Criminal Law Commons^™

The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

The simple act of walking is sometimes criminalized in the United States. Anti-jaywalking statutes and ordinances—originally motivated by auto-industry lobbyists in the 1920s—call for fines and, sometimes, imprisonment for crossing the street. Additionally, some localities have interpreted statutes against “child neglect” to encompass a parent’s decision to let their kid walk outside alone. The result of this criminalization? Such policies have reduced pedestrian liberty, increased automobile traffic and pollution, and created a disincentive for physical activity in the midst of an obesity and diabetes epidemic. In addition to discussing these effects, this Article argues that the purported safety benefits of …

Cruel Techniques, Unusual Secrets, William W. Berry, Meghan J. Ryan

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In the recent case of Glossip v. Gross, the Supreme Court denied a death row petitioner’s challenge to Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol. An important part of Justice Alito’s majority opinion highlighted the existence of a relationship between the constitutionality of a punishment and the requirement of a constitutional technique available to administer the punishment.

Far from foreclosing future challenges, this principle ironically highlights the failure of the Court to describe the relationship under the Eighth Amendment between three distinct categories of punishment: (1) the type of punishment imposed by the court — i.e., death penalty, life without parole, life with …

Blue Lives Have Always Mattered: The Usurping Of Hate Crime Laws For An Unintended And Unnecessary Purpose, Lisa M. Olson

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Non-Sexual Predators: The Negative Implications Of Required Registration For Non-Sexual Offenses, Alexandra Vargas

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Virtual Reality Surveillance, Gilad Yadin

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

This Article challenges government cybersurveillance norms and practices by introducing virtual reality, a unique digital environment that may be justifiably subject to constitutional physical privacy protection. In liberal democracies, government surveillance is driven by public security and enforcement interests, and is checked by individual privacy rights. In recent years, however, this balance has been gradually shifting. Government surveillance of cyberspace has become extensive and constant, effectively unhindered by legal restrictions and judicial oversight; surveillance ofphysical spaces, subject to the Fourth Amendment, is neither as prevalent nor as unrestrained.

We are in the midst of a virtual reality renaissance; new virtual …

The Chow: Depictions Of The Criminal Justice System As A Character In Crime Fiction, Marianne Wesson

Publications

Having been honored by a request to contribute to a Symposium honoring my talented friend Alafair Burke, I composed this essay describing the various ways the criminal justice system has been depicted in English-language crime fiction. This survey, necessarily highly selective, considers portrayals penned by writers from Dickens to Tana French. Various dimensions of comparison include the authors’ apparent beliefs about the rule of law (from ridiculously idealistic to uncompromisingly cynical), the characters’ professional perspectives (private detective, police officer, prosecutor, defense lawyer, judge, victim, accused), and the protagonists’ status as institutional insiders or outsiders or occupants of the uncomfortable middle. …

The Costs Of Trumped-Up Immigration Enforcement Measures, Kari Hong

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

Currently, our country spends $18 billion each year on immigration enforcement, which is nearly $4 billion more than the combined budgets of the FBI, DEA, Secret Service, and ATF. President Trump hopes to substantially increase that annual number with his proposed heightened enforcement measures that result in more arrests, more ICE officers roaming our streets, airports, and courtrooms, more detentions, more deportations, and more wall. This essay begins by examining each of these measures that were outlined in the new executive orders and concludes that all are expensive, ineffective, unnecessary, and inhumane.

The Community Politics Of Domestic Violence, Deborah M. Weissman

Brooklyn Law Review

Gender violence has long been identified as a crisis of epidemic proportions that defies facile solution. Despite decades of intellectual and practical engagement, law reform, and notwithstanding increased social services and public health interventions, the rates of gender violence have not appreciably declined. The field of domestic violence advocacy is itself in a crisis, and it has been difficult to discern the best way forward. Reliance on the criminal justice system has tended to fracture the domestic violence movement even as it marginalized itself from disenfranchised populations. This article offers a case study of an incident that occurred between the …

A New International Legal Regime For A New Reality In The War Against Drugs, Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

Faculty Scholarship

The paper reviews the existing international legal regime on the war against drugs and argues that it has become obsolete in the face of the trend to legalize the consumption of certain drugs, such as marijuana, in developed nations. It particularly analyzes the contradictory practice of the United States to pressure producing states, such as Mexico and Colombia, to enforce the regime and at the same time allow the legalization of consumption in local U.S. states.

Leading With Conviction: The Transformative Role Of Formerly Incarcerated Leaders In Reducing Mass Incarceration, Susan Sturm, Haran Tae

Faculty Scholarship

This report documents the roles of formerly incarcerated leaders engaged in work related to reducing incarceration and rebuilding communities, drawing on in-depth interviews with 48 of these leaders conducted over a period of 14 months. These “leaders with conviction” have developed a set of capabilities that enable them to advance transformative change, both in the lives of individuals affected by mass incarceration and in the criminal legal systems that have devastated so many lives and communities. Their leadership assumes particular importance in the era of the Trump Presidency, when the durability of the ideological coalitions to undo the failed apparatus …

Effective Social Media Use By Law Enforcement Agencies: A Case Study Approach To Quantifying And Improving Efficacy And Developing Agency Best Practices, David T. Snively

