that the purported consensus is largely illusory. Despite shared reformist vocabulary, the consensus rests on distinct critiques that identify different flaws and justify distinct policy solutions. The underlying disagreements transcend traditional left/right political divides and speak to deeper disputes about the state and the role of criminal law in society. The article offers a typology of the two prevailing, but fundamentally distinct, critiques of the system: (1) the quantitative approach (what I call the “over” frame); and …

Criminal Employment Law, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article diagnoses a phenomenon, “criminal employment law,” which exists at the nexus of employment law and the criminal justice system. Courts and legislatures discourage employers from hiring workers with criminal records and encourage employers to discipline workers for non-work-related criminal misconduct. In analyzing this phenomenon, my goals are threefold: (1) to examine how criminal employment law works; (2) to hypothesize why criminal employment law has proliferated; and (3) to assess what is wrong with criminal employment law. This Article examines the ways in which the laws that govern the workplace create incentives for employers not to hire individuals with …

Now You See Me: Problems And Strategies For Introducing Gender Self-Determination Into The Eighth Amendment For Gender Nonconforming Prisoners, Lizzie Bright

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

As the fight for transgender rights becomes more visible in the United States, the plight of incarcerated transgender individuals seeking medical care behind bars is likewise gaining attention—and some trans prisoners are gaining access to gender-affirming care. However, progress for incarcerated members of the trans community has been slow, piecemeal, and not without problems. As federal court opinions in Eighth Amendment access-to-care cases brought by trans prisoners show, how a court interprets the subjective intent requirements of the Eighth Amendment and how the imprisoned plaintiff pleads his/her/their case can make or break the claim. Further, courts and plaintiffs rely on …

Radical Feminist Harms On Sex Workers, I. India Thusi

Faculty Scholarship

Sex work has long been a site for contesting womanhood, sexuality, race, and patriarchy. Its very existence forces us to examine how we think about two very dirty subjects-money and sex. The radical feminist literature highlights the problems with sex work and often describes it as a form of "human trafficking" and violence against women. This influential philosophy underlies much of the work in human trafficking courts, was evident in a letter signed by several Hollywood starlets in opposition to Amnesty International's support for decriminalization, and is the premise of several movies and documentaries about "sex slavery." Radical feminists aim …