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Proportionality And Punishment: Imposing Life Without Parole On Juveniles, Wayne A. Logan Oct 1998

Proportionality And Punishment: Imposing Life Without Parole On Juveniles, Wayne A. Logan

Scholarly Publications

The Eighth Amendment provides that “no cruel and unusual punishment shall be inflicted.” The Supreme Court has interpreted to this to mean a punishment cannot be “grossly disproportionate” to the crime. In this article, the author addresses whether an offender's age should play a role in assessing whether a sentence is “grossly disproportionate.” Specifically, the author addresses the increasingly common practice of imposing life without parole on offenders who are under sixteen years of age at the time they committed their offense, and whether such offenders’ youthful status should play a role in proportionality analysis. The article first provides an …


Coping With "Loss": A Re-Examination Of Sentencing Federal Economic Crimes Under The Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman Iii Apr 1998

Coping With "Loss": A Re-Examination Of Sentencing Federal Economic Crimes Under The Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

This Article has three objectives. First, it attempts to rethink the sentencing of federal economic criminals in light of the basic purposes of sentencing and of the Guidelines' particular structure and objectives. Second, it examines the deficiencies in the current sentencing guidelines regarding theft, fraud, and other economic crimes, and the problem areas in the case law construing those guidelines. Third, it proposes and analyzes a consolidated guideline, together with accompanying application notes, for sentencing virtually all theft and fraud cases (a draft of which follows the text of this Article as Appendix A).


Coping With "Loss": A Re-Examination Of Sentencing Federal Economic Crimes Under The Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman, Iii Apr 1998

Coping With "Loss": A Re-Examination Of Sentencing Federal Economic Crimes Under The Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman, Iii

Vanderbilt Law Review

The primary determinant of sentence length for federal economic criminals is the amount of "loss" resulting from an offender's conduct.' The idea of basing sentences for economic crimes primarily on "loss" has become the source of ongoing, complex, and proliferating disputes about what the term "loss" really means and how it should be interpreted in particular cases. The "loss" calculation is one of the most frequently litigated issues in federal sentencing law. There are at present splits of opinion between the federal circuits on at least eleven analytically distinct issues concerning the meaning and application of the "loss" concept. Even …


Is Hiv "Extraordinary"?, Jordan B. Hansell Feb 1998

Is Hiv "Extraordinary"?, Jordan B. Hansell

Michigan Law Review

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (the "Act") attempts to reduce inconsistencies in the sentences of defendants convicted of comparable crimes. The Act created a Sentencing Commission (the "Commission") and authorized it to promulgate a set of sentencing guidelines to steer judicial decisionmaking. To fulfill this mandate, the Commission drafted the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (the "Guidelines"), which Congress enacted in 1987. Although Congress wanted to eliminate sentencing disparities, it also wanted to allow some degree of individualized sentencing. To achieve the correct balance, the Commission created three categories of characteristics: those a court must consider in sentencing each defendant; those …


Lost Lives: Miscarriages Of Justice In Capital Cases, Samuel R. Gross Jan 1998

Lost Lives: Miscarriages Of Justice In Capital Cases, Samuel R. Gross

Articles

One of the longstanding complaints against the death penalty is that it "distort[s] the course of the criminal law."' Capital prosecutions are expensive and complicated; they draw sensational attention from the press; they are litigated-before, during, and after trial-at greater length and depth than other felonies; they generate more intense emotions, for and against; they last longer and live in memory. There is no dispute about these effects, only about their significance. To opponents of the death penalty, they range from minor to severe faults; to proponents, from tolerable costs to major virtues. ntil recently, however, the conviction of innocent …


A Rational Discussion Of Current Drug Laws, Nicholas Deb. Katzenbach Jan 1998

A Rational Discussion Of Current Drug Laws, Nicholas Deb. Katzenbach

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article that declaring a "war" on drugs was bad policy. It argues that the bad effects of the laws against drugs outweigh its benefits and argues for a new approach to legislation on drug use.


Harnessing Payne: Controlling The Admission Of Victim Impact Statements To Safeguard Capital Sentencing Hearings From Passion And Prejudice, Beth E. Sullivan Jan 1998

Harnessing Payne: Controlling The Admission Of Victim Impact Statements To Safeguard Capital Sentencing Hearings From Passion And Prejudice, Beth E. Sullivan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article begins by tracing the historical development of victim impact evidence through Supreme Court jurisprudence and state legislation and analyzes their use in the sentencing of phase capital punishment trials. It argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Payne V Tennessee allowing a jury to consider victim impact evidence in capital punishment sentencing is troublesome in light of a capital punishment defendant's constitutional rights, the history of the death penalty and traditional sentencing procedures. It concludes with a proposal for guidelines to regulates the use of such evidence in capital punishment sentencing,


On Seeking Controlling Law And Re-Seeking Death Under Section 2929.06 Of The Ohio Revised Code , Margery B. Koosed Jan 1998

On Seeking Controlling Law And Re-Seeking Death Under Section 2929.06 Of The Ohio Revised Code , Margery B. Koosed

Cleveland State Law Review

This article explores and analyzes the two-pronged legal dilemma that confronted the court in State v. Marshall: in Ohio, finding the correct sentencing law is often difficult; and a recent amendment to the resentencing portion of that law, S.B. 258, destroys the efficiency that was characteristic of Ohio's previous resentencing framework. Consequently, Part II of this article examines the facts and holding of State v. Marshall and suggests that finding the applicable law must be simplified. Practitioner handbooks are often confusing and incomplete, in part as the Ohio legislature generates an ever-changing body of law. Justice and the lives of …