A Liberty-Balancing Approach To Crime,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
A Liberty-Balancing Approach To Crime, Sheldon Evans
Scholarship@WashULaw
At its core, the criminal legal system is an ecosystem of institutions that seek to balance liberty interests. The insightful theories and complex practices of crime policy coalesce around questions on how crime impacts the liberties of individuals and communities to be safe, and how this correlates with the deprivation of liberty from offenders through our punishment system. But modern criminal policy, most often associated with the problems of overcriminalization and mass incarceration, has wholly abandoned any such delicate and nuanced balancing. Instead, the system thrives on sacrificing the liberties of offenders in a perverse and ineffective regime that leads …
Grading Machines: Can Ai Exam-Grading Replace Law Professors?,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
Grading Machines: Can Ai Exam-Grading Replace Law Professors?, Jens Frankenreiter, Kevin L. Cope, Scott Hirst, Eric A. Posner, Daniel Schwarcz, Dane Thorley
Scholarship@WashULaw
In the past few years, large language models (LLMs) have achieved significant technical advances, such that legal-advocacy organizations are increasingly adopting them as complements to—or substitutes for—lawyers and other human experts. Several studies have examined LLMs' performance in taking law school exams, finding mixed results. Yet there have been no published studies systematically analyzing LLMs' competence at one of law professors' chief responsibilities: grading law school exams. This paper presents results of an analysis of how LLMs perform in evaluating student responses to legal analysis questions of the kind typically administered in law school exams. The underlying data come from …
The Practice Of Executive Constitutionalism,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
The Practice Of Executive Constitutionalism, Conor Clarke, Daniel Epps
Scholarship@WashULaw
The Executive Branch must inevitably interpret the Constitution. Although departmentalists and judicial supremacists disagree about the scope of the Executive’s constitutional authority, few believe the Constitution is only for the courts. But what are the practices through which the Executive Branch interprets the Constitution and translates those interpretations into concrete decisions? What is their history? And what, if anything, is distinctive about them? While a rich and growing literature has examined some aspects of these questions, scholars have not broadly canvased the most central tools by which the Executive Branch shapes and implements constitutional law, or considered what makes them …
Dark Patterns In The Opt-Out Process And Compliance With The California Consumer Privacy Act (Ccpa),
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
Dark Patterns In The Opt-Out Process And Compliance With The California Consumer Privacy Act (Ccpa), Jens Frankenreiter, Van Hong Tran, Aarushi Mehrotra, Ranya Sharma, Marshini Chetty, Nick Feamster, Lior Strahilevitz
Scholarship@WashULaw
To protect consumer privacy, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) mandates that businesses provide consumers with a straightforward way to opt out of the sale and sharing of their personal information. However, the control that businesses enjoy over the opt-out process allows them to impose hurdles on consumers aiming to opt out, including by employing dark patterns. Motivated by the enactment of the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which strengthens the CCPA and explicitly forbids certain dark patterns in the opt-out process, we investigate how dark patterns are used in opt-out processes and assess their compliance with CCPA regulations. Our …
Judicial Reform From The Inside Out,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
Judicial Reform From The Inside Out, Daniel Epps, Marin K. Levy
Scholarship@WashULaw
Prepared for the Notre Dame Law Review’s Spring 2025 Federal Courts Symposium on the 100th Anniversary of the Judiciary Act of 1925.
The Judiciary Act of 1925, the subject of this Symposium, is known as “The Judges Bill” for a reason. The Justices of the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Taft in particular, produced the Act and persuaded Congress to enact it. To modern eyes, such efforts seem indecorous; perhaps even scandalous. But in fact, Supreme Court Justices and other federal judges have been extensively involved in judicial reform throughout American history. This Essay examines participation by federal judges in …
Auditing Criminal Justice Minimalism,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
Auditing Criminal Justice Minimalism, Trevor George Gardner
Scholarship@WashULaw
If criminal justice minimalism is a shared principle among criminal law scholars, it can help to clarify the quality of our disagreements. Every normative proposal in the criminal legal literature can be held to the minimalist standard—audited, so to speak, to account for the policy author’s minimalist claims. To this end, this Essay proposes a four-step framework by which to evaluate adherence to the minimalist principle, where each step serves as a hub for pointed scholarly debate regarding the path to minimalist criminal justice.
