LeXonomica

How the Use of Fees, Fines and Bail Have Been Used to Criminalize Poverty: Can Reforms Help Put the Genie Back in the Bottle?

Thomas Allan Heller — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0200

The rallying cry of many American politicians is Law and Order. This tactic wins votes. As a result of its Wars on Crime, Drugs, and the Impoverished, America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. This article explores how, over the past few decades, politicians have charged criminal defendants every imaginable fee and fine as they wind their way through the criminal justice system in order to fund the massive prison complex that the politicians do not want to tax Americans for. These tactics have criminalized poverty, as they disproportionately impact the most marginalized in American society. These abusive and unfair tactics have drawn scrutiny from policymakers in recent years, including the American Bar Association, which adopted stringent guidelines to help inform policymakers of this critical problem in an effort to reign in the abusive use of fees and fines. The paper discusses recent reforms, many at the urging of the Department of Justice, Office for Access to Justice, in conjunction with the ABA. It discusses the main Supreme Court cases that considered the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment.

Natural Person and Legal Entity as a Guarantor in the Croatian Criminal Law

Ivan Vukušić — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:32:07 +0200

The paper analyzes the specificity of unreal criminal offenses of omission, which is manifested in the fact that those criminal offenses are committed by the guarantor. Given the specificity and rarity of punishable conduct of omission, the paper analyzes the legal position of the guarantor (as a natural person or legal entity) whose duty is to protect certain, but not all, legal goods. In addition to the fact that responsibility for omission is exceptional, the statuses that individuals have in society are explained through the prism of the grounds of the guarantor duty in Croatian but also from the aspect of different legal systems. The concept of the legal bases of the guarantor's responsibility, which represent the sources of unlawfulness and culpability in the guarantor's duty, is elaborated in detail, with a special emphasis on the guarantor's actions in mistake.

The Legality of the Defensive Measures Taken by the USA and the UK in Response to the Houthi Attacks

Patricija Glavica, Leon Brulc — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:38:55 +0200

The article delves into the legality of defensive actions taken by the USA and the UK in response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Despite assertions that such actions are justified under the right to self-defence, legal ambiguities persist in international law. The authors argue that while attacks on merchant vessels by non-state actors may constitute armed aggression, clarity is lacking on whether they meet the criteria for self-defence. The USA and UK stress that attacks on their warships validate their defensive measures, framing them as necessary responses to significant threats. However, the authors contend that the principle of proportionality may have been disregarded, urging restraint in the use of force to safeguard ships while respecting Yemen’s sovereignty. The article underscores the need for a nuanced approach to assessing the legality and necessity of military actions in complex conflict scenarios.

Analysing the EU Data Privacy Implications Resulting From Executive Order 14086: A Legal Perspective

Zoran Dimović — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:44:16 +0200

The exchange of personal data between the EU and the USA has sparked intense debates and contentious discussions. This heightened attention can be attributed to significant disparities in data privacy regulations between the two regions, as well as mounting concerns surrounding the potential misuse of personal information by U.S. companies and government entities. In response to these concerns, the EU implemented the GDPR in 2018, which introduced stringent regulations aimed at safeguarding data privacy. Additionally, the GDPR imposed restrictions on the transfer of personal data to countries outside the EU that lack comparable data protection measures. One of the prominent legal challenges in this context relates to concerns over the adequacy of data protection in the USA, particularly in light of U.S. surveillance programs and the potential for government access to personal data.

Tourism-Driven Economies and Income Disparity: Insights From a Regression Discontinuity Design

Zdravko Šergo, Jasmina Gržinić, Anita Silvana Ilak Peršurić — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:57:59 +0200

This paper aims to answer two questions: (1) Does overtourism incline countries to favorise the capital asset holder instead of workers in income distribution? (2) Does income inequality come hand in hand with overtourism? Employing Kaldor's theory of income distribution, this study adapts its theoretical framework to assess countries with a specialization in tourism. The analysis encompasses data from 115 developed countries over the period of 2000 to 2019. A Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) methodology is utilized for the empirical investigation, categorizing key variables based on the exposure of a country's unit to a tourism-focused developmental strategy. The study reveals that adopting overtourism as a developmental strategy has led to increased inequality, characterized by a rising capital share and a declining labor share over time. Evidence supporting these findings is presented through both parametric and non-parametric Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) analyses. Robustness checks and placebo tests corroborate these results.