Criminal Law Commons^™

The Social Camouflage And Everyday Masks Of The Constyle Serial Rapist: A Sociological Analysis Of Newspaper Accounts, Clara Fesmire, Thomas Vander Ven, Lauren Wright

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research suggests that serial rapists use more sophisticated techniques and possess more specialized awareness than average single-victim offenders (Park, Schlesinger, Pinizzotto & Davis, 2008). Although there is a substantial body of literature on the attack styles of offenders, data and theoretical models on the interactional styles and performance rituals of serial rapists are relatively scarce. The current study uses a qualitative analysis of major American newspaper accounts to discuss the behavioral patterns and performance styles of the con-style serial rapist as depicted by crime reporters. The con rapist uses deceptive persuasion and everyday disguises ( e.g., posing as a police …

Harlem Pimps' Accounts Of Their Economic Pathways And Feelings Of Insiderness And Outsiderness, Amber Horning, Christopher Thomas, Sara Jordeno

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This study analyzes semi-structured interviews with 85 pimps in New York City to explore how pimps discuss their economic pathways - i.e., how their pimping leads to distinct types of work outcomes and how they discuss their associated feelings and attitudes. We compare younger (18-23) to older (24-67) pimps, anticipating that younger participants would be more adaptive and produce discourse less entrenched in outsider thinking. Pimps' movements between licit and illicit work worlds mirror those of drifters (Matza, 1964) and align with Murphy and Robinson's (2008) concept of maximizers (i.e., economically benefiting from both work worlds simultaneously). Younger pimps, despite …

Jeff Ferrell, Drift: Illicit Mobility And Uncertain Knowledge, Travis Milburn

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Today, one does not have to look hard for examples of populations in flux. From war refugees abandoning familiar lands for safety to migratory workers in search of economic opportunities, drift is not only a defining feature of the contemporary world, but it is indeed a global phenomenon. In Jeff Ferrell's Drift: Illicit Mobility and Uncertain Knowledge, we see drift in action in North America and experience the history of hoboing through a cultural, social, and political narrative. While there are many readily accessible examples of the phenomenon of drift in the world, this book shows that drift is …

Ethnic Police Humor As Ethnic Boundary-Making In The Swedish Police Force, Sara Uhnoo

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"All professions display their own specific humor shaped by the occupational culture, type of work, and working conditions defining them. In this article, the role of ethnic jokes and banter in police humor, including their functions and consequences, are investigated drawing upon interviews with Swedish police employees from an ethnic minority background. A typology is developed containing six distinct types of ethnic police humor. Based on it, some of the ways in which ethnic boundary-making occurs and operates within the Swedish police force are analyzed. The consequences of ethnic humor for police work both internally within the police organization and …

Hearing On The Deaf Penalty: The Intersection Of Deafness And Criminal Justice, Kabrianna Tamura, Elaine Gunnison

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The Deaf population in America's criminal justice system is far under-acknowledged, researched, and accommodated. Each year, gross negligence toward Deaf individuals results in exponentially costly lawsuits regarding violations of their constitutional and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rights. The purpose of this study is to empirically identify the current deficits experienced by the Deaf within the criminal justice system through 18 qualitative interviews with two sub-populations: Deaf individuals who have directly interacted with the criminal justice system and professionals who witness the interaction of the Deaf within the criminal justice system. Results from the qualitative investigation revealed that the top …

No Indeterminate Sentencing Without Parole, Katherine Puzauskas, Kevin Morrow

Ohio Northern University Law Review

This article looks critically at the indeterminate sentencing system that survived after the elimination of parole in Arizona in 1993. It begins by exploring the purpose and history of indeterminate sentencing and parole as well as its earliest constitutional challenges and eventual decline. Next it compares two commonly confused forms of “release”: parole and executive clemency. The article then examines the three types of defendants affected by indeterminate sentences without parole: death row defendants denied parole eligibility instructions at trial, defendants sentenced with parole at trial, and defendants whose plea agreement includes parole. Finally, the article argues that without parole, …

Multiple Foster Care Placements Should Be Considered A Mitigating Factor In Criminal Proceedings, Daniel Pollack, Khaya Novick Eisenberg Dr., Amanda Dolce Esq.

