Criminal Law

Online
Post
U.S. v. Kordel, Parallel Proceedings, and the Value of Statistical Freedom
George Vojta
George Vojta is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2025, and a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at the University of Chicago.

The author thanks his parents Deneen and Chris Vojta, his siblings, Charles and Grace Vojta, Shiri Gross, Judge Thomas L. Kirsch II, and the University of Chicago Law Review Online team.

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.

Online
Post
Prosecutors and the Child Wellbeing Framework
Esther K. Hong
Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’ Connor College of Law.

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.

Online
Essay
Catching Wizard Spider: How a New U.N. Cybercrime Treaty Can Address Ransomware Attacks from Russia and Beyond
Katherine M. Koza
Katherine M. Koza is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2023, and the Executive Comments Editor of the Chicago Journal of International Law.

I thank the editors and staff of the University of Chicago Law Review, especially Matthew Makowski, Anson Fung, and Annie Kors. I also thank the Chicago Journal of International Law, especially Carol Zhang, Clare M. Chiodini, Michael Morgan, Keila Mayberry, and Amber Symone Stewart. I am grateful to my faculty advisor, Professor Aziz Huq, my international law professor, Professor Mary Ellen O’Connell, and the University of Chicago’s excellent international law librarian, Lyonette Louis-Jacques. I thank the American Society of International Law, International Courts and Tribunals Working Group for the opportunity to present a draft of this paper at the 2022 Works-In-Progress Conference. Finally, I thank my family for their constant love.

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.”

Online
Essay
Can Stealthing Qualify? Navigating Rape Exceptions in States’ Abortion Bans
Erin Yonchak
Erin Yonchak is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2024.

She thanks the exceptional editors of the University of Chicago Law Review Online team. Erin dedicates this Essay to all victims of sexual violence and to all people whose abortion access is in jeopardy.

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.

Online
Essay
An Argument to Permit Greater Disclosure of Grand Jury Legal Instructions
Danielle Tyukody
Danielle Tyukody is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2024.

She thanks Professor Jonathan S. Masur, Matthew Makowski, Claire Rice, Annie Kors, Lea Haddad, Dylan Salzman, and the University of Chicago Law Review Online team.

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

Online
Essay
A Right to Reasonable Protection Under Marsy’s Laws
Evan Blanchard-Wu
Evan Blanchard-Wu is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2024.

He thanks Cheridan Christnacht, Matthew Makowski, Claire Rice, Virginia Robinson, and the University of Chicago Law Review Online team.

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.”

Online
Essay
Examining Causation Standards in False Claims Act Cases Predicated on Anti-Kickback Statute Violations
Josh J. Leopold
Josh J. Leopold is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2024.

He thanks Matthew Makowski, Abigail Barney, Virginia Robinson, and the entire University of Chicago Law Review Online staff for their insightful comments.

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.

Online
Essay
Failing the Sniff Test: Using Marijuana Odor to Establish Probable Cause in Illinois Post-Legalization
Claire J. Rice
Claire J. Rice is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2023.

She thanks her family, her friends, and the entire University of Chicago Law Review Online team.

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.

Online
Essay
United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S.—the Conundrum of Foreign Sovereign Immunity in Criminal Prosecutions
Youssef Mohamed
Youssef Mohamed is a poet and J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2023.

أولاً الحمدلله و ثانياً الحمدلله   He thanks Kyra Cooper, Cheridan Christnacht, Matthew Makowski, Virginia Robinson, and the rest of the wonderful University of Chicago Law Review Online team for the care with which they have treated this piece.

In 2019, Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. (“Halkbank”)—a commercial bank majority-owned by the Turkish government—was indicted for its participation in a scheme to launder billions of dollars of Iranian oil and natural gas proceeds in violation of U.S. sanctions against the Iranian government and related entities.