Matching Items (9)
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- All Subjects: Law
- Creators: School of Social Transformation
Description
This thesis addresses the impact of algorithmic programming on judicial decision-making and the court-appointed attorney (CAA) process, focusing on the intersection of technology and judicial discretion at the Tempe Municipal Court. The primary inquiry of this thesis explores how algorithmic and digital programming, creating an automated system, can enhance equitable access to legal representation for indigent criminal defendants by making the CAA process more uniform. This project implements back-end algorithmic calculations to provide judges with system recommendations by using the Qualtrics survey software to create a digital version of the paper-based Form 5C. The "System Recommendation Tool" streamlines the process by presenting concise encapsulations of defendants' Form 5C responses and algorithmically derived recommendations regarding CAA qualification and contribution amounts.
Significant disparities between the digital system's recommendations and judicial outcomes emerge through analyzing 80 Form 5Cs and their corresponding judicial decisions. These disparities underscore the need for further refinement of the digital system and the possibility of increased use of judicial discretion and consideration of additional factors beyond the Form 5C. While recognizing the system's potential benefits, this research emphasizes the importance of continuous testing and refinement and ongoing consultation with judges. Ultimately, the digital system is a complementary tool to judicial decision-making rather than a replacement.
ContributorsSharma, Poorva (Author) / Broberg, Gregory (Thesis director) / Kane, Kevin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The United States Supreme Court decided Ramos v. Louisiana in 2020, requiring all states to convict criminal defendants by a unanimous jury. However, this case only applied to petitioners on direct, and not collateral, appeal. In this thesis, I argue that the Ramos precedent should apply to people on collateral appeal as well, exploring the implications of such a decision and the criteria that should be used to make the decision in the case before the court, Edwards v. Vannoy (2021). Ultimately, I find that because the criteria currently used to determine retroactivity of new criminal precedents does not provide a clear answer to the question posed in Edwards, the Court should give more weight to the defendant's freedoms pursuant to the presumption of innocence while considering the potential for any disastrous outcomes.
ContributorsCaldwell, Rachel Lillian (Author) / Hoekstra, Valerie (Thesis director) / Bender, Paul (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The project follows a recent issue between the U.S. and Mexico concerning the shared use of the transborder Santa Cruz River. The situation remains unresolved and the long-term sustainability of the river is unknown. The study is based on an analysis of scholarly research and interviews pulling from three fields: Law, social science, and the environment. The project explores potential solutions from multiple levels of governance, and contextualizes the issue in terms of the people affected on both sides of the border.
ContributorsSimons, Amelie Christine (Author) / Haglund, LaDawn (Thesis director) / Lara-Valencia, Francisco (Committee member) / Sass, Sherry (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Protection orders are a common remedy for victims of domestic violence in Arizona, but problems of access and unnecessary complexity can prevent these orders from achieving their full potential impact. Through interviews with court officials and advocates, data collected from survivors of domestic violence and observation of court proceedings, this study takes a comprehensive look at how to make protection orders as effective and accessible as possible. This analysis concludes with a series of recommendations to improve the protection order process and guidelines for the information to be included in a comprehensive resource to help plaintiffs through the process.
ContributorsDavis, Lauren Elise (Author) / Durfee, Alesha (Thesis director) / Messing, Jill (Committee member) / Buel, Sarah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This paper explores the relationship between social and cultural capital and the experience of Asian Americans in law school and after graduating from law school. Bourdieu’s (1986) conceptualizations of institutional cultural capital, embodied cultural capital, and social capital guide this analysis. Two electronic surveys resulted in participation by fourteen Asian American law students and nine Asian American law school graduates from American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the United States. The research design is qualitative, and a partial grounded theory approach based upon Charmaz’s (2006) work was utilized. Thematic coding, line-by-line coding, and focused coding were also used to analyze survey responses. Results demonstrate that there is a relationship between social and cultural capital and the experience of Asian Americans in law school and post-law school graduation. Institutional cultural capital, in the form of J.D. degrees, seems to influence the development of embodied cultural capital and social capital, particularly when considering membership in groups and forming personal and professional connections. When considering embodied cultural capital, family members appear to influence important personal characteristics that participants carry into law school and the workplace. These results may have implications for the larger trend of Asian Americans leaving large law firms; in addition, perceptions of embodied cultural capital may influence barriers to career advancement. Suggested areas for future research include the role of mentorship in Asian American career development, patterns within specific Asian American ethnic/cultural groups in the legal field, and the intersection of gender and Asian American identities in legal practice.
ContributorsSu, Yuhong (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Realistically, everyone should either be in jail or in court for crimes that everybody
commits. Outside of the house, there are people speeding, jaywalking, littering, sharing
medication, and driving without seat belts. Inside the house, people are downloading
music/movies, drinking while underage, using (and abusing) social media while under the age of
18, and reading another person’s mail. With so much of a focus on serious crimes, or felonies,
people tend to forget about the everyday actions in America that are also illegal. For example, a
police officer may not do anything if several cars are going well over the speed limit on the
highway, because it is normalized. This paper explores two sides of this issue: the psychological
side and the legal side. The goal is to find out how culpable people really are for their actions
when they do not have the mental intent that the they are determined to have in court. All human
behavior will be divided into two sections (people with non-extreme mental disorders and people
who have total control over their behavior). First, I dive into the complexity of anxiety,
depression, and ADHD, and explain how these disorders will subtly change someone’s behavior.
