The landscape of criminal law has undergone significant shifts in the past four years, shaped by landmark decisions across various domains. From Fourth Amendment protections in the digital age to the refinement of Sixth Amendment rights, from evolving sentencing practices to the complexities of white-collar crime prosecutions, and the challenges posed by emerging technologies, the courts have grappled with adapting long-standing legal principles to contemporary realities.
Several key trends emerge from this review:
- Digital privacy: Courts are increasingly recognizing the unique privacy concerns raised by digital technology, often requiring warrants for access to personal digital information.
- Defendant autonomy: Recent decisions have reinforced the importance of a defendant’s right to make key decisions about their defense, even when these choices may seem unwise to counsel.
- Narrowing of federal criminal statutes: Several decisions have limited the scope of federal criminal laws, particularly in areas like fraud and computer crimes.
- Ongoing tension in sentencing: While some decisions have expanded protections for certain defendants (particularly juveniles), others have maintained existing punitive frameworks.
- Technological challenges: The rapid pace of technological change continues to present novel questions for courts, often requiring creative application of established legal principles.
As we look to the future, it’s clear that criminal law will continue to evolve in response to societal changes, technological advancements, and shifting attitudes towards justice and rehabilitation. The cases discussed in this article provide a foundation for understanding these trends, but they also raise important questions about the future direction of criminal law in the United States.
Practitioners, scholars, and policymakers alike must stay attuned to these developments, as they shape the contours of criminal justice in the 21st century. The dynamic interplay between legislative action, judicial interpretation, and rapidly evolving real-world circumstances ensures that criminal law will remain a vibrant and crucial area of study and practice in the years to come.
Citations
[1] Lange v. California, 594 U.S. ___ (2021) [2] Caniglia v. Strom, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [3] Torres v. Madrid, 592 U.S. ___ (2021) [4] Kansas v. Glover, 589 U.S. ___ (2020) [5] Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. ___ (2020) [6] Edwards v. Vannoy, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [7] Garza v. Idaho, 586 U.S. ___ (2019) [8] United States v. Haymond, 588 U.S. ___ (2019) [9] McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. ___ (2018) [10] Jones v. Mississippi, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [11] Borden v. United States, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [12] United States v. Davis, 588 U.S. ___ (2019) [13] Shinn v. Kayer, 592 U.S. ___ (2020) [14] Terry v. United States, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [15] Kelly v. United States, 590 U.S. ___ (2020) [16] Van Buren v. United States, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [17] United States v. Blaszczak, 947 F.3d 19 (2d Cir. 2019), vacated and remanded, 141 S. Ct. 1040 (2021) [18] Goldman Sachs Group Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, 594 U.S. ___ (2021) [19] Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 591 U.S. ___ (2020) [20] Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. ___ (2018) [21] United States v. Microsoft Corp., 584 U.S. ___ (2018) [22] Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. ___ (2017) [23] Kansas v. Glover, 589 U.S. ___ (2020) [24] Van Buren v. United States, 593 U.S. ___ (2021) [25] Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014)