• Paper Topics
• Schedule for Topic Proposal, Formal Topic Proposal, First Draft, and Final Paper
• First Draft and Final Paper Requirements
• Paper Presentations, Abstracts, and Questions
• Leading Class Discussion (for part of a class on a particular topic):
  • I will have more information on this, but the plan is that for particular topics, two class members will lead the discussion. In the meantime, if there is someone you would like to work with, one of you should send me an email to that effect, copying the other class member and Ms. Demmings.

Paper Topics

1. The seminar is about the criminalization of homelessness, and certainly one general approach is to find a topic related to policing and homelessness. But criminalization is one of a number of responses to homelessness, and localities typically adopt it as the (seemingly) easiest response to a perceived upsurge in homelessness. That means that policies designed to deal more effectively with homelessness (e.g., by addressing the underlying causes) are relevant to criminalization, and so to the seminar. Thus there is a wide range of possibilities (see below). I will suggest some, but I am entirely open to suggestions of your own, so long as it appears that the topic is viable.
2. While a wide range of topics is available, there is a requirement that all of them must meet. The paper should explore a legal issue as it relates to some aspect of policy regarding homelessness. It can’t be purely descriptive, or purely policy-oriented. Of course, “legal analysis” includes more than analyzing cases or proposing new interpretations of a text such as the Constitution or statutes. It might, for example, include analyzing existing legislation on a topic and proposing reforms to it.
3. There is no requirement that the topic relate specifically to any particular city or state, but that is one option that might interest you. There are many interesting developments nationally and internationally, though.
4. Some broad areas to think about in considering a topic (in no particular order), just to get you thinking:
   • Evictions/Landlord Tenant Law
   • Homelessness and Rights of Recent Immigrants/Refugees
   • Homelessness and models of policing
   • Homelessness and Federal Education-Related Rights
   • Voting Rights and Homelessness
   • Rights to Education/Medical Care
   • Recent changes in federal policy on homelessness / affordable housing
   • The ADA and challenges to criminalization
   • Particular groups (e.g., youth, LGBTQ, the elderly, veterans; race/ethnicity/gender)
   • Sex offender residency restrictions
   • Constitutional and statutory issues related to state- or local-government created encampments
   • State law issues related to homeless encampments
   • International human rights law and homelessness
   • International and comparative homelessness policies
   • Substance abuse/mental health and homelessness
   • Affordable housing/Living wage/Inequality
   • The role (and limits) of litigation in social change
5. You can also find some more detailed suggestions here.
6. I also have some general advice on Finding a Topic that may be worth a look.

Note: These are deadlines; you are free to submit any of the following before the indicated deadline. I am happy to meet with you at any time before any of these stages if you’d like to discuss your thoughts about a topic or your draft. See also below about extensions. In case you want to see how this fits in with the Academic Calendar, you can find it here.

1. Stage 1: Please let me know by email what topic you’d like to write on. It need not be in the formal topic proposal format (below), but you’re welcome to do that if you like. An email that indicates briefly what you want to write about is fine. What’s important is to give me enough information that I can give you useful feedback. If you are inclined toward two topics and have not quite decided, you can let me know and I can give you some feedback on that.
   • Due: Monday, March 2, 2026 Updated!
2. Stage 2: Please submit a formal topic proposal. I will get back to you by the beginning of spring break to confirm that it has been approved, or approved with some recommendations about modifying it. I don’t anticipate I would have to disapprove any topics, but I do reserve the right to do so and require you to find another. I would do so only if I have grave concerns about the viability of the topic or if it has no relationship to the seminar.
   • Due: Monday, March 16, 2026
   • Format: The proposal should have:
     • a one-paragraph abstract of the proposed paper. Keep in mind #1-3 under Paper Topics (above).
     • an outline (1-2 pages) of the paper. Note: It is very likely that the final paper will not follow this outline in important respects. That is almost inevitable as you do more research for the paper. The outline, though, will help me understand better what you plan to cover, and will help you focus your thoughts.
     • a list of the most important primary authoritative legal sources you intend to use (e.g., court cases, federal, state or foreign statutes or administrative regulations, local ordinances, treaties) you plan to consult. Note: There is no need for this to be comprehensive, but it should identify at least a few of the ones you think will be most important.
     • a list of 7 scholarly or major policy publications such as books, law review articles, scholarly articles from non-legal journals, major policy publications by groups with significant policy or advocacy engagement (e.g, the National Homelessness Law Center), the the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Brookings, the Cicero Institute). Note: You can list more if you would like, but 7 is enough for this. Also, as you subsequently research the paper, you can of course use news articles, etc. as appropriate, and I would anticipate you will cite more scholarly publications than 7.
     • optional: a list of any questions you may have about developing the topic; I will give my thoughts on those questions in response.
     • Any request for a different timeline from below for First Draft and Final Paper, and the reasons for it.
3. First Draft Due: Monday, April 20, 2026, 4:00 pm
4. Final Paper Due: Monday, May 11, 2026, 9:00 am
5. Timetable and Extensions: In general, in writing a paper, it’s important to have a timetable with deadlines to help make sure you keep pace with the work required and have time to do a good job. That is the purpose of this timetable. Of course, at any stage you are free to get ahead of the timetable. I am also open to approving a different timetable on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to propose a different timetable, please send me an email setting out a proposal for different dates (which, up to a point, can be later than the deadlines set out above). Please also give me the reasons for the request. I may respond just based on your email, or I may have questions. You can also ask to discuss it with me if you’d like. I am generally inclined to grant reasonable requests for modification of the timetable when the request is made in advance. I do understand that there may be occasions when something unexected crops up with little or no advance notice and it causes you to miss a deadline. In that case, do get in touch with me as soon as possible, and include an explanation of the reason for the delay and a modified timetable.
6. Please make sure you are familiar with the Course Policies, including the use of AI.

