Law Commons^™

"So" What? Why The Supreme Court's Narrow Interpretation Of The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act In Van Buren V. United States Has Drastic Effects, Landon Wilneff

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In Van Buren v. United States, the United States Supreme Court held that one does not “exceed authorized access” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) when one accesses information they were otherwise entitled to access. Part I will outline the legislative history of the CFAA, and will explain the circuit split between the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits and the First, Third, Fifth, and Seventh Circuits. Part II will detail the facts and procedural history of Van Buren, and will walk through the reasoning of the majority and dissent. Part III will analyze the majority’s narrow reading …

Ignored, Harassed, And Endangered: States Must Provide Gender-Affirming Healthcare To Transgender Youth In Juvenile Detention, Jake Gnolfo

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Edmo v. Corizon, Inc. held a prison’s denial of gender-affirming care to a transgender adult prisoner constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. However, the reality for incarcerated transgender juveniles is much different. It is incredibly hard, if not impossible, for transgender juveniles to obtain access to gender-affirming care while detained. Furthermore, states have begun banning gender-affirming healthcare for all transgender youth. Preliminary injunctions of these laws have been swift and successful; however, transgender juveniles remain left out of the conversation. While being restrained of their …

Addressing The Inevitability Of Race In The Doj’S Enforcement Of The Pattern-Or-Practice Initiative, Joshua Chanin

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Section 14141 of the 1994 Crime Act empowers the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate and drive reform of local law enforcement agencies found to have engaged in a pattern or practice of misconduct. During the Trump administration, the DOJ willfully allowed its powers under this section to lie dormant, despite a number of high-profile incidents of police violence against Black Americans. Active enforcement of Section 14141 affords the federal executive branch significant opportunities to promote lawful policing. Using its pattern-or-practice authority, the DOJ has guided dozens of law enforcement agencies through a process designed to remedy systemic unlawful …

Unincorporating Qualified Immunity, Teressa Ravenell

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Scholars, judges, activists, and policymakers alike have criticized the doctrine of qualified immunity, which emerged in Pierson v. Ray to shield government actors from monetary liability in a wide range of suits filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, derived from the Civil Rights Act of 1871. These criticisms have ranged from the practical to the principled, but they largely ignore the question of statutory interpretation: is it valid to read § 1983, which makes no mention of any defense or immunity, as incorporating a qualified defense for government officials who acted in good faith and with probable cause? The Court …

The Common Prosecutor, Melanie D. Wilson

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This symposium piece stems from the Loyola University of Chicago Law Journal's Criminal Justice Symposium and my engagement with a panel of experts discussing wrongful convictions, pleas, and sentencing. The essay focuses on the role of prosecutors and contends that the system will improve only when more law school graduates of every race, religion, gender identity, background, ideology, ability, sexual orientation, and other characteristics serve as prosecutors. We have witnessed the rise of the “progressive prosecutor.” Now, we need to add more “common prosecutors.”

The homogeneity of prosecutors is well known and well documented. For example, as of October 2020, …

The Real Mccoy: Defining The Defendant’S Right To Autonomy In The Wake Of Mccoy V. Louisiana, Colin Miller

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Defense counsel, and not the defendant, has the power to make most decisions in a criminal case. Until recently, there were only four decisions reserved for the defendant: whether to (1) plead guilty, (2) waive the right to a jury trial, (3) testify, and (4) forgo an appeal. In McCoy v. Louisiana, the United States Supreme Court recently added a fifth decision reserved for the client: the right to autonomy, i.e., the right to decide on the objective of her defense. Under this right, a defendant can prevent her attorney from admitting her legal guilt at trial by preemptively objecting …

The Inequity Of Third-Party Bail Practices, Judge Patrick Carroll

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

For many criminal defendants, a common source of bail funds is their own family or friends. Such individuals typically assist in the expectation that if the defendant complies with court orders and satisfies all court appearances, their money will be returned to them. In revenue-motivated court systems, however, bail funds--even when owned by a third party--are often applied to the defendant's fines and court costs, resulting in the effective forfeiture of the friend or relative's money. This Article reviews the processes of third-party bonds, the risk that a third-party bond will be incorrectly identified as the defendant's asset, and the …

