Law Commons^™

Death After Dobbs: Addressing The Viability Of Capital Punishment For Abortion, Melanie Kalmanson

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

Pre-Dobbs legislative efforts and states’ reactions in the immediate aftermath of Dobbs indicate the post-Dobbs reality that deeply conservative states will seek to criminalize abortion and impose extremely harsh sentences for such crimes, up to and including death. This Article addresses that reality. Initially, this Article illustrates that abortion and capital punishment are like opposite sides of the same coin, and it is a handful of states leading the counter majoritarian efforts on both topics. After outlining the position of each state in the nation that retains capital punishment on capital sentencing and abortion, the Article identifies the …

Imposing A Daily Burden On Thousands Of Innocent Citizens: The Supreme Court Unnecessarily Limited Motorists' Fourth Amendment Rights In Kansas V. Glover, George M. Dery

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

This Article analyzes Kansas v. Glover, in which the Supreme Court ruled that an officer could stop a vehicle owned by a person having a revoked license on the assumption that the owner was currently driving the vehicle. This work examines the concerns created by Glover’s ruling. This Article asserts that, in creating its new rule enabling police to stop a motorist without first confirming his or her identity, the Court based its holding on the existence of two facts, thus effectively changing its traditional “totality of the circumstances” analysis for reasonable suspicion to a categorical rule. Further, …

As Muddy As The Mississippi River: An Examination Of Louisiana Jury Venire Creation Procedures, Kristen M. Vicknair

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

Americans expect their constitutional rights to be respected by the federal, state, and local governments, but a lack of transparency on a government’s behalf prevents Americans from being able to trust their governments fully. This Note demonstrates the astounding lack of transparency in Louisiana parishes’ jury venire creation procedures, which prevent Louisianans from trusting that their communities are represented by a fair cross-section on jury venires. The same lack of transparency restricts any constitutional challenges of the representation on appeal, as the major test for the fair cross-section, the Duren test, requires a showing of systematic exclusion on the government’s …

Weighing Pain: How The Harm Of Immigration Detention Must Be Factored In Custody Decisions, Linus Chan

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

The United States is currently in the midst of a “third wave of potential pretrial detention reform.” And while certain reforms are gaining traction in an effort to reduce pretrial criminal detention, efforts to do the same for immigration detention have lagged. Reformers and abolitionists make the case that immigration detention needs to be either restricted or eliminated entirely. Nonetheless, the number of people held in detention for immigration purposes rises year after year. Not only do the numbers of people in immigration detention grow, but the systems in place have grown less concerned with the harsh consequences of detention …

Fulfilling Porter's Promise, Danielle Allyn

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

Despite the Porter court’s reference to a “long tradition of according leniency to veterans,” in the criminal legal system, veterans are overrepresented on death rows across America, including Georgia’s. Most of these veterans come to death row with experiences of marginalization due to other aspects of their identity, such as race or mental disability.

This Article examines the cases of six men executed in Georgia, each with a history of military service, and each with experiences of disenfranchisement based on race and/or mental disability. At trial, each confronted legal risks that disproportionately place Black people and people with mental disabilities …

Revolving Doors Of Hospitalization And Incarceration: How Perceptions Of Procedural Justice Affect Treatment Outcomes, Maria Slater

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

This Article compares the levels of procedural justice afforded to persons with severe mental illness in the civil and criminal systems, either via involuntary commitment in state psychiatric hospitals in the civil system or via mental health court as an alternative to incarceration in the criminal system. Using Virginia’s mental health courts and civil commitment systems as case studies, this Article compares the procedures by which a person can be involuntary committed in the civil system with those afforded to persons who are funneled into mental health treatment courts in the criminal system, analyzing how levels of procedural justice—both actual …

The Blind Leading The Deaf: An Investigation Of The Inconsistent Accommodations The Justice System Provides To People Who Are Deaf, Elizabeth Pindilli

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

Historically, and to this day, people with disabilities have not been considered capable of determining their own needs. Instead, the general population has taken it upon themselves to dictate what accommodations they shall receive. This becomes particularly problematic for the deaf community when interacting with the criminal justice system, where a lack of communication is synonymous with a lack of justice. In this situation, the state should defer to the individual’s understanding of their needs, or carry the burden of proving that another accommodation is equally effective.

