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In Search Of Gideon's Promise: Lessons From England And The Need For Federal Help, Norman Lefstein

UC Law Journal

A significant national problem is the enduring widespread crisis in providing adequate legal representation for indigent defendants in state criminal prosecutions. Insufficient funding and lack of oversight undermines the quality of public defense delivery systems while constantly risking the conviction of innocent persons. Thus, the Constitution's promise of counsel, first recognized in 1963 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright, remains unfulfilled. This Article, which draws upon an in-depth study of English criminal legal aid, focuses on sources of funding, selection of counsel by the client, and programs to monitor the quality of representation. Comparing the current American …

The Use Of Rules And Standards To Define A Transsexual's Sex For The Pupose Of Marriage: An Argument For A Hybrid Approach, Briana Lynn Morgan

UC Law Journal

The treatment of transsexuals under marital law has been conflicting. Though legislatures in many jurisdictions have limited marriage to one man and one woman, "man" and "woman" have not been adequately defined. Courts have employed a variety of tests in determining which gender to assign transsexuals, ranging from a hard-line rule of what sex the transsexual was born with, to multi-factored tests based on scientific definitions of gender. This conflict among the courts reflects a broader "rules vs. standards" debate in the law, the former providing clarity in the resolution of disputes, and the latter allowing for flexibility by the …

Federalism And The Federal Criminal Law, Craig M. Bradley

UC Law Journal

The Supreme Court's decisions in United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison have raised serious questions about the scope of Congress's commerce clause jurisdiction in creating federal crimes. This Article analyzes those cases as well as Jones v. United States, and other Supreme Court cases interpreting federal criminal laws, in order to assess the current scope of federal commerce clause jurisdiction.

It concludes that while it is not the intent of the Supreme Court to cut serious inroads into federal jurisdiction, the impact of Lopez and Morrison is greater than the lower federal courts have recognized. In particular, …

Pride And Prejudice And Proof: Quotidian Factfinding And Rules Of Evidence, Rosanna Cavallaro

UC Law Journal

This Article considers the novel Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, as a work of literature that invites the reader and legal scholar to reflect on the modes of proof we use in our quotidian factfinding, and how they vary from those available to adjudicatory factflnders under existing rules of evidence. In particular, the novel allows those interested in intersections between law and literature to explore the preferencing of live testimony as against hearsay; the use of character or propensity evidence; and the balance between truthseeking and confidentiality that underlies rules of privilege. Sometimes augmenting traditional legal and social science …