Articles Posted in Criminal Law

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies considers what it means to represent someone who is widely reviled—such as an alleged terrorist.

Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton predicts that the release of the motion picture Spotlight—which is about the cover up of child sex abuse by priests in the Boston Archdiocese—will force the hands of politicians and candidates across the country with respect to their positions on these issues.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies describes one of the bedrock principles of a legitimate criminal justice system: the obligation of government to be fair and even handed. Margulies describes several examples of how governments have fallen short in this respect and argues that without even-handed justice, there cannot be a truly legitimate criminal justice system.

Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton celebrates the ten-year anniversary of the groundbreaking 2005 Grand Jury Report on Child Sex Abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. She argues that while that document pales in comparison to the Australian Commission’s report on abuse in that country, it is still hugely significant and should serve as the benchmark for responsible prosecutorial initiative on clergy sex abuse in the United States.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies continues his discussion of the role of dignity as a condition of a legitimate criminal justice system. Margulies argues that it is dignity that saves us from the conceit that we may decide who gets to be human, but he laments that many people are not yet ready to give up that conceit.

Cornell law professor Joseph Margulies discusses the inviolable right of human dignity and its essential role as a condition of criminal justice.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies offers an overview of our current criminal justice system and proposes a philosophy essential for the implementation of its imperative transformation, improvement, and legitimacy.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies describes the latest challenge to criminal justice reform as the demonization of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies reflects on his recent time spent shadowing the Cincinnati Police Department, describing its efforts to reform the relationship between the police and the community.

Amid nationwide discussions about removing the Confederate battle flag from public display, Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies comments on the role of symbols and the American criminal justice system.

Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton describes how the Josh Duggar and Dennis Hastert cases highlight the need to reform criminal and civil statutes of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

UC Davis law professor Vikram David Amar describes some important takeaway points from two cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week—Elonis v. United States and EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch.

Cornell law professor Joseph Margulies describes how meaningful police reform requires starting at the top and treating the bottom as a social, rather than criminal, problem.

Cornell University law professor Joseph Margulies argues that the goal of meaningful criminal justice reform should be to hold the offender accountable, repair the community, and make the victim whole.

Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton reports on the developments thus far in 2015 with respect to child sex abuse victims’ access to justice.

Cornell University visiting law professor Joseph Margulies discusses the tense situation between the police and the community in Baltimore and argues that meaningful reform is on the horizon.

Cornell University visiting law professor Joseph Margulies comments on the recent death of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man whose murder by a police officer was caught on video and seen by the world. Margulies argues that Scott’s murder, while highly unusual and anomalous in some ways, also exemplifies the relationship between law enforcement and black citizens.

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a recent criminal case out of Indiana, in which a woman was convicted and sentenced for feticide. Colb argues that while the situation as a whole is a tragedy, it also highlights a failure of the State of Indiana to have empathy for women in pain whose circumstances call for mercy rather than a pure retributive impulse.

Cornell University visiting law professor Joseph Margulies discusses the widespread phenomenon of conversations about criminal justice reform that notably exclude any mention of race.

Cornell University visiting law professor Joseph Margulies discusses the need for meaningful criminal justice reform to include not only prison reform, but also reform of law enforcement.