Establishing Best Practices for Stop Data Collection
Few controversies in policing are as fraught as the use of Terry stops—temporary detentions made by officers upon reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, often accompanied by protective pat-down searches known as “frisks.” Studies have shown that racial minorities are disproportionately targeted for Terry stops, raising concerns about profiling and discrimination. Yet many police agencies view Terry stops as a critical tool in their arsenal. A related concern is the use of traffic stops—even on probable cause—to conduct more intrusive searches.
Jurisdiction in the Fourth Restatement of Foreign Relations Law
The essay describes the Fourth Restatement’s division of jurisdiction into the three categories of jurisdiction to prescribe, jurisdiction to adjudicate, and jurisdiction to enforce. It covers the principal developments in each category since publication of the Third Restatement in 1987, including the revival of the presumption against extraterritoriality.
New Model Penal Code for Criminal Sentencing: Comprehensive Reform Recommendations for State Legislatures
Ambitious changes such as those recommended in the MPCS are urgently needed in the US. While we are the undisputed leader in incarceration rates worldwide, we suffer from much more than “mass incarceration.” It would be more accurate to say that we have blundered into mass punishment of all kinds. Internationally, America is in the highest tier of harsh justice with our astonishingly high probation supervision rates, intrusive and counterproductive probation conditions, crushing economic penalties, uncountable collateral consequences of conviction, outsized parole supervision rates, and massive revocations of people from community supervision into our prisons and jails.
Insurance expert Tom Baker discusses progress on ALI’s Restatement of Law Liability Insurance
Penn Law’s Tom Baker serves as the Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law Liability Insurance. The ALI membership met on May 23 and discussed the Restatement, which would help to define insurance law as a field. Professor Baker is an expert in insurance law, and he took the time to explain where the project currently stands.
Amazon Echo, Google Home Devices Raise Privacy Rights Questions
Legal experts say Congress and the states need to step in to protect Americans’ privacy rights from the proliferation of voice-activated personal assistant devices such as Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home, after a murder case in Arkansas raised questions about how much the devices are hearing — and whether the government can demand access to its recordings.
Campus Rape Policies as Law for All? Legal Group Says No
An influential group of law professors has once again declined to recommend that state governments enact policies favoring accusers in sexual assault cases, changes that already have been adopted by many colleges and universities.
The ALI Adviser is intended to inform readers about the legal topics and issues examined in many of ALI’s current projects; posts do not necessarily represent the position of the Institute taken in those projects. Posts on The ALI Adviser are written by ALI project participants, ALI members, and outside sources.