"Five Chicago Officers Face Firing Over Slaying of Black Teen"

From The New York Times: The shooting made headlines across the country and sparked protests after the release of a dashboard video more than a year after the incident. The video shows the officer continued to fire after McDonald, 17,...

"'Serial' should release Bergdahl interviews"

Jeffrey Bellin (William & Mary Law) has this interesting column in USA Today. In part: A media “dream team” - including organizations from Fox to NPR - has intervened. These organizations want a court to rule that “reporter's privilege” blocks...

Mungan on Gateway Crimes

Murat C. Mungan (George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty) has posted Gateway Crimes on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Many who argue against the legalization of marijuana suggest that while its consumption may not be very harmful,...

Sanders on Confrontation as a Sentencing Right

Shaakirrah Sanders (University of Idaho - College of Law) has posted The Value of Confrontation as a Felony Sentencing Right (Widener Law Journal, Vol. 25, No. 103, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article advocates recognition of the...

"Frustration yields to joy as DNA evidence springs Tony Wright after 25 years in prison"

From WHYY in Philadelphia. In part: After convincing a judge to order DNA tests of a Chicago Bulls sweatshirt and the blue jeans he allegedly wore during a 1991 rape and murder, Wright was granted a new trial, and the...

"The pursuit of capital punishment for Dylann Roof is a step backward"

From the Washington Post, courtesy of NACDL: Roof's crime was surely heinous, and his racism was repugnant. But supporters of racial equality and equal treatment under the law should support Roof's offer to plead guilty and serve a sentence of...

Lyman on Pierce & Radelet on Race, Homicides, and Prosecutions

Tim Lyman (Northeastern University, Institute for Security and Public Policy at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice) has posted About Race and Aggravators in East Baton Rouge Parish Murder Cases on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Are Black-on-White (BkW)...

"Ohio top court rules prior juvenile charges cannot be used to increase sentences"

The story is at Jurist: JURIST - Ohio top court rules prior juvenile charges cannot be used to increase sentences The Ohio Supreme Court [official website]ruled [opinion, PDF] Thursday that courts cannot use prior juvenile charges to enhance the sentence...

Fordham's Criminal Law Speaker Series 2016

The theme is "Constructing Truth: Criminal Law in Flux." The program is part of a seminar available to Fordham Law students to promote further exploration of topics beyond first year courses but others may attend by permission: contact person is...

Pei on Criminal Reconciliation in China

Wei Pei (Beihang University (BUAA)) has posted Harmony, Law and Criminal Reconciliation in China: A Historical Perspective (Erasmus Law Review, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2012, China revised its Criminal Procedure Law (2012...

"Judge's Sentencing in Massachusetts Sexual Assault Case Reignites Debate on Privilege"

From The New York Times: The two women were asleep on a bed after drinking at a party when they were sexually assaulted. A high school athlete pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 in...

"Where the Death Penalty Still Lives"

From The New York Times Magazine: Twenty states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment. Four more have imposed a moratorium on executions. Of the 26 remaining states, only 14 handed down any death sentences last year, for...

Quinn on Post-Ferguson Social Engineering

Mae C. Quinn (MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis) has posted Post-Ferguson Social Engineering: Problem-Solving Justice or Just Posturing? (Howard Law Journal, 2016 Vol. 59 No. 3) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This essay - published on the second...

Goldbach on Sentencing Circles

Toby S. Goldbach has posted Instrumentalizing the Expressive: Transplanting Sentencing Circles into the Canadian Criminal Trial (Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems, Vol. 25, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article examines reforms to criminal sentencing procedures in Canada,...

Kim on Rights

Andrew Chongseh Kim (Concordia University School of Law) has posted When the Apocalypse Comes, Will Anything Change?: Gay Marriage, Black Lives Matter, and The Rule of Law (Savannah Law Review, Vol. 3:1, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: When...

"Civil rights group releases scorecard on police body camera policies"

From Jurist: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and data analysis company Upturn [official websites] released the Body Worn Cameras Scorecard [statistical report] on Saturday, a report which concluded that the policies concerning civil rights and the use...

