By Alex Simard (PO’22) Content Warning: This article, as it centers on the death penalty and a man condemned to it, contains depictions of gun violence, murder, and domestic and sexual violence, including rape. It also contains graphic depictions of petitioner’s medical condition and brief depictions of 17th- and 18th-century modes of punishment, including torture.…
By Kimberly Tuttle (CMC’19) Many debates surrounding the legality of Julian Assange’s controversial organization, WikiLeaks, resurfaced this week in light of Assange’s recent release from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has lived under diplomatic protection since 2012. In particular, news regarding the U.S. government’s indictment of Assange have concerned the American public. The…
By Rafael Santa Maria (PO ’20) Last Friday, the Department of Defense began implementing a new policy that effectively prevents transgender individuals from joining the military. Although the policy was announced in a Defense Department memorandum last month, enforcement began on April 12. This development follows efforts to curtail transgender military service by the Trump…
By Musa Kamara (PO’22) The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution conveys three major provisions, one of which is perhaps one of the most recognizable constitutional tenets in popular culture. The Amendment guarantees protection from excessive bail, protection from fines, and – most notably– protection from cruel and unusual punishment. The idea of cruel and…
By Alex Simard (PO’22) On March 31, Québec’s ruling Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) introduced Bill 21, a law that would ban public employees from wearing religious symbols. Under Bill 21, a public school teacher, government lawyer, or law enforcement officer would have to remove their hijab, niqab, yarmulke, or cross during work hours. The law…
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) Over the past few weeks, several countries have come to the support of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was arrested in Iran in June of 2018 for representing women accused of removing their hijabs in public. When Sotoudeh was arrested by Iranian authorities, she was given no explanation and…
By Katya Pollock (PO’21) Last month, an 11-year-old in Argentina underwent a procedure similar to a caesarian section after officials in the northwestern province of Tucumán obstructed her right to a legal interruption of pregnancy (ILE). The girl, addressed using the pseudonym Lucía, had allegedly been raped by her grandmother’s 65-year-old partner. The case comes…
By Alex Simard (PO’22) Scroll down any parent’s social media and you’ll find countless images of their children. A recent piece in the Atlantic notes that social media has become the new family album. But unlike the albums of past, stored away in garages or attics, the modern album is profoundly public. What will happen…
By Kimberly Tuttle (CMC’19) Corpus delicti, meaning “body of the crime” in Latin, is a principle adopted by the American legal system requiring that the requisite elements of a crime be proven before an individual can be tried for a crime. This rule provides that a confession, standing alone, is not enough evidence for a…
By Bryce Wachtell (PO ’21) The right to vote forms the bedrock of democracy, but even the foundational principle of enfranchisement remains a topic of contention. The 2018 midterm elections have resurfaced the debate on voting rights along mostly partisan lines, with Republicans advocating for ballot integrity and Democrats pushing for accessibility, especially for marginalized…