Criminal Law Commons^™

Criminal Subsidiaries, Andrew K. Jennings

Fordham Law Review

Corporate groups comprise parent companies and one or more subsidiaries, which parents use to manage liabilities, transactions, operations, and regulation. Those subsidiaries can also be used to manage criminal accountability when multiple entities within a corporate group share responsibility for a common offense. A parent, for instance, might reach a settlement with prosecutors that requires its subsidiary to plead guilty to a crime, without conviction of the parent itself—a subsidiary-only conviction (SOC). The parent will thus avoid bearing collateral consequences—such as contracting or industry bars—that would follow its own conviction. For the prosecutor, such settlements can respond to criminal law’s …

“White Collar Crime” Is A Euphemism To Abandon, Anthony J. Meyer

SLU Law Journal Online

Although the phrase “white collar crime” is ubiquitous among lawyers, it is a euphemism that creates an arbitrary distinction among crimes and perpetuates an upper-class bias for certain types of criminal conduct while simultaneously denigrating others. The phrase further performs a problematic social signaling function, including by expressly invoking “whiteness.” On balance, the phrase should be abandoned and replaced with one that either creates a meaningful distinction or leads to more inclusiveness in the legal practice.

Reflections Of A Non-Abolitionist Admirer Of The Police Abolition Movement, Corey Stoughton

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

To acknowledge that the abolition movement made reform better is not to reduce the movement to that purpose. For the non-abolitionist, the end of reform is better policing. For the abolitionist, reform is at best “a strategy or tactic toward transformation,” meaning contesting and ultimately eliminating policing. These are not compatible visions. But even if the collaboration between holders of these visions is just a tactical alliance, it is a tactical alliance that is producing good results. Perhaps those good results will lay a foundation for abolition, or perhaps they will seed in abolitionists’ fertile imaginations a positive vision of …

Skirting The Fourth Amendment: How Law Enforcement Agencies Abuse Technology And Constitutional Exceptions To Surveille The Public, Matthew Lloyd

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Existing Fourth Amendment law does not protect against law enforcement use of data gathered through the internet either by private companies who actively search their customer’s data and submit evidence of misconduct to law enforcement or from private companies who acquire the data on behalf of law enforcement. In an effort to pursue criminals, courts have permitted Fourth Amendment jurisprudence to develop in a manner that permits sweeping invasions of privacy without any probable cause through the private search doctrine or without any procedural protections through the third-party doctrine. It will require substantial judicial or legislative action to return the …

A Psa On The Csaa: How The Child Soldiers Accountability Act Should Guide The United States’ Approach To Criminalizing The Recruitment Of Minors Into Gangs, Chandler Marshall

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The use and recruitment of child soldiers in situations of armed conflict has been widely documented over the past century, discussed in the media and in academia, and condemned by prominent members of the international community. Beginning in the 20th century, international legal frameworks were developed to protect children in vulnerable communities across the globe and punish those responsible for their recruitment in regions of armed conflict. While the international community and the United States have taken great strides to protect children from recruitment and militarization, the United States lacks any effective domestic laws to protect vulnerable children on American …

Tort Liability For Physical Harm To Police Arising From Protest: Common-Law Principles For A Politicized World, Ellen M. Bublick, Jane R. Bambauer

UF Law Faculty Publications

When police officers bring tort suits for physical harms suffered during protest, courts must navigate two critically important sets of values—on the one hand, protesters’ rights to free speech and assembly, and on the other, the value of officers’ lives, health, and rights of redress. This year courts, including the United States Supreme Court, must decide who, if anyone, can be held accountable for severe physical harms suffered by police called upon to respond to protest. Two highly visible cases well illustrate the trend. In one, United States Capitol Police officers were injured on January 6, 2021, during organized attempts …

Do The Community A Service And Look Into Community Service Sentencing In Arkansas At The District Court Level, Daniel R. Haney

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Ideal Model For Countermeasures Of Sexual Violence In The Universities Environment, Airlangga Surya Nagara, Elisabeth Ayu Puspita Adi

