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St. Thomas University College of Law

2019

Law

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A Blind Spot In Miranda Rights: Juveniles' Lack Of Understanding Regarding, Wadad Barakat Jan 2019

A Blind Spot In Miranda Rights: Juveniles' Lack Of Understanding Regarding, Wadad Barakat

St. Thomas Law Review

This Comment addresses the negative implications of juveniles who waive their Miranda rights due to lack of knowledge, fear, and lack of cognitive capabilities." First, this Comment will provide insight regarding the Fifth Amendment, the history of Miranda, and key cases that lead to the reform of Miranda. Second, this Comment will discuss juveniles' perspective of the Miranda language along with the police's perspective. In particular, it will emphasize the complexity of the language as it stands today and how juveniles' cognitive abilities are insufficiently developed to understand it. Lastly, this Comment will propose guidelines to prevent minors from giving …


Protecting Our Pets: Courtroom Advocate Or Special Prosecutor?, Tamara Winkler Jan 2019

Protecting Our Pets: Courtroom Advocate Or Special Prosecutor?, Tamara Winkler

St. Thomas Law Review

This Comment seeks to evaluate the current legal landscape surrounding animal cruelty laws, with a specific focus on Desmond's Law and O.R.C. § 2931.18. Connecticut's new law has placed a spotlight on an area of the law which has not been given the priority it so desperately needs. Animal cruelty is a type of interpersonal violence that does not occur in isolation, and placing more importance on animal cruelty laws can help prevent violence against humans. First, this Comment will provide a history of animal rights laws around the globe, followed by a detailed discussion of why animal abuse issues …


Florida's Direct File Statute: A Prosecutor's Playground, Kristen Chirino Jan 2019

Florida's Direct File Statute: A Prosecutor's Playground, Kristen Chirino

St. Thomas Law Review

This Comment will examine the advantages and disadvantages of direct file statutes, focusing primarily on Florida. Part II of this Comment analyzes the three different types of waiver-judicial, legislative, and prosecutorial-and discusses Florida's juvenile transfer laws, specifically Florida's direct file statute. Part III discusses the issues stemming from Florida's direct file statute, particularly that the statute is arbitrary, does not deter crime, increases recidivism, and goes against the Supreme Court finding that juveniles are different from adults. Lastly, Part IV proposes to eliminate discretionary prosecutorial direct file, and how the Florida Legislature can limit prosecutors' discretionary power in the meantime.


To Friend Or To Unfriend?: It's Time To Update The Status On What It Means To Be Facebook Friends, Carolina A. Del Campo Jan 2019

To Friend Or To Unfriend?: It's Time To Update The Status On What It Means To Be Facebook Friends, Carolina A. Del Campo

St. Thomas Law Review

This comment analyzes what a Facebook friendship encompasses in the legal profession and focuses on what courts, specifically Florida, recognize this relationship to mean. Part II provides an overview of the process for judicial disqualification and reviews the opinions released by the Florida Judicial Ethics Committee regarding judicial participation on social media." Part III discusses how traditional friendships have been considered in regards to judicial disqualification and compares what other states have understood a Facebook friendship to encompass versus what Florida has concluded. Lastly, Part IV proposes a new Judicial Ethics Opinion that reflects a more modernized understanding of the …


Human Dignity: The Clandestine Factor In Prosecutorial Discretion, Tamara F. Lawson Jan 2019

Human Dignity: The Clandestine Factor In Prosecutorial Discretion, Tamara F. Lawson

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

Justice and human dignity have an organic and symbiotic relationship. The American Bar Association's Functions and Duties of the Prosecutor Standard 3-1.2(a) outlines that "[t]he prosecutor is an administrator of justice . . . [and] should exercise sound discretion and independent judgement in the performance of the prosecution function." The ABA standards further prohibit improper bias2 and proscribe a duty to report and respond to prosecutorial misconduct.3 ABA Standard 3-1.2(b) states: "The primary duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice within the bounds of the law, not merely to convict." 4 Although rarely openly discussed, I ask now, is …


The Toll Of American Exceptionalism On American Justice, Jay Sterling Silver Jan 2019

The Toll Of American Exceptionalism On American Justice, Jay Sterling Silver

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

Early in his presidency, Barak Obama observed that "the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas." The American exceptionalism police were quick to charge him with heresy. Then Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal lamented, for example, that "[t]his is a president who won't proudly proclaim American exceptionalism, maybe the first president ever who …