ABA Journal

Criminal Justice

20716 ABA Journal Criminal Justice articles.

Did pending Supreme Court case affect special counsel’s decision to move Trump grand jury to Florida?

Updated: A “little-noted” case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court may have changed the special counsel’s calculus on where to bring charges against former President Donald Trump, according to a blog post by Just Security.

CNN obtains transcript of tape that is highlighted in unsealed espionage charges against Trump

Updated: A recording in which former President Donald Trump discusses a “secret” document about attacking Iran is referenced in the indictment unsealed Friday that includes alleged violations of the Espionage Act.

Proposal to require Michigan courts to use preferred pronouns has some critics

The Michigan Supreme Court has received some pushback on its proposal to require state courts to use preferred pronouns when identifying parties or lawyers.

Would nearly all felon gun bans be struck down under new 3rd Circuit opinion? Dissenter thinks so

An en banc federal appeals court has ruled that a man convicted for food stamps fraud has a Second Amendment right to possess a gun—despite a federal law to the contrary.

We ‘live on a pro se planet;’ 5th Circuit allows parents to sometimes represent children without lawyers

A federal appeals court is giving a pro se parent a chance to persuade a federal judge that she may represent her minor children without a lawyer in a federal lawsuit filed against a Texas school district.

Bryan Cave partner on leave after arrest in undercover sting investigation

A partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is on indefinite leave after his arrest on a charge of attempted dissemination of indecent materials to a minor in the first degree.

Plea bargaining reform urged by ABA task force in new report

An increasing number of criminal cases are not going to trial, and the implications have negative consequences for the entire justice system, according to a new report by the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Plea Bargaining Task Force.

Judge who once prosecuted murder defendant fails to get colleague kicked off the case

Judge Patrick Connolly of Los Angeles County won’t be able to disqualify a colleague from considering the resentencing of a defendant Connolly once prosecuted.

Judge’s ‘Beowulf’ and Whistler’s mother references raise concerns with Maryland justices

An appeals judge who compared a Black defendant to a monster in the epic poem Beowulf used language that could be interpreted as evoking racial stereotypes, according to the Maryland Supreme Court.

Genetic genealogy leads to arrest of lawyer in series of rapes

A corporate lawyer in the New York City area has been charged with the sexual assaults of four women in Boston in 2007 and 2008 after police used genetic genealogy to link him to the crimes.

Citizen Sleuths

With the popularity of social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter and YouTube, online armchair detectives have been able to help authorities in some cases by offering tips. But there also have been instances of misinformation, fake experts and unsupported theories being presented as fact and of innocent people being targeted.

The ABA works to help formerly incarcerated people reenter society

For those incarcerated, the ABA supports appropriate treatment consistent with the Eighth Amendment that offers resources and opportunities shown to reduce recidivism and increase public safety.

States reconsider the permanent sanctions of child abuse registries

Just one phone call accusing someone of child abuse, whether it turns out to be true or not, can mark that person for life, slapping them with a host of collateral consequences outside of the criminal justice system.

Parental Penalties

Parents, like all those returning from prison, face more than 40,000 statutes and regulations nationwide that make reentry into their communities a challenge. Many consequences are imposed indefinitely, impacting the family for the rest of the parent’s life, no matter how long they have been home or how well they reintegrate into society.

Rights Work: UChicago constitutional law course brings together incarcerated youths, law students

The eight-week class is designed to give incarcerated youths an opportunity to consider their rights while exposing the law students to the younger students’ worldview through in-class discussions on topics that include freedom of speech, due process and reproductive freedom, along with weekly mentoring sessions.

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