Criminal Law Commons^™

Beware Of The Dangers Of The State-Created Danger Doctrine: A Look At The Ninth Circuit's Approach, Julia Steiner

University of Miami Law Review

The Fourteenth Amendment applies to state, not private, actors. It, like the whole of our Constitution, operates as a negative restraint on government. The Due Process Clause thus forbids states from taking certain action—but it does not and cannot compel the state to act ab initio. These core concepts formed the basis of the Supreme Court’s decision in DeShaney v. Winnebago County, where the Court reaffirmed that the only instance where the state assumes an affirmative duty to provide safety and security is when the state itself restrains an individual from protecting themselves.

Yet, since DeShaney, the circuit …

"Fighting Words" And The First Amendment In Maine: State V. John W., Deborah J. Ross

Maine Law Review

On April 1, 1979, John W. was driving his car, accompanied by his sister Maria. The car was stopped by a police officer who requested John's license and registration. Maria asked the officer why they had been stopped. When the officer remained silent, Maria became abusive and was arrested for disorderly conduct. John demanded to know what was going on. Ordered to get back into his car, John began shouting at the police: "Hey, turn around and come back here;" "Hey, you fucking pig, you fuckin' kangaroo;" "Fuck you." John was arrested and convicted in a juvenile proceeding of disorderly …

The Development And Consequences Of The "Good Faith" Exception To The Exclusionary Rule And The Qualified "Good Faith" Immunity From Liability Under Section 1983, Philip M. Coffin Iii, Paul F. Driscoll

Maine Law Review

The remedies fashioned to redress violations of the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution continue to be the subject of much judicial, legislative, and scholarly inquiry. In striking the balance between the need to protect individual freedom and the need to protect society from criminal activity, the Supreme Court and Congress have developed two principal remedies for fourth amendment violations: the exclusionary rule and civil actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 or under theories of constitutional tort. on the development of both of these remedies it is assumed that their effectiveness is the true measure of fourth amendment liberties. …

Incrimination Of Carlton Lewis, Kaia L. Fox

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

On February 7, 1990, Cheryl Coleman was found dead in her apartment, sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a 2x4 piece of wood. Carlton Lewis became one the of few suspects in the case. Despite providing a statement that he was at his home at the time of the murder and the word of his wife, a suspect named William McKee was interviewed and said he saw Lewis go to a house on the corner of the street with Coleman. After McKee was interviewed, Lewis, who was illiterate at the time, was forced into a false confession by being …

25 Years For A Crime He Didn’T Commit: Anthony Wright, Caleb D. Purvis

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Anthony Wright was found guilty of the rape and murder of an elderly woman in 1991 in Philadelphia. He was then convicted in 1993 (Kaur, 2020). Anthony Wright spent the next 25 years in prison before becoming the 344th person to be exonerated by DNA in the US (Innocence Project, 2025). Upon the re-examination of the evidence found at the crime scene, a new suspect was identified, but had already passed away, preventing any criminal charges from being filed against them. Anthony Wright also filed a civil lawsuit on January 17, 2017, after his exoneration (Wright v. Philadelphia, 2017).

Examining The Evidence: The Case Of Marcellus Williams And The Pursuit Of Justice, Star Parham

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The case of Marcellus Williams, the case of a Missouri man killed on death row, has sparked many legal and ethical concerns. Those concerns are wrongful convictions, forensic evidence, and the orchestration of the death penalty in the United States. Willimas was convicted in 2001 for the murder of Felicia Gayle based on evidence of circumstances and testimony from informants. Despite all of that Missouri officials pursued the execution, and he was killed.

Understanding Brady Violations, Jennifer M. Mcaward

Vanderbilt Law Review

This largest-ever study of adjudicated violations of Brady v. Maryland provides a detailed and nuanced understanding of who suppresses material evidence in criminal cases, as well as why, how, where, and how often. Its findings complicate the conventional wisdom that Brady violations are the work of nefarious prosecutors who intentionally withhold material evidence from criminal defendants. While it is true that “bad faith” permeates this area of constitutional noncompliance, a substantial minority of Brady cases stem from “good faith” errors by prosecutors and suppression by law enforcement officers. Mostviolations occur in a small number of states, and most often, state …

Murder On The Plains: The Murdock Farmhouse Slayings, Tatum L. Sander

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

On April 17, 2006, Wayne and Sharmon Stock were murdered in Murdock, Nebraska, shocking the community. The investigation was complicated by wrongful arrests and mishandled evidence. Initially, Matthew Livers, the victims’ nephew, and his cousin Nicholas Sampson were wrongfully accused after Livers gave a false confession during an 11-hour interrogation. There was no physical evidence linking them to the crime, and the case relied on a fabricated blood sample. However, forensic evidence later revealed that the real killers were Jessica Reid and Gregory Fester, two teenagers from Wisconsin. Livers' confession was deemed unreliable due to his low IQ and the …

Springboard To Article V (Or Electoral Democracy And The End Of Constitutional Amendment In The Nation And States), Wilfred U. Codrington Iii

Articles

Drafted in exceedingly sparing terms and notoriously difficult to amend, the U S. Constitution is falling short in one of the most important functions of a government charter: establishing and maintaining a fair and just electoral framework-marked by rules that promote the values of equality, participation, competition, and transparency in elections. That is, the Constitution increasingly fails to preserve electoral democracy even as the nation's systems for voting and elections are plagued by a cascade of problems. State constitutions, though not uniform, are uniformly easier to amend than the national charter and tend to be better stewards of electoral democracy. …