An Empirical Assessment Of Homicide And Suicide Outcomes With Red Flag Laws, Rachel Delafave

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This Article empirically illustrates that red flag laws—laws which permit removal of firearms from a person who presents a risk to themselves or others—contribute to a statistically significant decrease in suicide rates, but do not influence homicide rates. I exploit state-level variation across time in the existence of red flag laws between 1990 and 2018 and find that the existence of a risk-based law reduces firearm-related suicides by 6.4% and overall suicides by 3.7%, with no substitution to non-firearm suicides. Red flag laws are not associated with a statistically significant change in homicides rates. Policymakers should consider red flag laws …

Restitution For Child Pornography: Reframing A System For Victims Harmed By Too Many, Mackenzie Durkin

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Courts have commented that victims of child pornography suffer harm that is like “a thousand cuts.” This characterization is fitting because once images of a victim’s childhood sexual abuse are on the internet, the images are there forever. As a result, these victims are constantly revictimized by the knowledge that their images are being trafficked and consumed across the world.

This Comment analyzes the current framework for compensating victims through criminal restitution. Victims of all federal crimes, including child pornography offenses, are entitled to restitution for the full amount of their losses. However, this standard became complicated with child pornography …

Judicial Authority Under The First Step Act: What Congress Conferred Through Section 404, Sarah E. Ryan

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

The First Step Act of 2018 promised relief to inmates serving disproportionately long sentences for cocaine base distribution. Section 404, the focus of this Article, seemed straightforward. But in the spring and summer of 2019, district judges began reviewing section 404 cases and reaching dissonant results. Appeals followed, focused on four questions of judicial authority: (1) Who may judges resentence?, (2) May judges engage in plenary resentencing or merely sentence reduction?, (3) May judges resentence all concurrent criminal convictions or only crack cocaine convictions?, and (4) Must judges adopt the operative drug quantity from the original sentencing? Today, the law …

Evidence Of A Third Party's Guilt Of The Crime That The Accused Is Charged With: The Constitutionalization Of The Soddi (Some Other Dude Did It) Defense 2.0, Edward J. Imwinkelried

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Condoning The Crime: The Elusive Mens Rea For Complicity, Alexander F. Sarch

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

There is a long history of disagreement about what the mens rea for complicity is. Some courts take it to be the intention for the underlying crime to succeed while others take mere knowledge of the underlying crime to be sufficient. Still others propose that the mens rea for complicity tracks the mens rea of the underlying crime—the so-called “derivative approach.” However, as argued herein, these familiar approaches face difficulties. Accordingly, we have reason to continue our search for the elusive mens rea for complicity. This Article develops a new account of the mens rea for complicity, drawing on an …

Terry Stops, Anonymous Tips, And Driving Under The Influence: A Study Of Illinois Law, Charles Burns, Michael Conte

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In the recent case of Navarette v. California, No. 12-9490 (U.S. Apr. 22, 2014), the United States Supreme Court held that an anonymous tip can support an investigatory stop in the absence of independent corroboration by the arresting officer under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In the fourteen years between Navarette and Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (2000), in which the Court last addressed anonymous tips, lower courts across the country struggled to determine how United States Supreme Court precedents on anonymous tips apply in the context of drunk or reckless driving. Illinois courts …

(Ad)Ministering Justice: A Prosecutor's Ethical Duty To Support Sentencing Reform, Michael Cassidy

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This Article stakes out an ethical argument in favor of prosecutorial leadership on sentencing reform. Prosecutors have a duty as “ministers of justice” to go beyond seeking appropriate conviction and punishment in individual cases, and to think about the delivery of criminal justice on a systemic level―promoting criminal justice policies that further broader societal ends. While other authors have explored the tensions between a prosecutor’s adversarial duties and “minister of justice” role in the context of specific litigation, few have explored what it means to be an “administer” of justice in the wider political arena. The author sets forth a …

Undead Statutes: The Rise, Fall, And Continuing Uses Of Adultery And Fornication Criminal Laws, Joanne Sweeny Dr.

