Annually in the United States there are about seven million people physically assaulted by an intimate partner. Mandatory arrest laws for domestic disputes was the nation’s response to the staggering statistic that women account for two out of three murder victims killed by an intimate partner. Mandatory arrest is a form of warrantless arrest that requires the officer to arrest an individual whenever there has been a call for police assistance related to a domestic dispute. I

On October 18, 2018 the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers(NACDL} launched a federal suit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for monitoring attorney-client telecommunications and emails and for federal prosecutors’’ use of those privileged communications against the individuals in court. The NACDL’s suit follows a long line of appeals and suits alleging violation of prisoners’ sixth amendment right to counsel. Although the right to attorney-client pri

On October 30, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in Garza v. Idaho. In this case, the petitioner, Gilberto Garza, Jr., is an Idaho inmate who pled guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance pursuant to two plea agreements in 2015. The plea agreements included a waiver of his right to appeal. At the sentence hearing, “the court acknowledged the appeal waiver, but also told Garza about his right to appeal and have a lawy

Over the course of the last decade, transgender people have become victims of a volatile political battleground. Transgender people are those whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Since the beginning of the Trump Era, the nation continues to witness startling incidents of discrimination. In July 2017, the Trump Administration announced a discriminatory ban on transgender service members. The following year, the New York Times received a memo

The Eighth Amendment reads, “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” This seemingly straightforward sentence is being reexamined by the Supreme Court in Madison v. Alabama. The Court is tasked with deciding if the prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishments” includes executing a man who cannot remember committing the crime. The State of Alabama is attempting to execute Vernon Madison, a sixty-seve

Throughout the past few years, the Catholic Church has been exposed for covering up hundreds and hundreds of sexual assaults. Horror stories about such respected organizations have been visible to the public eye through media such as the TV show “The Keepers” which is about the Baltimore Archdiocese and the movie “Spotlight” which focuses on the Boston area. Cases against the Catholic Church are continuously coming out. In August 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released