23rd Annual International Conference on Law, 13-17 July 2026, Athens, Greece | |||
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| 1 | Criminal Law in an Age of Democratic Decline: Institutions, Power, and Resistance Academic Responsible: Dr. Jamelia Morgan, Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, USA. This microsymposium examines the role of criminal law and criminal procedure in the United States amid accelerating democratic backsliding and the global rise of authoritarian politics. As political actors expand policing, immigration enforcement, protest suppression, and prosecutorial power, criminal law becomes both a tool of authoritarian consolidation and a site of resistance. Participants will explore how these tendencies reshape doctrine, institutions, and everyday enforcement—through the suppression of dissent, expansions of “public order” and “national security” offenses, erosion of procedural safeguards, and the criminalization of migration. The discussion will also consider the heightened risks faced by marginalized communities already disproportionately targeted by the punitive state. Beyond diagnosis, microsymposiumists will reflect on the legal academy’s role in resisting antidemocratic pressures through teaching, advocacy, and theory-building. By placing current developments within longer histories of racial capitalism, colonial governance, and moral panic politics, the conversation aims to illuminate both the normalization of coercive state power and emerging sources of resilience, including community movements, litigation strategies, and scholarly interventions. Ultimately, the microsymposium asks how criminal law scholars should understand their responsibilities at a moment of democratic strain and expanding state punishment. | Abstract Submitting Form |
