A Crisis Behind Bars: Legal Issues Impacting Transgender People in Prisons
Advocates must strive to identify the major legal issues that impact incarcerated transgender people and understand the legal claims and barriers to addressing these harms.
Winter 2024
Volume 38, Issue 4
Features
The Evolving Landscape of Sealing and Expungement Statutes
An overview of relevant statutory provisions, including defining policy goals and key terms, affected records, eligibility requirements, and pardoned offenses.
Emerging Adult Justice: America's Recent Attempts to Apply Research to Policies and Practices
Efforts to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction are gaining traction across the country, following many European counterparts.
Fourteen Principles and a Path Forward for Plea Bargaining Reform
While plea bargaining offers many benefits when utilized appropriately, the risks and costs of an unregulated, unmonitored, and unguided plea system are significant.
Overview of the International Guiding Statement on Alternatives to Solitary Confinement
The new resource includes recommendations focused on short-term, readily implementable reforms and proposals focused on long-term, structural reforms, within incarceration systems.
The Hon. Arthur L. Burnett Sr: A Conversation with a Legendary Eyewitness to the Civil Rights Movement
A tribute to the Hon. Arthur L. Burnett Sr., a friend, mentor, colleague, long-time member, and former chair of the editorial board, who navigated through segregated society and worked tirelessly to…
From the Chair
Strategic Visioning
CJS Chair Tina Luongo spotlights the Task Force on Strategic Visioning, member feedback, networking opportunities, Section meetings, and the future of CJS.
Cert Alert
Supreme Court Cases of Interest
A summary of pending criminal law and procedure cases on the Court's docket for the October 2023 Term, including Pulsifer v. United States.
Criminal Justice Matters
Witch Hunt—Buzzwords, Not a Defense
Branding an inquiry a "witch hunt" may be an effective propaganda tool, but that rhetorical attack shrivels up under analysis when factual evidence justifies pursuing the charge.
Guest Columns
Lawyers (in Training) in a Criminologist Court
Students took part in the three-day American Society of Evidence-Based Policing (ASEBP) Conference, sponsored by the ABA Legal Education Police Practices Consortium or their home institutions, and pr…
Ethics
Obligations When Receiving Flat Fees and Other Fees Paid in Advance
A summary of Formal Opinion 505 released by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.
Mental Health
Deciding Whether to Raise Competency to Stand Trial
Example dialogue illustrates how defense counsel might consult with a mental health professional when deciding whether trial competency should formally be addressed at all.
Public Defense
New ABA-Led Initiatives Highlight Need for Public Defense Reform
Both initiatives serve as powerful tools for public defense administrators and advocates to push policymakers for the resources they need to provide an adequate defense.
Scientific Evidence
Think of a Viking—At Your Risk
How domain irrelevant information can change a lawyer's perception, analysis, judgment, and conclusions.
Trial Tactics
An Unusual Use of Character Evidence
Defendants wishing to present character evidence usually call favorable witnesses to testify during the defense case-in-chief, but there are atypical cases.