Criminal Law Commons^™

Kitty Calavita And Valerie Jenness, Appealing To Justice: Prisoner Grievances, Rights, And Carceral Logic, Talisa J. Carter

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In Appealing to Justice, by Kitty Calavita and Valerie Jenness explain the grievance system of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in detail. Grievance systems are the formal internal process by which inmates contest prison conditions. Federal law requires that prisoners fully exhaust the grievance system before their claims can be heard in court. Although there may be an assumption that justice exists in systems that are charged with upholding standards of safe and humane conditions within confinement facilities, the authors find the grievance process to be riddled with inefficiencies and inequalities."

Waverly Duck, No Way Out: Precarious Living In The Shadow Of Poverty And Drug Dealing, Jascha Wagner

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"No Way Out: Precarious Living in the Shadow of Poverty and Drug Dealing examines how the residents of “Lyford Street,” an impoverished Black neighborhood, organize for survival against the backdrop of “increasingly desperate circumstances.” Decades of deindustrialization and misguided social policies have left the neighborhood economically and socially isolated. Unemployment and poverty are rampant for young men of Lyford Street. Stripped of educational or economic opportunities, the drug trade has become their “principal employment.” However, against the “stereotypical image of the drug infested ghetto,” Waverly Duck compels us to see Lyford Street as a place with a unique social …

Aldo Civico, The Para-State: An Ethnography Of Colombia’S Death Squads, Elena Sciandra

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"On August, 24, 2016, the Colombian conflict returned to the spotlight. On this day the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the last active guerrilla group, the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionaria de Colombia), had been signed after decades of discontinuous peace talks. Such discontinuity, along with other peculiarities, have long piqued the interest of scholars in this conflict; not only is it one of the longest civil wars in recent history – its origin dating back to the end of the 1950s – it has also shaped the political, economic, and cultural life of the country. Started as sectarian …

Self-Motivation In Policing, Scott W. Phillips

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research shows that the work shift of a patrol officer includes a large amount of “down time.” Occupational scholarship has validated that workers can reduce boredom by engaging in activities that are ancillary to normal duties. The autonomous work environment of police officers provides them a unique opportunity to minimize boredom by working in a way that makes their expected behavior interesting. To date the police motivation scholarship tends to examine “job satisfaction,” but the notion of boredom is missing from the research. This study used an observational research design to provide a qualitative examination of the techniques used by …

Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish: The Birth Of The Prison, Trans. Alan Sheridan, Brian Sellers

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"For hundreds of years, criminologists and penologists alike have investigated the various functions and designs, as well as the policies and practices that regulate the effectiveness of prisons as correctional institutions. The ideological aims underpinning penal practice can be either myopically focused or quite diverse as they reflect the varying goals of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. However, as corrections continue to undergo numerous reforms, scholars and policymakers might do well to revisit, critically reflect upon, and reexamine the socio-historical origins of the prison and its close relationship to power structures operating in the wider society. French philosopher, Michel Foucault’s …

Playing Nice In The Sandbox: An Examination Into The Working Relationships Between Retail Store Detectives And Public Law Enforcement Officers, Ronald Floridia

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This study explores the working relationship between store detectives and public law enforcement officers. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with store detectives from two national retail chains. The results of this study indicate that store detectives have a positive working relationship with police and engage in active cooperation with them. In addition, the presence of community development units and organized retail crime task forces enhance active cooperation between the two parties. Findings from this study can be used by both academics and practitioners to promote strong relationships between law enforcement and the retail security industry."

Some Things Are Just Better Left As Secrets: Non-Transparency And Prosecutorial Decision Making In The Era Of Neoliberal Punitivism, Shanda Angioli, Paul Kaplan

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper focuses on prosecutorial decision-making during the late-20th and early 21st century era of punitive American criminal justice. Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 former prosecutors who worked in two large and diverse states to determine how they made their decisions regarding charging and plea bargaining. This study investigates how prosecutors consider legal and extra-legal factors when making decisions. The results suggest that prosecutors considered legal factors such as evidence/provability and elements of the crime, the defendant’s criminal history, and witness credibility and/or victim credibility, but also extra-legal factors such as, victim’s request, law enforcement priorities, relations …

The Association For Civil Rights In Israel V. Minister Of Public Security, Elyakim Rubinstein, Hanan Melcer, Uri Shoham

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

The Petition asked that the minimum living space allotted to every prisoner and detainee in Israeli prison and detention facilities be set at 4 square meters, exclusive of lavatory and shower areas. The Petition was grounded upon two primary legal provisions: sec. 11(B(b) of the Prisons Ordinance, which was introduced to the Ordinance by the Prisons Ordinance (Amendment no. 42) Law, 5772-2012, (Amendment 42) …

Who Got Away With Murder? An Analysis And Discussion About The Death Of Sam Keating In Season 1 Of Abc’S “How To Get Away With Murder”, Katelyn Squicciarini

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This article will address the individuals present in the home and the events surrounding the death of Sam Keating to see if anyone actually got away with murder. The remainder of the article will outline the details surrounding Sam’s death and will address the Felony Murder Rule and accomplice liability. The point of this article is not to make determinative decisions of how a court would rule. Rather, this will address the characters in question based on relevant case law and the Pennsylvania Code of Crimes. The individuals and potential charges would be subject to prosecutorial discretion and reasonable minds …

