Section on Criminal Law

2025

• Criminal Law Main Program (Co-Sponsored by Criminal Procedure, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Issues, and Law, Medicine and Health Care)
• Criminal Law Works-in-Progress Program
• Criminal Law Pedagogy Program
• Criminal Law Second Program (Co-Sponsored by Civil Rights and Criminal Procedure)
• Criminal Procedure (Co-Sponsored by Criminal Law)

2024

• Main Program
• Section Works-in-Progress
• Unraveling the Threads of Failure: The Anatomy of Unsuccessful Criminal Law Reforms
• Section Award Ceremony
• Unshackled: Stories of Redemption and Hope in Post-Conviction Work in Parole & Clemency Case
• Animal Law, Co-Sponsored by Agricultural and Food Law, Criminal Law, and Environmental Law
• Law and Anthropology (Co-Sponsored by Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure)

2023

• Main Program
• Works-in-Progress
• Pedagogy Program
• Jurisprudence (Co-Sponsored by Criminal Law)

Junior Scholars Paper Competition Award

The competition is the Section’s way of recognizing and encouraging scholarship by junior members of the legal academy. Honorees will be recognized at the AALS Annual Meeting.

We welcome both single-authored and co-authored submissions, but please be mindful of the following considerations. We will consider papers where: 1) the author has been teaching six years or fewer as of September 1, 2024 and has not entered the competition more than six times; 2) the paper has not yet been published or posted to the internet before Mid November; 3) the author is a member of the AALS; and 4) the author has not previously won the AALS Criminal Justice Section (now known as the Criminal Law Section) Paper Competition.

Only one single-authored submission per author is permitted, though individuals may submit a single-authored piece, as well as a co-authored piece. When submitting co-authored papers, please note that each author must meet the qualifications listed above except the AALS membership requirement, where one membership will suffice.

We seek to maintain anonymity in the review of submitted papers. Please submit papers in electronic form, with all identifying information removed except for a cover sheet on a separate document with your name, the year you began teaching, and a confirmation that the paper will not be posted to the internet prior to November 15, 2024. Starred footnotes thanking reviewers may be included but should be placed on the cover page. Please check the text and all footnotes to ensure that they do not contain details that might identify the author.

Paper submissions and the separate cover sheet should be sent to the Executive Committee at [email protected]. Please use the subject line “CLS Junior Scholars Paper Competition,” and be sure to submit papers by the deadline of mid-September.

Recipients

Runner Up’s

Criminal Law Winter 2023 Newsletter