Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Taking The Punishment Out Of The Process: From Substantive Criminal Justice Through Procedural Justice To Restorative Justice, Brenda Sims Blackwell, Clark D. Cunningham Oct 2004

Taking The Punishment Out Of The Process: From Substantive Criminal Justice Through Procedural Justice To Restorative Justice, Brenda Sims Blackwell, Clark D. Cunningham

Law and Contemporary Problems

If the punishment is taken out of the process, and the processes of criminal justice become effective at restoration--and if rigorous empirical research might show that a restorative process costs less money and produces greater public safety--that would be a result everyone would embrace.


State, Be Not Proud: A Retributivist Defense Of The Commutation Of Death Row And The Abolition Of The Death Penalty, Dan Markel Sep 2004

State, Be Not Proud: A Retributivist Defense Of The Commutation Of Death Row And The Abolition Of The Death Penalty, Dan Markel

ExpressO

In the aftermath of Governor Ryan's decision last year to commute the sentences of each offender on Illinois' death row, various scholars have claimed that Ryan’s action was a “grave injustice” and, from a retributivist perspective, “an unmitigated moral disaster.” This Article contests that position, showing not only why a commutation of death row is permitted under principles of retributive justice, but also why it might be required. When properly understood, retributive justice, in its commitment to moral accountability and equal liberty, hinges on modesty and dignity in modes of punishment. In this vein, retributivism opposes the apparently ineluctable slide …


Left Out, Louis Michael Seidman Jul 2004

Left Out, Louis Michael Seidman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Seidman presents information on the collapse of the progressive left's position on criminal justice. The faltering of the left in this area is due to inherent contradictions in their position which have weakened their stance overall.


Does Criminal Law Deter? A Behavioral Science Investigation, Paul H. Robinson Jun 2004

Does Criminal Law Deter? A Behavioral Science Investigation, Paul H. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

Having a criminal justice system that imposes sanctions no doubt does deter criminal conduct. But available social science research suggests that manipulating criminal law rules within that system to achieve heightened deterrence effects generally will be ineffective. Potential offenders often do not know of the legal rules. Even if they do, they frequently are unable to bring this knowledge to bear in guiding their conduct, due to a variety of situational, social, or chemical factors. Even if they can, a rational analysis commonly puts the perceived benefits of crime greater than its perceived costs, due to a variety of criminal …


"Democratic Despotism" And Constitutional Constraint: An Empirical Analysis Of Ex Post Facto Claims In State Courts, Wayne A. Logan Feb 2004

"Democratic Despotism" And Constitutional Constraint: An Empirical Analysis Of Ex Post Facto Claims In State Courts, Wayne A. Logan

Scholarly Publications

This Article explores the history of the Ex Post Facto Clause, including the Supreme Court's seminal 1798 decision in Calder v. Bull, and analyzes the results of a survey of ex post facto claims decided in state courts from 1992-2002, the first study to catalog the types of claims generated among the states, and the institutional response of state courts to them. The author provides an overview of the claims resolved in state courts, examining the nature of the laws challenged, how the challenges fared, and the rationales used by courts in their dispositions. Discussion focuses on two abiding …


Punishment Evidence: Grunsfeld Ten Years Later., Edward L. Wilkinson Jan 2004

Punishment Evidence: Grunsfeld Ten Years Later., Edward L. Wilkinson

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article deals with the admissible evidence during the punishment phase of a non-capital trial in Texas. In 1989, the Texas Legislature amended Article 37.07, Section 3(a) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to widen the scope of evidence admissible during the punishment phase of a non-capital trial. Grunsfel v. State, the leading case, the Court of Criminal Appeals interpreted the statute so narrowly as to render the changes meaningless. In 1993, the legislature amended the statute a second time; it provided for a more expansive range of evidence to be introduced, but deleted a critical definition of what …


The Burdens Of Representing The Accused In An Age Of Harsh Punishment, Abbe Smith Jan 2004

The Burdens Of Representing The Accused In An Age Of Harsh Punishment, Abbe Smith

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Defenders bear witness to an awful social experiment gone awry. Punishment has taken the place of every other intervention because it is so simple. It divides the world neatly into good people and bad, the worthy and unworthy, victims and perpetrators. Once we punish the bad, the unworthy, the perpetrators, the rest of us can rest easy. We can say that we are different from them. We can wag our finger at them and assert our moral superiority. In this social and political climate, hardly anyone ever asks why. Why did this man or woman end up this way? What …