Sony, Cyber Security, And Free Speech: Preserving The First Amendment In The Modern World, Conrad Wilton

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

Reprinted from 16 U.C. Davis Bus. L.J. 309 (2016). This paper explores the Sony hack in 2014 allegedly launched by the North Korean government in retaliation over Sony’s production of The Interview and considers the hack’s chilling impact on speech in technology. One of the most devastating cyber attacks in history, the hack exposed approximately thirty- eight million files of sensitive data, including over 170,000 employee emails, thousands of employee social security numbers and unreleased footage of upcoming movies. The hack caused Sony to censor the film and prompted members of the entertainment industry at large to tailor their communication …

Volume 4 Issue 2 (Complete Spring 2017), David J.. Cook, Zachary Bolitho, Evan Wright, George Steven Swan, Cynthia Brown

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

A complete version of LMU Law Review Volume Issue 2 for Spring 2017.

Beyond The Money: Expected (And Unexpected) Consequences Of America's War On Drugs, Cynthia Brown

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

The purpose of this paper is to provide a high-level survey of our nation’s prohibition policies within the context of the costs of the law enforcement efforts upholding those policies. The discussion will offer a cursory review of the economic expense of the war on drugs with tangential coverage of the constitutional, institutional and intangible expenses that are inseparable from an assessment of the costs of America’s drug control efforts. Part I provides a historical review of illicit drug use in the United States, while Part II supplies the evolution of the country’s efforts to codify its drug control policies. …

An Analysis Of State Statutes On Capital Juror Disqualification And A Proposal For An Exploratory Statute, Alexander H. Updegrove, Rolando V. Delcarmen

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

Despite increasing unease with the death penalty in the United States, many states continue to conduct capital trials purged of jurors categorically opposed to the death penalty. Death-qualified juries are of great concern because they are more likely to convict and sentence a defendant to death. An analysis of capital juror disqualification criteria in state statutes reveals states heavily emphasize disqualifying prospective jurors who oppose the death penalty, but devote scarce attention to addressing procedures for disqualifying prospective jurors with pro-prosecution and pro-death biases. Roughly half of the states where capital punishment remains legal do not have statutes specifically addressing …

Discourses Of Death: The Influence Of Language On Capital Jurors’ Decisions., Robin Conley-Riner

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

This paper explores the role that language plays in capital jurors’ sentencing decisions. The research is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Texas death penalty trials, which included post-verdict interviews with jurors who served on those trials. A comparative linguistic analysis was conducted in which the language used in trial, including attorneys’ and judges’ talk in court and jurors’ written instructions, was compared with the language of jurors’ post-verdict interview responses. The paper explores how jurors negotiated the moral difficulty of sentencing another human being to death. The analysis reveals that jurors used language modeled for them in trial as a …

Book Review: “Stop And Frisk: The Use And Abuse Of A Controversial Police Tactic” By Michael D. White And Henry F. Fradella, Barbara Belbot

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

No abstract provided.

The Criminal Mind: Neuroscientific Evidence As A Mitigating Factor In Sentencing In New South Wales, Australia, Ellie A. Page

Washington International Law Journal

“Neurolaw” is the emerging field of Law and Neuroscience that has the potential to lend insight into an offender’s mental state and influence criminal responsibility. In New South Wales, Australia, courts allow neuroscientific evidence of an offender’s cognitive impairment as a consideration in sentencing proceedings. In this comment, I discuss the discretionary nature of New South Wales’ sentencing regime and the limitations of how neuroscience may be utilized within that regime. Although neuroscientists can address the association of an offender’s cognitive impairment with the commission of a crime, they cannot identify, with certainty, a causal relationship. I analyze an original …

The Color Of Fear: A Cognitive-Rhetorical Analysis Of How Florida’S Subjective Fear Standard In Stand Your Ground Cases Ratifies Racism, Elizabeth Esther Berenguer

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Untangling The Court’S Sovereignty Doctrine To Allow For Greater Respect Of Tribal Authority In Addressing Domestic Violence, Lauren Oppenheimer

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

A.J. V. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 28 (June 1, 2017), Briana Martinez

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

NRS 62C.240 is triggered when circumstances surrounding a juvenile’s arrest plainly demonstrate that the juvenile was arrested for prostitution or solicitation even if the juvenile is charged with offenses other than prostitution or solicitation.