From Theory To Practice: A True-Crime Podcast, Lauren V. Peckham

Senior Honors Projects

The Criminal Element is an innovative, victim-centered podcast that bridges the gap between criminological theory and real-world criminal cases. The podcast is designed as an educational resource for undergraduate Criminology and Criminal Justice students, alongside general audience members interested in learning more about criminological theory. Through the lens of true crime, this podcast is an engaging exploration of foundational and advanced theories while avoiding sensationalism and exploitation, a prevalent problem among true crime media. Each episode connects criminological theoretical concepts – such as strain, social learning, and social disorganization – to contemporary and historical cases, providing listeners with accessible and …

Christopher Tapp, Haley Schoenberger

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Christopher Tapp was wrongfully convicted for the murder and rape of 18-year-old Angie Dodge and the use of a deadly weapon in Idaho. This took place in 1996. This highlights the damages and dangers of coerced confessions and failures within the criminal justice system. Tapp was convicted even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. He was sentenced to 30 years to life because of a confession extracted by the police’s interrogation and a false witness statement. The DNA at the scene did not match Chris but he was still imprisoned for 20 years. In 2019, …

Mobile Hyflex, Mairéad Seymour

Case studies: Digital Education

I utilised the mobile hyflex technology with a group of taught postgraduate students attending a 2 hour research methods lecture. Students were required to complete preparatory work in advance which formed the basis of group discussion and group tasks. Sessions were divided between lecture delivery, individual exercises and small group discussion or group tasks. I delivered a hybrid approach using the mobile technology provided by the NTUTORR initiative and the virtual classroom function in Brightspace.

Dangerous And Unusual: How Heller’S Ahistorical Assumption Violates The Founders’ Original Intent, Oliver Krawczyk, Gilbert Ambler

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

When the U.S. Supreme Court ended its generational silence on the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court held that “a prohibition of an entire class of ‘arms’ that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society” is “invalid.” In so holding, the Court suggested that the Constitution protects only those weapons “in common use at the time,” a limitation thought to be “fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of ‘dangerous and unusual weapons.’” The Court defined none of these terms then, and it has not since.

Over a decade of constitutional infidelity ensued. …

De-Policing: An Updated Empirical Analysis Of Crime And Federal Police Reform, Griffin Edwards, Stephen Rushin

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article builds on prior work by empirically analyzing the effect of federal intervention in local police departments on crime and clearance rates, using updated data and methodologies.

Congress passed 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (formerly 42 U.S.C. § 14141) in 1994 to give the United States Attorney General the authority to seek equitable relief against local and state law enforcement agencies engaged in patterns or practices of misconduct. Since its passage, the Department of Justice has investigated and intervened into dozens of American police departments, including some of the largest police departments in the country. Federal intervention represents one of …

Torture And The Yemen Civil War, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law

Yemen Accountability Project (YAP)

No abstract provided.

How Justice Holmes Turned Conspirators Into Partners, Daniel Harris

William & Mary Business Law Review

A fundamental precept of the law of conspiracy is that all members of a conspiracy are partners in crime. This precept is the rationale for many doctrines of conspiracy law, including the controversial judge-made rule that all members of a conspiracy are vicariously guilty of substantive crimes foreseeably committed by one member of the conspiracy even if the other members did not commit the substantive offense, intend the offense, or aid or abet its commission. Why does the law impose partnership status and vicarious guilt on lower-level members of a conspiracy who have no ownership stake in the business and …

Riding On Horseback To The Moon: Consent Searches In The Age Of Smartphones And Digital Tracking, Jonathan Kerr

Washington and Lee Law Review

In 2014, when the Supreme Court ruled in Riley v. California that police must get a warrant before conducting a search of a cell phone, Chief Justice John Roberts described comparing a search of data on a cell phone to a search of other physical items as “like saying a ride on horseback is materially indistinguishable from a flight to the moon.” A decade later, an overwhelming majority of Americans carry cell phones that contain an ever-expanding set of data showing their habits, routines, and the minutiae of their everyday lives, offering a potential wealth of information to law enforcement …

Independent Justice? U.S. Attorneys As A Case Study Of Political Appointments, Jennifer L. Selin, Lauren Mattioli

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Concerns over presidential use of federal prosecution as a political weapon and the overall independence of the Department of Justice have increased in recent years. While most scholarship exploring the potential for political prosecution has focused on the legal and political forces that influence prosecutorial discretion, few studies have identified the varying ways that federal prosecutors obtain their jobs or how those processes affect who serves as U.S. Attorney. This is a consequential oversight, as U.S. Attorney appointments provide an informative case study of the legal frameworks, historical conventions, and politics that influence presidential appointments more generally.

In this Article, …

Prosecuting Police, Guyora Binder, Anthony O'Rourke, Rick Su

Journal Articles

Prosecutors face criticism for prosecuting too many minority members and too few police. Recently, some reformers have won prosecutorial elections by pledging to change these priorities. Yet scholars have identified two impediments to police prosecutions. First, county prosecutors often answer to suburban voters indifferent to the excesses of city police. Second, prosecutors depend on those police to investigate their cases and to endorse them as effective. This Article argues that the influence of residents and police on prosecutorial decisions depends on the political geography of a prosecutor’s office. As a result, whether a prosecutor’s office is “city-based,” “regional,” or “state-appointed” …

U.S. Territories And The Criminal Law Curriculum, Emmanuel Hiram Arnaud

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, I make a case for why issues concerning the territories should be taught in law school courses and suggest a few ways in which federal criminal adjudication in the territories can and should be incorporated into the criminal law and procedure curriculum.¹⁰ As I advance elsewhere,¹¹ criminal adjudication in the territories functions differently than in the mainland United States.¹² Using the framework of what I call the “territorial criminal legal system,” I have begun mapping the contours of the unique prosecutorial ecosystem produced by the territorial condition.¹³ Chief among the characteristics is the …