Bad Boy Jurisprudence
Vol. 139 No. 5
In 2009, President Barack Obama set off a “radioactive” debate when he told the White House Press Corps that he would seek a judge...
Criminal Procedure
United States v. Johnson
Vol. 139 No. 5
Drug detection dogs are critical tools in the fight against drug trafficking. However, law enforcement canines are imperfect: They sometimes incorrectly alert when performing...
The Finley Failure: An Empirical Account of How Finley “No-Merit” Letters Foster a Culture of Unethical Lawyering and Undermine the Rule of Law
Vol. 139 No. 4
All lawyers are bound by the ethical rules of the legal profession. However, newly collected empirical evidence suggests that a subset of court-appointed attorneys in Pennsylvania routinely violate basic ethical principles when they employ a particular procedure: the Finley...
The Semantics of Jury Nullification: How Terminology Shapes (and Misshapes) the Jury’s Role
Vol. 139 No. 4
Sometimes what we call a practice can matter just as much as the practice itself. Jury nullification has a storied history dating back to...
Qualified Immunity for “Just Following Orders”
Vol. 139 No. 3
When military officers have been tried for grave atrocities, from the Holocaust to the My Lai Massacre, some have claimed that they were “only...
Protecting Noncitizens’ Liberty When the Executive Seeks to Punish
Vol. 139 No. 3
On March 15, 2025, the White House announced that President Trump had invoked an eighteenth-century wartime authority to order the summary removal of noncitizens who were believed to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.Proclamation No. 10,903, 90 Fed. Reg. 13033 (Mar. 14, 2025).
The First Criminal Procedure Revolution
Vol. 139 No. 2
Today, it seems obvious that criminal defendants can waive constitutional rights. Plea bargains make up the vast majority of criminal convictions, and defendants routinely trade their rights — to indictment, to remain silent, to an attorney, to a jury — in exchange for a faster trial or a lesser charge. The modern criminal legal system is a regime of negotiated justice. Rights used to have more force.
Barnes v. Felix
Vol. 139 No. 1
Of all the places where people and police interact, the road is the most common. Perhaps a driver fails to turn on their blinker...
Glossip v. Oklahoma
Vol. 139 No. 1
In the U.S. criminal justice system, a court’s discussion of mental health diagnoses can perpetuate harmful stereotypes about such conditions. Recently, in Glossip v....
Appendix for Unwarranted Warrants? An Empirical Analysis of Judicial Review in Search and Seizure
Vol. 138 No. 8
* * * APPENDIX I: EXAMPLES OF WARRANT AFFIDAVITS Figure I.A: Standard DUI Warrant Example Figure I.B: “Form” Affidavit for General Warrant Figure I.C:...