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2010-2011 Fordham Law School Faculty Bibliography, Fordham Law School Library Oct 2010

2010-2011 Fordham Law School Faculty Bibliography, Fordham Law School Library

Faculty Bibliography

No abstract provided.


Harry F. Connick V. John Thompson, Anthony Barkow, Martin Siegel Aug 2010

Harry F. Connick V. John Thompson, Anthony Barkow, Martin Siegel

Amicus Briefs

No abstract provided.


Faculty Spotlight Journal 2010, Fordham Law Communications Jan 2010

Faculty Spotlight Journal 2010, Fordham Law Communications

Faculty Spotlight Journal

Excerpts from articles by: Jennifer Gordon; Youngjae Lee; Robin A. Lenhardt John Pfaff; Aaron Saiger; faculty bibliography


Getting A Fix On Cocaine Sentencing Policy: Reforming The Sentencing Scheme Of The Anti-Drug Abuse Act Of 1986, Alyssa L. Beaver Jan 2010

Getting A Fix On Cocaine Sentencing Policy: Reforming The Sentencing Scheme Of The Anti-Drug Abuse Act Of 1986, Alyssa L. Beaver

Fordham Law Review

The now-infamous “War on Drugs” campaign of the 1980s culminated in the adoption of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which included a provision for a one-hundred-to-one sentencing ratio of powder cocaine to crack cocaine. This ratio provides that the penalty for a crime involving five or ten grams of crack cocaine is equivalent to the sentence for a crime involving five hundred or one thousand grams of powder cocaine. This structure has led to a racial disparity in sentencing because African Americans are more often charged with a crack cocaine offense than Caucasians, who are usually indicted for powder …


The Durability Of Prison Populations, John F. Pfaff Jan 2010

The Durability Of Prison Populations, John F. Pfaff

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Deontology, Political Morality, And The State Symposium: Political Theory And Criminal Punishment, Youngjae Lee Jan 2010

Deontology, Political Morality, And The State Symposium: Political Theory And Criminal Punishment, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

Sometimes the government makes a policy choice, and, as a result, innocent persons die. How should we morally assess such deaths? For instance, is the government’s choice of the reasonable doubt standard or its decision to restrict the death penalty to certain narrow categories responsible for deaths of innocents? If so, does the deontological norm against harming people dictate that the government loosen the evidentiary standard for conviction or widen the availability of capital punishment? This Article argues that the traditional distinctions between intending and foreseeing harm and between causing harm and allowing harm to occur are insufficient to absolve …


Dna And Due Process, Brandon L. Garrett Jan 2010

Dna And Due Process, Brandon L. Garrett

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court in District Attorney’s Office v. Osborne confronted novel and complex constitutional questions regarding the postconviction protections offered to potentially innocent convicts. Two decades after DNA testing exonerated the first inmate in the United States, the Court heard its first claim by a convict seeking DNA testing that could prove innocence. I argue that, contrary to early accounts, the Court did not reject a constitutional right to postconviction DNA testing. Despite language suggesting the Court would not “constitutionalize the issue” by announcing an unqualified freestanding right, Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion proceeded to carefully fashion an important, …


To Catch A Predator Or To Save His Marriage: Advocating For An Expansive Child Abuse Exception To The Marital Privileges In Federal Courts, Emily C. Aldridge Jan 2010

To Catch A Predator Or To Save His Marriage: Advocating For An Expansive Child Abuse Exception To The Marital Privileges In Federal Courts, Emily C. Aldridge

Fordham Law Review

In prosecutions for child abuse, the government’s most valuable witness is often the defendant’s spouse. Ordinarily, the marital privileges allow a witness to refuse to testify or a defendant to bar his or her spouse’s testimony. When a defendant is on trial for a crime committed against a child, however, the privileges are unavailable. Although this exception aims to serve justice on behalf of innocent children, its applicability often hinges on the relationship between perpetrator and victim. In some federal courts, the minor victim must be the child or stepchild of the defendant, while others have held the exception applicable …


Baseless Pleas: A Mockery Of Justice, Mari Byrne Jan 2010

Baseless Pleas: A Mockery Of Justice, Mari Byrne

Fordham Law Review

This Note addresses the ethicality of the baseless plea, a guilty plea entered by a defendant for a crime that everyone in the courtroom—judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, and defendant—knows the defendant did not commit. Used in the interest of efficiency and leniency, the baseless plea allows a defendant to plead guilty to a crime that has no basis in the facts of the case. Though used by courts in numerous jurisdictions, baseless pleas have been largely unaddressed as courts have sought to conceal the practice and as commentators have therefore failed to detect it. This Note seeks to remedy that …


Matters Of Public Safety And The Current Quarrel Over The Scope Of The Quarles Exception To Miranda, Rorie A. Norton Jan 2010

Matters Of Public Safety And The Current Quarrel Over The Scope Of The Quarles Exception To Miranda, Rorie A. Norton

