Career Motivations of State Prosecutors
Ronald F. Wright & Kay L. Levine 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1667 Because state prosecutors in the United States typically work in local offices, reformers often surmise that greater coordination within and among those offices will promote sound prosecution practices across the board. Real transformation, however, requires commitment not only from elected chief prosecutors but also from line prosecutors—the attorneys... Read More
The Challenge of Race and Crime in a Free Society: The Racial Divide in Fifty Years of Juvenile Justice Reform
Kristin Henning 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1604 In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice to study the causes of crime and delinquency and identify strategies for prevention. After eighteen months of investigation, the Commission published a report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, in February 1967. Citing youth crime... Read More
The Right to Counsel in Criminal Cases: Still a National Crisis?
Mary Sue Backus & Paul Marcus 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1564 In 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright dramatically changed the landscape of criminal justice with its mandate that poor criminal defendants be entitled to legal representation funded by the government. As scholars and practitioners have noted repeatedly over more than fifty years, states have generally failed to provide the equal access... Read More
In a Different Force
Nancy Leong 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1552 Highly publicized instances of law enforcement brutality, many captured on video or audio, have prompted calls for reform from many sides. Some departments have attempted to address police officers’ use of excessive force by improving the racial diversity of their departments or by appointing people of color to positions of authority. Yet policymakers... Read More
Prosecutorial Dismissals as Teachable Moments (and Databases) for the Police
Adam M. Gershowitz 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1525 The criminal justice process typically begins when the police make a warrantless arrest. Although police usually do a good job of bringing in the “right” cases, they do make mistakes. Officers sometimes arrest suspects even though there is no evidence to prove an essential element of the crime. Police also conduct unlawful... Read More
Evidence-Informed Criminal Justice
Brandon L. Garrett 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1490 The American criminal justice system is at a turning point. For decades, as the rate of incarceration exploded, observers of the American criminal justice system criticized the enormous discretion wielded by key actors, particularly police and prosecutors, and the lack of empirical evidence that has informed that discretion. Since the 1967 President’s... Read More
The Pendulum of Criminal Justice Since 1967
The Honorable Patti B. Saris 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1472 On the fiftieth anniversary of the report by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, Chief Judge Patti B. Saris of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and former Chair of the United... Read More
On the Docket’s Preview of the December Supreme Court Arguments
December 3 Dawson v. Steager No. 17-419, W. Va. Preview by Samuel E. Meredith, Senior Online Editor West Virginia does not collect tax on some kinds of retirement benefits given to former state law enforcement officials. The state does not, however, extend this same tax relief to retired federal law enforcement personnel. The question presented by... Read More
Public Consensus as Constitutional Authority
Richard Primus 78 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1207 Barry Friedman’s new book The Will of the People attempts to dissolve constitutional law’s countermajoritarian difficulty by showing that, in practice, the Supreme Court does only what the public will tolerate. His account succeeds if “the countermajoritarian difficulty” refers to the threat that courts will run the... Read More
Fulfilling Government 2.0’s Promise with Robust Privacy Protections
Danielle Keats Citron 78 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 822 The public can now friend the White House and scores of agencies on social networks, virtual worlds, and video-sharing sites. The Obama Administration sees this trend as crucial to enhancing governmental transparency, public participation, and collaboration. As the President has underscored, government needs to tap into... Read More