Legal Studies Commons^™

Criminal Justice Update - April 2023, Patrick Mahoney

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

• PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Against Capital Punishment, Zac Bright, Ben Austin (Editor)

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Capital punishment has a strong legal precedence in the United States. Capital punishment has been a penal option for those who commit conspicuously wrong acts. For such acts, the punishment seems to be proportional to the crime. In addition to the punishment’s adherence to proportionality, capital punishment mitigates problematic outcomes.

This paper advocates, however, that capital punishment should be classified as “cruel and unusual punishment.” Such violation of the eighth amendment delegitimizes capital punishment. Consequently, The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 should no longer be considered a valid law because of its constitutional violation.

"I Can't Even Bring Peanut Butter To School": The Gun Violence Prevention Movement, Emily Simon

Sociology 323 Racial and Ethnic Relations

Gun control does not equal gun violence prevention.

Unique Civic Education Program Aims To Teach Young People About Courts And Civility, Robin L. Rosenberg, Beth Bloom

Judicature International

No abstract provided.

Cj 702: Advanced Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis, Francis D. Boateng Ph.D.

GMAS Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

One Among Many: Charlotte Kolmitz, Assistant U.S. Attorney In Seattle, 1918–1925, Anna Synya

Digital Legal Research Lab

One Among Many: Charlotte Kolmitz, Assistant U.S. Attorney in Seattle, 1918–1925

Research poster prepared for Digital Legal Research Lab, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nebraska Transcript (University Of Nebraska College Of Law), Spring 2023

Nebraska Transcript

Serving with Integrity

Bradford known for his creative approach to teaching, legal scholarship by Adam Thimmesch

Depending on Denicola for care and excellence by Matthew Schaefer

Potuto brought New Jersey toughness to Nebraska Law by Harvey Perlman

Schopp: from "semi-psychologist" to prolific law, psychology scholar by John Lenich

Solving Problems

Schmid Research Fellows reflect on program’s 10th anniversary

Weitzel explores corporate behavior, leverages global experience

Agosto makes a home at Nebraska Law

Jefferis draws on extensive knowledge as former civil rights litigator and clinic professor

Nebraska Law reunion weekend honoring the classes of 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, 2003, and 2013

An Analysis Of Factors In The Policymaking Process That Enabled Prison Sentence Decreases Through The 2022 Organic Law Of Comprehensive Guarantee Of Sexual Freedom/La Ley Del Solo Sí Es Sí In Spain, Cambron Wade

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

To follow through on their ratification of the Istanbul Convention and public outcry after La Manada case, the Spanish Government passed the Organic Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, also known as the law of only yes is yes (or la ley del solo sí es sí) - which came into effect on October 7, 2022. This law changed the Criminal Code by removing the distinction between sexual assault and sexual abuse, which previously caused victims to endure the difficult process of proving that there was violence and intimidation. By moving all sexual acts without consent under the category …

Evaluation Of Raman Microspectroscopy And Hyperspectral Imaging As A Screening Tool To Determine Optimal Sampling Sites For Dna Recovery From Human Skeletal Remains, Kathleen M. Smith

Master's Theses

Numerous challenges exist with forensic genetic testing of human skeletal remains due to diagenesis patterns in bone microstructure, DNA degradation, and the presence of PCR inhibitors. Diagenesis is the microscopic breakdown of the bone matrix, which consists primarily of mineralized calcium hydroxyapatite and collagen. The process of diagenesis occurs in a heterogeneous, non-uniform manner along the diaphysis of a long bone, and determining the region with the most intact bone microstructure is not possible with the naked eye. Therefore, taking cuttings from the diaphysis for DNA testing is somewhat of a “blind” process, and decades of research and casework have …

Criminogenic Risks Of Interrogation, Margareth Etienne, Richard Mcadams

Indiana Law Journal

In the United States, moral minimization is a pervasive police interrogation tactic in which the detective minimizes the moral seriousness and harm of the offense, suggesting that anyone would have done the same thing under the circumstances, and casting blame away from the offender and onto the victim or society. The goal of these minimizations is to reinforce the guilty suspect’s own rationalizations or “neutralizations” of the crime. The official theory—posited in the police training manuals that recommend the tactic—is that minimizations encourage confessions by lowering the guilt or shame of associated with confessing to the crime. Yet the same …

The Impact Of Bone Marrow Transplantation On Forensic Human Identification And Genetic Genealogy Testing, Lisa A. Sikop

Master's Theses

Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy has rapidly evolved to become a highly effective investigative tool to assist with identifying perpetrators of violent crimes and unidentified human remains. With forensic DNA (STR) analysis, it has previously been researched that a person who has received a bone marrow transplant (BMT) may produce a multi-allelic STR profile, as both the bone marrow donor and the recipients' DNA is present. A multi-allelic STR profile can easily be misinterpreted as a mixture DNA profile, when in fact it is a chimeric DNA profile originating from a single individual. While the impact of chimerism on STR profiles …

Tracking Traffickers: Investigating The Relationship Between Human Trafficking And Ports Of Entry, Connor Wardop

