Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

Criminal Justice Update - September 2024, Mia Agudelo

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)
• Updates from the PA Legislature (no updates this month)
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)
• PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Prosecutorial Data Transparency And Data Justice, Caitlin Glass, Kat M. Albrecht, Perry Moriearty

Northwestern University Law Review

The U.S. criminal legal system is notoriously racialized. Though Black and Latinx people make up less than 30% of U.S. residents, they constitute more than 50% of the nearly two million people currently in U.S. prisons and jails. For decades, research has indicated that one group of decision-makers has had an outsized influence on these numbers: prosecutors. From whom to charge to what sentences to recommend, no actor plays a greater role in determining who goes to prison in this country. Highly subjective and lacking in formal guidance and accountability, prosecutorial decisions are especially vulnerable to racial bias. They are …

Lawyerless Litigants, Filing Fees, Transaction Costs, And The Federal Courts: Learning From Scales, Judith Resnik, Henry Wu, Jenn Dikler, David T. Wong, Romina Lilollari, Claire Stobb, Elizabeth Beling, Avital Fried, Anna Selbrede, Jack Sollows, Mikael Tessema, Julia Udell

Northwestern University Law Review

Two Latin phrases describing litigants—pro se (for oneself) and in forma pauperis (IFP, as a poor person)—prompt this inquiry into the relationship between self-representation and requests for filing fee waivers. We sketch the governing legal principles for people seeking relief in the federal courts, the sources of income of the federal judiciary, the differing regimes to which Congress has subjected incarcerated and nonincarcerated people filing civil lawsuits, and analyses enabled by SCALES, a newly available database that coded 2016 and 2017 federal court docket sheets. This Essay’s account of what can be learned and of the data gaps demonstrates the …

A New Way Forward For Alabama Prisons, Brandon L. Blankenship

Politics, Justice, Law, and Philosophy

Blankenship delves into the harrowing realities and historical evolution of Alabama’s prison system, offering a critical lens on Alabama’s prisons from their inception to the present day. The narrative begins with a vivid description of the dire conditions within the prisons, where systemic violence, neglect, and deprivation prevail, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive reform. It traces the roots of the current crisis back to the state’s early reluctance to establish a penitentiary system, coupled with a persistent failure to address the underlying issues of overcrowding, inadequate healthcare, and violence. The chapter highlights the historical role of federal interventions in …

Mind Your Business Or Be Your Brother's Keeper? Managing Vulnerability In The New York City Subway, Maria Barrera-Vilert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study investigates the management of safety and vulnerability in the New York City subway by analyzing public communication campaigns focused on counterterrorism, COVID-19, and deviance awareness. It explores how New Yorkers navigate the tension between adhering to a dominant New York cultural imperative to mind one’s business and being called upon to be their “brother’s keepers” and intervene when something risky happens.

The study is structured around three central elements that align with the three primary processes of public communication campaigns: representation, interpretation, and reaction. This study analyzes visual images associated with public communication campaigns and 43 …

Indiana Law Supporting Newly Established Indiana Innocence Project, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Law students from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law will have the opportunity to help exonerate wrongfully convicted Hoosiers through the newly established Indiana Innocence Project, which officially launched Saturday (Aug. 17).

Established in association with the national Innocence Project—which has helped free more than 240 wrongfully convicted prisoners since 1992—the Indiana Innocence Project (INIP) has been made possible through the support of the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, along with the Law School and IU’s Department of Criminal Justice.

The Indiana Innocence Project will screen and investigate cases with meritorious innocence claims, secure DNA testing when biological evidence …

Past And Present Of The Cvs: Empirical Research And Evidence-Based Policy, Kevin T. Wolff

Publications and Research

In this keynote address, I emphasized the critical role of accurate crime measurement in developing evidence-based policies. I discussed the "dark figure of crime," highlighting how many crimes go unreported, and stressed the importance of victimization surveys in uncovering these hidden crimes to provide a more complete picture of criminal activity.

I also explored how technological advancements, particularly AI, are transforming how we collect and analyze crime data. While AI offers significant benefits in predictive policing and resource allocation, I cautioned about the risks of bias and privacy issues that must be managed carefully.

Regional collaboration, standardization, and inclusivity are …

Tierra, Sangre Y Resistencia, Rosalva Resendiz

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

For myself, art has been a way to explore my Chicanx realism a la Cheri Moraga. There are so many conflicting emotions I have experienced as a mestiza indigenous brown individual living on the borderlands. I have lived with much rage, having survived the colorism within my own family, the racism from both lands of the North and South, and the identity crisis that comes with learning to accept myself as de-tribalized and indigenous in a country which refuses to accept that we are natives and not immigrants.
My contribution to this issue is a painting for the issue’s cover …

El Corrido De La Redada De Los “41 Maricones”: Decolonizing El Porfiriato And Its Queer Signifier, Lucas Espinoza, Rosalva Resendiz, Luis E. Espinoza

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to critically examine the story of the number 41 as a queer signifier in Mexican culture from a decolonial perspective, taking into account archival records in the development of hegemonic masculinity in the 20th century. An examination of hegemonic masculinity and homophobia of early 20th century Mexico is provided by reviewing colonial accounts of indigenous sexuality, as well as uncovering the hidden stories of the corrido/ballad of El Baile de los 41 Maricones. The corrido was used as satire to ridicule the homosexual practices by the bourgeoisie, creating a rift between social classes, and …