Thompson on Zero Tolerance in Schools

Jeremy L Thompson has posted Eliminating Zero Tolerance Policies in Schools: Miami-Dade Public School's Approach (Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal, Vol. 2016, No. 2, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The United States has the highest prison...

Skibine on Indians, Race, and Criminal Jurisdiction

Alexander Tallchief Skibine (University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law) has posted Indians, Race, and Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country (Albany Government Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: With the possible exception of the Indian...

Eaglin on The Drug Court Paradigm

Jessica Eaglin (Indiana University Maurer School of Law) has posted The Drug Court Paradigm (American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 53, No. 595, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Drug courts are specialized, problem-oriented diversion programs. Qualifying offenders receive treatment...

Bierschbach & Bibas on Sentencing Equality

Richard A. Bierschbach and Stephanos Bibas (Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and University of Pennsylvania Law School) have posted What's Wrong With Sentencing Equality? (Virginia Law Review, Vol. 102, No. 6, 2016) on SSRN. Here is...

"Michigan moves slowly to fix shoddy indigent defense"

From NACDL, this op-ed in The Detroit Free Press: There's a lot to unpack around the pernicious incompetence that sent Davontae Sanford to jail for a murder he clearly didn't commit. And the blame for the injustice Sanford endured gets...

Yung on Title IX and Campus Sexual Assaults

Corey Rayburn Yung (University of Kansas School of Law) has posted Is Relying on Title IX a Mistake? (Kansas Law Review, Vol. 64, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article attempts to answer an essential question related to...

Wheatle on The Homosexual Advance Defence

Se-shauna Wheatle (Durham Law School) has posted The Constitutionality of the 'Homosexual Advance Defence' in the Commonwealth Caribbean ((2016) 16 Equal Rights Review 38) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Defences to homicide have often been characterised as “concessions to...

Kerr on Legislation and Fourth Amendment Interpretation

Orin S. Kerr (The George Washington University Law School) has posted The Effect of Legislation on Fourth Amendment Interpretation (Michigan Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article addresses a recurring question that has divided courts: When...

Tuerkheimer on Criminal Justice for All

Deborah Tuerkheimer (Northwestern University - Pritzker School of Law) has posted Criminal Justice for All (Journal of Legal Education, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: It is not hyperbolic to assert that our criminal justice system is in crisis....

Ponsford on The Lawful Access Fallacy

Matthew P. Ponsford (McGill University, Faculty of Law, Students) has posted The Lawful Access Fallacy: Voluntary Warrantless Disclosures, Customer Privacy, and Government Requests for Subscriber Information (Canadian Journal of Law & Technology, 2016, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:...

Unmaking a Murderer

From The Wrongful Convictions Blog: On Friday, August 12, 2016, U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin overturned the conviction of Brendan Dassey, one of the defendants highlighted in the documentary 'Making A Murderer.' The judge has given the state 90...

Cook on Police Reform and the Judicial Mandate

Julian A. Cook (University of Georgia Law School) has posted Police Reform and the Judicial Mandate (50 Georgia Law Review Online (2016)) In response to a crisis that threatens his tenure as Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel announced in December...

Kim & Lemmens on Assisted Dying for Psychiatric Disorders

Scott Y. Kim and Trudo Lemmens (National Institutes of Health and University of Toronto - Faculty of Law) have posted Should Assisted Dying for Psychiatric Disorders Be Legalized in Canada? (Canadian Medical Association Journal CMAJ, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is...

Goldman on State Law and Police Reform

Roger L. Goldman (Saint Louis University - School of Law) has posted Importance of State Law in Police Reform (Saint Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 60, No. 363, 2016) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Most articles on police reform...

Franks on Men, Women, and Optimal Violence

Mary Anne Franks (University of Miami School of Law) has posted Men, Women, and Optimal Violence (University of Illinois Law Review, Vol. 2016, No. 3, 929) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: While both men and women can, and do,...

