“Accountability” can be a political buzzword. But in criminal law, it forms the foundation for punishment and brings a measure of justice for victims. Politicians and legal commentators agree that holding wrongdoers accountable is one of the primary functions of criminal law. Yet, in the context of corporate crime, the means of achieving genuine accountability […]

Nearly all felony sex offenses and many misdemeanor sex offenses in the United States require the defendant to register as a sex offender. One way to avoid sex offender registration is to negotiate around a sex offense charge through plea bargaining. This study examines how prosecutors and defendants navigate around the sex elements of sex […]

Across the United States, carceral economies exploit the labor and resources of incarcerated people—disproportionately Black—for state and corporate profit. Enabled by the Thirteenth Amendment’s Punishment Exception Clause, which permits slavery as punishment for a crime, and reinforced by state economic policies that reach far beyond prison walls, these systems siphon wealth from Black communities into […]

Enduring and fruitful tribal-state cooperation will only come when states recognize tribal governments as equal, sovereign nations. Unfortunately, Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta has allowed the potential for Indian Law to be transported back in time to an era where states pushed for “unity” between state-tribal relations, but really only hoped to swallow tribal governments. Castro-Huerta held […]

In Lockhart v. McCree, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the practice of death-qualifying capital juries did not violate the Sixth Amendment’s fair-cross-section requirement or right to an impartial jury. As a result, prospective jurors who are so opposed to capital punishment that they would not (1) find the defendant guilty regardless of the evidence […]