Indonesia Law Review

This Cases of sexual violence are rife, including in universities. Data compiled by Komnas Perempuan shows that during 2015-2021, out of 67 reported cases of sexual violence against women, 35 cases occurred in universities. To overcome this, the government has issued the PPKS Permendikbud, and the TPKS Law. In fact, the existence of these regulations has not had a significant impact. It is proven that in 2022, there were 49 reports of sexual violence in universities received by the Ministry of Education and Culture's PPKS Working Group. Even as of May 2023, reports regarding sexual violence in universities are still …

The Ultimum Remedium Principal Formulation Policy Is Partial In Nature In Corporate Criminality In Indonesia, Ade Adhari, Pujiyono Pujiyono, Sidharta Sidharta, Indah Siti Aprilia

Indonesia Law Review

This article identifies and examines the policy formulation of the ultimum remedium principle in criminalizing corporations in Indonesia. The source of criminal law is found in the Criminal Code (KUHP) and laws outside the Criminal Code. The principle of ultimum remedium in corporate punishment is not recognized in the Criminal Code. Limited ultimum remedium-based corporate penalties are found in various laws containing offenses in the fields of taxation, customs, excise and the environment. Normatively, the process of prosecuting a corporation is a last resort, and the main step required is fulfilling the obligation to pay off losses to state revenue, …

Victor Hugo Was Right All Along: Les Misérables, The Tragedy Of A Punitive Parole System, And A Modern Path Forward, Sarah Gerwig

Mercer Law Review

Les Misérables, Victor Hugo’s tragic novel, was published over 160 years ago and yet it continues to capture imaginations and sympathies worldwide. It was made into an award-winning film over a decade ago. But before that, Les Misérables was one of the most popular Broadway musicals ever produced, having been viewed by over sixty million people, even beyond the viewership of other popular renditions in film and television. Despite (or perhaps because of) its heartbreaking themes, audiences sympathize with the main characters’ quest for redemption. How easy, in the story, to see the struggles and barriers Jean Valjean encounters—and …

Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Will Never Hurt Me. Or Will They? The Eleventh Circuit Expands The “Extreme Cruelty” Definition In 8 U.S.C. §1229b(B)(2) To Encompass Mental And Physical Abuse In Ruiz V. United States Attorney General, Sydnie N. Winter

Mercer Law Review

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), originally passed in 1994, was the first federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence as a crime. As part of this Act, Congress enacted 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(2), a rule that allows battered spouses (or children) who are not citizens or nationals of the United States of America to seek the discretionary cancellation of the government’s removal of them from the country. The VAWA special-rule was enacted as a way to enable abuse victims to obtain discretionary deportation relief, allowing them to leave their abusers without fear of deportation or other immigration-related consequences. ...

The United …

Gender-Based Violence And The Yemen Civil War, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law

Yemen Accountability Project (YAP)

No abstract provided.

Solving A Sixth Amendment Crisis: The Case For Resource Parity In Georgia’S Indigent Defense System, Meagan R. Hurley

Mercer Law Review

The United States criminal legal system employs what is said to be an “adversary” system—one in which opposing parties—the prosecution and the defense—present their evidence and arguments (usually in conflict with one another) to a neutral third party (a judge or jury) for adjudication. The idea behind the adversarial process is that a judge or jury is best positioned to make determinations of guilt or innocence once provided with reliable information from competent, zealous, and prepared advocates on both sides of the podium. At its core, the adversarial system is meant to function as the mechanism by which constitutional principles …

Regulating Food Waste Management In Indonesia: Do We Need An Omnibus Law (Again)?, Ni Gusti Ayu Dyah Satyawati, I Nyoman Suyatna, Putu Gede Arya Sumerta Yasa, I Dewa Gede Palguna, Nadeeka Rajaratnam