"Gay and Transgender Egyptians, Harassed and Entrapped, Are Driven Underground"

From The New York Times. In part: There is no law in Egypt specifically banning homosexual acts, so gay and transgender people are charged with “habitual debauchery” under a 1961 law that is used to prosecute men for homosexuality and...

Lloyd on Cognitive Emotion and the Law

Harold Anthony Lloyd (Wake Forest University School of Law) has posted Cognitive Emotion and the Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Many wrongly believe that emotion plays little or no role in legal reasoning. Unfortunately, Langdell and his “scientific”...

"No “strict liability” for soliciting minor online for sex, if minor claimed she was above the age of consent"

Eugene Volokh excerpts and discusses this interesting recent case at The Volokh Conspiracy. In part, from the excerpt: [T]he child-solicitation statute imposes an unreasonable duty on defendants to ascertain the relevant facts. In cases where the defendant encounters the victim...

Perlin on Representing Impaired Clients in Treatment Courts

Michael L. Perlin (New York Law School) has posted Representing Clients with Mental Health and/or Cognitive Impairments in Treatment Courts on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This white paper, prepared for the American University School of Public Affairs' Justice Programs...

"The recording that undid the Chandra Levy murder case"

NACDL links to this article from The Washington Post. In part: But the one thing Morales did not say during the seven-hour recording: that he lied on the witness stand and sent an innocent man to prison in the case...

Bakhturina et al. on Sentences and Events Unrelated to Crime

Evelina Bakhturina, Nora Barry, Laura Buchanan and Daniel L. Chen (New York University (NYU) - Center for Data Science, Center for Data Science, NYU, New York University (NYU) - Center for Data Science and Toulouse School of Economics / The...

Chin & Dallen on Scientific Evidence

Jason Michael Chin and Scott Dallen (University of Toronto - Faculty of Law and University of Toronto - Faculty of Law) have posted R v Awer and the Dangers of Science in Sheep's Clothing (Criminal Law Quarterly, Forthcoming) on SSRN....

"Chicago Releases Clip of Police Shooting "

From The New York Times: Officials released footage on Friday of the moments before a deadly police shooting of 18-year-old Paul O'Neal in Chicago last week. The video shows police firing into an allegedly stolen car.

Krasnostein & Freiberg on Sentencing Guideline Schemes

Sarah Krasnostein and Arie Freiberg (Monash University - Faculty of Law and Monash University - Faculty of Law) have posted Sentencing Guideline Schemes Across the United States and Beyond (Oxford Handbooks Online; Criminology & Criminal Justice, Oxford University Press) on...

"Frustrated state public defender appoints Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to represent indigent defendant"

NACDL links to this piece in The Washington Post. In part: Barrett and his staff say they need a $23.1 million budget increase to adequately represent the state's indigent clients. Nixon recommended $1 million. Here's the letter. Keep in mind...

"'Guilty But Mentally Ill' Doesn't Protect Against Harsh Sentences"

From NPR. In part: But jurors also hesitate to choose a guilty verdict for someone with mental illness. So many states offer a third verdict: guilty but mentally ill. Several states introduced the verdict after John Hinckley, Jr., was found...

Kay on A DNA Evidence Case Study

David H. Kaye (Pennsylvania State University, Penn State Law) has posted The Interpretation of DNA Evidence: A Case Study in Probabilities on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This educational module on DNA evidence commissioned by a committee of the National...

"No, the police can't pull over drivers to give them gifts"

Orin Kerr has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy, including a link to a video of such a stop: I don't doubt that these programs are well-intentioned, and I commend the police for their instincts to help. It's especially great...

"Reviewing disconcerting realities when kids are put on sex offender registries"

Doug Berman has this post at Sentencing Law & Policy, excerpting an interesting recent commentary that states In about 40 states, juveniles are listed on sex offender registries, often for their entire lives. In about 19 states, there is no...

Woods on LGBT Identity and Crime

Jordan Blair Woods (University of Arkansas - School of Law) has posted LGBT Identity and Crime (California Law Review, 2017, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Recent studies report that LGBT adults and youth disproportionately face hardships that scholars...