Law Commons^™

Politik Hukum Kedudukan Wakil Presiden Dalam Badan Pengarah Percepatan Pembangunan Otonomi Khusus Papua, Maleakhi Samuel Pasalli, Yamuna Nurafifah, Pranaldo Gunawan

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The legal policy regarding the amendment of Law Number 21 of 2001 into Law Number 2 of 2021 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua marks a paradigm shift from asymmetric decentralization towards controlled autonomy or leading to the centralization of power, notably through the establishment of the Steering Committee for Acceleration of Development of Special Autonomy for Papua (BP3OKP), which is chaired directly by the Vice President. This research is motivated by juridical issues wherein the Academic Paper (Naskah Akademik) of the amendment fails to provide scientific justification regarding the urgency of establishing this special body or the involvement of the …

Public Defender Discretion, Alma Magaña

Articles

A focus of criminal legal system reform efforts has been the curtailment of police, prosecutorial, and judicial discretion, which has been criticized for its arbitrariness and its contribution to racial, class, and gender disparities. However, one system actor has largely escaped similar scrutiny: public defenders, who, by grant of authority from ethical rules of practice and Supreme Court jurisprudence, have significant decision-making authority in the cases of indigent persons charged with crimes.

This Article will, for the first time, explore the historical rationale for giving public defenders the power to make life-altering decisions for their clients. Specifically, it dissects the …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Professors Of Constitutional And Criminal Law In Support Of Petitioner (Whitton V. Dixon - 25-580), Ira P. Robbins, Jeffrey Fagan, Michael Cassidy, Barbara O'Brien, Catherine Grosso, William W. Berry Iii, Ellen C. Yaroshefsky

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

Brief in support of Petitioner.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT: This Court has “consistently held that a conviction obtained by the knowing use of perjured testimony is fundamentally unfair” because it “involve[s] a corruption of the truth-seeking function of the trial process.” United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 103–04 (1976). Here, the Eleventh Circuit acknowledged that the state committed a Giglio violation when it permitted a jailhouse informant to falsely testify at trial that he lacked a violent criminal record despite prosecutors knowing that he did. The Eleventh Circuit deemed this violation harmless, however, based on its erroneous consideration of …

The Blackstone Ratio, Modified, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

In his discussion of evidentiary policies, Blackstone famously noted that ‘it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer’ (Blackstone 1769). The conventional wisdom among lawyers, judges as well as academics holds that accepting this statement as a maxim necessitates the adoption of pro-defendant evidentiary rules. It is also commonly believed that costs associated with false convictions being greater than those associated with failures to punish offenders due to the presence of punishment costs provides a utilitarian rationale for Blackstonian principles. After formalizing Blackstone ratios (either as marginal rates of substitution or, alternatively, as the ratio …

Disposing Of Misdemeanors: An Empirical Perspective, Cynthia Alkon, Jonathan Marshall, Kyle Chrisman, Lydia Sidhom

Faculty Scholarship

While the U.S. Supreme Court has characterized the criminal legal system as a “system of pleas,” new empirical evidence suggests that, at least for misdemeanors, it is more accurately described as a system of dismissals. This Article draws on New York’s Pretrial Release Dataset, a unique publicly available administrative dataset that, to date, includes over 1.3 million criminal cases with 112 variables, of which 914,521 are misdemeanors. No other state in the country has made comparable criminal case-processing data publicly accessible at this scale. Using this dataset, the Article examines criminal case processing in ways that were not previously possible, …

Symbolic Justice: The Continued Limits Of International Criminal Justice Without A Permanent Prison System, Meg Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

Many people misremember Nuremberg, Tokyo, and the subsequent World War II tribunals. These seminal international tribunals gave the world convictions but largely failed to fully enforce the sentences imposed. Most people do not recall the mass clemency following the World War II tribunals. This Article seeks to fill a scholarly void by explaining why international criminal justice has never matured beyond Nuremberg and Tokyo. The modern ad hoc tribunals, as well as the permanent International Criminal Court (“ICC”), have failed to deliver lasting justice. Much like Nuremberg and Tokyo, the modern tribunals fixate on arrests and convictions and then seemingly …

Young V. State [Of Nevada], 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 47 (Oct. 16, 2025), Madeleine Langhoff

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

COURT OVERRULES PRECEDENT WHICH REQUIRES TRIAL COURTS TO REMOVE JURORS BASED ON DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF BIAS.

State Of Nevada V. Eighth Judicial District And Kirk, Jr., 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 60 (Nov. 26, 2025), Kerri Richards

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

No abstract provided.

Freedom Clinic Faculty And Students Win Clemency Case Through New Jersey Second Chance Initiative, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law secured clemency for LaShawn Fitch through New Jersey's Second Chance Initiative. Cardozo Freedom Clinic faculty and students helped prepare Mr. Fitch's clemency petition, highlighting issues surrounding felony-murder sentencing, the trial penalty, and juvenile justice.