Fordham Law Review

In October 1984, the Burger Court set forth an exception to the Miranda doctrine in New York v. Quarles permitting officers to intentionally abstain from administering Miranda warnings to suspects where a threat to the safety of the public or officers exists. However, latent ambiguity arising from the Quarles decision authored by Justice William Rehnquist has resulted in a split among the federal courts of appeals as to what constitutes a “public safety threat.” Some courts broadly extend the Quarles exception to inherently dangerous situations, including the threat of an officer mishandling an undiscovered weapon. Other courts narrowly apply Quarles …


Lightening The Load: Whether The Burden Of Proof For Overcoming A Patent's Presumption Of Validity Should Be Lowered, Kristen Dietly Jan 2010

Lightening The Load: Whether The Burden Of Proof For Overcoming A Patent's Presumption Of Validity Should Be Lowered, Kristen Dietly

Fordham Law Review

Patents fuel innovation and are becoming an ever-more important form of protection in this technological age. Society also has a vested interest in only valid patents being issued and enforced. Patents are presumed valid once they are issued and also currently enjoy the application of a heavy burden of proof—clear and convincing evidence—to overcome that presumption when their validity is questioned at trial. This burden has started to be questioned as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office becomes more taxed by the increasing influx of patent applications. Current precedent conflicts with past precedent and with general principles of administrative law. …


In The Wake Of Empagran – Lights Out On Foreign Activity Falling Under Sherman Act Jurisdiction? Courts Carve Out A Prevailing Standard, Kelly L. Tucker Jan 2010

In The Wake Of Empagran – Lights Out On Foreign Activity Falling Under Sherman Act Jurisdiction? Courts Carve Out A Prevailing Standard, Kelly L. Tucker

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.


Moving Targets: Placing The Good Faith Doctrine In The Context Of Fragmented Policing, Hadar Aviram, Jeremy Seymour, Richard A. Leo Jan 2010

Moving Targets: Placing The Good Faith Doctrine In The Context Of Fragmented Policing, Hadar Aviram, Jeremy Seymour, Richard A. Leo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The debate sparked by Herring v. United States is a microcosm of the quintessential debate about the scope of the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule and ultimately the appropriate breadth of police authority and constitutional review by courts. Offering a new reading of the decision, this article argues that Herring reflects a healthy dosage of real politic and an acknowledgment that American policing is characterized by a fragmented, localized structure with little overview and control, and much reliance on local agencies. Part I presents the authors’ interpretation of Herring as a case hinging upon the question “who made the mistake?” as …


The Rise And Fall Of Employer Sanctions, David Bacon, Bill O. Hing Jan 2010

The Rise And Fall Of Employer Sanctions, David Bacon, Bill O. Hing

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Decriminalizing Border Crossings, Victor C. Romero Jan 2010

Decriminalizing Border Crossings, Victor C. Romero

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Forensic Science: Why No Research?, Paul C. Giannelli Jan 2010

Forensic Science: Why No Research?, Paul C. Giannelli

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The ground-breaking report on forensic science by the National Academy of Sciences—Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward—raised numerous issues. One dominant theme that runs throughout the Report is the failure of some forensic science disciplines to comport with fundamental scientific principles—in particular, to support claims with empirical research. This essay attempts to answer the “why” question: Why was there a lack of research across so many forensic disciplines? For purposes of discussion, the time frame is divided into an early period and a recent period. The line of demarcation between the two eras is the advent …


The Nas Report: In Pursuit Of Justice, Geoffrey S. Mearns Jan 2010

The Nas Report: In Pursuit Of Justice, Geoffrey S. Mearns

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the NSA report entitled “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.” It argues that law enforcement officials should embrace the recommendations in the NAS report. The Committee identified many of the systemic problems that plague forensic science, and the report identified thirteen specific recommendations to address these systemic problems.


Access To Justice: Some Historical Comments, Lawrence M. Friedman Jan 2010

Access To Justice: Some Historical Comments, Lawrence M. Friedman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article sets out some preliminary thoughts on what "access to justice" might mean, and comment on how access to justice has fared historically.


Instrumentalizing Jurors: An Argument Against The Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule, Todd E. Pettys Jan 2010

Instrumentalizing Jurors: An Argument Against The Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule, Todd E. Pettys

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this symposium contribution, I contend that the application of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule in cases tried by juries raises troubling moral issues that are not present when a judge adjudicates a case on his or her own. Specifically, I argue that the exclusionary rule infringes upon jurors’ deliberative autonomy by depriving them of available evidence that rationally bears upon their verdict and by instrumentalizing them in service to the Court’s deterrence objectives. After considering ways in which those moral problems could be at least partially mitigated, I contend that the best approach might be to abandon the exclusionary …


The 'New' Exclusionary Rule Debate: From 'Still Preoccupied With 1985' To 'Virtual Deterrence', Donald A. Dripps Jan 2010

The 'New' Exclusionary Rule Debate: From 'Still Preoccupied With 1985' To 'Virtual Deterrence', Donald A. Dripps

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The justices of the Supreme Court have drawn new battle lines over the exclusionary rule. In Hudson v. Michigan, 547 U.S. 586 (2006), a five-justice majority, over a strong dissent, went out of the way to renew familiar criticisms of the rule. Just this January, in Herring v. United States, 129 S.Ct. 695 (2009), the justices again divided five to four. This time the dissenters raised the ante, by arguing that the Court's cost-benefit approach to applying the rule is misguided. For the first time since Justice Brennan left the Court, some of the justices appealed to broader justifications for …


Databases, Doctrine, And Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Erin Murphy Jan 2010

Databases, Doctrine, And Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Erin Murphy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Over the past twenty years there has been an explosion in the creation, availability, and use of criminal justice databases. Large scale database systems now routinely influence law enforcement decisions ranging from formal determinations to arrest or convict an individual to informal judgments to subject a person to secondary pre-flight screening or investigate possible gang membership. Evidence gathered from database-related sources is now commonly introduced, and can play a pivotal proof role, in criminal trials. Although much has been written about the failure of constitutional law to adequately respond to the threat to privacy rights posed by databases, less attention …


Welcome To Amerizona - Immigrants Out: Assessing Dystopian Dreams And Usable Futures Of Immigration Reform, And Considering Whether Immigration Regionalism Is An Idea Whose Time Has Come, Ketih Aoki, John Shuford Jan 2010

Welcome To Amerizona - Immigrants Out: Assessing Dystopian Dreams And Usable Futures Of Immigration Reform, And Considering Whether Immigration Regionalism Is An Idea Whose Time Has Come, Ketih Aoki, John Shuford

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Immigration Enforcement Versus Employment Law Enforcement: The Case For Integrated Protections In The Immigrant Workplace, Leticia M. Saucedo Jan 2010

Immigration Enforcement Versus Employment Law Enforcement: The Case For Integrated Protections In The Immigrant Workplace, Leticia M. Saucedo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost: Immigration Enforcement's Failed Experiment With Penal Severity, Teresa A. Miller Jan 2010

Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost: Immigration Enforcement's Failed Experiment With Penal Severity, Teresa A. Miller

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Whose Fault?—Daubert, The Nas Report, And The Notion Of Error In Forensic Science, D. Michael Risinger Jan 2010

Whose Fault?—Daubert, The Nas Report, And The Notion Of Error In Forensic Science, D. Michael Risinger

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The notion of “error” and “error rates” is central both to the Daubert opinion and to the recent NAS Report on the strengths and weaknesses of forensic science in the United States. I will not be attempting a full-scale examination of the concept of error in this paper, however, I believe there are some observations that can be made that may be helpful in domesticating in helpful ways the notion of error as it might apply to forensic science expertise. I conclude that we should work to improve diagnosticity for old processes, or to invent or adopt new ones with …


“Utterly Ineffective”: Do Courts Have A Role In Improving The Quality Of Forensic Expert Testimony?, Joseph Sanders Jan 2010

“Utterly Ineffective”: Do Courts Have A Role In Improving The Quality Of Forensic Expert Testimony?, Joseph Sanders

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In Part I, I review the NRC’s stated reasons for giving the courts little or no role in improving forensic evidence and argue that these reasons cannot explain the fact that the same courts have played a significant role in policing expertise in civil cases. Why then have courts been so reluctant to exclude forensic expert evidence? I explore this question in Part II. I argue that two deep seated factors: (1) the courts’ contextual approach to know-ledge, and (2) the limited ability of science to provide causal answers about the particular case, limit the courts’ willingness to raise admissibility …


Purple Haze (Book Review), Clare Huntington Jan 2010

Purple Haze (Book Review), Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

This is a review of Red Families v Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture. By Naomi Cahn & June Carbone. New York: Oxford University Press. 2010


Desert, Deontology, And Vengeance First Annual Edward J. Shoen Leading Scholars Symposium: Paul H. Robinson, Youngjae Lee Jan 2010

Desert, Deontology, And Vengeance First Annual Edward J. Shoen Leading Scholars Symposium: Paul H. Robinson, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

In a series of recent writings, Paul Robinson has defended “empirical desert” as the way of deriving distributive principles for determining who should be punished and by how much. Desert is, of course, an idea with a long history, and its precise role in criminal law has been much debated. In addressing various criticisms of desert in criminal law, Robinson distinguishes empirical desert from what he calls “deontological desert” and “vengeful desert.” Robinson’s strategy, which I call “divide and deflect,” fights off various objections traditionally leveled against the use of desert in criminal law by arguing that most of those …


Race Audits, Robin A. Lenhardt Jan 2010

Race Audits, Robin A. Lenhardt

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. Supreme Court’s race jurisprudence suffers from a stunning lack of imagination where possibilities for meaningful local government involvement in combating structural racial inequality are concerned. Cases such as Parents. and Ricci limit dramatically the freedom that localities have to address racial inequity within their borders. Instead of constraints on local efforts in the race context, Professor Lenhardt argues that what we need, if persistent racial inequalities are ever to be eliminated, is greater innovation and experimentation. In this article, Professor Lenhardt thus introduces an extra-judicial tool called the race audit, which would permit individual cities or a regional …


Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, And The Criminal Justice System, Deborah W. Denno Jan 2010

Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, And The Criminal Justice System, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.