Honors Projects

Human Trafficking is defined as obtaining a person and subjecting them to some sort of servitude against their will. The purpose of this study is to determine if reports of human trafficking occur at higher rates in areas with International Ports of Entry, such as international airports, border control points, or ports for boats. In order to do this, the study utilizes data from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) collected from 2013-2020. This data was then added to a program named Business Analyst 2019, a type of Geographic Information System (GIS) …

Victimization Prior To Jail: The Effect Of Physical And/Or Sexual Victimization On Mental Health And Substance Use Disorder In A Population Of Jailed Inmates: Research Brief, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, M. Kowalski, Michael Campagna, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The relationship between abuse and offending is likely indirect, by way of mental illness and/or substance use disorder. However, the effects of abuse experiences prior to incarceration, as well as the impact of abuse perpetrator type and abuse timing on mental health and substance use outcomes, are underexplored in jail populations. The current analysis addresses this gap. In 2017, an assessment with 79 questions was administered to 4,713 individuals admitted to a large, Midwestern jail. The majority of the population (72.3%) reported no history of abuse, but 17.5% indicated a history of physical abuse, 3.2% a history of sexual abuse, …

Poster Research Days: Preliminary Researching The Potential Cybersecurity Threats By Using Virtual Reality Headsets, Rashaad Couloote

Center for Cybersecurity

This research aims to examine cybersecurity concerns related to Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. Specifically, we will conduct a literature review to identify relevant articles on the topic, which will be analyzed and summarized in detail. In addition, we will explore VR headsets through practical hands-on exercises to better understand their components and general categories. This process will outline potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats associated with VR headsets. This research will provide valuable insights into the current state of cybersecurity for VR technology and inform recommendations for improving security measures to protect users' data and privacy

Research Days Poster: Cyber Threats On The Manufacturing Sector, Afifa Ghouse

Center for Cybersecurity

Manufacturing companies are more vulnerable to internet attacks now that they are more reliant on technology and digital infrastructure. Cyberattacks on the manufacturing industry can have serious consequences, such as production delays, the theft of intellectual property, and damage to one's reputation. At least 437 ransomware assaults occurred in the manufacturing sector in 2022, making up more than 70% of these expensive and disruptive attacks.

Employed Desistance: Identifying Best Employment-Focused Interventions And Practices For Gang Desistance, Jacob Fergen Albert

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This study examined those employment-focused interventions (services, programming, mentorship, other supports) most effective in supporting an individual’s desistance from gang involvement. Utilizing a qualitative approach (interviews, document analysis and nonparticipant observation), this study engaged with individuals and organizations involved in the critical work of gang desistance to learn what makes their practices most effective. The criticality of gang desistance work lies in its efforts to address the thousands of lives continually lost each year as a result of gang-involvement and activity. Where gangs exist in cities, towns and communities across the country (and world, for that matter), the approaches of …

The Effects Of Identity Conflict And Identity Salience On Job Satisfaction And Vocational Connectedness In Minority Law Enforcement Officers, Kityara James

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Law enforcement agencies are having trouble recruiting, hiring, and maintaining ethnic minority officers. Although the Department of Justice identified multiple issues minorities face while pursuing and engaging in the profession, there have been few efforts to determine the source of these problems and how to overcome them. In a stressful profession that doesn't historically align with being a minority, the difference between staying with that job or going to another one may lie in how connected to the job and how satisfied with that job minority law enforcement feel. The current study explores how ethno-racial and police identity salience and …

Female Perpetrators Of Ritually Motivated Pedicide And Mutilation Of Children, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Ritually motivated pedicide is among contemporary Africa’s most severe crimes against children. Most of these crimes involve brutal acts of violence or mutilation of the victim. While men are most often the perpetrators of violent crimes, ritually motivated pedicide and mutilation equally attract women. The role of women in these crimes is not restricted to the less violent aspects of the crimes; instead, they also extend to the most brutal elements, often involving mutilation, decapitation or outright murder of the victim. This article explored the involvement of women in these crimes that target children for mutilation and pedicide. The article …

A New Atticus Is Afoot: The Portrayal Of Lawyers In Popular Culture, Anna Thrush

Senior Theses

This project analyzes the stereotypical image of lawyers in popular culture, focusing on either overly demonic or unrealistically heroic. Both stereotypes that are common portrayals of attorneys in popular culture are unrealistic and deny society a true comprehension of the profession. Popular culture has molded the image of lawyers to the characteristics that sell, rather than focusing on a realistic portrayal. Therefore, popular culture creates a falsely dramatized image of attorneys to generate revenue, putting the reputation and future of the profession as risk. These stereotypes are exemplified in this project through a close literary analysis of lawyer characters from …

The Risk Of Protection: Examining The Contextual Effects Of Child Protective Services On Child Maltreatment Fatalities In The U.S., Cosette Morgan Mccullough

Theses and Dissertations

Much research has been done in the field of child homicide. While child homicide is a statistically rare event, it is especially pervasive in the United States. A subsection of research in the child homicide literature is the topic of child maltreatment fatalities, defined as when a child is killed through the means of maltreatment, such as physical abuse or neglect. What has been less so researched, however, is the combination of factors that can affect a child’s fatality risk. The current study seeks to expand on the previous research using the 2019 Child File of the National Child Abuse …