Criminal Law Commons^™

Growing Up Behind Bars: Pathways To Desistance For Juvenile Lifers, Laura S. Abrams, Kaylyn Canlione, D. Michael Applegarth

Marquette Law Review

In the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision Miller vs. Alabama, a variety of state laws have paved the way for the resentencing and potential release of “juvenile lifers.” Desistance theories pertaining to youth with histories of violent offending suggest that a blend of maturation, internal motivation and identity shifts, and opportunities to adopt and fulfill adult roles will lead to cessation of criminal behavior. Yet, these theories may not apply to young people serving life sentences, as they have limited opportunity to adopt adult responsibilities while imprisoned, less motivation to desist if freedom is not viewed as attainable …

Violence Risk Assessment: Current Status And Contemporary Issues, Sarah L. Desmarais, Samantha A. Zottola

Marquette Law Review

Despite the increased use of violence risk assessment instruments in the criminal justice system, they remain the topic of continued discussion and debate. This Article will discuss the state of science and practice as it relates to assessing risk for violent recidivism, highlighting current issues of concern and empirical investigation. We first provide an overview of violence risk assessment and describe the role of violence risk assessments instruments in this process. We then discuss their current status in science and practice, including the accuracy with which violence risk assessment instruments forecast violent recidivism, their impact on criminal justice decisions, and …

Violent Crime And Media Coverage In One City: A Statistical Snapshot, Michael O'Hear

Marquette Law Review

Many commentators have argued that high levels of public fear and anger regarding violent crime result, at least in part, from distorted coverage of crime in the news media. Among other distortions, it is said that the news media devote greatly disproportionate coverage to the most outrageous instances of violent crime, and that the media fail to provide information that would helpfully contextualize the offenses or humanize the perpetrators. In order to test these latter claims, crime stories from a daily newspaper and an Internet news site in one mid-sized city were collected for one year. As expected, in comparison …

Balancing Sorna And The Sixth Amendment: The Case For A "Restricted Circumstance-Specific Approach", John F. Howard

Marquette Law Review

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is in place to protect the public, children especially, from sex offenders. Under SORNA, anyone and everyone convicted of what the law defines as a “sex offense” is required to register as a “sex offender,” providing accurate and up-to-date information on where they live, work, and go to school. Failure to do so constitutes a federal crime punishable by up to ten years imprisonment. But how do federal courts determine whether a particular state-level criminal offense constitutes a “sex offense” under SORNA? Oftentimes when doing comparisons between state and federal law for …

Factually Baseless Enforcement Of Criminal Law Is Okay. Full Enforcement Is Not., Darryl K. Brown

Marquette Law Review

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Marijuana Law Reform In 2020 And Beyond: Where We Are And Where We’Re Going, Sam Kamin

Seattle University Law Review

With another presidential election now looming on the horizon, both political parties and both sides of the marijuana law reform debate are once again preparing for the possibility of a seismic change in how marijuana is regulated in the United States. In this Article, I lay out the state of marijuana law and policy in the United States today with an eye toward that uncertain future. I describe the differential treatment of marijuana under state and federal law and the tensions this causes for those seeking to take advantage of marijuana law reform in the states. I analyze recent changes …

A Commitment To The Whole Athlete: Embracing The Role Of Cannabinoids In Collegiate Athletics, Kelli Rodriguez Currie

Seattle University Law Review

Cannabinoids can be a highly effective way for athletes to combat various kinds of pain associated with intense training. Derivatives of cannabis, such as marijuana, have been used for centuries as a form of pain relief. Part I of this Article discusses how cannabinoids are used in sports medicine. Part II discusses the different approaches to marijuana and cannabidiol use across sports leagues. Part III highlights the inconsistencies between the NCAA’s approach to testing for substance abuse and its investment in student-athletes’ well-being. Part IV discusses how the NCAA must focus on student-athlete health. Finally, Part V concludes that the …

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

"Inciting A Riot": Silent Sentinels, Group Protests, And Prisoners' Petition And Associational Rights, Nicole B. Godfrey

Seattle University Law Review

This Article argues for increased legal protections for prisoners who choose to engage in group protest to shed light on the conditions of their incarceration. A companion piece to a similar article that focused on prisoner free speech rights, this Article uses the acts of protest utilized by the Silent Sentinels to examine why prisoners’ rights to petition and association should be strengthened. By strengthening these rights, the Article argues that we will advance the values enshrined by the First Amendment’s Petition Clause while simultaneously advancing the rights of the incarcerated millions with little to no political power.

The Article …

Does The Woman Suffrage Amendment Protect The Voting Rights Of Men?, Steve Kolbert

Seattle University Law Review

This Article—part of the Seattle University Law Review’s symposium on the centennial of the ratification of the Woman Suffrage Amendment—examines that open possibility. Concluding that the Nineteenth Amendment does protect men’s voting rights, this Article explores why and how that protection empowers Congress to address felon disenfranchisement and military voting. This Article also examines the advantages of using Nineteenth Amendment enforcement legislation compared to legislation enacted under other constitutional provisions.

