Ohio Northern University: DigitalCommons@ONU

Montana, Patricia

Pepper, Elyse

Getting it Right by Writing it Wrong:Embracing Faulty Reasoning as a Teaching Tool

Smith, Scott

English

State v. Hairston2019-Ohio-1622

Gerber, Scott Douglas

Ohio Northern University Law Review 
Volume 46 Issue 3 Article 7 
An Ode to Nancy Sabol’s Competence 
Scott Douglas Gerber 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review 
 Part of the Law Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Gerber, Scott Douglas () "An Ode to Nancy Sabol’s Competence," Ohio Northern University Law Review: 
Vol. 46: Iss. 3, Article 7. 
Available at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review/vol46/iss3/7 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the ONU Journals and Publications at 
DigitalCommons@ONU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ohio Northern University Law Review by an 
authorized editor of DigitalCommons@ONU. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@onu.edu. 
An Ode to Nancy Sabol’s Competence 
SCOTT DOUGLAS GERBER* 
We all have pet peeves.  One of mine is unjustified arrogance: when 
people who are not talented act like they know everything and are always 
right.  Arrogance is bad enough, but unjustified arrogance drives me up the 
wall.  Is Warren Buffet arrogant?  I have never met him, so I cannot answer 
that question.  I hope he is not.  But if he were, at least he would have 
reason to be: he is almost certainly the greatest stock picker in the history of 
America.1  Is Clarence Thomas arrogant?  Like Buffet, Thomas has reason 
to be: he has served on the U.S. Supreme Court for three decades, and he is 
only the second African-American to have done so.  I have met Justice 
Thomas, and I am pleased to report that he is not arrogant.  He is about as 
down-to-earth as a person can possibly be.2 
Nancy Sabol was not arrogant, but she had reason to be.  No person in 
my two decades at Ohio Northern—not a single one—did more to improve 
the College of Law—to keep it from shuttering, to be candid about it—than 
Nancy Sabol.  The success our students enjoyed on the bar examination 
would not have been possible, literally, without Nancy’s talent for bringing 
out the best in the students while they were studying for the exam.  That fact 
was so obvious that I had a long-running joke I would share with Nancy 
every time the bar exam results were announced: In the seemingly never-
ending years of financial struggles for ONU, Nancy was the only person on 
the campus who could have demanded a pay raise from the administration. 
Where is the joke?  It is here: I would always tell Nancy that I would serve 
as her agent during those salary negotiations . . . and that I would take 10% 
off the top. 
Nancy never played the competence card.  She was not arrogant enough 
to do it.  That is not to say that she did not know she was good at her job: 
* Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University; Associated Scholar, Brown University’s Political Theory
Project.
1. See, e.g., ALICE SCHROEDER, THE SNOWBALL: WARREN BUFFETT AND THE BUSINESS OF
LIFE (2008). 
2. See, e.g., SCOTT DOUGLAS GERBER, FIRST PRINCIPLES: THE JURISPRUDENCE OF CLARENCE 
THOMAS (expanded ed., 2002); Scott Douglas Gerber, Clarence Thomas has had a lasting impact on 
Black history in America, THE HILL (Feb. 12, 2019) available at https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-
rights/429700-clarence-thomas-has-had-a-lasting-impact-on-black-history-in-america; CLARENCE 
THOMAS, MY GRANDFATHER’S SON: A MEMOIR (2007); Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own 
Words (Documentary, 2020). 
537
1
Gerber: An Ode to Nancy Sabol’s Competence
Published by DigitalCommons@ONU,
538 OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 46 
the twinkle in her eyes and the sly smile on her face when I told her the 
same joke year after year after year let me know that she knew it. 
Others have said beautiful things about how nice a person Nancy was.  I 
agree with those sentiments.  However, in this tribute I wanted to address 
how much I admired how good she was at her job.  Of course, like everyone 
else I am saddened by Nancy’s premature death, and my thoughts and 
prayers go out to everyone who loved her, especially to her husband Don 
and their kids—now young adults—Daniel and Anne.  But I am happy that 
the last Ohio bar examination with which Nancy helped the students 
resulted in a 21-for-21, 100% pass rate that placed our College of Law at the 
top of the heap among all Ohio law schools.  As I mentioned during my 
monthly TV segment shortly after the July 2019 results were announced, 
Ohio State might have wiped the field with ONU in football, but with 
Nancy Sabol as the Director of our Academic Support Program, we kicked 
the Buckeyes’ butts on the bar exam.3 
Goodbye, Nancy. And thank you. 
3. See The Bar Exam!, WLIO-TV (Nov. 7, 2019) available at https://www.hometownstatio
ns.com/the-bar-exam/video_15a2b3b1-ae6a-57de-8a5f-49c5cadc3029.html (TV segment about the July 
2019 bar exam results). 
2
Ohio Northern University Law Review, Vol. 46 [], Iss. 3, Art. 7
https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review/vol46/iss3/7


