Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) Professor Elizabeth Jaffe’s 2016 article on swatting was cited in the Concurring Opinion in the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in People v. Pagano, 2021 WL 1570350. In this case, the Defendant was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with a child as a passenger and having an open container in a motor vehicle. The Defendant filed a motion to dismiss arguing the traffic stop was unlawful. The District Court granted the motion and the Circuit Court affirmed the decision. The State appealed and the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the decision. The Defendant appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court and the Court reversed and remanded finding in favor of the Defendant. In the Concurring Opinion, Justice Zahra cited to Professor Jaffe’s 2016 article in footnote 2.
The footnote is based upon an article written by Professor Jaffe in which she addresses the crime of swatting. The footnote reads “In recent years, individuals have used spoofing technology to make fake 911 calls in order to prank or harass individuals. See Chapter 284, 45 McGeorge L. Rev. at 585; Jaffe, Swatting: The New Cyberbullying Frontier After Elonis v. United States, 64 Drake L. Rev. 455, 456 (2016).”
Professor Jaffe has been on faculty since 2006. She teaches Domestic Relations, Legal Research, Writing & Analysis I & II, Pretrial Practice & Procedure, and Depositions. She has conducted extensive scholarly research with the focus on education law and the legal response to bullying, and has several published articles in this area. In addition to published articles, she has presented at the Symposium “Cyberbullying in America: A Discussion of Liability, Policy, and Progress” and has received national media coverage for her expertise in this area of law.
Thank you for your continued contributions to both AJMLS and the legal community, Professor Jaffe. We appreciate all of your efforts!