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Cohabitation is a reality for a majority of Americans. Nonmonogamous relationships are increasing over time, yet having a sexual relationship outside of marriage is illegal in a surprising number of states. Conservative groups or politicians also occasionally champion these laws, ensuring their longevity. This enduring conflict of values between the majority and a vocal minority is part of a cultural trend that has existed for centuries. From colonial times to the present, adultery and fornication laws have gone from being the most prolifically enforced to being virtually ignored by prosecutors and held to be unconstitutional invasions of privacy by judges. …

Going Retro: Abolition For All, Kevin Barry

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

The opening of the twenty-first century has seen a flurry of death penalty repeals. This development is encouraging, but only partly so. Amidst the cheers for abolition, there is an unfairness of the highest order: the maintenance of the death penalty for some, but not others, for no other reason than the date of their crimes. State legislatures are repealing the death penalty prospectively only, and these states’ executive branches are leaving their prisoners on death row. In New Mexico and Connecticut, a total of thirteen prisoners remain on death row after those states abolished the death penalty. Some states, …

Skepticism About Deterrence, Thomas S. Ulen

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In this Essay I first review the standard law-and-economics model of how rational potential criminals decide whether to commit a crime, and how rational criminals might be deterred from committing crime by raising the expected costs of crime. I also show how that model has had a deep impact on criminal-justice-system policy in the United States since at least 1980. I then express deep skepticism about the continued effectiveness of this model and its policy implications. First, I show how modern empirical research on deterrence argues that we have gone much too far in our use of incarceration; in brief, …

Taking The Presumption Against Extraterritoriality Seriously In Criminal Cases After Morrison And Kiobel, David Keenan, Sabrina P. Schroff

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In two recent decisions, Morrison v. National Australia Bank, 130 S. Ct. 2869 (2010), and Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, 133 S. Ct. 1659 (2013), the Supreme Court emphatically reaffirmed the longstanding presumption that federal statutes do not apply outside the territorial United States absent a “clear indication” to the contrary. Although Morrison and Kiobel involved civil suits under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”) respectively, this Article contends that the Court’s holdings ought to similarly restrict the extraterritorial application of federal criminal law. That is because Morrison and Kiobel instruct …

Efforts To Fix A Broken System: Brown V. Plata And The Prison Overcrowding Epidemic, Lauren Salins, Shepard Simpson

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Excessive incarceration is a national problem. Across the country, prisons face dangerous levels of overcrowding, which has led to unconstitutional conditions of confinement and the inability of states to effectively rehabilitate their inmates. Ardent public support of “tough on crime” policies inhibits state legislatures from enacting successful reforms. In turn, states spend large percentages of their budget to sustain failing and ineffective corrections systems. By some estimates, states could save hundreds of millions of dollars annually if they reduced prison populations through proactive reforms, such as early release programs and diversionary tactics. In light of these factors, a consideration of …

Sentencing Without Remorse, Bryan H. Ward

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Death By Peers: The Extension Of The Sixth Amendment To Capital Sentencing In Ring V. Arizona, Thomas Aumann

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Dui As A Crime Of Violence Under 18 U.S.C. §16(B); Does A Drunk Driver Risk "Using" Force?, Michael G. Salemi

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

An Open Letter To Governor George Ryan Concerning How To Fix The Death Penalty System, David Mccord

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Let The Cameras Roll: Mandatory Videotaping Of Interrogations Is The Solution To Illinois' Problem Of False Confessions, Steven A. Drizin, Beth A. Colgan

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Post-Conviction Challenges To The Death Penalty: Mental Health Records And The Fifth Amendment, Barbara Gilleran-Johnson, Gloria A. Kristopek

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rico And The Legislative Supremacy Approach To Federal Criminal Lawmaking, Brian Slocum

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Filling In The Silence: Domestic Violence, Literature And Law, Elizabeth Williers Gemmette

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

People V. Dekens: The Expansion Of The Felony-Murder Doctrine In Illinois, Kara M. Houck

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The O.J. Simpson Case Revisited, George Anastaplo

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Public Disclosure Of "America's Secret Shame:" Child Sex Offender Community Notification In Illinois, Jessica R. Ball

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.