A Cross-Disciplinary Undergraduate Research Project: Bonding Through Books With Incarcerated Mothers And Grandmothers, April Terry, Sarah Miller

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study addresses two areas of need in the literature. First, we recognize the impact of experiential-learning on student outcomes and fewer opportunities within the social sciences. Second, as academics in criminal justice and education, we are aware of educational needs of incarcerated persons. The current study blended together experiential-learning alongside a reading program within one state’s women’s correctional facility, targeting (grand)mothers. Two faculty and 40 students, spanning two academic departments, completed a research-based experiential-learning project with one community partner. This undergraduate project sought to benefit students, incarcerated (grand)mothers, and the (grand)children of incarcerated (grand)mothers through a read-aloud program. Through …

Teaching Shakespeare In Prison, Renford Reese, Rachel Tracie

Journal of Prison Education Research

The Prison Education Project (PEP) offers life skills and academic courses in 30 correctional facilities in California. Founded in 2011, PEP uses university student and faculty volunteers to teach a range of 32 introductory courses during three seven-week semesters: Fall, Spring, Summer. One of PEP’s most popular courses is the “Introduction to Shakespeare” course. This article examines the impact of teaching an “Introduction to Shakespeare” course in prison. This course introduces in-custody students to the literary interpretation of Shakespeare in the context of their own lived experience. Students in this course deconstruct the use of language and analyze the social, …

Criminal Justice Update - August 2024, Sophia Dotterweich

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)
• Updates from the PA Legislature (no updates this month)
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)
• PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Examining The Relationship Between Recidivism And Community Size For Previously Incarcerated Individuals, Kayla A. Harbison

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within urban contexts, there has been progress in understanding recidivism through the lens of both individual criminogenic risk factors and ecological factors. However, little research has examined how these factors apply across different community sizes. The current study attempted to address this gap by examining how recidivism differs across different-sized communities at the county level, measured both dichotomously (metro, nonmetro) and across a rural-urban continuum. This study also explored the relationship between specific types of offenses and recidivism across different-sized communities. Archival data from Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) including 13,875 individuals released from prison within a five-year period was …

Willingness To Report Sexual Victimization Through Formal And Informal Routes And The Correlation To Victim’S Race, Sexual Orientation, And Gender Identity, Tara Diltz

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact, if any, that holding marginalized identities has on the willingness to report sexual victimization to law enforcement, Title IX offices, and informal support routes. This study examines the various factors that may influence one’s willingness to report sexual victimization through both formal and informal routes. Formal routes include law enforcement and Title IX, while informal routes involve the self-disclosure of victimization to families, friends, or romantic partners. This research specifically explores how racial and ethnic identities, sexual orientation, and gender identity can influence an individual's perceived willingness to report sexual …

Patterns Of The Use And Perception Of Cannabis Among College Students In Tennessee, Jayla Ruffus-Milner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cannabis has been historically difficult to research due to its federal scheduling. However, as legalization of cannabis medically, recreationally, or both in states across the country has increased, so has the need to address the research gaps that persist. The purpose of this study was to explore the patterns of cannabis use and perceptions of college students in Tennessee, which encompass a demographic of mainly young adults who are typically associated with high usage patterns. The study uses quantitative data collected from an online survey sent to a university in East Tennessee to evaluate associations between students’ age, gender, race/ethnicity, …

Enhancing Ethical Competency: A Review Of Ethical Instruction For Law Enforcement, Alexis Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As public confidence in policing has dropped, demand for ethical behavior from law enforcement officers has grown, and correspondingly, a better understanding of ethics training and ethical acquisition processes has become paramount. Though much literature exists on related topics, understanding of the ethics training for law enforcement officers as it currently exists, has remained murky. This research aimed to gain a better understanding of ethics training for law enforcement in the United States, and as such, to fill the aforementioned gap in the literature. Four research questions were explored in this study including the understanding of current pre-service and in-service …

An Exploratory Study Of Flora Poaching In Central Appalachia, Mckinley Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of flora poaching among conservation officers, park rangers and botanists within Central Appalachia. Though some work has sought to understand poaching in other forms, such as animal poaching, little is known regarding the poaching of plants. This is especially true within the Appalachian Region. Several research questions were explored in this study, including the types of flora being poached, the characteristics of poachers, poaching tactics utilized, and deterrence measures that are currently in place. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 individuals working in the field. Findings contribute to the …

Criminal Activities As Threats To Security In The Caribbean, Marika Dawkins-Cavazos

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This chapter presents an overview of the main criminal activities posing threats to security in the Caribbean region. How best to assess Caribbean security realities, the types of security threats, and the strategies employed to combat such threats in the region that are influenced by its strategic location and proximity to the United States are discussed. Information on criminal activities came from various government reports, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, news reports, and articles. The overall evidence suggests that criminal activities in the region undercut the law and weaken socio-economic and political stability that subsequently threaten Caribbean …

Criminal Justice Update - July 2024, Sophia Dotterweich

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)
• Updates from the PA Legislature
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

The Pervasiveness Of Censorship In American Prison Libraries, Brennen D. Stevens

Library Scholars Manuscripts

In the United States, prison libraries serve a vital role in the rehabilitation of prisoners. Despite this, there are ongoing measures to withhold entire genres of literature from the hands of prisoners, restricting the abilities of prison libraries to provide educational lessons using sensitive topics. These book bans can occur between the local to state levels and are difficult for prisoners to appeal. The issues that this can cause are often out of view of the public, and can only be addressed by encouraging public engagement for change. This editorial attempts to engage with a general audience by providing an …