New England Journal on Civil and Criminal Confinement

The New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement was founded in 1973 as the New England Journal on Prison Law. After a series of informal seminars dealing with prison law at New England School of Law in 1972, faculty and students decided to begin the nation’s first journal dealing exclusively with prisons. The Journal began as a forum for prisoners, prison officials, lawyers, judges, law students and others to discuss their views on the legal problems facing the prison system, prisoners, and prison officials.

In 1982, the Journal changed its name to the New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement in order to accurately reflect its expanding perspective. Consequently, the Journal entered a new era in becoming the leading voice for the advancement of new ideas in the fields of criminal, juvenile, evidence, and civil commitment law. In addition to publishing scholarly works on confinement, the Journal now publishes timely articles contributing to the legal discourse of criminal law and procedure as well as criminal issues arising in other areas of law including, but not limited to, military law, mental health, immigration, and international law.

The Journal has consistently been ranked as one of the top criminal law journals in the nation and remains the only specialty journal that specifically addresses issues of civil confinement law. All published articles are indexed and appear in Westlaw, Lexis, the Index to Legal Periodicals, and Contents of Current Legal Periodicals. Additionally, outstanding Journal articles may be recognized in the “Worth Reading” column of the National Law Journal.

The articles published in the Journal address new and changing areas of law. Contributors include both legal scholars from across the nation as well as associate members of the Journal. Scholars interested in submitting articles should contact the Executive Committee at [e-mail].