Criminal Law Commons^™

Exploring Places Of Street Drug Dealing In A Downtown Area In Brazil: An Analysis Of The Reliability Of Google Street View In International Criminological Research, Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Ko-Hsin Hsu

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study assesses the reliability of Google Street View (GSV) in auditing environmental features that help create hotbeds of drug dealing in Belo Horizonte, one of Brazil’s largest cities. Based on concepts of “crime generators” and “crime enablers,” a set of 40 items were selected using arrest data related to drug activities for the period between 2007 and 2011. These items served to develop a GSV data collection instrument used to observe features of 135 street segments that were identified as drug dealing hot spots in downtown Belo Horizonte. The study employs an intra-class correlation (ICC) statistics as a measure …

Revisiting The Role Of Federal Prosecutors In Times Of Mass Imprisonment, Nora V. Demleitner

Scholarly Articles

None available.

Crime, Punishment, And Causation: The Effect Of Etiological Information On The Perception Of Moral Agency, Paul J. Litton, Philip Robbins

Faculty Publications

Moral judgments about a situation are profoundly shaped by the perception of individuals in that situation as either moral agents or moral patients (Gray & Wegner, 2009; Gray, Young, & Waytz, 2012), Specifically, the more we see someone as a moral agent, the less we see them as a moral patient, and vice versa. As a result, casting the perpetrator of a transgression as a victim tends to have the effect of making them seem less blameworthy (Gray & Wegner, 201 1). Based on this theoretical framework, we predicted that criminal offenders with a mental disorder that predisposes them to …

Moral Mode Switching: From Punishment To Public Health, Stephen Koppel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A public health response to drug offenses has potential to improve both public safety and public health. However, the public’s desire for retribution represents a possible hindrance to reform. Relying on dual-process theory of moral decision-making, this dissertation examines agreement among laypeople about the relative blame deserved for various crime types, and probes several possible predictors of support—the need for cognition (“NFC”), intergroup bias, and free-will doubt—for retributive as well as consequentialist responses to crime. Findings from several web-based experiments show: (a) in comparison to core crimes (eg., murder) substantially less agreement about the relative blame deserved for noncore crimes …

Innovating Criminal Justice, Natalie Ram

Northwestern University Law Review

From secret stingray devices that can pinpoint a suspect’s location, to advanced forensic DNA-analysis tools, to recidivism risk statistic software—the use of privately developed criminal justice technologies is growing. So too is a concomitant pattern of trade secret assertion surrounding these technologies. This Article charts the role of private law secrecy in shielding criminal justice activities, demonstrating that such secrecy is pervasive, problematic, and ultimately unnecessary for the production of well-designed criminal justice tools.

This Article makes three contributions to the existing literature. First, the Article establishes that trade secrecy now permeates American criminal justice, shielding privately developed criminal justice …

City Harvest Case And The Separation Of Powers, Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Verdict provides important example of how the courts and Parliament play different roles in Singapore's legal system. The Court of Appeal last week upheld the reduced sentences passed in the City Harvest Church (CHC) case. Six former church leaders were charged with having conspired to commit the aggravated offence of criminal breach of trust (CBT) as an "agent" under Section 409 of the Penal Code. Departing from the earlier interpretation that had stood for the past 40 years, the court decided that Section 409 applied only to professional agents, which the former church leaders were not. The charges were reduced …

Champions For Justice 2018, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Myths And Misogyny: The Legal Response To Sexual Assault, Rose Mary Lynn Ubell

Master of Studies in Law Research Papers Repository

Sexual assault is a persistent form of violence against women that is rooted in gender inequality. It violates the sexual integrity of the victim and can have lasting psychological and emotional effects on both victims and their families. Sexual assault is a significant social and cultural problem within Canadian society. This paper presents an examination of the problems with the legal response to sexual assault that are still prevalent within the Canadian justice system despite the many positive changes in law that have come about in the last three decades. It is divided into three main chapters. The first draws …

Improving The Indigent Defense Crisis Through Decriminalization, Bryan Altman

Arkansas Law Review

“The Sixth Amendment stands as a constant admonition that if the constitutional safeguards it provides be lost, justice will not still be done.” The constitutional right to the assistance of counsel in criminal prosecutions is one of the many safeguards contained within the Sixth Amendment designed to protect the fundamental human rights of life and liberty. Unfortunately, for indigent defendants that safeguard of life and liberty operates as a mere platitude today. Stephen Bright, founder of the Southern Center for Human Rights, has bleakly summarized the crisis of indigent defense, noting that while the right to counsel is widely celebrated, …

Extraterritorial Human Trafficking Prosecutions: Eliminating Zones Of Impunity Within The Limits Of International Law And Due Process, Caroline A. Fish

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the Baston court was incorrect both in finding the Amendment consistent with the protective principle and in its analysis of the defendant’s nexus with the United States. This Note asserts, instead, that (1) the Amendment is not valid under any traditional bases of prescriptive jurisdiction but is consistent with the United States’ international obligations to “extradite or prosecute,” and (2) the Amendment may be applied under the international anti-trafficking conventions to foreign defendants present in the United States, regardless of nexus, without violating due process.