Next, I examine how actions like speeding and jaywalking and explain how certain illegal
actions have become so normalized that people may not be very guilty, even when they are
knowingly committing these crimes. I use different misdemeanors as examples for each of these
types of behaviors to argue why people should be more culpable (aggravating factors) or less
culpable (mitigating factors) because of their respective predispositions. Finally, I discuss issues
of fixing the criminal justice system such as: how to make all punishments fair/accurate, how to
fix the public’s distrust towards the law, and how to stop these normalized illegal behaviors for
all people, regardless of mental health or intent.
commits. Outside of the house, there are people speeding, jaywalking, littering, sharing
medication, and driving without seat belts. Inside the house, people are downloading
music/movies, drinking while underage, using (and abusing) social media while under the age of
18, and reading another person’s mail. With so much of a focus on serious crimes, or felonies,
people tend to forget about the everyday actions in America that are also illegal. For example, a
police officer may not do anything if several cars are going well over the speed limit on the
highway, because it is normalized. This paper explores two sides of this issue: the psychological
side and the legal side. The goal is to find out how culpable people really are for their actions
when they do not have the mental intent that the they are determined to have in court. All human
behavior will be divided into two sections (people with non-extreme mental disorders and people
who have total control over their behavior). First, I dive into the complexity of anxiety,
depression, and ADHD, and explain how these disorders will subtly change someone’s behavior.
Next, I examine how actions like speeding and jaywalking and explain how certain illegal
actions have become so normalized that people may not be very guilty, even when they are
knowingly committing these crimes. I use different misdemeanors as examples for each of these
types of behaviors to argue why people should be more culpable (aggravating factors) or less
culpable (mitigating factors) because of their respective predispositions. Finally, I discuss issues
of fixing the criminal justice system such as: how to make all punishments fair/accurate, how to
fix the public’s distrust towards the law, and how to stop these normalized illegal behaviors for
all people, regardless of mental health or intent.
ContributorsHildebrand, David Abel (Author) / Rigoni, Adam (Thesis director) / Cavanaugh-Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis examines how ex ante errors occur in modern merger enforcement—specifically, the failure to prevent mergers that, once consummated, diminish competition. Focusing on the 2010 Live Nation/Ticketmaster deal as a case study, it explores how a seemingly harmful “vertical merger” integrated the world’s largest concert promoter with its dominant ticketing platform, allowing them to reinforce market power and stifle rivals. The thesis situates these developments in the broader context of U.S. antitrust law, tracing the evolution of judicial standards under the Sherman and Clayton Acts and the periodic revisions of the Merger Guidelines. It synthesizes perspectives from the Harvard, Chicago, Post-Chicago, and Neo-Brandeisian schools to show the deeper theoretical debates surrounding merger policy.
Building on principles of decision theory and uncertainty, the thesis argues that regulators can better anticipate and mitigate false negatives—particularly where vertical overlap and platform economics create outsized foreclosure risks. It proposes structural solutions over purely behavioral remedies, a strengthened “rebuttable presumption” for high-share vertical mergers, and more transparent retrospective analyses to guide future courts and agencies. By emphasizing probability-weighted outcomes and a more holistic view of “consumer welfare,” the thesis shows how enforcement can remain forward-looking, even amid uncertainties over emerging technologies, legal doctrines, and political pendulum swings. Ultimately, this study proposes a set of reforms—from revised Merger Guidelines to proactive legislative measures—that could substantially reduce avoidable mistakes, safeguarding not only the economics of ticketed events but the competitive framework of tomorrow’s marketplace.
ContributorsRubin, Jackson (Author) / Lewis, Paul (Thesis director) / Vreugdenhil, Nicholas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
This project uses the medium of zines to highlight systemic barriers faced by unhoused individuals in Tempe, Arizona, and to advocate for accessible, grassroots resistance. Drawing from the history of radical self-publishing, I translate academic research and theory into a visual, approachable format. By combining activism with zine culture, the project promotes small acts of care as meaningful forms of political resistance.
ContributorsBazbaz, Bertha (Author) / Meloy, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Holman, Christine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
“More often than not, databases will not receive copyright protection.” While there has not yet been an accepted court rule regarding their protection, courts have often deferred to the Copyright Office, whose vague guidelines have led to inconsistent and concerning rulings. There is a clear motive for protecting elements of the intellectual property within databases, but breaking down the parts and their respective protections has proved more difficult for the courts.
“Precedent is generally established by a series of decisions,” and seeing that there has been no landmark case on the issue since Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co., protections have been incomplete in the rapidly evolving database landscape that has continued to expand online. This article looks to outline some of the challenges that should be considered from the case of Ticketmaster Corp. v. Tickets.com, Inc. that imply some worrying outcomes for the future of our decisions. Until a landmark decision regarding or an additional statutory provision specifying protections for compilations and databases, decisions will remain discordant.
ContributorsCehajic, Kinan (Author) / Noblitt, Daniel (Thesis director) / Botham, Thad (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor)
Created2025-05