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A Letter From The Editors, Depaul Journal For Social Justice Editorial Board

DePaul Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

DePaul Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Proportionality Skepticism In A Red State, Lauren Sudeall Lucas

Faculty Publications By Year

Commentary on Carol S. Steiker & Jordan M. Steiker, Courting Death: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment (2016).

Comment: Solving The Depraved Heart Murder Problem In Maryland: A Suggestion For Successful Prosecution Of Police Officers, Rachele Norfolk

University of Baltimore Law Review

Currently, there is no statutory framework for depraved heart murder in Maryland. Additionally, there is a problem with prosecuting this specific kind of murder because Maryland’s common law provides very vague and somewhat flimsy guidance. While prosecuting police officers may prove to be a challenging feat itself, it may be even harder when an officer fails to follow certain procedures or act in certain ways through “acts of omission.”

This Comment will proceed in four parts following this introduction. Part II will provide background information on the Freddie Gray case and the common law in Maryland on depraved

heart murder …

Freeze, You’Re On Camera: Can Body Cameras Improve American Policing On The Streets And At The Borders?, Connie Felix Chen

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

In the United States, recent killings of civilians by law enforcement have propelled body cameras to the forefront of solutions to the “epidemic” of police misconduct. Preliminary studies suggest that body cameras create a win-win situation for both the police and the public by producing a civilizing effect on all parties involved. The problem, however, is that not every law enforcement agency has a body camera program. And among those that do, the surprising lack of legal action raises the question: How effective are body cameras in ensuring that justice is served?

This Note discusses the use of body cameras …

“So Come Put On De Handcuff Dem”; Jamaica’S Dancehall Superstar’S Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Of Life In Prison, Amanda Preston

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

In the United States, it was O.J. Simpson. In South Africa, it was Oscar Pistorius. But in Jamaica, it was Adidjah Palmer. Labeled by many as the trial of the century, the case against Palmer—a dancehall superstar better known as Vybz Kartel—saw controversial rulings, immense media scrutiny, and an unprecedented level of public discourse. When the 39-year-old music artiste was sentenced to life in prison, the island’s 2.7 million population was divided among those who applauded with approval and those who wept and cried foul. The latter category claimed that it was not Palmer who was prosecuted, but rather his …

Modernizing Financial Legislation To Protect Older Americans From Financial Abuse, Joshua F. Bautz

University of Miami Business Law Review

The United States of America is entering into a period of time that is marked by an increasingly aging population, and a corresponding growth in its susceptibility to financial abuse. While financial abuse can take on various forms, our older Americans continuously bear the bulk of its adverse effects. In recent years, financial representatives have notably suffered from a decline in investor confidence; however, this trend has failed to address the true culprits that commit the majority of financial abuse. This Comment will help to illuminate the increasing impact that family members, friends and caregivers have on the totality of …

Moral Time And Homicide Investigations., David Stuart Lapsey Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous literature explores the many dimensions of homicide investigations, including case and individual characteristics, evidence and investigative activities. However, little research delves into situational characteristics and their relationship to specific homicides, charge severity sought by prosecutors and sentence length given to homicide offenders. The current study sampled homicide cases (N=68) to gather baseline information and data regarding judicial outcomes. Donald Black’s Theory of Moral Time (2011) is tested and utilized as the study’s conceptual framework for the study’s hypotheses.

Capture Theory & State Regulation Of Animal Cruelty, Kyla Henderson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In this thesis I theorize that regulatory capture impacts animal cruelty laws in several different ways. Capture theory is the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public. Animal cruelty regulations are an important factor in the way that everyday products are produced. Capture theory affecting animal cruelty is an important look at the growing concern with animal …

Towards An Effective Regime Against Online Copyright Infringement In India, Ashwin Ramakrishnan

LLM Theses

With Internet usage on the rise, it is important for India to establish an effective regulatory regime to combat piracy and mass copyright infringement online. This thesis argues that, in the face of unique legal and cultural challenges specific to India, present laws in the country have failed to do so. Unless and until these challenges are met it will be difficult to have an effective mechanism that deals with online copyright infringement. Countries like the United States, Canada, Ireland, and France have all adopted different regulatory models. However, this thesis argues that each not only have significant limitations on …

