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Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

@buchhandler.bsky.social

Professor of Law @WidenerLawCW, Family and Criminal Law intersections, Evidence, family violence & gender-based violence, sex crimes, civilian alternatives to policing. An immigrant.

50 Posts836 Follower328 Folgt
Widener Law Commonwealth@widenerlawcw.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Prof. @buchhandler.bsky.social 's research is featured in a new @investigatewest.bsky.social report on "failure-to-protect" laws. Her article "Excusing Abused Parents" argues abused parents deserve a defense when intervening risked more violence. www.investigatewest.org/domestic-vio...

Some states protect DV defense in ‘failure to protect’ cases

Parents in eight states can be acquitted if they can show “reasonable fear” of escalating violence

investigatewest.org

Doron Dorfman@dorfmandoron.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Happy to comment for @washingtonpost.com on the dangerous effort by anti-vaxxers to weaponize anti-discrimination protections in court. I wrote abt similar attempts to abuse disability law in Disability as Metaphor (Penn L. Rev). papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Anti-vaxxers are coupling up on apps for ‘Unjected’ singles

Dating apps are pairing unvaccinated people across the country — and in some cases hosting controversial in-person events.

washingtonpost.com

Michal Buchhandler-Raphael@buchhandler.bsky.social · 5mo ago

What an inspirational speaker. So important to also talk about victimized males too! Thank you @davidleegarlock.bsky.social

Widener Law Commonwealth@widenerlawcw.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Professor @buchhandler.bsky.social and the Criminal Law Society welcomed @davidleegarlock.bsky.social for “From Abused to Accused.” A survivor of long-term abuse, he later became a defendant after killing his abuser, sharing insight for prosecutors & defenders. #ReentryAdvocacy #VictimizedOffenders

Michal Buchhandler-Raphael@buchhandler.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Feedback welcome! Would love to hear any thoughts on this piece, which is the third installment in a series of papers on victimized offenders in domestic settings.

Widener Law Commonwealth@widenerlawcw.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Congrats to Professor @buchhandler.bsky.social on the acceptance of “Excusing Abused Parents” in Ohio State Law Journal. The article examines how failure-to-protect laws overlook domestic abuse and proposes a new affirmative defense for at-risk parents. Read more: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Doron Dorfman@dorfmandoron.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🚨🚨🚨New article with @jennoliva.bsky.social, forthcoming in @uclalawreview.bsky.social Discourse: Veteran Disability Hierarchies. Now on @ssrn.bsky.social! On disability as mitigation in veterans’ treatment courts and the politics of service-connected compensation: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Veteran Disability Hierarchies

American disability law purports to operate on principles of equality, yet it consistently distinguishes between worthy and unworthy disabled individuals based

papers.ssrn.com

Itay Ravid@itayravid.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Breaking my partial social-media hiatus w/3 new papers: Missing Children Discrimination (Wis. L. Rev 2025(4)) w/ Tanisha Brown— shorturl.at/5rl86 abstract 👇) Anti-Holistic Algorithms (forth. Vanderbilt L. Rev) (Re)Individualizing Criminal Law (forth. B.C. L. Rev) More soon on SSRN—comments welcome!

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John Pfaff@johnpfaff.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I have a new piece up at @msnownews.bsky.social, on the recent NJ supreme court case banning shaking baby syndrome evidence, using it to discuss both the generally shoddy nature of all forensic evidence but also the legal profession's on-going refusal to confront our current data-driven world.

Opinion | New Jersey's ban on 'shaken baby syndrome' claims in court points up a larger problem in the legal system

John Pfaff: The state Supreme Court ruling underscores how thin empirical support is for much of the forensic evidence used in criminal cases.

ms.now

Michal Buchhandler-Raphael@buchhandler.bsky.social · 12mo ago

"Legal Moralism in Disguise in Child Custody Cases" is forthcoming in Family Law Quarterly (FLQ). Morality hasn’t disappeared from family courts but has taken on new rhetorical forms with courts judging parents’ choices on moral grounds w/o evidence of harm to child. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Legal Moralism in Disguise in Child Custody Cases

<p>Conventional wisdom is that family law has moved away from morality-based decision-making, with moral questions left more to individuals than to the courts.

papers.ssrn.com

Doron Dorfman@dorfmandoron.bsky.social · last yr.

Thrilled that my book chapter, "Mask Shaming: On Private Enforcement and Disability Politics," in print as part of the important @nyupress.bsky.social book Regulating the Body: Autonomy, Control, and the Broken Promise of Equality in American Law, ed. by the legendary Austin Sarat & Susanna Lee! 1/3

A calico cat next to a book called Regulating the Body Autonomy, Control, and the Broken Promise of Equality in American Law Edited by Austin Sarat and Susanna Lee .The cover is black with a statue of lady justice with mask and gloves. A calico cat next to a book called Regulating the Body Autonomy, Control, and the Broken Promise of Equality in American Law Edited by Austin Sarat and Susanna Lee .The cover is dark grey with a statue of lady justice with mask and gloves. The table of content for the book Regulating the Body Autonomy, Control, and the Broken Promise of Equality in American Law Edited by Austin Sarat and Susanna Lee .Abstract: Wearing face masks has been an important strategy to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Yet this practice has also been highly politicized since the beginning of the pandemic. In this chapter, I explore how shaming tactics—the stigmatization and public disgrace of the norm violator—have been used to regulate masking. This strategy highlights how mask policies in the U.S. have depended on private enforcement throughout all stages of the pandemic; that is, enforcement by laypeople rather than public entities. I trace this phenomenon through early, top-down mask mandates, to the present moment, after universal mask mandates have been lifted, and masking has shifted to become an individualized disability accommodation. While paying close attention to how norms about mask wearing intersect with gender and race, I highlight dichotomous approaches to private, ideologically-driven, enforcement of public health policy: as the Right has doubled down on shaming people for wearing masks, people in the disability community have reacted by enforcing mask wearing in public spaces and holding people who they see as members of the in-group (activists and allies) accountable. This chapter thus contributes to the legal debate on shaming as a law enforcement tactic, as well as to the understanding of how disability law plays out in everyday life.