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Robbery, Recidivism, And The Limits Of The Criminal Justice System
Get PDFThe roughly 175,000 convicted robbers currently serving time in the U.S. eventually will be released. Over half of them will have been there before. Locked up as mostly young men and women, they will return to the communities they left behind, possessing little more than a criminal record and the clothes on their back. Many will find themselves owing supervision fees to the state; almost all will face legal barriers to employment, decent housing, political participation, and other sources of social inclusion. What can the criminal justice system—a system designed to prevent and deter lawbreaking— realistically do to keep them from returning to prison? This Article explores that question by drawing on published accounts from a sample of 86 individuals actively involved in committing armed robberies, many of whom have returned to crime after being released from prison. The emphasis throughout is on the ways in which pervasive social exclusion, both a cause and a consequence of their lawbreaking, challenges our ability to “reintegrate” such offenders who in reality were not integrated to begin with
Labeling Violence
Get PDFIn recent years, federal and state-level criminal justice reforms have softened the punitive responses to crime that defined the quarter-century from 1980–2005. The main beneficiaries of these reforms have been non-violent criminals, who are increasingly eligible for pre- and post-charge diversion, expungement, early release from custody and early discharge from community supervision. For those convicted of violent offenses, not much has changed: sentences remain long; opportunities for release remain few; and conditions of post-release supervision are tightly enforced, leading to high rates of return to prison. The justification for a harsh response to violent crime is that such crime inflicts significant harm and represents a dramatic deviation from standards of acceptable behavior. In fact, “violent” behavior—that is, behavior that is intended to cause, or does in fact cause, physical injury to another person—is hardly anomalous. Across the life-course, and particularly in youth and young adulthood, such behaviors frequently occur among a broad spectrum of the population and rarely lead to criminal conviction. This Article explores why only some behavior is labeled violent, and what implications this fact has for sentencing and correctional management of people convicted of violent crimes, and for the broader management of the criminal justice system.
“I think the big point is that there are not two kinds of humans: one the kind that commits crimes and gets imprisoned and another the kind that does not commit crimes . . . . I think there is but one kind of human beings, all of whom are a mix of good and bad, all of whom do a mix of good and bad things. As for the bad things, comparatively few of them have been labeled criminal. There is an infinite number of ways not declared crimes in which, without justification, we inflict pain and sorrow upon and exploit one another and destroy the thin envelope of air and water and soil in which we live.” —Hon. James E. Doyle, U.S. District Judg
Not a Taboo Use of Tattoos: Why Using Unauthorized Replicas of Professional Athlete Tattoos in Video Games Constitutes Fair Use
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Advancing a Feasible Solution to Cross-Border Employment Enforcement Mechanisms
Get PDFThis study analyzes the prior and current practice of the judiciary in deciding cases of extraterritorial applications of U.S. anti-discrimination statutes, such as Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA. Specifically, it analyzes when and to what extent courts have applied the protections of these Acts to foreign elements. In 1991, Aramco held that legislation of Congress, unless a contrary intent is shown, is meant to apply only within the territorial borders of the United States. Because of the congressional silence in Title VII, the Supreme Court in Aramco dismissed the case even though it involved a claim of discriminatory employment practices asserted by a U.S. national against a U.S. employer operating abroad. However, what is interesting in the context of employment law is that Congress has explicitly amended these statutes to provide for an extended geographic reach of its protections and has done so particularly after the judiciary had decided cases interpreting congressional intent contrary to what Congress had in fact intended. This is what had transpired in Aramco. Despite the increased protections provided by the statutory amendments, several gaps and inconsistencies remain. Among such gaps and inconsistencies include the uncertain status of U.S. legal permanent residents employed abroad for U.S./U.S.-controlled employers. This study, while ultimately concluding that the solution lies in efforts at harmonizing employment practices, recommends a new statutory amendment as an immediate solution to alleviate these harsh implications. The proposed amendment seeks to make U.S. extraterritorial regulation more consistent. The proposed amendment advanced promotes one very significant change. It extends the protections of the anti-discrimination statutes to U.S. permanent legal residents employed abroad by U.S./U.S.-controlled employers. This recognizes the inherent local nature of labor regulation by refusing to extend the statutes’ protections further but also recognizes the bond that U.S. permanent legal residents have with the United States, thus necessitating the extended protections for them. This proposed amendment creates a system of regulation that does not discriminate based on the U.S. permanent resident’s nationality and makes the application and protections under U.S. law more consistent in its administration. Lastly, it better comports with our globalized world that is characterized by international business expansion, transitory employment, and mobility
Safe Money
Get PDFThis Article provides the first comprehensive survey and evaluation of proposed approaches to the central financial reform issue of our era: making all money held in account form “safe,” or non-defaultable, in the same way a dollar bill cannot default. Financial crises are at core a problem of defaultable money; preventing such crises requires making money safe. The goal is eminently achievable; indeed, a number of plausible proposals have been advanced. The project has two aspects: providing better safe money options and eliminating unsafe money. This Article analyzes safe money approaches and concludes that expanding “base” money—that is, direct claims on the central bank—and removing deposit insurance caps could be equally effective at making money safe, even if they offer different benefits along other dimensions. On the other hand, tightening bank risk constraints in the absence of guarantees and various proposed solutions from the “cryptorealm” are suboptimal solutions. Because past experience has shown that safe-money options on their own do not automatically lead to the disappearance of unsafe money, proactive measures to eliminate unsafe money are also called for. Either of two approaches, taxation and prohibition, could prove effective in achieving this goal. This Article argues that prohibition is nevertheless preferable as it is likely to prove more robust to regulatory rollback efforts
ICE Detention Contracts, Third-party Beneficiary Suits, and Private Contracts in Immigrant Detention
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Growing Up Behind Bars: Pathways To Desistance For Juvenile Lifers
Get PDFIn the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision Miller vs. Alabama, a variety of state laws have paved the way for the resentencing and potential release of “juvenile lifers.” Desistance theories pertaining to youth with histories of violent offending suggest that a blend of maturation, internal motivation and identity shifts, and opportunities to adopt and fulfill adult roles will lead to cessation of criminal behavior. Yet, these theories may not apply to young people serving life sentences, as they have limited opportunity to adopt adult responsibilities while imprisoned, less motivation to desist if freedom is not viewed as attainable and live in conditions in which criminal behavior and violence is often essential for survival. This qualitative study explored pathways to desistance behind bars for adult males (now aged 40–65), all of whom were convicted of a homicide offense at age 20 or under and were recently paroled under one of several California youth offender resentencing laws. The phenomenological design included two in-depth individual interviews and inductive thematic analysis. Analysis identified three patterns of desistance, all of which converged to core themes of moral reckoning, making meaning of life in prison, finding hope, and proving one’s worth for release. The results have implications for youth offender resentencing policies and theories of criminal desistance
Community Supervision And Violent Offenders: What The Research Tells Us And How To Improve Outcomes
Get PDFThis Article explores the supervision of violent offenders in the community and reviews the research on effective (and ineffective) practices. Included is a discussion of the scope and diversity of violent offenses, a review of the research related to intermediate sanctions such as intensive supervision and electronic monitoring, as well as the application of the Risk, Need and Responsivity model to community supervision. Finally, the challenges of translating research into practice is discussed along with recommendations on how we can improve community supervision