Criminal Law Commons^™

Eliminating Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Putting Sentencing Power Back In The Hands Of The Judiciary, Hunter Anderson, Joseph Dummar

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Ron Miller had been a general manager of a company for twentyfour

years with no criminal record when his best friend asked

him to allow a shipment of drugs to be delivered to his company’s

address. Ron reluctantly agreed to help his friend, who was desperate

for money. Before the drugs arrived, Ron backed out and asked

his friend not to send the drugs, but by that point the shipment had

already been made. The police tracked the shipment to Ron and

arrested him. Even though Ron never knew the type nor the quantity

of drug that was delivered to …

Bhopal In The Federal Courts: How Indian Victims Failed To Get Justice, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Over thirty-five years ago, the city of Bhopal, India, witnessed a horrific gas leak that originated from a facility operated by Union Carbide India Limited (“UCIL”), which had as its parent company the American-based Union Carbide Corporation (“UCC”). Thousands were killed, with many more injured. One hundred forty-five cases were filed throughout various U.S. federal district courts on behalf of the victims asserting that UCIL and UCC were liable. Eventually, these cases were consolidated through the multi-district litigation (“MDL”) process and placed onto the docket of federal Judge John Keenan. In 1986, Judge Keenan issued his famous forum non conveniens …

Safe Consumption Sites And The Perverse Dynamics Of Federalism In The Aftermath Of The War On Drugs, Deborah Ahrens

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In this Article, I explore the complicated regulatory and federalism issues posed by creating safe consumption sites for drug users—an effort which would regulate drugs through use of a public health paradigm. This Article details the difficulties that localities pursuing such sites and other non-criminal-law responses have faced as a result of both federal and state interference. It contrasts those difficulties with the carte blanche local and state officials typically receive from federal regulators when creatively adopting new punitive policies to combat drugs. In so doing, this Article identifies systemic asymmetries of federalism that threaten drug policy reform. While traditional …

Loss Of Self-Control, Dual-Process Theories, And Provocation, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

Fordham Law Review

Contemporary understanding of the provocation defense views the “loss of self-control” theory as the cornerstone of this partial excuse. In considering whether to reduce murder charges to manslaughter, juries and judges rely on this theory to determine if the defendant lost self-control after experiencing intense emotional arousal and if a reasonable person would have also likely lost self-control in similar circumstances. This Article questions this conventional wisdom by examining the various flaws embedded in provocation’s loss of self-control theory. It argues that the theory is both over- and underinclusive. It is overinclusive because it provides a basis for mitigation in …

Recognizing The Need For Mental Health Reform In The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice, Kara Mchorse

St. Mary's Law Journal

The ways in which mental health care and the criminal justice system interact are in desperate need of reform in Texas. The rate of mental illness in Texas is higher than the current state of mental health care can provide for. While state hospitals were once the primary care facilities of those with mental illness, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has taken on that role in the last few decades; and when the criminal justice system becomes entangled with mental health care, it often leads to “unmitigated disaster.” If Texas continues to allow the TDCJ to act as …

Resentencing Of Juvenile Lifers: The Philadelphia Experience, Tarika Daftary Kapur, Tina Zottoli

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We examined the Philadelphia District Attorney Office’s approach to juvenile lifer resentencing, which began in 2017 under the administration of District Attorney Seth Williams and has continued under the administration of District Attorney Larry Krasner. For cases resentenced as of December 31st, 2019, we describe similarities and differences between the Williams and Krasner administrations in decision making and sentence length reductions, and we report on the recidivism rate and estimated cost savings for Pennsylvania as a result of release.

The Effects Of Anti-Immigrant Laws In The U.S. On Victims Of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, And Human Trafficking: A Gender-Based Human Rights Analysis, Caroline Bettinger-López, Jamila Flomo, Amanda Suarez

Articles

No abstract provided.

Corruption Abroad: From Conflict To Co-Operation: A Comparison Of French And American Law And Practice, Fred Einbinder

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The article examines the divergent approaches of France and the United States in combating corporate foreign corruption, highlighting their shared commitment to addressing the issue but differing legal frameworks and practices. While the U.S. employs participatory, lawyer-led systems with tools like plea bargaining and whistleblowing, France's inquisitorial, state-centric model has historically resisted such practices. The enactment of Sapin 2 in France marks a shift toward integrating American-style anti-corruption mechanisms, such as the Convention Judiciaire d'Intérêt Public (CJIP), while preserving core principles of French criminal law. The analysis underscores the challenges and opportunities of cross-border enforcement and the evolving cooperation between …

Return Of The King: Corruption Backsliding In America, Pedro Gerson

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The United States appears to be going through a crisis of corruption. However, it is hard to know whether this is a matter of appearance or if the country is at risk of high levels of corruption making a comeback. The Article applies the equilibrium model of corruptionthe leading social science account of how corruption operates-to the current U.S. system, and shows that the United States may indeed be backsliding. The potential for corruption to creep back up is due to more than the political moment. Rather, it is the result ofpolitics combined with the relatively powerless institutional controls for …

Healers Or Dealers: The Effect Of Doctors Committing Health Care Fraud On The Opioid Epidemic, Peri Novick

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The note argues that doctors who commit healthcare fraud by improperly prescribing opioids for personal gain should be held criminally liable for patient deaths resulting from their actions. It emphasizes that these physicians, often operating as "pill mills," violate ethical and legal standards, contributing significantly to the opioid epidemic. The analysis advocates for stronger legal enforcement and accountability to address this issue effectively.

