Criminal Law Commons^™

Blurred Lines: Did Booker Change Federal Sentencing Outcomes?, Hugh M. Mundy

Pace Law Review

This article considers whether United States v. Booker, the 2005 Supreme Court decision that replaced the then-mandatory federal sentencing guidelines system with an advisory scheme, had any enduring impact on sentencing outcomes. Commemorating Booker’s recent twentieth anniversary requires a balancing act: at once, recognizing the decision’s watershed impact while avoiding claims of lasting change where little exists. The criminal defense community hailed the ruling as a kind of liberation from the guidelines’ dispassionate rigidity. Today, while most lawyers and defendants would still prefer the current system, a legitimate question exists about Booker’s actual effect on federal sentencing. I propose that …

Extra Omnes: Analyzing The United States’ And Ireland’S Methods Of Quelling The Criminal Clergy Sexual Abuse Scourge, Dana Aprigliano

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

(Excerpt)

In late 2008, an Irish businessman was successful in legally preventing sexual assault claims from being brought against him. In explaining why one “victim” should be discredited, the court cited a threat she made against the businessman to make allegations of a sexual nature against him if he did not pay her a sum of money. In particular, she told him that if he did not pay her, she would “have him . . . ’plastered all over the front of the Evening Herald like those p[e]dophile priests.’ ” Although the businessman was not a priest or, as it …

Crimmigration: How It Can Protect Immigrant Rights, Aspen Griffing

Criminal Law Society Blog

“Crimmigration: How it Can Protect Immigrant Rights,” addresses the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Trump II Administration and its impact on the immigrant community in the United States. This Article recognizes the punitive nature that civil immigration proceedings, oftentimes posing consequences as severe as those in criminal proceedings. As such, this Article proposes a procedural concept of “crimmigration” to protect immigrant rights. A “crimmigration” framework would offer immigrants the right to Miranda warnings, prompt judicial determinations of probable cause, the right to a speedy trial, and the right to appeal, among other protections. While the harms caused …

Law School News: Rwu Names Richard "Dick" Sullivan '79 And Judge Lara E. Montecalvo As 2026 Honorary Degree Recipients 4-16-2026, Kelly Brinza

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Matadamas-Serrano V. State, 142 Nev. Adv. Op. 20 (Mar. 5, 2026), Mary Shamon

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A district court does not commit reversible error by denying a Batson challenge at step one based on strike percentages alone, or by allowing a substitute coroner to give an independent opinion based on autopsy photographs.

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

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article will begin by discussing why misdemeanors matter and the importance of examining these cases to better understand how the criminal legal system is functioning or not. Next, in Section III, we will discuss the importance of plea bargaining, both how it works in practice and the concerns surrounding this process. We will then turn, in Section IV, to a discussion of why it matters to have better data so that the players in the system are better informed about how the legal system actually works. Better data contributes to transparency, which can help improve the general public’s …

Law School News: Seeing Justice Up Close 10-22-2025, Alli-Michelle Conti

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Fighting For Fairness Where It's Needed Most 09-22-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers : Camille Capraro : Juris Doctorate : Working For The Ocean State's Future 08-2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Shadow Pandemic: The Response To Domestic Violence In The Wake Of Covid-19 And What We Can Carry Forward, Presley Sneed

Georgia Criminal Law Review

When the COVID-19 virus brought the pandemic to the United States in March of 2020, the legal system was not prepared for the increase in domestic and intimate partner violence that would follow. The United Nations (UN) later identified this social phenomenon as a second pandemic, a “shadow pandemic” that resulted from an increase in stay-at-home orders and a decrease in support services for victims. By the end of 2021, forty-five percent of women globally reported either they themselves or a woman they know had experienced some form of domestic or intimate partner violence since the emergence of COVID-19. One …

Law School News: From The State House To The Court House 4-22-2025, Andrew Clark, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Rising Leaders In Justice: Celebrating Rwu Law's Class Of 2025 Honorees 05-07-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers : Brandon Potter : L'25 : From The State House To The Court House, Andrew Clark

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

"Fighting Words" And The First Amendment In Maine: State V. John W., Deborah J. Ross

Maine Law Review

On April 1, 1979, John W. was driving his car, accompanied by his sister Maria. The car was stopped by a police officer who requested John's license and registration. Maria asked the officer why they had been stopped. When the officer remained silent, Maria became abusive and was arrested for disorderly conduct. John demanded to know what was going on. Ordered to get back into his car, John began shouting at the police: "Hey, turn around and come back here;" "Hey, you fucking pig, you fuckin' kangaroo;" "Fuck you." John was arrested and convicted in a juvenile proceeding of disorderly …

Law School News: Champions For Justice: Celebrating Alumni Leaders In Legal Advocacy And Social Impact 03-31-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Presumptions Against Criminal Defendants, Affirmative Defenses, And A Substantive Due Process Interpretation Of County Court Of Ulster V. Allen, John C. Sheldon

Maine Law Review

In County Court of Ulster County v. Allen, the Supreme Court stated: "inferences and presumptions are a staple of our adversary system of factfinding." Because Allen concerned the constitutionality of the use against criminal defendants of such deductive devices as statutory inferences and presumptions, it appeared that the decision would ultimately favor their unrestricted use in criminal cases by the prosecution. Further, that expectation was buttressed by the ruling in Patterson v. New York, in which the Court awarded constitutional sanction to state use of affirmative defenses against criminal defendants. These facts suggested that the Court would refrain from imposing …

Law School News: Community Building Third-Year Gina George Takes Helm Of Student Bar Association 01-06-2025, Suzi Morales, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Is It Possible To Draft A Universal Criminal Code?, Paul H. Robinson

American University International Law Review

The world contains hundreds of distinct communities with their own traditions and values. One might assume that, despite the best efforts of international organizations, it would be impossible to draft a criminal code that could operate effectively for all countries. Is that the case? If one tried to construct a universal criminal code, what sorts of challenges and limitations with the effort face?

