Criminal Justice
How We Got Here: Race, Police Use of Force, and the Road to George Floyd
April 1, 2021
Long before the killing of George Floyd, the United States has struggled to mitigate racially arbitrary use of force by the police. This article seeks to explain how we got to the killing of George Floyd. This article contends that that the law—especially the decisions of the Supreme Court and political choices made by politicians—has helped to enable the relatively unchecked use of force against people of color.
Continue ReadingOut of the Cell and Into the Fire: Inherently Dangerous Prison Work Assignments, the Eighth Amendment’s Guarantee of Safe Conditions of Confinement, and California’s AB-2147
April 13, 2022
by River Lord[1] Using the labor of inmates in the United States has a long and controversial tradition. Many observers have identified how higher rates of policing and incarceration among minority communities, coupled with the widespread use of inmate labor in exchange for sub-minimum wages, create a system of labor exploitation and racial oppression…
Continue ReadingWill Minnesota’s New Automatic Expungement Laws Have an Effect on Federal Sentences?
February 14, 2024
By Britane Hubbard* On January 1, 2025, Minnesota’s new automatic expungement statutes will go into effect.[1] Under this new law, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will identify eligible people and grant them expungement relief if they qualify.[2] Offenses eligible for expungement range from petty misdemeanors to felonies.[3] The possibility of a new wave of expungements…
Continue ReadingThis Week in News: Responses to the Killing of Daunte Wright
April 15, 2021
As part of JLI’s response to Daunte Wright’s killing by a Brooklyn Center police officer on Sunday, April 11th, Inequality Inquiry has compiled relevant news and legal-adjacent updates from the Twin Cities metro area.
Continue ReadingMore than Miranda: Exploring Preventive Solutions to Juvenile False Confessions
May 31, 2022
Juveniles, at a right rate, waiver their Miranda rights during interrogations with police, but they are also more likely to make false confessions. This blog explores solutions to this problem, including modifications to Miranda and requirements for counsel.
Continue ReadingAn Ongoing Struggle: Police Brutality and Native Americans
April 3, 2024
By: William Rauschenberg Per capita, Native Americans are among the most common victims of police violence of any minority group in the United States.[1] Depending on the year and statistics used, Indigenous Americans are either the most at risk or second behind Black Americans.[2] This is a striking figure that, like many Indian issues, is…
Continue ReadingThe Injustice of Inconsistency: Language Access in Judicial Proceedings
April 25, 2021
Rachel Pokrzywinski Judicial proceedings are often stressful. The stress is only compounded for an individual who must navigate the complex legal system in a language they are not proficient in. To ensure that these individuals receive adequate guidance and representation, federal law requires that, in all federal judicial proceedings, certified language interpreters must be provided…
Continue ReadingPurging False Narratives Around Cash Bail
October 28, 2022
By Christian Purnell. With Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) set to take effect in a matter of months, opponents are stepping up their efforts to spread misinformation about the law on social media. Homing in on a provision of the PFA that abolishes cash bail in the state’s pretrial system, Twitter trolls, and even…
Continue ReadingWill Solitary Confinement’s Visibility in the Public Consciousness Lead to Real Change?
April 29, 2024
By: Zinaida Carroll* On March 15, 2024, Charles Leo Daniel was found dead by suicide in his solitary confinement cell at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.[1] Mr. Daniel had been held in solitary confinement for almost four years according to federal data––the second-longest sentence of solitary confinement in immigration detention.[2] The public…
Continue ReadingConstitutional Avenues for Challenging Social Media Monitoring by Law Enforcement
May 25, 2021
Stephen Earnest* Introduction Most Americans use social media on a regular basis.[1] Indeed, according to a recent report from the Global World Index, the average American allocates more than two hours a day to social media interaction, and that number appears to be increasing.[2] It should then come as no surprise that law enforcement agencies…
Continue ReadingWhat’s Brewing with Bruen?
October 30, 2022
Kenneth Cooper examines the impact of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S.Ct. 2111 (2022), and New York’s public defender and legal aid offices unexpected involvement in the case.
Continue ReadingI Still Can’t Hear You Your Honor: Zoom Court is Here to Stay–and It’s at the Expense of Criminal Defendants
May 17, 2024
By: Sophie Herrmann* It has been over four years since the United States declared a national emergency in response to the initial outbreak of COVID-19. It is impossible to overstate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on almost all areas of American life. COVID-19 radically altered the education system, the housing market, the way…
Continue ReadingThe Long Scalpel of the Law: How United States Prisons Continue to Practice Eugenics Through Forced Sterilization
June 7, 2021
Brenna Evans* The modern discussion of reproductive rights—especially surrounding women’s reproductive rights—often focuses on the idea of the right not to reproduce, such as the right to abortion or the right to birth control.[1] However, one topic that seems to be left out of discussion is that of people who have had their ability to…
Continue Reading“It’s Absolutely Immoral”: The Denial of Mental Health Treatment in U.S. Prisons
January 9, 2023
Staff member Nicole Carter interrogates why prison inmates’ mental health needs are neglected in this new blog post.