Ohio Northern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cycles Of Failure: The War On Family, The War On Drugs, And The War On Schools Through Hbo’S The Wire, Zachary E. Shapiro, Elizabeth Curran, Rachel C.K. Hutchinson

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Freamon, Bodie, and Zenobia’s statements cut straight to the heart of The Wire’s overarching theme: Individuals are trapped in a complex “cycle of harm” where social problems of inequality, crime, and violence are constantly reinforced. The Wire was a television drama that ran on HBO from 2002 through 2008, created by David Simon. The show focuses on the narcotics scene in Baltimore through the perspective of different stakeholders and residents of the city. The Wire highlights how self-perpetuating, interconnected, and broken social institutions act in concert to limit individual opportunity. These institutions squash attempts at reform by punishing good ideas …

Punishing Poverty: Robinson & The Criminal Cash Bond System, Lauren Bennett

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The current cash bail system works in a way that punishes poverty. In Robinson v. California, the Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to punish an individual for a status or condition. Poverty is a status. The cash bail system is unconstitutional under Robinson and the Eighth Amendment because it punishes the status of poverty. Similar to drug addiction, poverty “may be contracted innocently or involuntarily or it might even take hold from the moment of a person’s birth.” Kalief Browder had no control over his family’s financial position. Yet, this financial position kept him …

Dogs Of War Get A New Lease On Life: Why The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act Violates The Eighth Amendment In Light Of United States V. Slatten, Michael D. Stinnett-Kassoff

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The United States has relied on Private Military Firms (PMFs) extensively to carry out its numerous overseas military missions since the end of the Cold War. Civilians and contractors have always had a place in American wars, even during the American Revolution and beyond. But the recent American incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq brought an unprecedented number of private contractors into the forefront of these conflict zones, the discussions surrounding them, and the legal questions arising from their ashes. Particularly, private contractors in Iraq seemed to be operating in a legal grey area—they clearly were not soldiers, and they clearly …

Disturbing Disparities: Black Girls And The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Leah A. Hill

Fordham Law Review Online

Recent scholarship on the school-to-prison pipeline has zeroed in on the disturbing trajectory of black girls. School officials impose harsh punishments on black girls, including suspension and expulsion from school, at alarming rates. The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reveals that one of the harshest forms of discipline—out of school suspension—is imposed on black girls at seven times the rate of their white peers. In the juvenile justice system, black girls are the fastest growing demographic when it comes to arrest and incarceration. Explanations for the disproportionate disciplinary, arrest, and incarceration rates …

Ohio's New Sentencing Guidelines: A "Middleground" Approach To Crack Sentencing, Dan Haude

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Search Of Juvenile Justice: From Star Chamber To Criminal Court, Hon. Patrick R. Tamilia

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Dilemma For The Juvenile Justice System, Judith L. Hunter

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Interrogations Of Brendan Dassey, Brian Gallini

Marquette Law Review

On March 1, 2006, a pair of detectives interrogated sixteen-year-old Brendan Dassey—one of two defendants prominently featured in the 2015 Netflix series Making a Murderer—for several hours about his role in the October 31, 2005, disappearance of photographer Teresa Halbach. The prosecution introduced statements obtained during that interrogation at Dassey’s trial. With no corroborating physical evidence, those statements—including that Dassey cut Halbach’s throat—played a significant role in his conviction for Halbach’s murder.

