When tragedies strike, lawmakers often respond with bills named after the victim—Amelia’s Law, Megan’s Law, Caylee’s Law—you can find examples all over the country. Crime control theater research on several of these policies suggests that bills like this can have unwarranted support, even if the policy is ineffective or harmful. And legal scholars have long expressed concern that tying legislation to a sympathetic victim creates emotional momentum that overwhelms critical evaluation of the...

By: Ashley Gale Vaughan, J.D. Most legal disputes in the United States are resolved outside of the courtroom through a set of processes known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR includes informal resolutions like settlements in civil cases and plea bargains in criminal matters, as well as more formal alternatives such as mediation and arbitration. These processes allow people to resolve conflicts without the time, cost, and unpredictability of a trial. But why does ADR come up so...