#CriminalLaw

The Truth will not Set You Free: A Call for the Supreme Court to Hear Brendan Dassey’s Case

Laurel Anderson

Mar 29, 2018
5 min

The Truth will not Set You Free: A Call for the Supreme Court to Hear Brendan Dassey’s Case

“Some people back there say no, we'll just charge him. We said no, let us talk to him, give him the opportunity to come forward with the information that he has, and get it off his chest. Mark and I, yeah, we're cops, we're investigators and stuff like that, but I'm not right now. I'm a father that has a kid your age too. There's nothing I'd like more than to come over and give you a hug cuz I know you're hurtin.' Talk about it. . . I promise I will not leave you high and dry

DC Community Court Expansion: A Step in the Right Direction

Apoorva Deshmukh

Dec 13, 2016
4 min

DC Community Court Expansion: A Step in the Right Direction

As of September 2016, 1,845 individuals are under the supervision of the DC Department of Corrections (DOC). The DOC has calculated a 2016 Fiscal Year re-incarceration rate of 20.2% for all inmates. Of those 1,845 incarcerated individuals, 27.1% reside in Ward 8, while 23.1% reside in Ward 7. Most importantly, only 40.6% of male inmates and 31.2% of female inmates are incarcerated on violent or dangerous offenses, with 15.4% of those incarcerated charged with misdemeanor off

Bail Reform Measures Inch Closer to Equality

Ramy Simpson

Nov 30, 2016
5 min

Bail Reform Measures Inch Closer to Equality

The money bail system that has been so pervasive throughout our judicial system is beginning to see reform around the nation. The money bail system, which is the current system in most states, ensures that defendants can only be released from jail if they pay money as collateral in the event they do not show up to court. Bail reform advocates believe a core issue with the current system is that it will often keep harmless people in jail because they cannot afford bail, while

Choosing Capital Punishment: 2016 Referendums and the Death Penalty

Chelsea Jacobi

Nov 26, 2016
4 min

Choosing Capital Punishment: 2016 Referendums and the Death Penalty

As of July 1, 2016, there are 2,905 Americans on death row. Almost one-third of those inmates live in one of these three states: California, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, which featured ballot referendums concerning capital punishment in this past election held November 8, 2016. Approximately 66% of Oklahomans voted to enshrine capital punishment in the Oklahoma Constitution. Meanwhile, 61% of Nebraskans voted to reinstate capital punishment after previously abolishing it in 2015.

Prosecutorial Discretion and Dylann Roof

Matt Goldstein

Nov 17, 2016
5 min

Prosecutorial Discretion and Dylann Roof

The trial of Dylann Roof, the young man that fatally shot nine individuals attending a Bible study meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015, is gradually moving forward. Roof faces thirty-three federal charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, including: nine counts of violating the Hate Crime Act resulting in death; three counts of violating the Hate Crime Act involving an attempt to kill; nine counts of obstruction of e

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Government Deterrence or a Cash Grab?

Zac Johnston

Nov 9, 2016
3 min

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Government Deterrence or a Cash Grab?

On October 24, 2016, Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer SA settled with U.S. authorities to deferred prosecution based on an investigation into bribes paid to foreign officials. Embraer has agreed to pay $107 million to the Justice Department and another $98 million to the SEC. Based on the bribes paid, Embraer earned nearly $84 million in profits. Embraer did not voluntary report its violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), but did comply with authorities allow

Kaitlin Bigger

Nov 8, 2016
2 min

"Indefensible": Recent Supreme Court Case Highlights Continued Racial Bias in Death Penalt

Duane Buck was sentenced to death by a jury in 1997 after his own counsel called an expert witness who testified that Mr. Buck would be a future danger to society because he was African American. A finding of future dangerousness is required under Texas law in order to impose a death sentence. Mr. Buck’s brief filed with the Supreme Court asserted that allowing Mr. Buck’s conviction to stand will create the risk of injustice in other cases, and undermine the criminal justic

Maria Thompson

Nov 8, 2016
4 min

Privacy in the Time of Birchfield

In the Supreme Court’s June 2016 decision in Birchfield v. North Dakota, the Court held that police officers do not need a warrant to issue a driver suspected of driving under the influence a breath test as a search incident to arrest. Birchfield involved multiple petitioners arguing that their Fourth Amendment rights were violated as result of their states’ implied consent laws. Under North Dakota law, a police officer who pulls over a motorist for suspicion of driving unde

Kristen Abitabile

Oct 26, 2016
4 min

Stop-and-Frisk Along the Campaign Trail

Stop-and-frisk is undoubtedly a hot topic in this campaign season. Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump is a proponent of reviving the controversial procedure, stating, "If you did some of that in Chicago as an example, where you had 3,000 shootings since January 1, 3000 people were shot and if you did stop-and-frisk there it would be so great for their community." Trump was referring to New York City’s debated effectiveness of the practice, which was declared to be

Home Sweet Home* [Offer Not Valid For Sex Offenders]

Brianna Lozito

Oct 25, 2016
3 min

Home Sweet Home* [Offer Not Valid For Sex Offenders]

It is becoming common for released sex offenders to find themselves left out on the streets instead of living with their support systems in their hometown communities. In Florida, some sex offenders have to live under a bridge because there is nowhere for the sex offender to live that is not subject to a local residency restriction. Residency restrictions evolved overtime from the introduction of the Adam Walsh Act and the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which

When Amnesty for Drug Overdoses Isn't Enough

Joshua Couce

Oct 13, 2016
6 min

When Amnesty for Drug Overdoses Isn't Enough

It’s common knowledge that throughout the United States there have been countless numbers of overdoses because we see it in the news and we see it within our towns. This is an epidemic sweeping across our nation and does not show signs of lapsing. In 2014, over 40,000 people died from drug related overdoses, and countless others have overdosed but have been revived by police and emergency medical services. Since 2000, there has been a 137% increase in overdose deaths involvin

Samantha Findling

Sep 6, 2016
4 min

Racism in Jury Selection

When we think about the Criminal Justice System, we may think about the roles of criminal law practitioners. Defense attorneys are the gladiators that fight to protect the wrongly accused. Prosecutors are those that fight to represent the victim, the victim’s family, the public’s expectation of safety, and of course the community. But isn’t it possible that sometimes a prosecutor’s perception of a community intentionally excludes the members of our society that are African Am

crimlawpracblog

Aug 28, 2016
5 min

Order in the Court

While observing District Court this summer, I witnessed an intimidating interaction between a Judge and a Public Defender. It was a bench trial for a routine trespassing case, and everything seemed to be proceeding as normal. Let me start by saying that this was a cut and dry case. Everything was lined up and ready to go. We all thought we would be out of the courtroom in under thirty minuets. The trial began, and the judge asked if there were any pretrial motions. The prosec

KNOWLEDGE • PRACTICE • JUSTICE

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