Criminal Procedure Commons^™

Kentucky's Alford Predicament: The Case For Curbing Qualified Guilty Pleas In The Commonwealth, Ben Whatley

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Disrupting The Bonded Economy Of Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organised Crime Through Policy Change, Dellene Clark

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Emerging criminological research underscores how the economic drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation reinforce organised criminal markets while reproducing the structural vulnerabilities of those in prostitution. Using South Africa as a case study, this article argues that evidence-based legislative reform is necessary to confront the systemic conditions that enable exploitation. It contends that achieving substantive equality requires recognising the criminogenic role of sex‑buyer demand in sustaining trafficking pipelines and criminal profitability. The Swedish/Nordic demand‑reduction model illustrates how asymmetrical criminalisation can suppress demand, reduce reliance on trafficked persons, and diminish the financial incentives that underpin organised crime. Such an approach reorients …

Disrupting Transnational Human Trafficking Networks: A Practitioner's Perspective On Intelligence-Driven, Offender-Focused Strategies, Rochelle Keyhan

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article examines human trafficking through the lens of organized crime and explores how this perspective can be applied to contemporary trafficking cases in the United States. While trafficking is often prosecuted as an isolated criminal act, many incidents are linked to larger transnational and domestic organized crime networks. The discussion highlights the activities of notorious syndicates, including international cartels, street gangs, and well-funded networks of sex buyers, demonstrating how these entities exploit vulnerable populations for profit. Reframing human trafficking as a sector within organized crime shifts investigative and prosecutorial strategies away from victim-dependent models, which often require survivors to …

The Confluence Of Conflict-Induced Vulnerability, Organized Crime, And Sex Trafficking In Receiving States: A South African Civil Society Perspective, Monique Emser

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The crime-conflict nexus has been well-documented in conflict-affected and post-conflict states. Criminal networks make use of manifold methods and strategies to exploit individual and structural vulnerabilities, particularly those affected by war, displacement, and precarious migration journeys, forming the backbone of most conflict-induced trafficking ecosystems, whether in countries of origin, transit, or receipt. This article examines the intersection of sex trafficking, diaspora communities, and organized crime within South Africa as a receiving state from a civil society perspective. It underscores the deficiencies in traditional, reductionist, enforcement-based approaches to counter-trafficking by the state, where nested subsystems, such as those produced by endemic …

Behind The Screen: Online Sex Buyer Networks And The Organized Criminal Promotion Of Exploitation, Ava Kamdem, Vanessa Bouché, Ben Silver, Nick Freeman, Justin Euteneier

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This study investigates the extent to which online sex buyer communities in the United States function as organized criminal networks pursuant to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s definition of organized criminal groups. Drawing from theories of organized crime, social network analysis, and digital ecosystems, we conceptualize sex buyers not as isolated actors but as participants in coordinated, mutually reinforcing networks that share information to facilitate exploitation, mitigate risk, and sustain criminal behavior. To test this framework, we scraped over 1.2 million posts from a publicly accessible sex buyer forum, comprising 72,974 unique users and nearly 800,000 direct …

Drawing A Line In The Mud: The Fifth Circuit's Narrow Reading Of Louisiana's Infrastructure Trespass Statute In White Hat V. Murrill, Andrew J. Lloyd

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence Mechanisms In The Limit Of Crimes And Law Enforcement, Saad Mefleh Alsuwaileh

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

This study explores the potential of employing technological mechanisms and modern innovations brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly advancements in the field of information technology, in the domains of criminal investigation, crime prevention, and law enforcement. It aims to analyze the impact of these technologies on crime control efforts and the promotion of justice.

