“I love teaching and immensely enjoy the intellectual exchanges with students. I hope that my passion and enthusiasm for teaching helps my students become engaged in class and excited about using the law to promote justice. I strive to create a learning environment that welcomes students from all backgrounds and makes everyone feel valued and comfortable in the classroom.”

Professor Michal Buchhandler-Raphael joined Widener Law Commonwealth in 2020 from Washington and Lee School of Law, where she was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law teaching courses in Criminal Law and Family Law, as well as two seminars, The Criminal Regulation of Vice and Freedom of Speech.

Professor Buchhandler-Raphael is a Criminal Law and Family Law scholar who studies domestic violence and sexual violence. In recent years, she has particularly focused on the relationship between victimization and offending, including the connections between homicide law and gender-based violence.

In a series of articles on individuals who are both defendants and victims of crime, she has examined how the criminal legal system treats defendants who are victims of domestic violence. Drawing on insights from behavioral psychology and related disciplines, she advocates reducing these defendants’ criminal responsibility and expanding the scope of existing defenses such as provocation, self-defense and duress.

In her article titled “Survival Homicide,” published in Cardozo Law Review, Professor Buchhandler-Raphael proposes that state legislatures adopt a designated homicide offense tailored to survivors of domestic abuse who kill abusive intimate partners or other abusive family members. In her recent article titled “Compassionate Undercharging,” forthcoming in UC Davis Law Review, she defines “victimized offenders” as individuals who have experienced domestic abuse and kill either their abuser or a third party as a direct result of that abuse and argues that the criminal legal system should treat them more leniently. Her main thesis is that prosecutors should recognize the relationship between victimization and offending and refrain from filing murder charges in such cases, opting for lesser charges.

Professor Buchhandler-Raphael also studies police responses to domestic violence. In her article “Police Minimalism in Domestic Violence,” published in Arizona State Law Journal, she argues that police are ill-equipped to address the complexities of domestic violence. She advocates for the integration of civilian responders in domestic violence emergencies, either as independent responders or as co-responders alongside the police, depending on safety concerns and risk assessments.

Among others topics, Professor Buchhandler-Raphael explores the relationship between over-criminalization and over-enforcement on the one hand and under-criminalization and under-enforcement of specific crimes, such as sex crimes, on the other. In her article titled “Underprosecution Too,” she argues that prosecutors frequently decline to pursue rape and other sexual offenses based on the assessment that juries are unlikely to convict, and she calls for greater consideration of victims’ interests in charging decisions.

Professor Buchhandler-Raphael’s articles have been published or forthcoming in leading flagship law journals including Washington University Law Review, UC Davis Law Review, Arizona State Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review (twice), Florida State Law Review, University of Richmond Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, Temple Law Review, and Tennessee Law Review. Her work has also been cited in widely used Criminal Law casebooks and features in the media, including in the New York Times.

Professor Buchhandler-Raphael has extensive practice experience in criminal investigations, after serving for nine years in the Israel National Police. As a legal counsel with its Headquarters’ Investigation Division, she drafted legal guidelines, provided legal opinion to various police units, and served as a liaison between the Israel National Police and the Israel Attorney General’s office. Her professional background also includes military service in the Intelligence Directorate of the Israeli Defense Forces.

As a proud naturalized American citizen, an immigrant from her native country of Israel, and a first-generation college and law school graduate, Professor Buchhandler-Raphael is deeply committed to enhancing all forms of belonging and inclusion at Widener Law Commonwealth and the Harrisburg community.

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