Indonesia Law Review

Indonesia was regarded to be the world's second-largest food loss and waste-producing country. Food waste contributes the most significant amount in Indonesia compared to other types of waste. This paper aims to discuss three legal issues. First, it identifies, in descriptive-normative means, the legal framework regulating food waste, which is the intersection of two legal regimes: 'the food management' and 'the waste and environmental management”. Second, it presents a comparative study by exploring the more advanced food waste legal frameworks, which take examples from Europe. The third objective is to recommend legal, institutional, and policy steps to mainstream food waste …

Immunity Through Bankruptcy For The Sackler Family, Daniel G. Aaron, Michael S. Sinha

All Faculty Scholarship

In August 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked one of the largest public health settlements in history: that of Purdue Pharma, L.P., reached in bankruptcy court. The negotiated bankruptcy settlement approved by the court would give a golden parachute to the very people thought to have ignited the opioid crisis: the Sackler family. As the Supreme Court considers the propriety of immunity through bankruptcy, the case has raised fundamental questions about whether bankruptcy is a proper refuge from tort liability and whether law checks power or law serves power.

Of course, bankruptcy courts often limit liability against a distressed …

Distorted Burden Shifting & Barred Mitigation: Being A Stubborn 234 Years Old Ironically Hasn’T Helped The Supreme Court Mature, Noah Seabrook

Journal of Law and Health

This Note explores the intricate relationship between emerging adulthood, defined as the transitional phase between youth and adulthood (ages 18-25), and the legal implications of capital punishment. Contrary to a fixed age determining adulthood, research highlights the prolonged nature of the maturation process, especially for individuals impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The Note challenges the current legal framework that deems individuals aged 18 to 25 who experienced ACEs as eligible for capital punishment, highlighting the cognitive impact of ACEs on developmental trajectories. Examining cases like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Billy Joe Wardlow, this Note argues that courts often bypass mitigating …

Illegal Contracts And Agreements: A New Standard For Prostitution And Marijuana Agreements, Doug Rendleman

Washington and Lee Law Review

Agreements exchanging sex for money and those involving marijuana may encounter illegality defenses in court. Granting a legal remedy for breach of an agreement that exchanges seriously illegal consideration would lower the court’s public standing and endanger its legitimacy. On the other hand, the spectacle of a buyer claiming its own illegality to escape paying its seller troubles courts.

Lord Mansfield stated the illegality defense in Holman v. Johnson: “No Court will lend its aid to a man who founds his cause of action upon an immoral or an illegal act.” Yet he rejected the illegality defense in that case …

Specialty Courts: Time For A Thorough Assessment, Emily F. Wood, Monica K. Miller, Tatyana Kaplan

MC Law Review

Broadly, the purpose of specialty courts is to address the needs of the individuals in the criminal justice system to reduce recidivism. Most specialty courts adopt the philosophy that the criminal justice system can do more than just impose sanctions; it can address underlying social and health problems that contribute to criminal behavior. The purpose of this article is to discuss the general advantages and disadvantages of specialty courts and to highlight the importance of using research evaluations to determine if the benefits of specialty courts outweigh the costs. This will help determine if courts have achieved their goal of …

The Twenty-First Century Death Penalty And Paths Forward, Jeffrey Omar Usman

MC Law Review

Today, states are moving closer to another moment of critical decision-making in charting the course of the death penalty in the United States. Unlike the sudden and dramatic immediacy of Furman, however, this moment is arriving through a slower and quieter progression, or perhaps more accurately a deceleration. While not abolished, in many states application of the death penalty is grinding or has ground to a halt. If the status quo holds, the vast majority of defendants who are sentenced to death by the states will instead live out their natural lives in prison for decades dying of old age …

The Complicit Canon Of Criminal Law: A Critical Survey Of Syllabi, Casebooks, And Supplemental Materials, Robin Peterson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note analyzes the learning objectives, casebook readings, and supplemental sources that thirteen criminal law professors assigned over fifteen years and argues that the current approach to teaching criminal law is complicit in perpetuating the injustices of the American criminal legal system because it fails to adequately interrogate the carceral state and does not prepare students to become ethical practitioners or policymakers of criminal law. This paper calls for a fundamental rethinking of the purpose of teaching criminal law and recommends a reform orientation, which could be implemented through a variety of course structures.