When Hard Cases Make Bad Law: A Theory Of How Case Facts Affect Judge-Made Law,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
When Hard Cases Make Bad Law: A Theory Of How Case Facts Affect Judge-Made Law, Sepehr Shahshahani
Scholarship@WashULaw
“Hard cases make bad law” is one of the most famous aphorisms in Anglo-American law. Its insight is that when strict application of a generally sound law would impose a special hardship on someone, a court may be tempted to distort the law to avoid the hardship. Scholars have long debated the meaning and truth of the aphorism, but the debate has suffered from an imprecise conceptualization of what makes a case “hard.” This lack of precision limits our ability to disentangle and work through the important questions the aphorism raises about how the facts of a particular case affect …
An Anthology Of Interference In Law School Clinics,
2025
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
An Anthology Of Interference In Law School Clinics, Peter A. Joy, Robert R. Kuehn
Scholarship@WashULaw
An Anthology of Interference in Law School Clinics explores interference in law school clinics in the United States, addressing its long history and the legal ethics, academic freedom, and First Amendment responses to that interference. Law clinics have faced interference in their representation of clients from elected officials, business groups, alumni and, at times, even their own school administrators. This interference has targeted clinics for providing individuals and nongovernmental organizations with legal representation on important matters, including racial and gender discrimination, environmental issues, prisoner rights litigation, death penalty cases, and immigration and human rights matters. In each instance, the interference …
A New Deepfake Detection Method With No-Reference Image Quality Assessment To Resist Image Degradation,
2025
Old Dominion University
A New Deepfake Detection Method With No-Reference Image Quality Assessment To Resist Image Degradation, Jiajun Jiang, Wen-Chao Yang, Chung-Hao Chen, Timothy Young
Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications
Deepfake technology, which utilizes advanced AI models such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), has led to the proliferation of highly convincing manipulated media, posing significant challenges for detection. Existing detection methods often struggle with the low-quality or compressed press, which is prevalent on social media platforms. This paper proposes a novel Deepfake detection framework that leverages No-Reference Image Quality Assessment (NRIQA) techniques, specifically, BRISQUE, NIQE, and PIQUE, to extract quality-related features from facial images. These features are then classified using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) with various kernel functions. We evaluate our method under both intra-dataset and cross-dataset settings. For …
A Call To Action For Transport Justice: Exploring Transportation Disadvantages Faced By Justice-Impacted Individuals Reintegrating Into Rural Communities,
2025
Virginia Commonwealth University
A Call To Action For Transport Justice: Exploring Transportation Disadvantages Faced By Justice-Impacted Individuals Reintegrating Into Rural Communities, Tarnika Edmunds
Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects
This study explores the intersection of rural reentry and transportation planning, emphasizing the importance of Transport Justice in overcoming barriers faced by transit-dependent populations, particularly formerly incarcerated individuals. While urban transportation planning is widely discussed, this research highlights the overlooked challenges that rural environments pose for individuals reentering society. Through a multi-method approach that involved document analysis, participant observations, and informal discussions, this study uncovers a range of themes related to accessibility, reliability, vulnerability, and the quality of commuting experiences. The findings underline the necessity for transparency, accountability, and collaboration across sectors to address these gaps and inform policies that …
Constructions Of Serial Killers And Victims: Analysis Of True Crime Docuseries,
2025
Wilfrid Laurier University
Constructions Of Serial Killers And Victims: Analysis Of True Crime Docuseries, Mira Dhaliwal
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
Stories of crime have consistently captured the attention of the public, with stories of heists, kidnappings and murder. The true crime genre receives enormous attention and serves for many as the primary source of crime knowledge, including who commits crime, how they commit crime and how law enforcement responds. Books and podcasts have been interrogated by researchers to understand the nature of the content but missing are the true crime documentaries and docuseries that have dominated streaming platforms in North America. The present study examined three true crime series about serial killers using social constructionism and social problems theory, and …
“You’Re Only As Good As Your Resources”: Exploring Virginia Police Chiefs’ And Sheriffs’ Decisions As Public Administrators To Engage In Community Collaborations With Domestic And Sexual Violence Agencies,
2025
Virginia Commonwealth University
“You’Re Only As Good As Your Resources”: Exploring Virginia Police Chiefs’ And Sheriffs’ Decisions As Public Administrators To Engage In Community Collaborations With Domestic And Sexual Violence Agencies, Christine E. Wengloski
Theses and Dissertations
The collaborations between domestic and sexual violence victim-serving agencies (DSVAs) and law enforcement agencies help connect victims of crime to needed services. To maximize the benefits of these victim-serving initiatives in Virginia, it is imperative that victim-serving agencies understand the perceptions and factors that influence the decision-making of law enforcement administrators. In this study, I first present a theoretical framework of Herbert Simon’s Decision-Making Theory as a guide to understanding police chiefs and sheriffs as public administrators. A review of the literature demonstrates gaps in existing scholarship around chiefs’ and sheriffs’ decision-making about domestic and sexual violence victim-serving initiatives. Next, …
Transit-Oriented Development On Aquidneck Island: Considering The Costs And Benefits Of Restoring Passenger Rail Between Fall River, Massachusetts, And Newport, Rhode Island,
2025
Salve Regina University
Transit-Oriented Development On Aquidneck Island: Considering The Costs And Benefits Of Restoring Passenger Rail Between Fall River, Massachusetts, And Newport, Rhode Island, Maeve M. Newton
Pell Scholars and Senior Theses
This thesis considers the costs and benefits of restoring historic infrastructure as transit-oriented development on Aquidneck Island, and its potential to bridge social and economic gaps between the urban communities of Newport, Rhode Island, and Fall River, Massachusetts. There is a direct need for more robust public transportation on Aquidneck Island along with environmentally friendly planning initiatives, and reinstating the Newport Secondary Rail Line for passenger rail service to the new Fall River MBTA station is one important way for historic preservation to be utilized for the improvement of sustainability and socioeconomic equity in the region. Original research will be …
America’S Hidden Heroine: The Revolutionary Experience Of Deborah Sampson,
2025
Salve Regina University
America’S Hidden Heroine: The Revolutionary Experience Of Deborah Sampson, Rebecca A. Dawson
Pell Scholars and Senior Theses
This thesis explores the life of Deborah Sampson, a female soldier in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment during the American Revolution. The author discusses how and why Sampson joined the military, the challenges she had to overcome, and her experience as the first American woman to lead a public lecture tour. Sampson continues to serve as an embodiment of resilience, courage, and the Spirit of ‘76.