An Ode to Nancy Sabol’s Competence

Clay, Adeline

State v. Gideon2020-Ohio-5635

Johnson, Ryan Michael

Ohioans for Concealed Carry, Inc. v. City of Columbus2020-Ohio-6724

Baumgartner, Emily

Pedagogical Lessons Learned from COVID-19 and Beyond

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution of the United States reads, “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” Article I, Section 8 continues to name the powers of Congress, most essentially, “to lay and collect taxes… to borrow Money… and to coin Money.” In the United States, the power of the purse resolutely rests in the legislature’s hands, but this power does not come without restraint. The final clause of Article I, Section 9 states, “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” As such, Congress must annually submit appropriations bills prior to the beginning of each fiscal year in order to provide funds for all government operations. But what happens when Congress neglects that duty

Clayton, Caleb

Ohio Northern University 
DigitalCommons@ONU 
Critical Questions Institute for Civics and Public Policy 
Fall 10-9-2023 
Government Shutdowns 
Caleb Clayton 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/critical_questions 
Critical Question #31 10/09/2023
By: Caleb Clayton
Government Shutdowns
Introduction
Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution of the United States reads, “All Bills for raising Revenue
shall originate in the House of Representatives.” Article I, Section 8 continues to name the
powers of Congress, most essentially, “to lay and collect taxes… to borrow Money… and to coin
Money.” In the United States, the power of the purse resolutely rests in the legislature’s hands,
but this power does not come without restraint. The final clause of Article I, Section 9 states, “No
money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”
As such, Congress must annually submit appropriations bills prior to the beginning of each fiscal
year in order to provide funds for all government operations. But what happens when Congress
neglects that duty?
Question 1: What is a government shutdown?
Government shutdowns occur when Congress does not provide appropriations bills to fund
spending between federal departments and government programs. A government shutdown has
a wide-reaching impact on the nearly two million government employees and an additional two
million or more active military servants who rely on government funds for their paychecks. Some
employees, such as public safety and law enforcement agents, continue their work through the
shutdown, as their work is deemed essential to the operation of the federal government. The
rest of these employees are furloughed during the shutdown. During the furlough period,
nonessential government employees are suspended from their usual work activities until the
funding dispute is resolved. Workers receive backpay from their temporary leave once Congress
passes legislation to fund the government again.
Since 1977, the US federal government has encountered several funding gaps and shutdowns.
The impact of these shutdowns has increased in magnitude and duration, with a significant
spike occurring from December 1995 into January 1996 when a twenty-one-day shutdown
ensued. Prior to this instance, most shutdowns lasted only a span of a few days. While
shutdowns have proven less frequent since the turn of the millennium, new instances of
government shutdowns in the US have proven consequential. The most recent shutdown from
December 2018 into January 2019 lasted a record thirty-four days. With thousands of
government employees furloughed for over a month, failing to prevent shutdowns can prove
costly in the ballpark of billions of dollars in the long run.
Question 2: How does a government shutdown affect the public?
A shutdown would impact far more than just government employees, as government funding is
apportioned to more than just the paychecks of its employees. Prolonged shutdowns could
introduce a period of temporary instability for the American public, especially low-income
citizens. Members of the public who receive compensation from benefit programs like Social
Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and military veterans would continue to get their payments,
but delays may become applicable to some beneficiaries. People receiving nutrition benefits
from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would be affected by a long-term
shutdown, as the program would not be able to persist a month’s duration for the number of
