In search of justice

DISCOVERY
WHO DESERVES
PUNISHMENT?
SCHOLARS, ATTORNEYS, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE EXPERTS from across the country joined
Vermont Law Review to examine “Criminal Culpability—Who Deserves Punishment?” during a
daylong symposium Sept. 16 at VLS. Participants discussed the differences in how society treats
white-collar criminals versus drug offenders, and explored solutions for both corporate crimes and
Vermont’s opiate epidemic.
Jim Kenyon of the Valley News discusses the symposium in his Sept. 17 editorial titled “Drug
Abuse Is No Crime.” “The symposium provided a good history lesson that helps explain how the U.S.
now has a half-million people locked up for drug offenses.” Kenyon quotes panelist Mark Osler, a
former federal prosecutor in Detroit who now teaches law at the University of St. Thomas School
of Law, who told attendees, “Narcotics is a market driven by demand. We’re the world’s leading
consumer of recreational drugs. Americans like drugs.”
“That’s a serious public health problem,” writes Kenyon, “which has very little to do with criminal
justice.”
vjel.vermontlaw.edu
PUTTING
THE BITE
BACK IN
THE LAW
Rob Bossi
PROFESSOR EKOW N. YANKAH OF CARDOZO
SCHOOL OF LAW SPEAKS DURING THE 2016
VERMONT LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM.
IN OCTOBER, NATIONAL LEADERS IN
environmental law and advocacy joined the
Vermont Journal of Environmental Law (VJEL) at
VLS for “The Endangered Species Act: Putting the
Bite Back in the Law,” VJEL’s annual symposium.
“Biodiversity is one of the biggest challenges
for our generation—we are on the brink of the
sixth mass extinction,” says VJEL Symposium
Editor Elizabeth Smith JD/MELP’17. “From the
charismatic megafauna to the species known
by only a few scientists, we need to protect
them all.” Look for VJEL’s upcoming book on the
Endangered Species Act; it will include articles
written by symposium panelists.
7 WINTER 2016/2017