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Criminal Law

Journal

American University Washington College of Law

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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Slippery Concept Of "Object And Purpose" In International Criminal Law, Patrick J. Keenan Jan 2023

The Slippery Concept Of "Object And Purpose" In International Criminal Law, Patrick J. Keenan

American University International Law Review

In little more than twenty-five years, the field of international criminal law has grown from a small slice of public international law into a functioning system of international justice, complete with multiple juridical bodies and substantial scholarly attention. Building on the legacy of the Nuremberg Tribunals and drawing from international humanitarian law, human rights law, and domestic criminal law principles, international criminal law has become its own discipline. Creating any new field of law is a complicated endeavor; this is especially true when the field affects and is affected by so many politically sensitive issues. Throughout this doctrinal experiment, one …


Hostility Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Why Congress Should Decriminalize Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment In The Military, Adam J. Crane Jan 2023

Hostility Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Why Congress Should Decriminalize Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment In The Military, Adam J. Crane

Criminal Law Practitioner

In 2022, for the first time in American history, Congress enacted legislation criminalizing hostile work environment sexual harassment. More serious types of sexual harassment have long been criminal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but hostile work environment harassment is a civil wrong, not a crime, and should not have been made into one. Section 539D of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (now listed under Article 134, UCMJ (Sexual Harassment), is both unconstitutional and counterproductive. It violates the Fifth Amendment for vagueness by failing to provide fair notice of what is prohibited, and the First …


Vulnerable Fraudsters: Reverse Affinity Fraud In Cases Of Public Hoaxes, Caroline E. Vordtriede Jan 2023

Vulnerable Fraudsters: Reverse Affinity Fraud In Cases Of Public Hoaxes, Caroline E. Vordtriede

Criminal Law Practitioner

This Article examines reverse affinity fraud, which is affinity fraud in the context of public hoaxes. In traditional affinity fraud the fraudster targets a vulnerable group, whereas in cases of public hoaxes the fraudster portrays herself as part of a vulnerable group and targets the well-meaning and sympathetic general public. This Article explores the mindset and characteristics of vulnerable fraudsters in reverse affinity frauds by analyzing the cases of Sherri Papini and Lacey Spears. Both Papini and Spears utilized social media and online giving sites to defraud the public, and their cases highlight the unique challenges prosecutors have in proving …


Unwinding “Law And Order”: How Second Look Mechanisms Resist Mass Incarceration And Increase Justice, Destiny Fullwood, Cecilia Bruni Jan 2023

Unwinding “Law And Order”: How Second Look Mechanisms Resist Mass Incarceration And Increase Justice, Destiny Fullwood, Cecilia Bruni

Human Rights Brief

For decades, the United States has used incarceration to achieve a particularized version of safety. Amidst the civil rights movement, presidential candidate Barry Goldwater wielded the phrase “law and order” against the masses of Black men, women, and children in their fight for equitable treatment. This came at a time when “[i]t was no longer socially permissible for polite White people to say they opposed equal rights for Black Americans. Instead, they began ‘talking about the urban uprisings’” and “attaching [those] to street crime, to ordinary lawlessness[.]” The result was a decades-long, persistent campaign to maintain order by arresting and …


Lessons In Movement Lawyering From The Ferguson Uprising, Maggie Ellinger-Locke Jan 2023

Lessons In Movement Lawyering From The Ferguson Uprising, Maggie Ellinger-Locke

Human Rights Brief

Michael Brown was killed by Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. That day, I was on vacation in Michigan with my family, hanging on the beach and playing in the water. My father passed away from liver cancer exactly four months before, and I made the decision to close down his law practice in the St. Louis, Missouri area, and move to Washington, DC, where my longterm partner had taken a job. The trip to Michigan was supposed to be a stopover on my way to DC; my car was packed to the brim.