beneficiaries relying upon the program. Similarly, free lunch programs, like Head Start, lose
federal funding during a shutdown.
Beyond federal benefit programs, transportation and travel could be challenged by a
government shutdown. Infrastructure programs could be halted without necessary reviews and
oversight. Airports would continue work as an essential service provider, but delays would likely
ensue from workers calling off and trainees being furloughed. US National Parks and federal
monuments would be closed to the public. Museums and other government-funded public
attractions would only be functional for a few days before being closed for the rest of the
duration of the shutdown. Furthermore, backpaying furloughed employees and pausing work in
important sectors of American society could result in additional economic consequences during
the shutdown and beyond.
Question 3: How does the federal government avoid a shutdown?
In order to avoid a shutdown, Congress must pass an appropriations bill. There are several
ways that Congress can accomplish this, but the most effective way to fund the government for
the next fiscal year comes when Congress passes a series of twelve regular appropriations bills.
Regular appropriations bills function as a general fund across several accounts for specific
government departments and agencies. Funds within these accounts cannot transfer money
into any other account without congressional approval. Agencies can reprogram funds when
reallocating funds to new activities under the jurisdiction of the same accounts, but the
Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee retains the ability to monitor how funds are
reallocated within the accounts. The issue with regular appropriations bills comes at the
negotiation table. Oftentimes, Congress will seek to combine several of the regular spending
bills that may face scrutiny into an omnibus spending bill. By lumping so many bills together, an
omnibus bill enshrines several important measures for the basic functions of governing, but
opportune legislators can use them as a means of pork-barreling. With so many important
measures sealed within the texts of the proposed bills, rejecting the collective bills outright for a
particular policy disagreement can prove costly. By consolidating a mass of important funding
under an omnibus bill, legislators can essentially “veto-proof” particularly controversial measures
within the vital collective work of the bill. Bipartisan consensus can often prove time-consuming
when deciding on twelve different spending bills, so elected officials look for alternative
approaches to accelerate funding negotiations to continue government operations without losing
their policy goals.
Continuing resolutions are appropriations bills that allow Congress to fund government activities
for a limited time. They are often used when approaching the October 1st appropriations
deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown until all twelve appropriations bills can create a
comprehensive funding plan for the next fiscal year. Continuing resolutions can be a great tool
for improvising amidst deadlocks, but they are hardly a resolute long-term solution for
government funding. They provide more time for parties to take the time necessary to settle
disputes and formulate better legislation, but agencies may find themselves faced with
unfortunate consequences under the administration of these temporary bills. Some agencies
must disrupt normal operations, abandon projects and programs, and divert attention from these
activities solely to vital functions when their budget under continuing resolution does not match
their anticipated funding. In addition to regular appropriations bills and continuing resolutions,
Congress will pass supplemental appropriations for unexpected circumstances and emergency
scenarios. Supplemental appropriation bills tend to pertain solely to wartime expenditures,
emergency disaster relief, and recovery from such events.
Conclusion
In order for the federal government to provide its services to the American people, it must
provide itself the resources necessary to achieve those ends. Congress holds the power of the
purse and that power needs to be wielded with public service in mind. Balancing the budget
proves difficult when governance encompasses many aspects of daily life, but this task is
dutifully bestowed upon our legislators for a reason. They are representatives for the voice of
the American people, and that voice should resonate from their actions.