Continue ReadingInnocence in Missouri: Searching for a New Avenue Forward
September 30, 2024
View/Download PDF Version Innocence in Missouri (Hubbard) By: Britane Hubbard
Continue ReadingPass Senate Bill 355: How Proposed Minnesota Legislation Brings the U.S. into Compliance with International Norms
May 25, 2016
by Maria Warhol
As the 2016 presidential election approaches, the issue of voting rights in the United States is more salient than ever. While millions of people will take advantage of their right to vote in the election, nearly six million U.S. citizens are unable to vote as a result of a felony conviction. Of this disenfranchised population, only 25% are incarcerated. The remaining 75% are in the process of completing supervised release (probation or parole) or have served their sentence entirely. This concern only deepens when data reveals that disenfranchisement policy disparately impacts some communities more than others. These concerning figures impact almost every state in the United States.
Joint Publication: Racial Inequality in the Legal System Locally and Nationally
August 5, 2021
View/Download Issue PDF A note from JLI Vol. 39 Editor-in-Chief Navin Ramalingam: This special joint online issue, Racial Inequality in the Legal System Locally and Nationally, is a collaborative work among the six student-run legal academic journals across the three law schools in the state of Minnesota. The objective of the collaboration is to use our…
Continue ReadingState v. Khalil: How a Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling Led to the Amendment of a Minnesota Criminal Sexual Conduct Statute
February 6, 2023
In this blog post, staff member Remy Bell explores how the case of State v. Khalil impacted Minnesota’s criminal sexual conduct statute.
Continue ReadingStretched Thin: Parents Lacking Resources Who Are Accused of Negligent Child Abuse Need Solutions, Not Prisons
January 21, 2020
The purpose of punishment is not served when the criminal justice system prosecutes poor, and often undereducated, parents for the unintended deaths of their children. Punishment as retribution is excessive for an already grieving parent, and an act cannot be deterred, either specifically to the offender or generally to society, if it was unintended in the first place. Finally, incapacitating parents by way of imprisonment does not ultimately serve the social good because their imprisonment sets up their surviving children for increased risk factors. Punishing a parent who has already received the worst punishment of all—loss of a child—cannot be justified.
Continue ReadingMental Health & Criminal Justice: An Interview with Kelly Mitchell and Professor JaneAnne Murray
October 11, 2021
Interview by Sarah Coleman* October 3-9, 2021 was Mental Health Awareness Week. The United States’ prison and criminal justice systems are deeply interconnected with mental healthcare and mental illness. For many individuals, a mental illness diagnosis and subsequent treatment aren’t made available to them until after they come in contact with the criminal justice system.…
Continue ReadingExpungement of Marijuana Convictions: Lessons Learned from Minnesota Prohibition
February 7, 2023
Articles Editor Cedar Weyker looks back on Prohibition-era Minnesota to determine the best path forward for expungement as states across the country legalize marijuana.
Continue ReadingInmate Rights and the Prison/Jail System During COVID-19—Interview with Prof. Susanna Blumenthal
May 9, 2020
JLI staff members Abbie Hanson and Jen Davison recently interviewed Professor Susanna Blumenthal in a conversation about COVID-19’s effects on inmate rights and the prison/jail system. Professor Blumenthal co-directs the Program in Law and History at the University of Minnesota and she is an expert in criminal law. Professor Blumenthal’s research and writing focuses on the historical relationship between law and the human sciences. In this discussion, the group highlights the challenges of containing a virus in inherently constrained spaces, the damaging results on inmate rights, and how groups are working to ensure that incarcerated individuals receive adequate protection during a pandemic.
Continue ReadingThe Sex Offender Registry is a Life Sentence for Juveniles
December 2, 2021
by Layni Sprouse* In 1990, in the wake of her 11-year-old son Jacob’s kidnapping, which grabbed the attention of the entire county, Minnesota native Patty Wetterling believed it crucial to take action to protect children against sexually violent offenders. Due to her efforts and the tragic story of her son, the first sex offender registry…
Continue ReadingPolice Questioning of Juveniles
February 9, 2023
By Emma Kruger Police interrogation can be intimidating even for adults, but the experience of police questioning for a juvenile suspected of committing or witnessing a crime can be even more overwhelming. Police interrogation practices often do not differ for children, but children’s experience of them and their capacity to adequately make choices in the…
Continue ReadingAvoiding Atkins: How Tennessee is on the Verge of Unconstitutionally Executing an Individual with Intellectual Disabilities
November 18, 2020
If the state executes an intellectually disabled individual, but no one knows of the intellectual disability, has the state violated the constitution? It is our sincerest hope that Pervis Payne and others in a similar procedural labyrinth that could lead to what everyone agrees would be an unconstitutional execution are provided an opportunity to present the merits of their claims of intellectual disability. Justice, decency, and the Constitution demand it.
Continue Reading