Constitutional Issues Raised By The Civil-Criminal Dichotomy Of The Maine Oui Law, Bruce W. Smith

Maine Law Review

Moving to the forefront of a national trend, the Maine Legislature undertook a thorough reform of its operating under the influence (OUI) law in 1981. The new statute was billed "the toughest in the nation," largely because of a provision for mandatory prison sentences. The statute's most radical provision is not the mandatory prison term, however, but a section which gives prosecutors the option to treat less egregious first offenses as civil infractions rather than crimes. The section generates the broad issue addressed by this Comment: may trial by jury and other constitutional protections formerly afforded OUI defendants be denied …

Office Of Attorney General: Peter F. Neronha, Attorney General: Access To Public Records Act ; Open Meetings Act (Powerpoint Presentation), Office Of The Attorney General Of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Changemakers: Juris Doctorate: Peter Sabian L'17: Practice With A Purpose 7-15-24, Jane Lee, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Confrontation, The Legacy Of Crawford, And Important Unanswered Questions, Paul F. Rothstein, Ronald J. Coleman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The right to confront has a long history. In the United States, the Confrontation Clause provides: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right… to be confronted with the witnesses against him[.]” One of the most troublesome areas of Confrontation Clause jurisprudence has been the Clause’s application to “hearsay statements offered against a criminal defendant pursuant to a hearsay exception or exemption[.]” The Supreme Court’s confrontation analysis in this situation once hinged on the statement’s reliability, with the traditional hearsay rule and its exceptions and exemptions as a guide. But in Crawford v. Washington, the Court considered …

Law School News: Professor Tara I. Allen Announced As Federal Public Defender 6-5-2024, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Georgian Case For Harmless Constitutional Error Reform, John Evan Laughter

Georgia State University Law Review

This Note examines Georgia’s application of harmless error review to constitutional errors and proposes a new standard to remedy deficiencies.

“No Superior But God”: History, Post Presidential Immunity, And The Intent Of The Framers, Trace M. Maddox

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

This essay is directly responsive to one of the most pressing issues currently before the courts of the United States: the question of whether former Presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for acts they committed in office. Building upon the recent ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in United States v. Trump, 91 F.4th 1173 (D.C. Cir. 2024) this essay argues that the clear answer to that question is a resounding “no”.

Former President Trump, who has now appealed the D.C. Circuit’s ruling to the Supreme Court, contends that post-presidential criminal immunity is …

Survival Labor, Yvette Butler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article makes one simple, novel claim: crime is labor when it generates income, allows individuals to pursue self-sufficiency, or allows them to fulfill societal expectations of providing for or caring for dependents. When individuals engage in survival crimes, instead of seeing them as criminals, we should see them as workers engaged in survival labor.

The carceral system continues to disproportionately harm racial minorities and people living in poverty. The foundations of many laws regulating racialized bodies and the policing of those bodies has created a culture where blackness is equivalent to criminality. While a penal abolitionist framework is helpful …

Neuropsychological Malingering Determination: The Illusion Of Scientific Lie Detection, Chunlin Leonhard, Christoph Leonhard

Georgia Law Review

Humans believe that other humans lie, especially when stakes are high. Stakes can be very high in a courtroom, from substantial amounts of monetary damages in civil litigation to liberty or life in criminal cases. One of the most frequently disputed issues in U.S. courts is whether litigants are malingering when they allege physical or mental conditions for which they are seeking damages or which would allow them to avoid criminal punishment. Understandably, creating a scientific method to detect lies is very appealing to all persons engaged in lie detection. Neuropsychologists claim that they can use neuropsychological assessment tests (Malingering …

Progressive Facade: How Bail Reforms Expose The Limitations Of The Progressive Prosecutor Movement, Sarah Gottlieb

Washington and Lee Law Review

Progressive prosecutors have been acclaimed as the new hope for change in the criminal legal system. Advocates and scholars touting progressive prosecution believe that progressive prosecutors will use their power and discretion to address systemic racism and end mass incarceration. Just as this hope has arisen, however, so have concerns that meaningful change cannot be enacted within the criminal system by the very actors whose job it is to incarcerate. This Article highlights these concerns by looking at the bail reforms enacted by four different progressive prosecutors and analyzes the initial promises made, the actions taken to reform and eliminate …

The Reckless Tolerance Of Unsafe Autonomous Vehicle Testing: Uber's Culpability For The Criminal Offense Of Negligent Homicide, Helen Stamp

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

When Elaine Herzberg was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous vehicle on a public road in Arizona in 2018, sole criminal responsibility fell on the Uber employee operating the vehicle. Uber escaped all criminal accountability despite evidence of flawed vehicle technology and Uber’s non-existent safety culture. This lack of accountability is confronting given that legislators and courts in Arizona, and in other States, have consistently supported criminal sanctions for corporations who are culpable for the offense of negligent homicide.

The criminal proceedings against the Uber vehicle operator were settled in July 2023, closing off the court’s ability to consider …

Shades Of Justice: Exploring Colorism In The Hispanic Community And Its Legal Battle For Equity, Christel A. Infante

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis focuses on the racial disparity within the Hispanic and Latinx communities as injustices exist within the community and the workplace. Racial disparities in the United States have been a persistent and deeply rooted issue that has plagued the nation for centuries. Despite significant progress in civil rights and anti-discrimination legislation, disparities in areas such as education, employment, and criminal justice persist. Understanding the factors contributing to these disparities is essential for addressing systemic inequalities and fostering a more just society. The analysis of this thesis primarily focuses on the cases and ramifications of Hispanic persons within the workplace, …