Following his conviction, Dassey’s appellate arguments about the legitimacy of his confession focused on his March 1, 2006, confession. Most recently, his petition for a writ of certiorari …

Stemming The Expansion Of The Void-For-Vagueness Doctrine Under Johnson, Clancey Henderson

Utah Law Review

This Note addresses the constitutionality of the risk-of-force clause. Since many of the cases challenging the risk-of-force clause proceed on the argument that it is indistinguishable from the ACCA’s residual clause, the history of the residual clause is particularly relevant. Addressing the constitutionality of the risk-of-force clause will necessarily entail a discussion of whether it is distinguishable from the residual clause. Accordingly, brief histories of the ACCA and the residual clause will be given. This overview will provide a backdrop to the discussion of the Supreme Court’s struggle to define and apply the residual clause in numerous cases preceding the …

Federalization’S Folly, Stephen F. Smith

San Diego Law Review

Overcriminalization and overpunishment are the two key features of federal criminal law today, yet the “federalization” of criminal law has accomplished precious little in terms of public safety. The failed drug war proves as much: federal prosecutors have filled the nation’s prisons with low-level drug dealers and drug users serving long sentences, but drugs remain widely available at greater purity and lower prices throughout the land—and drug overdoses are at record highs. Instead of focusing on areas of federal comparative advantage, such as terrorism, international drug trafficking, and organized crime, federal prosecutors waste scarce resources “playing district attorney”—that is to …

Bloody Hell: How Insufficient Access To Menstrual Hygiene Products Creates Inhumane Conditions For Incarcerated Women, Lauren Shaw

Texas A&M Law Review

For thousands of incarcerated women in the United States, dealing with menstruation is a nightmare. Across the country, many female prisoners lack sufficient access to feminine hygiene products, which negatively affects their health and rehabilitation. Although the international standards for the care of female prisoners have been raised in attempt to eliminate this issue, these stan- dards are often not followed in the United States. This Comment argues that denial of feminine hygiene products to female prisoners violates human de- cency. Additionally, this Comment considers possible constitutional violations caused by this denial, reviews current efforts to correct this problem, and …

Mandatory Minimum Penalties: An Analysis Of Four State’S Penal Codes And Federal Court Policies, Cassie Geiken

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In Nebraska, variations of bills attempting to amend mandatory minimum laws in the state have been introduced. The harshness of the mandatory sentences, as well as the looming state of emergency caused by prison overcrowding, have sustained the debate over sentencing laws. This essay identifies the core issues of mandatory minimum sentencing laws and analyzes the states of Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, California, and the federal system’s use of mandatory minimums for felony charges to identify potential solutions. Statute review found that Nebraska’s current sentencing codes are misaligned with the rest of the nation; not even Alabama with one of the …

The Courier Conundrum: The High Costs Of Prosecuting Low-Level Drug Couriers And What We Can Do About Them, Adam B. Weber

Fordham Law Review

Since the United States declared its “War on Drugs,” federal enforcement of drug-trafficking crimes has led to increased incarceration and longer prison sentences. Many low-level drug couriers and drug mules have suffered disproportionately from these policies; they face mandatory punishments that vastly exceed their culpability. Drug couriers often lack substantial ties to drug-trafficking organizations, which generally recruit vulnerable individuals to act as couriers and mules. By using either threats of violence or promises of relatively small sums of money, these organizations convince recruits to overlook the substantial risks that drug couriers face. The current policies of pursuing harsh punishments for …

Harm, Sex, And Consequences, India Thusi

Utah Law Review

At a moment in history when this country incarcerates far too many people, criminal legal theory should set forth a framework for reexamining the current logic of the criminal legal system. This Article is the first to argue that “distributive consequentialism,” which centers the experiences of directly impacted communities, can address the harms of mass incarceration and mass criminalization. Distributive consequentialism is a framework for assessing whether criminalization is justified. It focuses on the outcomes of criminalization rather than relying on indeterminate moral judgments about blameworthiness, or “desert,” which are often infected by the judgers’ own implicit biases. Distributive consequentialism …

Filling The Sex Trade Swamp: Robert Kraft And His Predecessors, Janice G. Raymond

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Custodial Compulsion, Kyron J. Huigens