The significance of the study lies in highlighting the power of technology in processing and analyzing massive volumes of data with greater speed and accuracy, thereby enhancing the efficiency of criminal investigations and the ability to predict and prevent crimes. The core research question …

Criminal Investigation Of Crimes Committed In A Metaverse Environment: A Comparative Analytical Study, Hussein Abdelmoaty Abdelnaby

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

The world is undergoing a radical transformation in the nature of social spaces and human interactions, driven by the emergence of advanced virtual environments such as the "metaverse," which represents a multi-dimensional digital extension of the real world. This transformation has led to the emergence of new forms of criminal activity occurring within this immaterial space, raising fundamental questions about the adequacy of traditional legal and procedural frameworks—particularly criminal investigation mechanisms—in keeping pace with these developments.

This study aims to analyze the key legal and procedural challenges associated with crimes committed in the metaverse and assess the adequacy of the …

Pengabaian Hak Cipta Musik Dalam Pelatihan Algoritma Artificial Intelligence: Analisis Penggandaan Karya Dan Implikasi Hak Moral Pencipta, Adi Jaya, Reni B. Setianingrum

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The development of Artificial Intelligence in the music industry raises new legal challenges within copyright law, particulary regarding the use of copyrighted musical works as training data for AI algorithms, AI training processes typically involve digital reproduction, dataset storage, and musical pattern extraction, often conducted without consent or attribution, thereby posing risks to the protection of authors moral rights. This article examines whether AI training activities ca be legally classified as reproduction under Indonesia’s Copyright Law (Law No. 28 of 2014) and analyzes their implications for the protection of moral rights. Using a normative legal research method with statutory, conceptual, …

Kedudukan Hukum Perjanjian Jual Beli Tanah Ulayat Dalam Sistem Hukum Perdata Indonesia, Yeni Oktafia

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Under Article 1457 of the Indonesian Civil Code, a sale and purchase agreement creates reciprocal rights and obligations between the parties. In Indonesian land law practice, however, transactions involving customary land (tanah ulayat) present legal complexities due to its communal nature and governance by indigenous law communities, coupled with the absence of explicit regulation in the Civil Code and the plurality of customary law systems. This research examines the legal position and juridical implications of tanah ulayat sale and purchase agreements within Indonesian civil law while acknowledging the continued applicability of customary law. Employing a normative legal research method with …

Betschart V. Oregon: A Seven-Day Standard For Maine, Henry Gates

Maine Law Review

Maine lacks a clear standard for ensuring the right to counsel for indigent defendants. The State’s public defense system is struggling to meet Maine’s constitutional mandate: To provide indigent defense services in rural areas and across the state. An aging bar with few new attorneys working in rural areas—where there are often higher relative prosecution rates and a corresponding increased need for legal services—is contributing to the problem. This has resulted in a legal system that negatively impacts rural communities and indigent defendants to the point that one court concluded the state is violating the Sixth Amendment. Following the Ninth …

Foreword, Adam Fortier-Brown

Maine Law Review

Access to legal services in America has emerged as one of the most pressing structural challenges facing the legal community. As attorneys increasingly concentrate in metropolitan areas, large areas are left with few practicing attorneys and challenging prospects of attracting many more. The consequences of this challenge reach across nearly every aspect of life in these communities—from housing and family stability, to starting or winding down businesses, and critically, to the constitutional guarantees that attach when someone is charged with a crime. Yet, these challenges have also generated a period of genuine creativity and collaboration between communities and different institutions. …

Treatment Sentences, Evelyn Lia Malavé

BYU Law Review

One of the most common mandates of a non-incarceratory sentence is to submit to treatment. Across the criminal legal system, from problem-solving courts to probation, millions of defendants sentenced to non-incarceratory sentences—including people not diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder—are required to attend drug treatment programs. After decades of policies that criminalized drug use, non-incarceratory sentences that match people with treatment may appear to be a step forward—or at least not the most pressing problem.

But criminal law scholarship has not fully reckoned with the harms of treatment sentences, including the harms of mandated treatment itself. Analysis of treatment sentences …

Guaranteeing A Jury Of One's Peers Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, Grace Voissem

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

The right to a trial by jury is a foundational cornerstone of American democracy. This right has long been obfuscated by institutional inequality, preventing defendants from receiving a genuinely representative jury of their peers. California legislators proposed Assembly Bills 1452, 1981, and 881 to temporarily increase juror stipends for low-income jurors in select superior courts, hoping to address socioeconomic barriers to jury service. While AB 1452 and AB 1981 were enacted, the Governor vetoed AB 881.