Grasping Fatherhood In Abortion And Adoption, Malinda L. Seymore

Faculty Scholarship

Biology makes a mother, but it does not make a father. While a mother is a legal parent by reason of her biological relationship with her child, a father is not a legal parent unless he takes affirmative steps to grasp fatherhood. Being married to the mother at the time of conception or at the time of birth is one of those affirmative steps. But if he is not married to the mother, he must do far more before he will be legally recognized as a father. Biology is often presented as a sufficient reason for this dichotomy--it is easy …

Commencement Remarks Of Fbi Director James Comey To University Of Richmond School Of Law Class Of 2016, James Comey

University of Richmond Law Review

The text of a speech James Comey gave at the University of Richmond School of Law Commencement Ceremony on May 7, 2016.

Through The Lens Of Complex Systems Theory: Why Regulators Must Understand The Economy And Society As A Complex System, James M. Giudice

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of The Practice Of Law: Can Alternative Business Structures For The Legal Profession Improve Access To Legal Services?, James M. Mccauley

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Telling A Story, Changing The World: California Rural Legal Assistance, Jonathan J. Chavez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project attempts to provide an in-depth view of how stories influence change in our lives as well as in the field of law.

The Effect Of Criminal Records On Access To Employment, Amanda Agan, Sonja B. Starr

Articles

This paper adds to the empirical evidence that criminal records are a barrier to employment. Using data from 2,655 online applications sent on behalf of fictitious male applicants, we show that employers are 60 percent more likely to call applicants that do not have a felony conviction. We further investigate whether this effect varies based on applicant race (black versus white), crime type (drug versus property crime), industry (restaurants versus retail), jurisdiction (New Jersey versus New York City), local crime rate, and local racial composition. Although magnitudes vary somewhat, in every subsample the conviction effect is large, significant, and negative.

Managing The Inter-Cultural Dimensions Of A Mediation Effectively: A Proposed Pre-Mediation Intake Instrument, Dorcas Quek Anderson, Diana Knight

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Being a culturally responsive mediator has become increasingly challenging amidst the growing cultural complexity within many societies. Drawing on the existing research on culture and the authors’ experiences of mediating disputes amongst diverse disputants in Australia and Singapore, this paper proposes an emic-constructivist approach for the mediator to understand the individual disputant’s unique cultural preferences. It also recommends bringing forward the exercise of understanding cultural preferences through conducting pre-mediation intake interviews. It is argued that this approach enables the mediator to embrace the parties’ cultural complexity and to design the mediation process based on their rich milieu of preferences. Finally, …

Jury Deliberation, Giuliana Pietrantoni

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Juries are tasked with the duty of deliberating and applying the law to the case at hand. But it is unclear whether juries deliberate or deliberate well enough. Factors which may affect jury deliberation are the motivation of jurors, characteristics of jurors, emotions during and after trial, bargaining, charges, and dissenters. This paper argues that jurors do engage in rigorous dialogue which eventually results in compromises, although whether this creates an unjust verdict is unclear.

Amicus Curiae Brief Of Equality Ohio In Support Of Intervenor Urging Reversal, Doron M. Kalir, Kenneth J. Kowalski

Law Faculty Briefs and Court Documents

Title VII’s plain language bars discharge of “any individual”—whether transgender or not—“because of such individual’s . . . sex.” It applies whenever employers take gender into account in making employment decisions. It is undisputed that the employer in this case based his decision to terminate Ms. Stephens solely on sex-based considerations. To be sure, he could have terminated Ms. Stephens for a wide array of reasons—tardiness, failure to perform, disciplinary issues—or for no reason at all. Under those circumstances, such termination—even of a transgender person—would not be “because of such individual’s sex.” But that is not the case here. Here, …

Keep The Patels: How Culturally Competent Teamwork Can Alleviate The Law's Diversity Retention Problem, Danisha Brar

Concordia Law Review

In the midst of an argument with law school classmates, I once remarked that I felt simultaneously invisible as a woman of color, or more specifically as a South Asian woman. A well-intentioned friend offered consolation in the form of an assurance: she had never viewed me as not-white, and in fact had always thought of me as white. This statement was not intended to insult me—in fact, I immediately knew what she meant: she had always thought of me as a person first—her vision of me was free of any overt racism. But I did not want to be …