Articles

In cases that fall under Miranda v Arizona, police interrogators not only give a suspect reasons to confess; they also suggest that the suspect ought to confess. In doing so, interrogators effectively invoke the Wigmorean duty of a citizen to produce any evidence he has in his possession, including his own confession. That is, they invoke the duty against which the Self Incrimination Clause stands, so that the clause is applicable to police interrogations, and is violated where it is not waived. This means that “a Miranda violation” is a violation of the Self Incrimination Clause in the field, just …

Restoring Reputational Rights Through A Government Publication Of A Declaration Of Innocence, Michael M. Berger

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

In a society that has become increasingly interconnected through advancements in technology, the stig matizing consequences of a false criminal accusation or conviction ca n be devastating. Ironically, unlike the technological advancements societ y has experienced, the ability to protect one’s reputation from such harm requires using the same limited remedies that existed decades ago. With few effective remedies available, those who have been falsely accused or convicted of a crime are without adequate ways to restore their reputations. To fill this remedial void, the federal government should create a forum whereby an individual’s innocence might be published as government …

Restoring Reputational Rights Through A Government Publication Of A Declaration Of Innocence, Brent Miller

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

In a society that has become increasingly interconnected through advancements in technology, the stig matizing consequences of a false criminal accusation or conviction ca n be devastating. Ironically, unlike the technological advancements societ y has experienced, the ability to protect one’s reputation from such harm requires using the same limited remedies that existed decades ago. With few effective remedies available, those who have been falsely accused or convicted of a crime are without adequate ways to restore their reputations. To fill this remedial void, the federal government should create a forum whereby an individual’s innocence might be published as government …

Parental Incarceration And Social Status Attainment Of Hispanic Young Adults, Igor Ryabov

Sociology Faculty Publications

The fact that parental incarceration has become a common event in the life course of many children is troubling. Using structural equation modeling, the present study investigates how immigrant generational status and family socioeconomic background interact with parental incarceration to influence status attainment for Hispanic young adults. Three indicators of status attainment in young adulthood are used as outcome variables—educational attainment, wage, and job quality. Results indicate that parental incarceration has a strong and negative influence on all three indicators of attained status. Most importantly, we found that parental incarceration mediates influence of immigrant generational status and family socioeconomic background …

Marijuana Business Attorneys And The Professional Deference Standard, Andrew Dixon

Arkansas Law Review

Imagine that you practice as an attorney in the State of Arkansas. A client solicits your advice about opening a marijuana dispensary or cultivation center. The client might want you to assist him in filing a dispensary application with the State. On the other hand, she might want you to negotiate a commercial lease or to provide services to ensure compliance with municipal zoning laws. Although Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment permitting medical marijuana sales, you provide a clear warning to your client: possessing, manufacturing, selling, and distributing marijuana remains a federal crime. After these precautions, however, you proceed …

Protecting Due Process During Terrorism Adjudications: Redefining "Crimes Against Humanity" And Eliminating The Doctrine Of Complimentary Jurisdiction In Favor Of The International Criminal Court, Daniel N. Clay

Arkansas Law Review

“When we sit in judgment we are holding ourselves out as people—as the kind of a community—that are worthy of this task. It is the seriousness, the gravity, of the act of judgment which gives rise to our legitimate and laudable emphasis on procedural fairness and substantive accuracy in criminal procedure. But these things focus on the defendant—the one judged. I am concerned about us who would presume to sit in judgment. Who are we that we should do this? Whether we intend to do so or not, we answer this question in part through the way we conduct our …

Is Supervised Release Tolled Retrospective To The Start Of An Unrelated Detention If The Defendant Is Credited With Time Served Upon Sentencing For The New Offense?, Nora V. Demleitner

Scholarly Articles

The district court sentenced Jason Mont for violating his supervised release conditions after a state conviction and sentence that credited him for time in pretrial detention served while he was on supervised release. Mont challenges the court’s exercise of jurisdiction, arguing that 18 U.S.C. § 3624(e) does not permit the court to reach backward to find that supervised release was tolled once he received credit for his pretrial detention at sentencing. Petitioner and respondent disagree about the interpretation of the language and structure of Section 3624(e). While the government relies heavily on the purpose of supervised release, petitioner notes that …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.