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Constitutional Law

Death penalty

Fordham Law School

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Constitutional Challenges To New York State's Death Penalty Statute, John M. Shields Jan 1998

Constitutional Challenges To New York State's Death Penalty Statute, John M. Shields

Fordham Urban Law Journal

New York State's death penalty statute is constitutionally flawed in many respects. It violates the state and federal prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and provides unrestricted prosecutorial discretion to pursue the death penalty. This standardless and unfettered discretion creates the risk of arbitrary or discriminatory application of capital punishment.


Lethal Fiction: The Meaning Of "Counsel" In The Sixth Amendment , Bruce A. Green Jan 1992

Lethal Fiction: The Meaning Of "Counsel" In The Sixth Amendment , Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Charles Bell, Donald Paradis, and Shirley Tyler were tried in different states for murder. Each was convicted and sentenced to death. Charles Bell was represented at trial by a recent law school graduate who had never before tried a criminal case to completion. Donald Paradis's lawyer had passed the bar exam six months earlier, had never previously represented a criminal accused, and had not elected courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, or trial advocacy while in law school. Shirley Tyler's trial lawyer was also a member of the bar for only a few months. He had defended one previous assault …