Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

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!

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.

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.

Congrats! Amazing news, Brian. So thrilled for you! ! 🎉🎉🎉

And thank YOU for your continuous support and encouragement! ❤️

Such a well-deserved recognition of Professor @maybell.bsky.social ‘s groundbreaking work! Huge congratulations, Dean Romero! 🎉🎉

Third-Party Accommodations, Doron Dorfman Abstract Does disability rights law impose an obligation on employers, schools, and other places of public accommodation to control the behavior of coworkers, students, or other third parties to accommodate an individual with disabilities? This Article examines that unexplored legal question and shows that the law frequently fails to protect people with disabilities from the choices and behaviors of third parties. Judges often consider these major barriers to access beyond the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s reasonable accommodation mandate. This Article argues that this problem results from improperly imposing the privity paradigm, a doctrine that limits the inquiry about the reasonableness of an accommodation relative to the relationship between the first party (the disabled individual) and the second party (the employer or other entity covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act). Using disability studies, legal theory, and political economy analysis, this Article shows how a narrow interpretation of the reasonable accommodation mandate has failed to adapt to our modern understanding of disability as a complex interaction between the impairment and the social environment. To address the issue, this Article introduces a new theory of third-party accommodations, which would require others to alter or cease behaviors to accommodate an individual with disabilities. This Article then suggests a normative framework that courts can use to analyze cases involving requests for third-party accommodations, including the factors that judges should balance to determine the reasonableness of a request. In highlighting the need to move beyond a constricted interpretation of reasonable accommodation, this Article imagines a new horizon for disability justice.

I am just thrilled to have my new article Third-Party Accommodations officially out @michlawreview.bsky.social! The MLR editors were a pleasure to work with and sharing the same volume as @kovarsky.bsky.social & Daniel Fryer is the cherry on top. Read it: repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol124/i...

Professor @buchhandler.bsky.social spoke with @pennlive.com about the evidentiary challenges in prosecuting rape cases. She explained that PA law limits the use of other sexual assault evidence, though it can sometimes be admitted to show intent, plan, or lack of mistake. tinyurl.com/2jcrdw9v

"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....

A poster for the talk: The Limits of the ADA: Exploring the Duty to Accommodate in Law & Society by Doron Dorfman, Thursday, Sep. 25 at 5 pm at the Riggs Library - Healy Hall. ASL interpreted. A photo of a man with dark hair and glasses smiling alongside a photo of signing the ADA into law.

Thrilled to be giving a talk on The Limits of the ADA’s Duty to Accommodate @oneillinstitute.bsky.social (@georgetownlaw.bsky.social) & the Georgetown Program in Disability Studies tomorrow (Sep. 25) at 5 pm. If you’re around, please join us. Details below 👇

Thrilled to be hosting the 20th Annual Colloquium on Scholarship in Labor & Employment Law (COSELL) at Seton Hall Law tomorrow & on Saturday (Sep. 19-20). Over 70 legal scholars come to discuss cutting edge work on work! Check out the program: law.shu.edu/events/annua...

Thank you @lsolum.bsky.social for recommending my new piece, Coercive Settlements, recently published with the George Washington Law Review! @templelaw.bsky.social

11 years after the horrific murder of Professor Dan Markel, a brilliant criminal law scholar and a wonderful human being, the woman who orchestrated his killing is finally behind bars. Justice is served. RIP Danny.

An add for the chemical sensitivity podcast: light green background with a photo of a middle aged man with dark hair with glasses. Stating Professor Doron Dorfman MCS and Third-Party Accommodations.

Thrilled to have my work on Third-Party Accommodations (forth. @michlawreview.bsky.social) featured on the Chemical Sensitivity Podcast (@podcastingmcs.bsky.social) that amplifies voices of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) & research about the illness. Take a listen: shorturl.at/RbT4e

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.

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

It’s sooooooo good, y’all! If I were a law review editor I’d really want to snap this up for publication.

תודה רבה! אבל אני לא מבזבזת דקה מיותרת מהחופשה שלי בישראל על זה. אני על המטוס ביום שלישי!✈️✈️✈️הזה.

Had a terrific time presenting my new project "A Reasonable Fear Defense in Failure-to-Protect prosecutions" at #CrimFest. I advocate for legislatures to adopt an affirmative defense for defendants charged with homicide-by-omission when they reasonably feared escalation of harm if they intervened.

It was so great to see you!!!

Second that!!! It was so great to see you, Ben!

Gisele Pelicot awarded France's Legion of Honour - BBC News Pelicot was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's Bastille Day.

An amazing honor and recognition for a brave survivor. A role model for all rape and sexual assault survivors. Her courageous choice to waive her anonymity has changed the legal landscape for many survivors of gender-based violence. #StopSexualViolence #MeToo
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Congratulations, @profnroemer.bsky.social !

Thank you, @SSRN for highlighting my work.
Check it out in the link 👇

Thanks so much, Ben!

Excited to share our latest article (with the amazing @jonpenny.bsky.social and @shoreingber.bsky.social) “The Chilling Effects of Dobbs” in Florida Law Review. The piece grew out of Jon’s creative study and our broader work together on intimate privacy. Here www.floridalawreview.com/article/1381...

My recent article "Compassionate Undercharging" has just been uploaded on @ssrn.bsky.social ! Highlighting the impact of domestic abuse, it advocates for bringing lesser homicide charges against victimized offenders. #MenendezBrothers
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

My Article, "Police Minimalism in Domestic Violence," is now published in the Arizona State Law Journal! @asulaw.bsky.social
It advocates for integrating civilian responders into domestic violence emergency responses.
The full article is available here:
arizonastatelawjournal.org/2025/05/11/p...

Huge congrats on this wonderful accomplishment! I loved reading this terrific paper! 🎉

SCOTUS to hear oral arguments in the Braidwood v. Becerra case on Monday. Want to know more about Section 1557, the preventive health mandate of the ACA, and how stereotypes re prevention creeped into earlier decisions? Read my article Penalizing Prevention: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Loved reading this great paper!

Please join us on Friday, April 4 for our Law Review Symposium on addressing gender-based violence. I’ll present my recent WIP, Compassionate Undercharging, forthcoming in @ucdavislaw.bsky.social!