Capital Punishment And The ‘Acnestis’ Of Its Modern Reformation, Sudarsanan Sivakumar Jan 2022

Capital Punishment And The ‘Acnestis’ Of Its Modern Reformation, Sudarsanan Sivakumar

Human Rights Brief

The term “Capital Punishment” encompasses any penalizing punishment that results in the death of people accused of committing a crime.1 This damnation dates back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the “Code of Hammurabi,” a misemployed code that ensured the death penalty for twenty-five distinct crimes. People convicted of crimes were made to suffer for their actions in horrific ways, including being burnt alive and drowning.2 Since then, death by hanging has been the conventional method for capital punishment in most of the world.


When Jail & Prison Sentences Become Death Sentences: How Willfully Exposing Incarcerated Persons To Covid-19 Amounts To Cruel & Unusual Punishment, Arielle Aboulafia Jan 2022

When Jail & Prison Sentences Become Death Sentences: How Willfully Exposing Incarcerated Persons To Covid-19 Amounts To Cruel & Unusual Punishment, Arielle Aboulafia

Human Rights Brief

Eric Warner called his older brother Hank from San Quentin State Prison almost every Sunday. Though the prison only allowed the brothers to speak for fifteen minutes each week, the two spoke about their lives. In June 2021, Eric stopped calling, and Hank became worried. Hank tried to get in touch with the prison. However, his calls were met with a dead-end voicemail each time. He recalls that he “knew, by not hearing anything, that something was not good.” The following month, prison personnel returned Hank’s calls and told him that his brother Eric had been hospitalized. Later that month, …


Empowering American Victims Of International Organized Crime: Proposing An Amendment To Clarify Rico's Extraterritorial Application, Lisa Lindhorst Mar 2020

Empowering American Victims Of International Organized Crime: Proposing An Amendment To Clarify Rico's Extraterritorial Application, Lisa Lindhorst

Legislation and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.


Human Trafficking Victims' Need For Vacatur: Demolishing Roadblocks To Freedom: An Analysis Of The Current State Laws In The United States, The Current Federal Landscape, And A Call For The United Nations To Amend An Existing Protocol To Allow Victims Of Human Trafficking To Vacate Their Criminal Records, Melissa Owens Jan 2020

Human Trafficking Victims' Need For Vacatur: Demolishing Roadblocks To Freedom: An Analysis Of The Current State Laws In The United States, The Current Federal Landscape, And A Call For The United Nations To Amend An Existing Protocol To Allow Victims Of Human Trafficking To Vacate Their Criminal Records, Melissa Owens

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


Sustainable Development Arrested By U.S. Criminal Law, Steven Ferrey Jan 2019

Sustainable Development Arrested By U.S. Criminal Law, Steven Ferrey

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Epitaph For Pardon Based On The Purpose Of Punishment, Eva Carracedo Carrasco Jan 2019

Epitaph For Pardon Based On The Purpose Of Punishment, Eva Carracedo Carrasco

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


From The Editor-In-Chief, Lisa Sendrow Jan 2019

From The Editor-In-Chief, Lisa Sendrow

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


Nolo Contendere Convictions: The Effect Of No Confession In Future Criminal Proceedings, Ramy Simpson Jan 2019

Nolo Contendere Convictions: The Effect Of No Confession In Future Criminal Proceedings, Ramy Simpson

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


The Bb Gun: A Harmless Toy Or Deadly Weapon? Practical Guidance For Objective Fact Finding In A Criminal Case, Steven N. Gosney, John Zak Jan 2019

The Bb Gun: A Harmless Toy Or Deadly Weapon? Practical Guidance For Objective Fact Finding In A Criminal Case, Steven N. Gosney, John Zak

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


Punished For Poverty, Andrew Rock Jan 2019

Punished For Poverty, Andrew Rock

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


Junk Tales: Incorporating Drug Addicts' Narratives In Law School Courses, Sara Schotland Jan 2019

Junk Tales: Incorporating Drug Addicts' Narratives In Law School Courses, Sara Schotland

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


From The Editor-In-Chief, Lisa Keshavarz Jan 2019

From The Editor-In-Chief, Lisa Keshavarz

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


Criminalizing The Victim: Ending Prosecution Of Human Trafficking Victims, Jessica Aycock Jan 2019

Criminalizing The Victim: Ending Prosecution Of Human Trafficking Victims, Jessica Aycock

