Colorado’s close and fluid Senate race offers important lessons on political strategy for both Republicans and Democrats

In less than a month’s time, voters in Colorado will go to the polls to decide whether or not they wish to give their incumbent Senator, Democrat Mark Udall, another term, or instead, opt for his Republican challenger, Cory Gardner. Courtenay Daum takes a close look at what is proving to be a very close election race and one that might well decide which party controls the Senate. She writes that low ratings for President Obama and the fact that 2014 is an off year election may work against Udall, but that Gardner is also trailing in fundraising. She argues that the race may well come down to which candidate is best able to get the vote out, especially among core supporters and independents

Stuck between a Rock and a Meth Cooking Husband: What Breaking Bad\u27s Skyler White Reaches about How the War on Drugs and Public Antipathy Constrain Women in Circumstance\u27s Choices

Part I begins with an analysis of how the criminal justice system functions as a patriarchal tool of the state to control and constrain the behavior of women of circumstance. In the War on Drugs, patriarchy within the criminal justice system leads women to distrust law enforcement and the courts, and forecloses their access to assistance from a system that uses them as pawns in its pursuit of male drug operatives who are often these women’s intimate partners. Part II examines how these legal constraints upon women of circumstance intersect with women’s gendered roles in their families to eliminate viable options for extracting themselves from the tenuous situations that are not of their making. Ultimately, the legal bind discussed in Part I does not exist in a vacuum, but is preconditioned by the woman’s family situation and this results in additional constraints on women of circumstance’s choices. Finally, Part III examines how the wide acceptance of stereotypes about what is and what is not appropriate female behavior results in public antipathy toward women involved with male drug operatives and works to substantiate the legal system’s problematic treatment of these women. Importantly, these hegemonic beliefs about women’s roles also stymy reforms geared at remediating the Scylla and Charybdis-like situation faced by women of circumstance. While theoretically illuminating, understanding the combined effect of these institutional, familial and social constraints is also of practical importance for reformers seeking to change a legal system that systematically ignores or preys upon the constraints that bind women of circumstance. Part IV offers mechanisms designed to affect meaningful reform in this area of the law

At the Intersection of Social Media and Rape Culture: How Facebook, Texting and Other Personal Communications Challenge the “Real” Rape Myth in the Criminal Justice System

The “real” rape frame informs how both the criminal justice system and society in general understand rape and operationalize it as a crime. A significant contributor to the maintenance of rape culture in the United States is the belief that acquaintance rapes are not “real” rapes and that women who suggest otherwise are liars. The he said/she said dynamics of acquaintance rapes create ambiguities that work to the detriment of female victims seeking to pursue their cases in the criminal justice system because uncertainty allows individuals to resort to stereotypes and myths. Due to the fact that the “real” rape myth pervades all aspects of the legal system—from law enforcement officers’ investigations to prosecutorial discretion when bringing charges to judges’ and jurors’ deliberations in cases—the absence of corroborating evidence or testimony to substantiate a woman’s rape claim opens opportunities for rape myths and assumptions to take hold and dictate outcomes in ways that work to the detriment of female victims seeking justice in the legal system. Yet, the widespread use of social media and handheld communicative technologies and the practice of documenting one’s each and every action and sharing these posts, photos, and videos with peers and beyond produces evidence that may be used to substantiate women’s rape reports and challenge the “real” rape myth. The role of social media in rape investigations and prosecutions may go a long way toward challenging local “rape tolerance” by forcing actors in the criminal justice system to take action. At the reporting stage, social media evidence may prod law enforcement to investigate a claim and provide police officers with leverage when interviewing potential witnesses and suspects. In addition, prosecutors may be more likely to file charges and take a case to trial if they are able to submit social media discussions and depictions as evidence. Finally, at trial, social media evidence may be used in various ways to persuade jurors that a rape occurred and the accused is guilty of a crime. At each phase of the criminal justice process, social media evidence may be utilized to challenge commonly held assumptions about what constitutes a “real” rape versus a “simple” rape as well as stereotypes about rape victims and their culpability in sexual assaults