Government Shutdowns

Truelock, Tyler

Ohio Northern University International Law Journal 
Volume 1 Article 6 
2023 
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN 
THE UNITED STATES AND SCANDINAVIA 
Tyler Truelock 
t-truelock@onu.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/ilj 
 Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Criminal Law Commons, and the Criminal 
Procedure Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Truelock, Tyler (2023) "A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED 
STATES AND SCANDINAVIA," Ohio Northern University International Law Journal: Vol. 1, Article 6. 
Available at: https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/ilj/vol1/iss1/6 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@ONU. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Ohio Northern University International Law Journal by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@ONU. 
For more information, please contact digitalcommons@onu.edu. 
A Comparative Analysis of Criminal Justice Systems in the United States and Scandinavia 
 
TYLER TRUELOCK* 
INTRODUCTION 
The criminal justice system in the United States relies heavily on incarceration of 
convicted and suspected criminals. Out of every 100,000 Americans, 505 are incarcerated, the 
sixth highest rate in the world.1 The effects of incarceration in the United States are felt in many 
aspects on top of restricting a person’s liberty: it can affect employment prospects, educational 
attainment, and can lead to heightened depression, anxiety, and fear.2 But these factors, when 
highlighted, always raise a question in my mind: Is there a better way? Is there actually an 
“ideal” system that would address the concerns of critics while still providing a mechanism for 
punishment and rehabilitation? I have no doubt that law review articles could have a field day 
with theoretical solutions for this problem. 
However, while such theoretical discussions aren’t unimportant, I wanted to know 
whether there were any real-world examples of countries who had actually achieved this 
balance. One region that stood out to me in particular was Scandinavia, composed of Denmark, 
Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Finland. Incarceration rates, punishment severity, and rates of 
violent crime are all measurably lower in comparison to other developed countries.3 Whether 
such a system is actually preferable is likely open to debate; criminal justice policies often have 
a moral component tied to them, especially for certain crimes such as drug and sexual offenses.4 
In this article, I will provide an analysis of how the criminal justice systems in these countries, 
and their impacts, compare to that of the United States, and consider whether such a model is 
workable (or even desirable) in the United States. 
PLEA BARGAINING 
Plea bargaining is a staple of the American criminal justice system. ninety-seven percent 
of federal felony convictions and ninety-four percent of state felony cases are the result of plea 
bargaining.5 This indicates that the vast majority of criminal defendants end up waiving their 
right to a jury trial and such trials by jury have become increasingly rare.6 For such a system to 
 
1 Statista, Countries with the largest number of prisoners per 100,000 of the national population, as of January 
2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/ (Jan. 
2023). 
2 Bruce Western, Incarceration, Inequality, and Imagining Alternatives, 651 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN 
ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (2014): 302 303 (2014). 
3 Tapio Lappi-Seppälä & Michael Tonry, Crime, Criminal Justice, and Criminology in the Nordic Countries, 40 
CRIME AND JUSTICE IN SCANDINAVIA 1 (2011). 
4 Id. at 2. 
5 Emily Yoffe, Innocence Is Irrelevant, THE ATLANTIC 
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/innocence-is-irrelevant/534171/ (last visited Apr. 3, 2023). 
6 Jennifer L. Mnookin, Uncertain Bargains: The Rise of Plea Bargaining in America, 57 STANFORD L. REV. 
1721 1726 (2005). 
work, prosecutors must be able to convince criminal defendants that accepting a plea deal 
would be a more desirable outcome than going to trial.7 This system gives prosecutors in the 
United States a great deal of discretion as they can decide whether to grant concessions to a 
defendant to secure a plea bargain, or even whether to prosecute an individual at all despite 
evidence of guilt.8 
Although prosecutors in Scandinavia do have prosecutorial discretion,9 this form of plea 
bargaining is largely not seen in Scandinavian countries. Despite the idea gaining steam in 
recent years, Sweden currently does not allow plea bargaining.10 Plea bargaining also is not a 
possibility in Iceland.11 Norway prohibits plea bargaining, and all criminal cases are tried 
before a judge.12 The concept of plea bargaining is also an unknown commodity in Denmark, 
however Denmark does require that in order for a confession to be accepted, the judge must be 
independently convinced of the defendant’s guilt after weighing the evidence.13 Finland, on the 
other hand, adopted an expansive conception of plea bargaining in 2015, even allowing for 
bargaining on a police investigation.14 This could allow a criminal investigation to focus only 
on a crime that the accused has confessed to and other suspected crimes would no longer be 
investigated.15 
CRIME RATES 
The plea bargaining system (or lack thereof) only comes into effect if someone is 
accused of a crime. Compared to the United States, the Scandinavian countries on average boast 
lower crime rates: 
 