First Draft and Final Paper Requirements Index

For both the first draft and the final paper:

• First Page: A separate title page, with the following text:
  
  Title
  Your Name
  The Criminalization of Homelessness, Spring 2026
  First Draft OR Final Paper (as the case may be)
  A one paragraph abstract
• Second Page: A Table of Contents page, with page numbers:
  You can create it manually or automatically; there are many sources on the Internet as to how to do the latter, such as this or this.
• Third Page: The first page of the body of the paper.
  • The final paper should be 25-35 pages (not including the separate cover/abstract page and table of contents page). It can be longer if you prefer, but that’s not required.
    • The first draft may be shorter than the 25-35 page range. But keep in mind that the more substantial is the first draft, the better the feedback I can give you.
• In addition:
  • The pages must be numbered. Page 1 should be the page on which the body of the paper begins. It can be in the upper right hand corner or at the bottom of the page, in the middle or at the right hand corner.
  • Footnotes, not endnotes, must be used. The first citation to anything should be in full citation form (see below). For subsequent citations of the same material, use some kind of consistent form of abbreviated citation that allows for easy identification of what you are citing. For one example, see this guide.
  • The text must be double-spaced.
    • Any indented block quotes must be single-spaced.
    • Footnotes must be single-spaced.
  • Font: 12 point Times New Roman or something similar
  • The first citation to any publication must have at least the following basic information. It is not enough to list a URL, though where something is found on the web, it can be helpful to include the URL as well:
    • Books: Author, Title, [specific page(s) cited], publication year -- e.g., Alexandra Natapoff, Punishment Without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal 181 (2018).
    • Journal articles: Author, article title, Journal title with volume + page number, publication year (for example, for a law review article, Author Name, 75 U. Miami L. Rev. 1 (2020). Use something substantially similar for articles in scholarly journals that are not law reviews.
    • Newspaper articles and op-ed pieces: Author, Article/Op-ed Headline, Newspaper (e.g., Wall St. J.), Date of Publication (URL optional)
    • Reports etc - Author [which can be an organization], Title (Date), and URL (which may either be separate or as a linke in the title: That is, either:
      • National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Housing Not Handcuffs 2019: Ending the Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities (December 2019), https://homelesslaw.org/housing-not-handcuffs-2019/; or
      • National Homelessness Law Center, Housing Not Handcuffs 2019: Ending the Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities (December 2019)
    • Note: I will not be a stickler for bluebook form, but I do want something reasonably standard, as indicated. In particular:
      • A URL is not a cite. In no case should your cite include only a URL.
      • Keep in mind that a proper cite isn’t just a matter of saying where something can be found. It should also let the reader know, at the very least -- without having to look up the source -- who or what organization is the author of the document, its title, and date, along with, for everything other than books, where to find it.
    • Submission of first draft and final paper:
      • The first draft must be submitted in Word form, not pdf.
      • The final paper may be submitted in Word or pdf form.
      • The document file name should be in this form:
        • Last Name-First Name-First Draft.docx (or .doc)
        • Last Name-First Name-Final Paper.docx (or .doc or .pdf)
      • It should be emailed to me, copy to my assistant, Ms. Demmings (sdemmings@law.miami.edu), with the following in the subject line:
        • Criminalization: First Draft; OR
        • Criminalization: Final Paper

Paper Presentations, Abstracts, and Questions Index