Criminal Law

This Case Note first provides a background on the doctrine of absolute immunity. It then evaluates the court’s analysis in Gay and compares Gay with the Third Circuit’s decision in Williams v. Consovoy (3d Cir. 2006). Finally, this Case Note argues that Gay is more consistent with Supreme Court precedent on absolute immunity and more in line with historical understandings of the doctrine. This issue has particularly high stakes, as psychologists’ medical role can create a “guise of objectivity.” As a result, even a biased psychologist might still receive strong deference from a judge and could then be the reason a person spends the rest of their life in prison.

This Essay proposes using the dilemma defendants face in parallel proceedings as a way to measure the Value of Statistical Freedom (VSF). The VSF (sometimes called the Value of Liberty) can be thought of as an individual’s willingness to pay to not be in prison. The VSF is spiritually similar to the far more prevalent “Value of Statistical Life” (VSL), which measures the willingness to trade money or wealth in exchange for an increase in the mortality probability.

The importance of initial prosecutorial decisions in juvenile outcomes is well-studied, but recent developments in the law, including the Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma; new laws and proposed legislation pertaining to youth being tried in juvenile or criminal court; and the forthcoming adoption of the Children's Restatement require that we reexamine their significance.

In June 2022, a Russian-linked ransomware group attacked the Costa Rican government, targeting over twenty-seven agencies and sending Costa Rica’s healthcare system “into a spiral.”

TW: Rape, Sexual Assault
In June 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overruled Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), leaving states with complete discretion in determining the legality of abortion.

The difficulty of accurately portraying complex and nuanced aspects of the law to lay jurors is well-recognized.

If you are a crime victim in Ohio, you have the rights “to be treated with fairness and respect,” to “a prompt conclusion” of your case, and “to be heard in any public proceeding . . . in which a right of the victim is implicated.”

Congress has decided that awarding kickbacks to doctors to influence medical decisions is unacceptable, at least when the underlying medical care is reimbursed at the government’s expense.

Federal habeas corpus can appear to many as a convoluted minefield.

Imagine that a convicted felon in Illinois is pulled over by the police. He hasn’t smoked all day. Stuffed in his coat pocket, however, is a baggy containing marijuana residue—a remnant from several days prior.