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Growing Pains: The Evolution of JLWOP Sentences in Washington
Get PDFIn 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court abolished de facto life sentences— those that amount to a life sentence despite not carrying the life without parole label—for juvenile offenders, finding them unconstitutional under article 1, section 14 of the Washington Constitution. In 2022, less than a year later, the Court reversed course in the case of State v. Anderson by upholding a sixty-one-year sentence for crimes a juvenile offender committed at age seventeen. The Washington State Supreme Court’s decision in Anderson runs contrary to what modern science demonstrates about the diminished culpability of juvenile offenders, and it runs contrary to the juvenile sentencing jurisprudence in Washington. This Comment proceeds by first examining the science behind the diminished culpability of the juvenile offender. Second, it traces the evolution of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Third, it explores the current state of JLWOP sentences in Washington under article 1, section 14 of the Washington Constitution. Fourth, it provides a comprehensive view of Washington’s parole system for juvenile offenders. Finally, it highlights errors in the Washington State Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Anderson and provides workable solutions for sentencing courts in the future
Butterfly Effects: Women and Criminal Law
Get PDFThrough a comparative analysis of the criminal laws of Sri Lanka and the United States, this paper examines how Sri Lanka’s legal framework on sexual offenses often hinders women’s access to justice and reinforces systemic gender discrimination. Recognizing the structural constraints inherited from older common law traditions, it underscores the potential for reform through targeted, gradual changes, drawing on developments in modern common law in the United States and relevant international legal standards. The discussion unfolds in three parts: first, a feminist critique of exiting criminal laws in postcolonial; common law systems such as Sri Lanka’s; second, a comparative analysis of laws on sexual offenses and related legal frameworks in Sri Lanka and the United States; and third, a set of reform-oriented recommendations for Sri Lanka, informed by United States legal practice and international laws
Taiwan: Legal Status, Legitimacy, and Lawfare
Get PDFThis paper seeks to offer a fresh perspective into the Chinese Communist Party’s (“CCP”) implementation of lawfare to assert dominance over Taiwan. Rather than viewing lawfare as one doctrine with one outcome, this paper aims to reorganize lawfare in its many uses, identifying the three primary categories that the CCP uses to extend its sovereignty over Taiwan: (1) using law to legitimize a nation’s own goals, (2) using law to delegitimize an adversary’s actions, and (3) weaponizing an adversary’s laws. This paper seeks to analyze and recharacterize current and historical events in terms of these three lawfare categories, demonstrating how the CCP is using lawfare to prepare the battlefield for an impending conflict in Taiwan
Robot Law: Volume II
No full textAn important sequel to the groundbreaking first edition, Robot Law: Volume II discusses the societal and economic transformations introduced by robotics. Editors Ryan Calo, A. Michael Froomkin and Kristen Thomasen, alongside their contributing authors, explore the legal, ethical, and societal challenges that robotics and automated systems pose, investigating the intersection of law and policy in this area.Multidisciplinary authors provide a field-defining examination of years of transformative law and robotics scholarship. Presenting insightful perspectives on the societal risks and opportunities of robotics and artificial intelligence, authors focus on the legal and policy questions that robots present as well as their disruption of existing legal regimes. The book also offers a range of legal, policy, and ethical interventions to help channel robotics and AI in the public interest. Furthermore the book opens an important dialogue, underscoring the need to confront and mitigate the potential communicative or expressive harm that could be caused by this technology.This book is an essential resource for law professors, students, practitioners, and jurists as well as engineering and AI students, academics, and researchers of robotics. Policymakers will find the interventions posed in this book valuable for developing strategies to address the impacts of robotics and AI.https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-books/1099/thumbnail.jp
China\u27s Experiment of Dual-Class Equity Structures: Regulatory Frameworks and Investor Protection
Get PDFMainland China traditionally upheld the one-share-one-vote (OSOV) principle. Since 2019, however, Chinese authorities have introduced the dual-class equity structure (DCES) for innovative enterprises. Due to investor-protection concerns, China’s DCES operates on a “stringent approval system,” with only eight corporations listed under DCES as of December 31, 2024. This Article provides a comprehensive policy analysis of the Chinese DCES system, including empirical analyses of the eight existing cases. It explores legal and economic aspects of investor protection within China’s DCES, examining “three sets of investor safeguard measures”: (1) “three numerically specified rules” (e.g., 10% equity rule, 10-time voting-right rule, and 2/3 voting-right rule); (2) sunset provisions (event-driven and time-based); and (3) rules converting special-voting shares into shares with one vote (e.g., conversions in an amendment to the articles of association, the appointment and removal of independent directors, and mergers and control contests). Addressing tunneling concerns, this Article argues for “DCES with enhanced investor protection.” To foster entrepreneurship, the Chinese authorities should gradually relax the stringent approval system for DCES. This relaxation is crucial for China, as escalating tensions with the United States have significantly impacted its DCES-IPO markets. Additionally, the DCES-IPO market in Hong Kong remains inactive, underscoring the need for viable DCES-IPO markets in Mainland China