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


"The Way I Felt": Creating A Model Statute To Address Sexual Offenses Which Utilize Virtual Reality, Ryan Esparza Jan 2018

"The Way I Felt": Creating A Model Statute To Address Sexual Offenses Which Utilize Virtual Reality, Ryan Esparza

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


Why The Categorical Approach Should Not Be Used When Determining Whether An Offense Is A Crime Of Violence Under The Residual Clause Of 18 U.S.C. § 924 (C), Mary Frances Richardson Jan 2018

Why The Categorical Approach Should Not Be Used When Determining Whether An Offense Is A Crime Of Violence Under The Residual Clause Of 18 U.S.C. § 924 (C), Mary Frances Richardson

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Treatment Of Domestic Terrorism Cases: Class And Mental Health In The Criminal System, Yolanda C. Rondon Jan 2018

Treatment Of Domestic Terrorism Cases: Class And Mental Health In The Criminal System, Yolanda C. Rondon

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


Risky Sexual Behavior -- The "Broken Windows" Of Sexual Assault: A Proposal For Universities To Incorporate Targeted Intervention To Bridge The Gap Between Sexual Assault Prevention And Response, Dominic Angiollo Jan 2018

Risky Sexual Behavior -- The "Broken Windows" Of Sexual Assault: A Proposal For Universities To Incorporate Targeted Intervention To Bridge The Gap Between Sexual Assault Prevention And Response, Dominic Angiollo

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


From Criminals To Survivors: Recognizing Domestic Sex Trafficking As Violence Against Women In The District Of Columbia, Alice Mutter Jan 2018

From Criminals To Survivors: Recognizing Domestic Sex Trafficking As Violence Against Women In The District Of Columbia, Alice Mutter

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


The Effects Of The War On Drugs On Black Women: From Early Legislation To Incarceration, Tiffany Simmons Jan 2018

The Effects Of The War On Drugs On Black Women: From Early Legislation To Incarceration, Tiffany Simmons

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


Pressing Pause: Tolling Statutes Of Limitations For Sex Offenses While Rape Kits Remain Untested, Hunter Grolman Jan 2018

Pressing Pause: Tolling Statutes Of Limitations For Sex Offenses While Rape Kits Remain Untested, Hunter Grolman

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


From The Editor-In-Chief, Dolores Sinistaj Jan 2018

From The Editor-In-Chief, Dolores Sinistaj

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


A Perfect Storm: New Mexico As A Case Study For Driving While Intoxicated And Driving Under The Influence Investigation And Persecution Post-Birchfield, Cynthia Armijo Jan 2018

A Perfect Storm: New Mexico As A Case Study For Driving While Intoxicated And Driving Under The Influence Investigation And Persecution Post-Birchfield, Cynthia Armijo

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.


Rethinking The Effects Of A Guilty Plea On The Right To Challenge One's Statute Of Conviction, Hannah Roberts Jan 2018

Rethinking The Effects Of A Guilty Plea On The Right To Challenge One's Statute Of Conviction, Hannah Roberts

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.


Fundamentally Unfair: Databases, Deportation, And The Crimmigrant Gang Member, Katherine Conway Jan 2017

Fundamentally Unfair: Databases, Deportation, And The Crimmigrant Gang Member, Katherine Conway

American University Law Review

Provocative language painting immigrants as dangerous criminals and promises of increased immigration enforcement were cornerstones of Donald j Trump's presidential candidacy. As president, he has maintained this rhetoric and made good on many of his promises by broadening the definition of "criminal conduct" for immigration enforcement purposes, touting a renewed focus on immigrant gangs and cartels, and conducting several nation-wide anti-gang sweeps that placed an estimated 1095 "known" gang members in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. But the Trump Administration did not create the specter of the criminal immigrant, or "crimmigrant," gang member, nor did it create the detection …


Aggravated Disproportionality: The Merger Doctrine, Contemporaneous Felony Aggravators, And Intuitive Fairness, Wes Dutcher-Walls Jan 2017

Aggravated Disproportionality: The Merger Doctrine, Contemporaneous Felony Aggravators, And Intuitive Fairness, Wes Dutcher-Walls

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.