Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Law
"Clientless" Prosecutors, Russell M. Gold
"Clientless" Prosecutors, Russell M. Gold
Georgia Law Review
Class counsel and prosecutors have a lot more in
common than scholars realize. Because these lawyers
have to make decisions on their client's behalf that clients
would make in other contexts, they prompt substantial
concerns about lawyers' accountability to their clients.
Accordingly, there is a lot that each context can learn from
the other about how to hold these lawyers accountable.
This Article considers what criminal law can learn from
class action law. Its central insights are first that diffuse
entities comprised largely of apathetic individuals cannot
be expected to hold their lawyers accountable. And second,
to combat that accountability …
The Under-Appreciated Value Of Advisory Guidelines, Erica J. Hashimoto
The Under-Appreciated Value Of Advisory Guidelines, Erica J. Hashimoto
Scholarly Works
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 provided that the trial court "shall impose a sentence of the kind, and within the range" set forth in the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines") issued by the Sentencing Commission. With that one phrase, the Act created a system of guidelines that was binding upon judges, rather than simply advisory. Concerns about excessive disparity and undue leniency in sentencing unquestionably drove the political coalition that passed the Act. It is not clear, however, why Congress believed that mandatory-as opposed to advisory-guidelines were necessary to address those concerns. With the benefit of hindsight, it is …
"Possessing With Intent To Distribute" Under The Schoolyard Statute, Sonja R. West
"Possessing With Intent To Distribute" Under The Schoolyard Statute, Sonja R. West
Scholarly Works
This Comment proposes that courts should explicitly rather than implicitly distinguish the different types of defendants accused of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances within a school zone. Part I reviews the current state of the law on this issue and presents the legislative history and textual arguments involved in the debate over the mens rea requirement. Part II examines the factual circumstances at issue in the relevant cases and concludes that these factual circumstances, rather than competing statutory interpretations, lead to *1401 the different results. Finally, Part III emphasizes the need to recognize these implicit categories of offenses …
The Standard Of Review For The Voluntariness Of A Confession On Direct Appeal In Federal Court, Peter B. Rutledge
The Standard Of Review For The Voluntariness Of A Confession On Direct Appeal In Federal Court, Peter B. Rutledge
Scholarly Works
Section I of this Comment reviews the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on confessions, provides a close reading of Miller v. Finton, 474 U.S. 104 (1985), and reviews the division among the federal circuits over the standard of review for voluntariness determinations on direct appeal. Section II analyzes the literature on standards of review and focuses on two vexing problems in this field-the application of law to fact (hereinafter "mixed questions") and the constitutional fact doctrine. These two issues frame the analysis of voluntariness determinations. Section III analyzes these determinations and defends the application of de novo review in cases on …
Material Witness And Material Injustice, Ronald L. Carlson, Mark S. Voelpel
Material Witness And Material Injustice, Ronald L. Carlson, Mark S. Voelpel
Scholarly Works
No serious student of the adversary system can ignore the grave threat to the integrity of the American witness process posed by this nation’s material witness statutes. These outmoded laws, some dating back to the territorial period of a state’s history, are not invoked in every case, perhaps not even routinely, but when dusted off and put into operation, these archaic statutes result in innocent citizens spending weeks – even months – in custody. To remedy such injustices the authors, after examining cases decided and legislation adopted during the last ten years, will propose a model material witness law that …