7 Id. at 1728. 
8 Wayne R. Lafave, The Prosecutor’s Discretion in The United States, 18 OXFORD U. PRESS 532 545 (1970). 
9 Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Penal Policy in Scandinavia, 36 CRIME AND JUSTICE 217 227 (2007). 
10 Laura Ervo, Plea Bargaining Changing Nordic Criminal Procedure: Sweden and Finland as Examples, 90 IUS 
GENTIUM: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON LAW AND JUSTICE 1 225 (2021). 
11 Laura Ervo, Plea Bargaining as an Example of the Recent Changes in the Finnish Criminal Procedure Paradigm, 
7 BALTIC J. OF L. & POL. 97 99 (2014). 
12 Ulf Stridbeck & Philos Svein Magnussen, Prevention of Wrongful Convictions: Norwegian Legal Safeguards and 
the Criminal Cases Review Commission, 80 U. OF CINCINNATI L. REV. 1373 1375 (2013). 
13 Peter Garde, The Right to Fair Trial in the Kingdom of Denmark, HILLERØD CRIMINAL COURT 
http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/fairtrial/wrft-
pg.htm#:~:text=Formal%20agreements%20between%20parties%2C%20%22plea,withdrawn%20until%20the%20la
st%20moment (last visited Apr. 3, 2023). 
14 Laura Ervo, supra note 10, at 257. 
15 Id. at 258. 
 
Source: 2023 World Population Review 
With the lone exception of Sweden, the Scandinavian countries outpace the United 
States with considerably lower rates of crime.16 The four Scandinavian countries with crime 
rates lower than the United States are also recognized as some of the safest countries in the 
world.17 Raw data on crime rates does not tell us exactly why Scandinavian countries have (for 
the most part) less crime than the United States. However, they do provide good context for 
why debates about the American criminal justice system continue to thrive today. 
PRISON SENTENCES 
In the United States, it is not uncommon to hear of convicted criminals being sentenced 
to lengthy, or even deadly, prison sentences. Over 200,000 prisoners in the United States are 
currently serving life sentences for their crimes.18 Currently, about 2,500 prisoners received the 
death penalty for their crimes and are sitting on death row.19 
 
16 2023 World Population by Country (Live), WORLD POPULATION REVIEW, 
https://worldpopulationreview.com (last visited Apr. 3, 2023). 
17 David Nikel, Nordic Countries are the World’s Safest, new Report Reveals, FORBES (Nov. 18, 2019 5:30 AM) 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2019/11/18/nordic-countries-are-the-worlds-safest-new-report-
reveals/?sh=15c8fffdffd7. 
18 Tom Jackman, Study: 1 in 7 U.S. Prisoners is serving life and two-thirds of Those are People of Color, 
WASHINGTON POST (Mar. 2, 2021 8:00 AM) https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/life-
sentences-growing/. 
19 John Gramlich, 10 Facts About the Death Penalty in the U.S. PEW RESEARCH CENTER (Jul. 19, 2021) 
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/19/10-facts-about-the-death-penalty-in-the-u-s/. 
Such sentences are not typically seen in Scandinavia. Not a single Scandinavian country 
still utilizes the death penalty as punishment.20 Denmark’s harshest sentence is life 
imprisonment with the possibility of parole after twelve years, with the average sentence lasting 
around seventeen years.21 Iceland allows life sentences, but any other form of punishment 
cannot exceed sixteen years.22 In Finland, a court can impose a maximum sentence of twelve 
years for a single offense, or fifteen years for multiple offenses.23 Sweden allows life sentences, 
however the court’s decision on punishment is highly dependent on the individual 
circumstances of the given crime.24 In Norway, the maximum sentence is twenty-one years, yet 
in rare cases sentences can be extended indefinitely in five-year increments if the person is still 
considered to be a threat to society.25 
Just like with raw data on crime rates, prison sentences alone do not tell us exactly why 
Scandinavian countries have (for the most part) less crime than the United States. Nevertheless, 
they do provide a lens into how crime is treated by these societies and why outcomes may differ 
between the United States and the five Scandinavian countries. 
RECIDIVISM RATES 
A country’s recidivism rates are determined by whether a person is rearrested, 
reconvicted, or sent back to prison within three years of their initial release from prison.26 
Recidivism inevitably leads to inmates returning to prison shortly after being released and 
having their liberty restricted even further. Such recidivism negatively affects employment 
opportunities and makes it even more difficult for prisoners to one day successfully reenter 
society.27 
Consistent with both crime rates and sentencing, there is a great disparity between the 
United States and the majority of Scandinavian countries in terms of recidivism rates: 
 