“Tw-Ironic": The Ironic Consumption Of Media Examined Through Twilight,
2025
Salve Regina University
“Tw-Ironic": The Ironic Consumption Of Media Examined Through Twilight, Sydney J. Rooney
Pell Scholars and Senior Theses
“It’s so bad it’s good” is a phrase often uttered in order to justify watching, reading, or listening to a piece of media with a poor reputation. In the 20 years since the first novel’s debut, the Twilight saga has become renowned for its massive level of popularity and influence. However, it has also faced a great deal of backlash and criticism for a variety of reasons, which affected the nature of the fan base. Through analysis of short-form content, the ironic consumption of Twilight media is observed in contemporary times.
A New Frontier In Political Communications: Analyzing The Electoral Influence Of The 1960 Televised Presidential Debates,
2025
Salve Regina University
A New Frontier In Political Communications: Analyzing The Electoral Influence Of The 1960 Televised Presidential Debates, Leah Spengler
Pell Scholars and Senior Theses
Although Kennedy’s success in the 1960 election is often attributed to his performance in the first televised presidential debates, I contend that the party affiliation of voters and proposed policies by Kennedy, specifically those targeting civil rights, held more weight in securing his victory. The Kennedy image had been carefully curated for over a decade prior to the election, and Kennedy’s performance in the first televised debates reinforced the calm and collected impression he wanted to make to the American people. While his debate performance held significance as it was the first to be televised and led to a discrepancy …
The Militarization Of Space: The Cold War And The Space Race,
2025
Salve Regina University
The Militarization Of Space: The Cold War And The Space Race, Malin Wahl
Pell Scholars and Senior Theses
The weaponization of space during the Cold War would have posed a significant threat to global security if left unchecked. The Cold War showcased the ideological rivalry between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and their development of a nuclear arsenal. Space was an unexplored domain that actors thought could be weaponized and even become a strategic advantage if a war between these superpowers broke out. The decision to not militarize space, not place orbital weapons in space, and not utilize weapons of mass destruction came from a standoff in which both parties could …
Welfare States And Imprisonment Rates: Revisiting The Study Of Public Assistance And Punishment In The United States,
2025
University at Albany, State University of New York
Welfare States And Imprisonment Rates: Revisiting The Study Of Public Assistance And Punishment In The United States, Stefan Ivanov
Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)
In the past fifty years, the United States has seen significant changes in both the criminal legal system and the welfare state. The incarceration rate surged by 475% from 1972 to 2007, driven by state-level decisions about criminal legal policy and disproportionately affecting Black Americans. Simultaneously, welfare programs became less generous, especially for those deemed “undeserving.” A long line of social science scholarship emphasizes that these two major social institutions—the welfare state and the carceral state—must be considered as complementary and alternative methods of managing marginalized groups. Quantitative research often confirms these claims, finding a durable inverse relationship between welfare …
Development Of Novel Signatures For Determination Of Cell Types In Blood And Saliva Mixtures,
2025
Virginia Commonwealth University
Development Of Novel Signatures For Determination Of Cell Types In Blood And Saliva Mixtures, Caitlin Lydon
Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects
Determination of tissue source and the time at which a biological material is transferred from its source to another surface, known as the time-since-deposition (TSD), would assist forensic analysts by providing crucial context for DNA profiles generated from biological evidence. Many methods for cell identification have been explored using biomolecule markers such as mRNA, miRNA, and differential DNA methylation. Forensic laboratories have also developed methods for TSD estimation that focus on degradation of biomolecules. Biomolecules such as mRNA or miRNA degrade at different rates due to some being more stable than others. The ratio of stable degrading biomolecules, therefore, can …
Advancing Forensic Firearm Analysis: Quantitative Measurement Of Pellet Patterns Using Open Source Software,
2025
Virginia Commonwealth University
Advancing Forensic Firearm Analysis: Quantitative Measurement Of Pellet Patterns Using Open Source Software, Inez Staples
Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects
Shotgun pellet pattern analysis plays a critical role in forensic firearm investigations, particularly for estimating muzzle-to-target distances. However, conventional methods based on pattern diameter become unreliable when only partial patterns are recovered, as is often the case in forensic scenarios involving soft tissue or incomplete impact surfaces. This study aimed to validate ImageJ, an open-source image analysis software, as a standardized, accurate, and reproducible tool for measuring pellet-to-pellet distances in partial shotgun patterns. The methodology included calibration of ImageJ using a perforated poly board, comparison of manual versus digital measurements on 17 pre-made pellet patterns, and development of a calibration …