This Note argues that this legislation strengthens the Sixth Amendment by empowering defendants to receive an impartial, representative jury from their community. However, these …

A Systematic Review Of Restorative Justice In Criminal Contexts, Sigifredo Castell Britton

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Restorative justice has gained growing attention within criminal justice reform as a practical alternative to approaches centered only on punishment. It emphasizes accountability, dialogue, and community reintegration, offering a different way to understand how change in behavior takes place. This systematic review examined quantitative evidence from 34 studies, selected from an initial pool of 112 records identified through databases such as Google Scholar, ProQuest, JSTOR, and institutional repositories. The studies assessed a range of interventions, including victim-offender mediation, diversion programs, community conferencing, and in-prison initiatives, which allowed comparison across different settings and populations. Across these studies, 79.4% reported statistically significant …

Bail And Time-Served Plea Offers, Michael L. Smith

Brooklyn Law Review

Defendants in criminal cases are routinely detained pending trial because they are deemed dangerous. In some of these cases, these defendants are detained without bail, in others, bail is set at an amount which defendants are unable to pay. These determinations are made after brief, minimal hearings, often based on the charging documents and the defendant’s prior criminal record. To those defendants who are detained, prosecutors frequently make time-served plea offers—effectively giving them the option to go free in exchange for a conviction. Refusing the offer, however, means the defendant remains in custody due to the court’s dangerousness determination. This …

Table Of Contents

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Advocacy Matters, Richard Collins

American Indian Law Journal

The Supreme Court’s 2022 Castro-Huerta decision was wrong on the points it discussed. It was doubly wrong for a reason it ignored. But the latter error was shared because all briefs and the dissenting opinion ignored it as well. The question presented was whether a nineteenth-century federal Indian country statute provided for exclusive federal jurisdiction over interracial crimes, or for concurrent authority with states. The Court held that the statute allowed concurrent jurisdiction. But it ignored the fact that Congress and the Court, until fairly recently, avoided concurrent federal-state jurisdiction over crimes. Had the self-styled originalist Justices taken their theory …

Stability At Stake: The Effects Of Overturning Chevron On Indian Gaming, Evan Callahan

American Indian Law Journal

The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright to overturn Chevron Deference marks a significant change in administrative law and could have drastic consequences for the regulation of Indian gaming in the United States. This Note explores the implications of such a shift, emphasizing the importance of maintaining stability in the highly regulated gaming industry. Many stakeholders, including operators, investors, regulatory agencies, and patrons, may face significant uncertainty without doctrines such as Chevron Deference. Without agency expertise in interpreting statutes, the Court may instead directly influence the regulation of Indian gaming in the United States, presenting challenges and uncertainties for all …

Tribal Nations As Lords Of The Fee: A Common Law Argument For Tribal Discretion In Spending Federal Forfeiture Funds, Kent A. Anderson

American Indian Law Journal

Federal criminal forfeiture is a powerful tool meeting at the nexus of criminal law and property law. Courts justify its use based on its English common law history. After seizing and selling assets, the federal government doles out payments from its Assets Forfeiture Fund to cooperating law enforcement agencies through equitable sharing agreements that bind recipients to use funds for law enforcement purposes. Tribal Nations have compelling legal and policy arguments for their entitlement to greater access to and discretion over forfeiture funds obtained through seizures in Indian country. These legal arguments are grounded in: (1) federal criminal forfeiture’s failure …

September 2024 – August 2025 Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reading Between The Treaties: Why The Supreme Court Must Honor The Indian Canons Of Construction, Amelia R. Wimmer

