Criminal Justice – Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review

Amicus, Criminal Justice, Education & Youth, Poverty and Economic Justice, Privacy and Technology, Racial Justice, Sex Equality

This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: April 12

Criminal Legal System Our unemployment rate fails to account for mass incarceration. Mass incarceration disproportionately affects black communities. Unemployment data fails to account for this, which makes the disparity between black and white men in employment appear smaller than it really is. (Washington Post) The ACLU and

April 12, 2018

Regina Powers

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Amicus, Criminal Justice

Prison Education and the Abolitionist’s Dilemma

Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1994 in the wake of several high-profile violent crimes. The Act, originally written by Joe Biden and signed into law by Bill Clinton, expanded federal criminal law. Among the Act’s provisions was an amendment

April 10, 2018

Nicholas Raskin

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Amicus, Criminal Justice, Racial Justice

Unpacking Criminal Justice Reform

Civil rights activists recognize mass incarceration as the most pressing issue of our time. With books like The New Jim Crow, progressives have accepted the idea that our criminal justice system acts as a means of racial control and oppression. “Law and order” talk reached

March 31, 2018

Regina Powers

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Amicus, Criminal Justice

Fulfilling Gideon’s Promise Through Systemic Claims

Clara Foltz was the founder of the public defender movement, and she created the first published proposal for public defenders through the text of her 1893 speech at the Chicago World’s Fair. She envisioned the public defender as a powerful figure capable of challenging the

March 27, 2018

Nicholas Raskin

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Amicus, Criminal Justice

Dropped Connections: The Barriers to Communication Created by Video Visitation

While video visitation promises convenience, the equipment and technology involved may in fact create barriers to access. Those who do not have the requisite equipment or the newest software may see their visitation opportunities significantly curtailed.

March 15, 2018

Mingming Feng

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Amicus, Criminal Justice, Policing and Law Enforcement, Racial Justice

Minority Report: Why We Should Question Predictive Policing

Last week, The Verge published an independent investigation into New Orleans’ system of predictive policing, which was developed by Palantir Technologies and implemented in secret in 2013, unbeknownst to the City Council. Palantir, which is valued at over $20 billion, has always thrived on secrecy. It

March 7, 2018

Alisha Jarwala

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Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice, Freedom of Expression, Policing and Law Enforcement, Racial Justice, Voting and Elections Rights

Closing In: Judges and Voters Challenge Rick Scott’s Tailored Electorate

In Florida, the end of your incarceration can be the beginning of a life-long sentence. That’s because Florida is one of four states that does not automatically restore civil rights (most prominently, voting rights) to people who were convicted of felonies but have fulfilled every

February 9, 2018

Kwame Newton

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Amicus, Criminal Justice, Guest Author, Policing and Law Enforcement

Professor Jennifer Reynolds: Dispute Resolution in Criminal Contexts

Professor Jennifer Reynolds is an associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Law, visiting this year at Harvard Law School. This spring, she is teaching “Advanced Negotiation: Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Criminal Context.” This course is new for me and new for HLS.

January 2, 2018

Samantha Miller

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Amicus, Courts & Judicial Interpretation, Criminal Justice, Executive Branch, Immigration, Policing and Law Enforcement, Racial Justice

Acquittals and Outrage: Presidential Tweets Threaten the Integrity of the Justice System

A week ago, a San Francisco jury acquitted Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an undocumented immigrant, of murder in the death of Kate Steinle, which took place on July 1, 2015. The defense argued that Garcia Zarate happened upon the gun, which accidentally fired while pointed

December 7, 2017

Megan Fitzgerald

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Amicus, Criminal Justice, Policing and Law Enforcement

Almost No Choice: Homelessness and the Law

Courts should take responsibility for a fundamental question: whether current case law addressing the rights of homeless people rests upon fundamentally flawed assumptions.

December 4, 2017

Karin Drucker

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This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: April 12

Prison Education and the Abolitionist’s Dilemma

Unpacking Criminal Justice Reform

Fulfilling Gideon’s Promise Through Systemic Claims

Dropped Connections: The Barriers to Communication Created by Video Visitation

Minority Report: Why We Should Question Predictive Policing

Closing In: Judges and Voters Challenge Rick Scott’s Tailored Electorate

Professor Jennifer Reynolds: Dispute Resolution in Criminal Contexts

Acquittals and Outrage: Presidential Tweets Threaten the Integrity of the Justice System

Almost No Choice: Homelessness and the Law

About CR-CL

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