Master of Public Administration Practicums

In the wake of protests against law enforcement for an array of reasons, law enforcement officers and agencies have a responsibility to recognize and utilize the available mediums of communication with which they may best develop a connection to the communities they serve. Furthermore, law enforcement agencies must be informed that established, traditional methods of news dissemination – such as press conferences and printed articles – are now both ineffective and under-utilized, replaced in large part by social media live-time reports. For that reason, law enforcement agency executives must address both the responsibility to provide appropriately timed updates to critical …

Pulse: Finding Meaning In A Massacre Through Gay Latinx Intersectional Justice, Judith E. Koons

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Exploring The Conflicts Within Carceral Feminism: A Call To Revocalize The Women Who Continue To Suffer, Krishna De La Cruz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Newsroom: Horwitz On The Trump Effect 12-1-2016, Amanda Milkovits, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

No Quick Fix: The Failure Of Criminal Law And The Promise Of Civil Law Remedies For Domestic Child Sex Trafficking, Charisa Smith

University of Miami Law Review

Pimps and johns who sexually exploit children garner instant public and scholarly outrage for their lust for a destructive “quick fix.” In actuality, many justifiably concerned scholars, policymakers, and members of the public continue to react over-simplistically and reflexively to the issue of child sex trafficking in the United States—also known as commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)—in a manner intellectually akin to immediate gratification. Further, research reveals that the average john is an employed, married male of any given race or ethnicity, suggesting that over-simplification and knee-jerk thinking on CSEC are conspicuous. This Article raises provocative questions that too …

Trending @ Rwu Law: Dean Yelnosky's Post: "Getting Proximate": October 22, 2016, Michael Yelnosky

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

An Argument Against Civil Marriage, J. David Bleich

Articles

The article argues against the legal recognition of civil marriage, particularly in the context of same-sex marriage as upheld by the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges. The author contends that legal recognition of same-sex marriage conflates moral approval with legal neutrality, leading to potential conflicts between individual conscience and state mandates. Drawing on Talmudic principles and historical legal precedents, the article advocates for the abolition of civil marriage and proposes an alternative system of designating "close friends" for legal purposes to avoid such conflicts.

Human Rights Law And Racial Hate Speech Regulation In Australia: Reform And Replace?, Dr. Alan Berman

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Newsroom: Horwitz Addresses Rally For Homeless 09/15/2016, Amanda Milkovits, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Rwu's New 'Rising Tide' Of Educational Opportunity 9-8-2016, Roger Williams University

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Forgiveness, Blame, And Punishment, James Staihar

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

When someone commits a crime with no exculpatory defenses,he is blameworthy and deserves to be punished. Nevertheless, assuming the criminal were to satisfy some conditions, he could become forgivable. In this Essay I defend a restorative theory of what it means to forgive a criminal and when the forgiveness of a criminal would be warranted. My defense is unique in that I ultimately derive my theory offorgiveness from a novel theory of when criminals deserve to be punished. My restorative theory of forgiveness yields at least two general insights that are generally not appreciated in the prior literature on forgiveness. …

Cash Is King: How Market-Based Strategies Have Corrupted Classrooms And Criminal Courts In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Olympia Duhart, Hugh Mundy

Seattle University Law Review

On many accounts, it is a tale of two cities. The headlines and marketing machines tout to the world that “The Big Easy is Back.” But beyond the celebrations and parades, the story for poor Katrina survivors is very different. While many residents and businesses are enjoying a resurgence a decade after Katrina stormed through, others in post-Katrina New Orleans have a different experience. More than ten years after Hurricane Katrina, the city still struggles with systemic failures. These problem areas include housing, health care, mental health treatment, employment, education, and the criminal justice system. All of these challenges are …

Newsroom: Horwitz On Marijuana Legalization 7/15/2016, John S. Kiernan, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Trending @ Rwu Law: Dean Yelnosky's Post: America's Cycle Of Violence 7-8-16, Michael Yelnosky

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

Prosecuting Online Threats After Elonis, Michael Pierce

Northwestern University Law Review

In Elonis v. United States, decided last term, the Supreme Court vacated a conviction for online threats on the ground that the lower court erred in its instructions to the jury regarding mens rea. In doing so, however, the Court declined to articulate which mens rea standard would have sustained a conviction. It is thus currently uncertain which mens rea the government must prove when prosecuting online threats under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). The Elonis Court discussed three potential mens rea standards; as universal standards for online threats, each leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, federal courts need not …

Trending @ Rwu Law: Dean Yelnosky's Post: What The Tragedy In Orlando Means For Rwu Law 6/17/2016, Michael Yelnosky

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

"Cerd-Ain" Reform: Dismantling The School-To-Prison Pipeline Through More Thorough Coordination Of The Departments Of Justice And Education, Lisa A. Rich

Faculty Scholarship

In the last year of his presidency, President Barack Obama and his administration have undertaken many initiatives to ensure that formerly incarcerated individuals have more opportunities to successfully reenter society. At the same time, the administration has been working on education policy that closes the achievement gap and slows the endless flow of juveniles into the school-to-prison pipeline. While certainly laudable, there is much more that can be undertaken collaboratively among executive branch agencies to end the school-to-prison pipeline and the endless cycle of people re-entering the criminal justice system. This paper examines the rise of the school-to-prison pipeline through …

Law Library Blog (June 2016): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

The Pro Bono Collaborative: Celebrating 10 Years Of Pro Bono Partnerships, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Pro Bono Collaborative Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Newsroom: Horwitz, Vorenberg On Expungement 5-18-2016, Roger Williams University School Of Law, Jack Brook

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.