20 Reality Check, Death Penalty: How Many Countries still have it?, BBC (Dec. 11, 2020) 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45835584. 
21 Christian Corell, Disse Personer har Siddet Længst tid bag Tremmer i Danmark, NYHEDER (Oct. 2, 2017 19:16) 
https://nyheder.tv2.dk/krimi/2017-10-02-disse-personer-har-siddet-laengst-tid-bag-tremmer-i-danmark. 
22 General Penal Code [Gen. Penal C.] No. 19/1940, ch. V, art. 34 (Ice.). 
23 Laatikot, The Finish Criminal Procedure from a Summons to a Sentence, OIKEUS.FI (Feb. 7, 2021) 
https://oikeus.fi/en/index/laatikot/rikosjarangaistus.html#:~:text=The%20maximum%20period%20of%20imprisonm
ent,is%20therefore%20served%20in%20prison. 
24 Swedish Prosecution Authority, Sanctions and Sentences, https://www.aklagare.se/en/from-crime-to-
sentence/sanctions-and-sentences/ (last visited Apr. 3, 2023). 
25 Associated Press, Norway Killer Breivik Tests Limits of Lenient Justice System, VOA (Jan. 22, 2022 9:20 AM) 
https://www.voanews.com/a/norway-killer-breivik-tests-limits-of-lenient-justice-system/6407441.html. 
26 Recidivism, NAT'L INST. OF JUSTICE 
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism#:~:text=Recidivism%20is%20measured%20by%20criminal,period
%20following%20the%20person's%20release (last visited Apr. 3, 2023). 
27 Liz Benecchi, Recidivism Imprisons American Progress, HARV. POL. REV. (Aug. 8, 2021) 
https://harvardpolitics.com/recidivism-american-progress/. 
 
Source: 2023 World Population Review 
With the lone exception (and outlier) of Denmark, the Scandinavian countries largely 
outpaced the United States in recidivism rates. One potential reason for this is an increased 
focus on rehabilitation over punishment, as Scandinavian prisons provide inmates with skills 
and tools they can use to contribute to society once they are released from prison.28 This 
emphasis reflects the Scandinavian ideal that criminal behavior is a trait that can be unlearned 
through rehabilitation.29 This stands in direct contrast to the United States’ approach, which 
tends to emphasize retribution and harsh sentencing over rehabilitation.30 It may very well be 
the case that the Scandinavian model of rehabilitation is the cause of their superior recidivism 
rates. However, such correlation doesn’t necessarily indicate causation, and it might overlook 
concerns from those who feel that punishment is an important (if not necessary) aspect of the 
criminal justice system. 
CONCLUSION 
This article barely scratches the surface of the vastly different approaches to criminal 
justice between the United States and Scandinavia. Whether one approach is superior to the 
other is likely open to interpretation and may vary heavily on a person’s cultural background 
and experiences. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that these differences have led to different 
criminal justice outcomes, and such differences in outcomes will continue to fuel debate over 
 
28 Alexis Riep, The Effects of Culture and Punishment Philosophies on Recidivism: Comparing Prison Systems in 
the United States and Scandinavia, ENCOMPASS 1-2 (2019). 
29 Id. at 21. 
30 Id. at 27. 
whether the Scandinavian model of criminal justice is preferable and should be utilized in the 
United States. 
 


A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND SCANDINAVIA

Abrams, Kathryn

Empathy and Experience in the Sotomayor Hearing

Grahmann, Kraig P.

Respect for Authority: Translating Enduring Principles into Modern Law

Ohio Northern University

Not a member yet