American Indian Law Journal

This Note critically examines the Indian canons of construction as interpretive tools employed by the United States Supreme Court in cases involving treaties and statutes with Tribal Nations. Ultimately tracing their origins to Worcester v. Georgia, this Note explores how the Indian canons were designed to protect tribal sovereignty, ensure the liberal construction of ambiguous provisions in favor of tribes, and prevent the abrogation of tribal land and rights. Shifts in interpretive philosophy and the rise of textualism have led to a checkered application of the Indian canons across courts. However, a continued application of the Indian canons is necessary …

The Federal Trust ​​​Responsibility ​And Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction: Restoring Justice In Tribal Nations​​​ ​, Sofia Sallas

American Indian Law Journal

Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction (SDVCJ), enacted through the Violence Against Women Act, was designed to address jurisdictional gaps that long allowed non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence in Indian Country to evade accountability. Yet despite restoring Tribal authority, SDVCJ remains significantly under-implemented. This Note argues that this failure is not merely a policy shortcoming, but a legal one. Congress restored Tribal criminal jurisdiction while conditioning its exercise on federal funding, coordination, and institutional support. Federal agencies, however, have failed to provide the consistent infrastructure necessary for SDVCJ to function in practice. These failures breach the federal trust responsibility, which imposes …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

How The Dod Discourages Military Families From Seeking Mental Health Counseling, Christina Welch

Seattle University Law Review

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) administration of the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) presents significant barriers to mental health care access for military spouses and children. This paper explores how the EFMP, though designed to support military families with special needs, inadvertently creates barriers to mental health treatment. Military family members often do not seek mental health treatment to avoid the program's mandatory enrollment requirements. Military family members often view enrollment in the program undesirable because enrollment can restrict the pool of potential future duty assignment locations that are available to service members.

The lack of comprehensive data collection by …

Deaf In Prison: The Courts' Failure To Remedy Ada Violations In Prisons, Ruby Grossman

Washington Law Review

The carceral system is one of the many institutions that fails to adequately accommodate individuals with disabilities. D/deaf individuals specifically face a severe lack of resources and accommodations, pervasive mistreatment, and inadequate services while incarcerated. While the Supreme Court has recognized that individuals necessarily do not retain all their constitutional rights while incarcerated, there are constitutional rights and statutory protections with which prisons are required to comply. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is one such statute. When it comes to D/deaf incarcerated individuals, the ADA requires that prisons provide reasonable accommodations so those individuals are not deprived of programs, …

Ai Suppression: E-Discovery Software And Brady, Jason Hartline, Liren Shan, Alec Sun, Rebecca Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

Prosecutors regularly rely on AI e-discovery software, known as technology assisted review (TAR) tools, to sort and prioritize digital evidence. These tools implicate constitutional concerns: they can either risk suppressing or help to surface exculpatory and impeachment evidence that prosecutors must disclose under the Brady due process rule. Yet doctrine, agency guidance, and scholarship offer virtually no direction on their use.

This Article examines how TAR affects Brady compliance. Using computer science simulations on synthetic data sets, we show that TAR can either hide or help to expose Brady evidence, depending on how it is configured and the configurations of …

Volume 49 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 49 Masthead

2025, Richard Delgado

Seattle University Law Review

"In a cutting and provocative social critique in one of the more extended Rodrigo Chronicles, Richard Delgado in 2025 employs skillful narrative—one of CRT’s many contributions to legal scholarship —to tell a gripping story of just how far the nation has descended into darkness with President Trump’s re-election. In Delgado’s vision, law professors—along with other political opponents of the President: immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, women, the underserved—have targets on their backs."

-excerpt from Kevin Johnson's review of 2025

Veiled Justice: Secularism And The Hijab Across Democracies, Mohamed ‘Arafa

Seattle University Law Review

For much of 2022, Iran was gripped by widespread protests led by women who openly challenged the regime’s authority, particularly its compulsory veiling laws, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Women around the globe came around and showed solidarity with the women in Iran. However, in non-Islamic countries and societies, one can still make out many prejudices and stereotyping connected to the question of whether and to what extent veiling is mandatory for women according to Shārīe’ā law. Is wearing the hijab a choice, or rather, an essential religious practice that religious Muslim women need to obey? …