Defending Progressive Prosecution: A Review Of "Charged" By Emily Bazelon, Jeffrey Bellin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

"Progressive prosecutors" are taking over District Attorney's Offices across the nation with a mandate to reform the criminal justice system from the inside. Emily Bazelon's new book, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration, chronicles this potentially transformative moment in American criminal justice.

This Essay highlights the importance of Charged to modern criminal justice debates and leverages its concrete framing to offer a generally applicable theory of prosecutor-driven criminal justice reform. The theory seeks to reconcile reformers' newfound embrace of prosecutorial discretion with long-standing worries, both inside and outside the academy, about the dangerous accumulation …

The Misplaced Trust In The Doj's Expertise On Criminal Justice Policy, Shon Hopwood

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

As should be clear, this is less a book review and more an in-depth exploration of a key point Professor Barkow makes in Prisoners of Politics as applied to the federal criminal justice system. Sure, we need expertise in order to make data-driven criminal justice policy decisions--as Barkow puts it, “[t]he key is to create and foster an institutional framework that prioritizes data” and “expertise” so as to “create incentives for key decisionmakers to be accountable for real results” (pp. 14-15). But in creating reforms, the kindof expertise is also important. Many federal policymakers currently view the DOJ and …

Addressing Environmental Toxins That Affect Children Through A Children's Rights Framework: Tools To Help You Succeed, Jenifer Cartland

Center for the Human Rights of Children

This toolkit was developed as part of Loyola University Chicago’s Advancing Healthy Homes and Healthy Communities Initiative (HHHCI). This initiative establishes an interdisciplinary university-community-public-private partner- ship to tackle the problem of environmental toxins in homes and communities through a range of activities. This approach integrates a unique set of strategies and tactics, including applied research, public education, organiz- ing, coalition building, legislative and policy advocacy, and policy implementation. HHHCI uses an integrative research and advocacy model to address the public health and hous- ing problems associated with environmental toxins. This approach integrates a unique set of strategies and tactics, including …

Law Library Blog (April 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Not Far Enough: The Rising Elderly Prison Population And Criminal Justice And Prison Reform Following The First Step Act Of 2018, Johnny Thach

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The First Step Act of 2018, while representing a modest advancement in criminal justice reform, falls short of achieving meaningful change, particularly for elderly prisoners and those with disabilities. Despite its provisions for compassionate release and recidivism assessment, the Act is criticized for its restrictive eligibility criteria, lack of retroactive sentencing reforms, and insufficient oversight of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The note argues that the Act’s limitations perpetuate systemic issues, such as inadequate medical care and high mortality rates among elderly prisoners, highlighting the need for more comprehensive reforms to address these concerns effectively.

Domestic Violence: A Comparative Analysis Of Legal Statues In The United States (New York) And The Republic Of India (Mumbai), Lenard G. Gomes Esq.

Student Theses

Domestic violence has continued to be a major global issue effecting many if not all countries in the world. The form domestic violence can take varies from country to country. Laws protecting women from domestic violence also differs as a result This research examines how cultural differences impact domestic violence legislations in the United States and the Republic of India. India was chosen as a comparison jurisdiction because of differing demographics and possible variables in that country.

The primary data source for this study were the numerous enacted legislations pertaining to domestic violence that form the legislative landscape on domestic …

Law In The Time Of Covid-19, Katharina Pistor

Faculty Books

The COVID-19 crisis has ended and upended lives around the globe. In addition to killing over 160,000 people, more than 35,000 in the United States alone, its secondary effects have been as devastating. These secondary effects pose fundamental challenges to the rules that govern our social, political, and economic lives. These rules are the domain of lawyers. Law in the Time of COVID-19 is the product of a joint effort by members of the faculty of Columbia Law School and several law professors from other schools.

This volume offers guidance for thinking about some the most pressing legal issues the …

A Third-Party Doctrine For Digital Metadata, H. Brian Holland

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Effective Are Police? The Problem Of Clearance Rates And Criminal Accountability, Shima Baradaran Baughman

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, the national conversation in criminal justice has centered on police. Are police using excessive force? Should they be monitored more closely? Do technology and artificial intelligence improve policing? The implied core question across these national debates is whether police are effective at their jobs. Yet we have not explored how effective police are or determined how best to measure police effectiveness.

This Article endeavors to measure how effective police are at their principal function—solving crime. The metric most commonly used to measure police effectiveness at crime-solving is a “clearance rate:” the proportion of reported crimes for which …

Fertility Fraud And Proposal For Florida Legislation, Cheyenne Dunn

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.