The Efficacy Of The Legal Infrastructure Of Proportionality In Contemporary Armed Conflicts, Reed Caney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Proportionally in armed conflict is one of the key principles of international law, playing a crucial role in ensuring that both civilians are protected in armed conflict, but also that a military is able to accomplish its goals. This paper attempts to discern if the international legal infrastructure is well equipped to deal with proportionality in armed conflicts, especially in regard to contemporary armed conflicts. In an attempt to answer this question, this paper explores the existing legal infrastructure, looking at International Humanitarian Law as a moral system and International Criminal Law as the accompanying legal system to see how …

The Shadow Of The Law Of The Police, Adam A. Davidson

Michigan Law Review

A review of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable. By Joanna Schwartz.

What Is A Prison?, Grace Y. Li

Michigan Law Review

A review of The Idea of Prison Abolition. By Tommie Shelby.

The Empirics Of Criminal Federalism, Scott Sullivan, Iben Sullivan

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Burden Of The Bargain: Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel Claims In The Absence Of A Plea Offer, Sriram H. Ramesh

Fordham Law Review

The modern criminal justice system in the United States is a “system of pleas.” Plea bargains have largely supplanted trials as the primary method of resolving criminal proceedings in this country. Acknowledging their prevalence, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel extends to the plea-bargaining process. Thus, defendants may bring ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) claims for alleged ineffectiveness during the plea-bargaining phase.

In two companion cases, Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper, the Court held that its two-pronged test for IAC, laid out in Strickland v. Washington, …

Long-Range Analogizing After Bruen: How To Resolve The Circuit Split On The Federal Felon-In-Possession Ban, Sean Phillips

Fordham Law Review

In 2023, over the course of one week, two U.S. courts of appeals ruled on Second Amendment challenges to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the federal statute prohibiting firearm possession for those convicted of felonies. Both courts applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s “history and tradition” test from New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, criminal defendant Edell Jackson did not succeed. There, the court found that the nation’s history and tradition supported the validity of a law banning firearm possession by felons, regardless of the details of their …

Current Trends In Capital Punishment Reform In The American South, André De Gruy

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Mississippi Should Reform Its Penal Code, Judith J. Johnson

MC Law Review

The Mississippi Penal Code was determined at the turn of this century to be the fifty-second-worst penal code in the United States. As much as Mississippi is often used to being - and is even proudly defiant for being - ranked low on national scales, this is an issue about which we should be deeply concerned. A well-drafted penal code is crucial because it is at the core of the primary value of justice. While we are experienced with being ranked last in many situations, often unfairly, the criticism of the Mississippi Penal Code is accurate. Although many of the …

Clear As Mud: The Confused State Of Mississippi's State Firearm Carry Laws, Garrett Anderson

MC Law Review

Few debates in America are more divisive than the debate over gun control. In the wake of large-scale shootings and heightened awareness of gun violence across the nation, discussions inevitably take place over viable solutions. Some propose more comprehensive, restrictive gun ownership legislation that would limit citizens' ability to carry firearms, while others believe the solution lies in relaxing existing regulations to allow armed citizens to intervene when necessary. While these two camps often find little middle ground in the gun debate, each would likely agree on one thing: a need for clarity and greater effectiveness of current laws. This …

Spectre Of Justice: Russian Reform In The Courtrooms Of Dostoevsky And Tolstoy, Abby Moore

Senior Theses

The Great Reforms of Alexander II are regarded as transformative policies in the history of Tsarist Russia, drastically changing the empire’s social and political fabric. The judicial reforms of 1864 in particular addressed longstanding issues within the existing criminal justice system, yet they also liberalized the institution at large. Following in the West’s footsteps, the reforms introduced an unprecedented level of democracy into Russia’s courtroom. Among the critics of these changes were renowned authors Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy, both of whom used the realm of fiction to explore their respective concerns with reformed Russian jurisprudence. Both authors bring distinct …