In Their Defense: Conflict Between The Criminal Defendant’S Right To Counsel Of Choice And The Right To Appointed Counsel, Kit Thomas

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pre- And Post- Conviction Dna Collection Laws In The United States: An Analysis Of Proposed Model Statutes, Xiaochen Hu, Mai E. Naito, Rolando V. Del Carmen

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

DNA is one of the most powerful molecular tools being widely used in criminal investigations today. Pre- and post-conviction DNA collection laws govern when DNA must be collected, where it is stored, and who has access to the information. Currently, all fifty states have post-conviction DNA collection laws, but only thirty states have enacted pre-conviction DNA collection laws. Details of the procedures and requirements in state statutes vary by state. This study analyzes the current statutes to identify strengths and weaknesses and propose a model statute to standardize DNA collection laws nationwide. By using Herbert Packer’s two models for criminal …

Do Muddy Waters Shift Burdens?, Carrie Sperling, Kimberly Holst

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taking A Mulligan: The Special Challenges Of Narrative Creation In The Post-Conviction Context, Donald R. Caster, Brian C. Howe

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aba Criminal Justice Section Task Force On College Due Process Rights And Victim Protections: Recommendations For Colleges And Universities In Resolving Allegations Of Campus Sexual Misconduct, Brenda V. Smith, Andrew S. Boutros, Tamara Rice Lave, Pamela J. Bernard, Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Robert M. Cary, Laura L. Dunn, Cynthia P. Garrett, Marcos E. Hasbun, Janet P. Judge, Bridget M. Maricich, Robin Rachel Runge, Lauren Schoenthaler, Mary P. Koss, Elise Lopez, Patrice Payne

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The Executive Committee of the ABA Criminal Justice Section commissioned the Task Force on College Due Process Rights and Victim Protections in November 2016. Immediately after, extensive efforts were made to find members that represented all interested parties: victims, the accused, universities, other stakeholders, and national experts. The Task Force was fully constituted in the winter of 2017, and it ended up including two voting members who were originally liaisons from the ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. This elevation was made in recognition of their significant contributions.

Pro-Prosecution Doctrinal Drift In Criminal Sentencing, Margaret Truesdale

Northwestern University Law Review

Federal criminal sentencing doctrine is growing increasingly favorable to the prosecution. This Note identifies two factors that contribute to this “doctrinal drift.” First, district courts rarely issue written opinions in the sentencing context. Second, prosecutors, unlike defense attorneys, can strategically forego appeal in an individual case to avoid the risk that the lower court’s pro-defense reasoning will be affirmed and become binding precedent. In fact, 99% of all appeals of sentencing decisions are defense appeals. When defendants appeal pro-prosecution lower court decisions, the appellate court usually affirms, in part due to deference. The result is a one-sided body of case …

Illegal Marijuana Cultivation On Public Lands: Our Federalism On A Very Bad Trip, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Fueled by increasing demand for marijuana, illegal cultivation of the drug on public lands is causing massive environmental harm. The federal government lacks the resources to wage what would be a difficult and costly campaign to eradicate these illegal grow sites and instead focuses its limited resources on enforcing the federal marijuana ban. Marijuana decriminalization might allow legally grown marijuana to squeeze out its illegal counterpart, but the political likelihood of decriminalization is low. The key is reducing demand for the illegal drug by changing public buying preferences. However, doing this depends on an available legal alternative. This Article discusses …

The Impact Of Incarceration And Societal Reintegration On Mental Health, Veronica Wicks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine ex-offender’s beliefs on the impact of incarceration and societal reintegration on mental health. The study is a qualitative design using interviews that were audio recorded and transcribed for analysis. The study sought to address the relationship between perceptions of mental health and experiences of incarceration and reintegration among formerly incarcerated individuals. The following themes emerged from participant responses: incarceration challenges, mental health stigma, and rehabilitation service accessibility. The findings of this study may contribute to social work practice by providing awareness to the factors impacting ex-offenders’ mental health and interventions needed. The …

Is Restorative Justice Doing Enough To Address The Power Imbalances Caused By Systems Of Privilege And Oppression, Matthew Furnell

Capstone Collection

Restorative justice is an ever growing philosophy which is causing a paradigm shift in the way society understands and responds to crime, punishment and victimization. The State of Vermont has become a pioneer and an example of how to implement restorative practices into the official criminal justice system, developing an alternative process to traditional punitive approaches. However, it is now more important than ever to ensure that there is not a false sense of success or a level of complacency in the further development of restorative practices. It is time to critically analyse the current restorative process and explore the …

An Empirical Assessment Of Georgia’S Beyond A Reasonable Doubt Standard To Determine Intellectual Disability In Capital Cases, Lauren Sudeall Lucas

Georgia State University Law Review

In Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court held that execution of people with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In doing so, the Court explicitly left to the states the question of which procedures would be used to identify such defendants as exempt from the death penalty. More than a decade before Atkins, Georgia was the first state to bar execution of people with intellectual disability. Yet, of the states that continue to impose the death penalty as a punishment for capital murder, Georgia is the only state that requires capital defendants …

Injustice Under Law: Perpetuating And Criminalizing Poverty Through The Courts, Judge Lisa Foster

Georgia State University Law Review

Money matters in the justice system. If you can afford to purchase your freedom pretrial, if you can afford to immediately pay fines and fees for minor traffic offenses and municipal code violations, if you can afford to hire an attorney, your experience of the justice system both procedurally and substantively will be qualitatively different than the experience of someone who is poor. More disturbingly, through a variety of policies and practices—some of them blatantly unconstitutional—our courts are perpetuating and criminalizing poverty. And when we talk about poverty in the United States, we are still talking about race, ethnicity, and …