Part I discusses the unique barriers to voting faced by voters with criminal convictions (Section I.A) and voters in the armed forces (Section I.B). This Part also explains how existing …

The Internet Never Forgets: A Federal Solution To The Dissemination Of Nonconsensual Pornography, Alexis Santiago

Seattle University Law Review

As technology evolves, new outlets for interpersonal conflict and crime evolve with it. The law is notorious for its inability to keep pace with this evolution. This Comment focuses on one area that the law urgently needs to regulate—the dissemination of “revenge porn,” otherwise known as nonconsensual pornography. Currently, no federal law exists in the U.S. that criminalizes the dissemination of nonconsensual pornography. Most U.S. states have criminalized the offense, but with vastly different degrees of severity, resulting in legal inconsistencies and jurisdictional conflicts. This Comment proposes a federal solution to the dissemination of nonconsensual pornography that carefully balances the …

Criminal Histories And Criminal Futures, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Possibility Of Prosecuting Corporations For Climate Crimes Before The International Criminal Court: All Roads Lead To The Rome Statute?, Donna Minha

Michigan Journal of International Law

Due to rapid developments in climate science, scientists are now able to quantifiably link significant greenhouse gas emissions caused by major oil and gas corporations to specific climate impacts. These scientific advances have been accompanied by the publication of documents and studies suggesting that the oil and gas industry allegedly had knowledge of climate change as early as sixty years ago, and yet it actively worked to promote climate change denial and to delay governmental regulation on this matter. Though climate-related litigation is proceeding against the industry in different jurisdictions, proceedings brought against oil and gas corporations mainly focus on …

Victim Impact Statements And Corporate Sex Crimes, Erin L. Sheley

Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that more frequently including victim impact statements during the sentencing phase of corporate criminal trials would help lay foundation for legislative reforms geared towards punishing corporations on the occasions where genuinely corporate misconduct, such as that of USAG and the Weinstein Company, can be said to have caused sexual offenses. The Article proceeds in three Parts. First, I argue that criminal enforcement against corporations is generally untethered from harm to victims, and that this thwarts one of the most coherent justifications for the existence of corporate criminal liability. Next, I argue that a focus on victim narratives …

State V. Thomas: An Improper Extension Of Involuntary Manslaughter To Combat The Opioid Epidemic, Daniel P. Mooney

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Law And Policy Of Child Maltreatment, Frank Vandervort

Book Chapters

Each year in the United States some four million children are reported to child protective services and hundreds of thousands of children are confirmed victims of maltreatment. This chapter provides a brief overview of the civil and criminal law’s response to child abuse and neglect. It summarizes the major federal statutes that provide funding to the states to support both civil and criminal law responses to maltreatment. It discusses the division of responsible for responding to child maltreatment between the federal and state governments (federalism). It also provides a summary of the constitutional framework for handling both civil and criminal …

Rights Should Not Vary Based On Offense Severity, Russell L. Christopher

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

Some constitutional rights of criminal procedure apply unequally, varying based on offense (or punishment) severity. Of these, some vary proportionally, attaching or strengthening as offense severity increases. For example, the Sixth Amendment guarantees the rights to appointed counsel for indigents and jury trial for defendants charged with any felony but only some misdemeanors. In contrast, other rights are inversely proportional. For example, the strength or applicability of some aspects of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures and the Eighth Amendment right against excessive bail decrease as offense severity increases. This Article examines whether such rights should vary …

Stepping Into The Shoes Of The Department Of Justice: The Unusual, Necessary, And Hopeful Path The Illinois Attorney General Took To Require Police Reform In Chicago, Lisa Madigan, Cara Hendrickson, Karyn L. Bass Ehler

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Eighteen Is Not A Magic Number: Why The Eighth Amendment Requires Protection For Youth Aged Eighteen To Twenty-Five, Tirza A. Mullin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Eighth Amendment protects a criminal defendant’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This Note argues that any punishment of eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds is cruel and unusual without considering their youthfulness at every stage of the criminal process, and that it is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment for these youths to be automatically treated as fully-developed adults. This Note will explore in depth how juveniles differ from adults, both socially and scientifically, and how the criminal justice system fails every youth aged eighteen- to twenty-five by subjecting them to criminal, rather than juvenile, court without considering their …

Get Out Of Jail Free Testimony And Other Examples Of Interest-Based Bargaining In The Criminal Justice System, Michael Rogers, Maria Garrett, Aaron Dekel

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

If you do the crime, you must do the time. Well, upon reflection, maybe not always. In the O.J. Simpson Las Vegas robbery case, his accomplices (the "O.Js") who cooperated with the prosecutor following their arrests were all sentenced to probation. The crime of robbery, particularly aggravated robbery, usually results in a lengthy prison sentence. So, why not here? That is because a criminal's most valuable, tradable currency is information. And, in this case, the O.J.s furthered the prosecutor's interest of convicting the bigger fish, or the higher priority defendant, by providing information and testimony to materially assist in convicting …