“Conviction: A Series on Criminal Law and Religion”Matthew P. Cavedon “conviction (n) 1: the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law 2a:a strong persuasion or belief” Canopy Forum is an online publication on the intersection of law and religion, and Conviction is Canopy Forum’s ongoing series…
“Freedom” by Marko Lovric / Pixabay In October 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill meant to ban the use of for-profit, private detention facilities, phasing out existing detention facilities entirely by 2028. Already contested by means of a complaint filed by GEO Group, a private prison management corporation, and a lawsuit filed by…
“Candle and Police Tape” by Tony Webster / Flickr / CC-BY-2.0 On May 5, 2020, the American public gained access to a unique, but also familiar video. Unique in that the name of this victim was Ahmaud Arbery, but familiar in the content depicted, a black man being killed for the sole fact that his…
As COVID-19 tightens its lethal grip on the globe, a palpable tension emerges between the authority of governmental officials in every state in the U.S. who have issued guidelines limiting social interactions to preserve the public health while recognizing religious exemptions, and individual rights to freedom of religion. Lawsuits in the United States have challenged…
This is the second part of a three-part essay offering a radical proposal for how ethical prosecutors ought to approach sentencing recommendations for non-violent criminal offenders given the often dangerous and abusive conditions that exist in many American prisons. This perspective is informed by Jewish law’s complex history and jurisprudence criticizing cooperation with unjust legal…
This is the first part of a three-part essay offering a radical proposal for how ethical prosecutors ought to approach sentencing recommendations for non-violent criminal offenders given the often dangerous and abusive conditions that exist in many American prisons. This perspective is informed by Jewish law’s complex history and jurisprudence criticizing cooperation with unjust legal…