Procedurally Criminal: How Peremptory Challenges Create Unfair And Unrepresentative Single-Gender Juries, Chelsea V. King

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

No abstract provided.

Know Your Limit: How Legislatures Have Gone Overboard With Per Se Drunk Driving Laws And How Men Pay The Price, Andrew Gore

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

No abstract provided.

Sex, Booze, And Clarity: Defining Sexual Assault On A College Campus, Justin Neidig

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

No abstract provided.

Incremental Independence: Conforming The Law To The Process Of Adolescence, Megan E. Hay

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

No abstract provided.

Lawrence As An Eighth Amendment Case: Sodomy And The Evolving Standards Of Decency, Sheldon Bernard Lyke

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

This Article offers an alternate reading of Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down the Texas sodomy statute that criminalized private, consensual, and adult same-sex intercourse. While most scholars discuss Lawrence as a substantive due process case and struggle to find meaning in the ambiguity of the decision's language, I propose that Lawrence is better read as an Eighth Amendment case. This Article argues that the majority opinion analyzed the constitutionality of the Texas sodomy law as it would analyze the cruelty and unusualness of a criminal law in an Eighth Amendment evolving standards of …

Roe At Thirty-Six And Beyond: Enhancing Protection For Abortion Rights Through State Constitutions, Linda J. Wharton

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

In a series of decisions over the past three decades, the Supreme Court has seriously undermined Roe v. Wade's promise of full and meaningful federal constitutional protection for women's access to abortion. While the new Obama administration will enhance protection for reproductive rights at the federal level, the reality remains that reconstituting the Supreme Court with a majority of Justices amenable to fully restoring Roe's strict protections will likely take many years. This Article considers whether state constitutions are a promising avenue for enhancing protection for abortion rights.

This Article looks back on thirty years of reproductive rights litigation under …

Maintaining The Presumption Of Innocence In Date Rape Trials Through The Use Of Language Orders: State V. Safi And The Banning Of The Word "Rape", Jason Wool

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

This note evaluates the use of language orders in date rape trials in which the defense is consent through a case study of State v. Safi, in which Tory Bowen claims that Pamir Safi date raped her. In that case, the trial judge granted a motion by the defense to prevent the prosecution and any of their witnesses from using words such as "rape" and "sexual assault." Using State v. Safi as a starting point, the author examines the use of such trial orders from the perspective of both defendants and victims. The author concludes that a modified version of …

Gender And Jury Deliberations: The Contributions Of Social Science, Lucy Fowler

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

No abstract provided.

A Blow To Domestic Violence Victims: Applying The "Testimonial Statements" Test In Crawford V. Washington, Melissa Moody

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

No abstract provided.

"She Breaks Just Like A Little Girl": Neonaticide, The Insanity Defense, And The Irrelevance Of "Ordinary Common Sense", Michael L. Perlin

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

No abstract provided.

Jurors' Perceptions Of Gender-Biased Linguistic Differences, Monica Hersh Khetarpal Sholar

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

No abstract provided.

"A Man's Home Is His Castle?": Reflections On The Home, The Family, And Privacy During The Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Jonathan L. Hafetz

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

No abstract provided.

Problems In Domestic Violence: Should Victims Be Forced To Participate In The Prosecution Of Their Abusers?, Thomas L. Kirsch Ii

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

No abstract provided.

Admitting Expert Testimony On Battered Woman Syndrome In Virginia Courts: How Peeples Changed Virginia Self-Defense Law, Marybeth H. Lenkevich

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

No abstract provided.

Neonaticide And The Misuse Of The Insanity Defense, Megan C. Hogan

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

No abstract provided.

Arrest: What's The Big Deal, Barbara J. Hart

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

No abstract provided.

Virginia's Response To Family Violence, Harriet Russell

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

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Mandatory Arrest For Domestic Violence In Virginia, Joel Garner

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

The Commonwealth of Virginia has adopted a series of new provisions, scheduled to become effective, July 1, 1997. These provisions will provide directives for the criminal legal system in response to the issue of domestic violence. One of these provisions, the mandatory arrest of the "primary physical aggressor" in instances of assault and battery of a family or household member, is a matter of some controversy in Virginia and the nation. This article focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of the mandatory arrest provision in Virginia. The underlying premise of this article is that systematic evidence is different from personal experience, …

Interview With John Klock, Renee Esfandiary, Krista Newkirk

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

No abstract provided.