Death Before Breath: Courts Should Add De–Escalation And Proportionality To The Graham Factors, Nakyshia Fralin

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

This paper examines Barnes v. Felix, a case recently before the Supreme Court, through a comparative analysis of various circuit courts’ applications of the Graham factors in use–of–force evaluations. Beginning with a historical overview of policing, the paper revisits the factual background of the case before delving into the Fifth Circuit’s analysis, known as the Moment–of–Threat doctrine. It then contrasts this approach with the broader “totality of the circumstances” approach, highlighting the differing judicial interpretations. Building upon these established frameworks, the paper proposes two additional factors aimed at promoting human life and safety. By introducing these elements, the analysis seeks …

Deterring Prison Versus Police Civil Rights Violations: Legal Challenges, Public Policy, And Institutional Failures, Natalie Kemper

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

The status of incarcerated individuals falls categorically below that of non-incarcerated individuals in our society, yet most would agree they deserve protection from governmental abuses of power. This Note evaluates the current legal, institutional, political, and societal circumstances that contribute to the immense difficulties faced by individuals alleging civil rights violations under the Eighth Amendment, primarily through the avenue of U.S.C. § 1983. Due to similarities in civil rights claims, this Note compares the barriers faced by incarcerated plaintiffs to those encountered in police misconduct claims, highlighting key discrepancies that undermine accountability and deterrence.

A primary barrier is the significantly …

The Search Of A Search: Moderating Reverse Internet Keyword Warrants, Tui Rademaker

Northwestern University Law Review

Statistics show that Americans consistently turn to Google and other search engines to answer their most personal and private concerns, yet a new investigative tool risks law enforcement having vast discretion in the access of this data. With a keyword warrant, law enforcement can request from a search engine provider (usually Google) a list of probative search queries that users made over a specified time period. Such warrants are beginning to face legal challenges, and so far, courts seem reluctant to recognize the constitutional implications—instead leaving law enforcement with greater potential discretion over their use.

This Note assesses the constitutionality …

Fighting Death: A Critique Of Kentucky's Death Penalty System, Pamela R. Goodwine

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

For One Or For All: Who Gets The Benefits Of The First Step Act?, Andrew Edwards

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Myth Of Fundamental Decisions, Michael D. Cicchini

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of Barring Early-Release Defendants From Section 1983 Relief, Emily M. Puckett

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Cryptocurrencies And Financial Crimes: The Role Of Decentralized Cryptocurrency In Facilitating Money Laundering And The Challenges Posed On Anti–Money Laundering Regulations, Jeffry A. Collins

University of Miami Business Law Review

This research examines the role of decentralized cryptocurrencies in facilitating money laundering and the challenges they pose to Anti–Money Laundering (AML) regulations through literature review and regulatory analysis. The study reveals that the decentralized, anonymous, and borderless nature of cryptocurrency enables illicit activities via cryptocurrency ATMs, mixing services, and decentralized exchanges (DEXs). For over a decade, the same regulatory problems persist today as were present at the inception of cryptocurrencies. Current AML frameworks, such as the Bank Secrecy Act and the Money Laundering Control Act, are inadequate for this decentralized ecosystem. The analysis critiques the fragmented efforts of U.S. regulatory …

Mandatory Public Defense, Sanders Platt

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Truth Comes Before Reconciliation: An Exercise In American Truth-Telling, Hannah Fidler

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Roots In South Omaha: Navigating Identity, Culture, And Justice, Natalia Lopez

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Nicholas L. Marti

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

2025-26 Masthead (Volume 2, Issue 1), Njaj Editorial Board

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Objective Deliberate Indifference Only: Pretrial Detainees' Fourteenth Amendment Substantive Due Process Rights Demand Protection In The Context Of Mental Illness And Substance Use Disorder, Jessica Lewis

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Camacho (Ocean) V. State [State Of Nevada], 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 52 (Nov. 06, 2025), Nathan Mackay

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Because the photo array process used to identify the defendant was not unnecessarily suggestive, and there were no other reversible errors in his trial, Camacho's conviction is affirmed.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Rico V. United States, Meagan R. Hurley

Articles

Isabel Rico was serving a term of supervised release when she absconded from federal supervision. Years later, the government sought to revoke her release, arguing that her fugitive status “tolled” her supervised-release term. The Ninth Circuit agreed. Other circuits, however, have rejected the fugitive-tolling doctrine in the supervised-release context. The Supreme Court will now decide whether federal courts may judicially adopt fugitive tolling, or whether Congress’s silence in the supervised-release statute forecloses it.

Assembly-Line Public Defense, David S. Abrams, Priyanka Goonetilleke

Faculty Scholarship

Each year, millions of Americans rely on public defenders to fulfill their Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Despite being the linchpin of the criminal justice system, public defense remains both underfunded and understudied. This Article provides empirical analysis to contribute to a critical question: How should public defender systems be structured?

Criminal justice advocates, scholars, and the American Bar Association strongly favor vertical representation in public defense. Under this model, a single public defender represents a defendant throughout their case, from their initial appearance through sentencing. The alternative approach—horizontal representation—operates like an assembly line: Different attorneys handle each stage of …

Incorporation By Any Other Name? Comparing Congress' Federalization Of Tribal Court Criminal Procedure With The Supreme Court's Regulation Of State Courts, Jordan Gross

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Living Property, Joseph William Singer

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court has increasingly defined property rights that are per se exempt from regulation in the absence of compensation, most recently in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (2021) and Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023). The Court claims that it can identify property rights that are categorically protected from regulation by reference to history, tradition, and precedent. Yet this approach is oddly ahistorical; it is inconsistent with the fact that property law changed dramatically over U.S. history, as well as varying tremendously among the states. It is also inconsistent with the historical context of the Founding era. At that time, …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents