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Lost Souls: Constitutional Implications For The Deficiencies In Treatment For Persons With Mental Illness In Custody, Katherine L. Smith

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment explores systemic deficiencies of access to mental health care in prison systems and the Eighth Amendment implications of those deficiencies. Because the Eighth Amendment prohibits, among other things, infliction of cruel and unusual punishments, when denial of adequate mental health care results in undue suffering, the conditions of confinement may violate the Constitution. Therefore, there must be mechanisms in place to ensure necessary treatment is provided while protecting individual rights.

Part I of this Comment addresses the duty a state owes to those it incarcerates (e.g., to provide food, clothing, recreation, education, medical care) and what standards exist …

3d Printers, Obsolete Firearm Supply Controls, And The Right To Build Self-Defense Weapons Under Heller, Peter Jensen-Haxel

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment describes how 3D printers will render current firearm regulations obsolete by allowing individuals to easily produce firearms—production that, when exercised by law-abiding citizens, may be protected under the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. The regulatory system will be undermined in two phases. First, printers will be able to produce the only regulated piece of a firearm, the frame. Second, the printing of complete guns may be realized as 3D print technology advances or firearm design evolves. These developments, which could cause substantial changes in how both criminals and legitimate consumers obtain firearms, could …

"Reasonable Suspicion Plus": A Framework To Address Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's Concerns Of Mass Surveillance Without Compromising Police Effectiveness, Tyler R. Smith

Golden Gate University Law Review

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) provide law enforcement with a powerful tool to covertly investigate criminal networks. These networks, however, are often themselves technologically sophisticatedand thus able to elude police surveillance. GPS monitoring has drawn substantial criticism recently as police, in many jurisdictions, may utilize the technology without a search warrant; the issue has boiled down to whether the Fourth Amendment requires a search warrant in the first place.

This Comment argues that the Supreme Court should establish a new rule, “Reasonable Suspicion Plus,” that would require police to state in a sworn declaration particularized reasoning for use of a GPS …

The Sex Offender Registration And Notification Act: The Need To Break The Constitutional Mold, Bailey Bifoss

Golden Gate University Law Review

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is an example of legislation that utilizes the constitutional mold, as it contains a jurisdictional hook that expressly limits its application to activities that affect interstate commerce. SORNA’s jurisdictional hook states that a sex offender is guilty of violating its provisions if, after that offender travels in interstate commerce, he or she fails to register or update a registration as required. This hook provides federal jurisdiction over sex offenders even though SORNA’s purpose is to regulate criminal conduct and thus traditionally within the states’ power to regulate. SORNA, therefore, exemplifies the way …

United States V. Covarrubias: Does The Ninth Circuit Add To The Ambiguity Of The Inextricably Intertwined Exception?, Holly Larsen

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note discusses Covarrubias' facts and procedural history. Part III outlines the history of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, with an emphasis on the inextricably intertwined exception. Part IV analyzes the Ninth Circuit's reasoning in Covarrubias. Part V critiques this reasoning in light of the strong presumption against the finding of the application of the inextricably intertwined exception. Finally, Part VI concludes that the Ninth Circuit properly suppressed the defendant's incriminating statements obtained by I.N.S. Agent Gonzalez, but would have set forth a stronger position had the Ninth Circuit evaluated in addition, or, in the alternative, under the circumvention …

Freedom Of Speech After Justice Brennan, Marc Rohr

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article will explore the positions taken in a number of the most important areas of the law of freedom of speech by each of the Justices presently on the Court, and will attempt to suggest the extent to which protection of speech has been, or likely will be, diminished in the post-Brennan era. Obviously, not every aspect of the law of freedom of speech could be, or is, covered in this article. To that extent, any picture that emerges from the ensuing discussion may not be fully representative; the selected topics are, however, by their nature, highly indicative of …