Part I of this Note describes the complex nature of …

The Save Act Of 2015: Congress' Attempt To Reprioritize Online Child Sex Trafficking, Ashley A. Cardenas

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that the SAVE Act will not achieve Congress’ goal of prosecuting website operators and stopping the influx of online child sex trafficking advertisements. However, the potential pitfalls of this legislation does not mean the Act should be thrown out in its entirety. Instead, the Act should be rewritten to include well-crafted, yet informative definitions of online child sex trafficking, while also lowering the mens rea requirement and requiring website operators to engage in more due diligence.

Part I outlines the background of Internet sex trafficking in general. Section A discusses the parties involved in online child …

Fulfilling U.S. Commitment To Refugee Resettlement: Protecting Refugees, Preserving National Security, & Building The U.S. Economy Through Refugee Admissions, Harvard Immigration And Refugee Clinical Program

Texas A&M Law Review

At a time when the U.S. refugee admissions program is under serious threat and the world’s displaced population is at its highest, this Report sets forth extensive recommendations regarding the United States’ role in protecting vulnerable refugees and compliance with its commitments under domestic and international law that together safeguard people fleeing persecution and fearing return to torture. The Report also identifies key national security reasons for supporting and enhancing the refugee program in keeping with U.S. foreign policy priorities. Additionally, the Report provides an in-depth discussion of the robust, multistep security-assessment mechanisms already in place for screening refugees; offers …

Hb 452 - Domestic Terrorism, John J. Crowley, Tatiana E. Posada

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act creates and defines the offense of domestic terrorism in Georgia. It establishes that a person must have the intent to intimidate the public or coerce the government while causing significant harm in order to be liable for domestic terrorism. The Act also provides for training law enforcement to identify and combat domestic terrorism, to share the information with the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and for the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center to share that information with the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Sb 160 - "Blue Lives Matter" Protection Of Public Safety Officers, Caitlin V. Fox, Joseph A. Wallace Jr.

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act redefines and broadens protection for public safety officers who are subjected to violent attacks while engaged in their duties. The Act creates original jurisdiction and stiffens penalties for juvenile offenders charged with violent crimes. The Act also increases indemnification payments made to the surviving spouse of a law enforcement officer who loses his or her life in the line of duty.

Sb 174 - Probation And Early Release, Andrew J. Navratil, Jobena E. Hill

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act amends Georgia’s probation laws by shortening the amount of time offenders spend on probation, providing local supervision, and creating a more efficient use of resources within the criminal justice system. The Act permits the transfer from parole to probation and the use of local supervision for certain offenders. The Act also allows for early release of probationers who meet the terms of their probation. The Act creates a process to automatically generate a request for early termination of probation for certain low-level offenses after the offender successfully completes three years of probation.

Hb 280 - Campus Carry, Taylor Morgan Koshak, Nicholas J. Roger

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act broadens lawful gun owners’ rights by allowing weapons carry license holders to carry concealed guns on property owned or leased by public institutions of postsecondary education. The Act creates exceptions for sporting events, student housing, childcare spaces, classes for a college and career academy and other specialized schools, classrooms for dual enrollment programs, and spaces for administrative disciplinary proceedings. The law creates a misdemeanor penalty for noncompliance, and provides definitions for clarification.

Hb 249 - Controlled Substances And Prescription Drug Monitoring Database, Emily R. Polk, Brandon M. Reed

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act amends Georgia’s controlled-substances statutes to expand medical provider requirements to record prescription drug information in an electronic prescription drug monitoring program database (PDMP). Medical providers are now required to use the PDMP to enter information about their prescription of certain types and quantities of opioids. The purpose of the act is to fight Schedule II opioid abuse throughout the state of Georgia. A medical provider’s failure to report required information is reported to his or her respective state regulatory board for possible reprimand. In addition to mandatory reporting, the Act includes various other provisions related to regulating opioid …

Sb 104 - Carjacking, Fentanyl And "Upskirting", Katherine H. Krouse, Lauren R. Light

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act includes various amendments to Georgia’s criminal code. Three changes are most notable. First, the Act designates the offense of hijacking a motor vehicle as hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree and creates the offense of hijacking a motor vehicle in the second degree. Second, the Act criminalizes the use of a device to film underneath or through an individual’s clothing. Lastly, the Act adds the drug Fentanyl and its various analogs to the list of controlled substances.

Petition For Writ Of Certiorari, Montana V. Tipton, Leslie C. Griffin, Marci A. Hamilton, Paul G. Cassell

Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Fear-Based Provocation, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

Scholarly Articles

This Article offers three major contributions to challenge existing view of provocation: first, it considers psychological research that found that fear, similarly to anger, may also significantly interfere with individuals’ decision making processes by disturbing rational judgment, therefore sometimes leading to lethal aggression. Second, drawing on this research, this Article argues that provocation doctrine should be reconstructed to also include a fear-based prong. Third, recognizing fear-based provocation calls for rejecting the loss of control paradigm that currently dominates judges’ and jurors’ perception of the defense. In its place, this Article advocates focusing on the fearful defendant’s fear of violence threatened …