Law Commons^™

Beyond Finality: How Making Criminal Judgments Less Final Can Further The Interests Of Finality, Andrew Chongseh Kim

Andrew Chongseh Kim

Courts and scholars commonly assume that granting convicted defendants more liberal rights to challenge their judgments would harm society’s interests in “finality.” According to conventional wisdom, finality in criminal judgments is necessary to conserve resources, encourage efficient behavior by defense counsel, and deter crime. Thus, under the common analysis, the extent to which convicted defendants should be allowed to challenge their judgments depends on how much society is willing to sacrifice to validate defendants’ rights. This Article argues that expanding defendants’ rights on post-conviction review does not always harm these interests. Rather, more liberal review can often conserve state resources, …

"Shut Up. Pay More. This Is What You Voted For." Why You Don't See Me At San Francisco's Hall Of Justice., David D. Butler

David D. Butler

This 2,285 essay combines California's often violent history with European and American high and low culture to explain my decision to leave San Francisco in the 1970's and to study and practice law in other states. At the time, I was platflorm man (operator) on the 30 Stockton electric trolley through South of Market, the Financial District, Chinatown, Pacific Heights, and the Marina. Nevertheless, at the time the Nation of Islam had at least one armed group, the Zebra killers, murdering Whites, often slowly with machetes. I joined the White, Middle-Class, Taxpaying majority in their diaspora to safer places. My …

No Prisoner Left Behind? Enhancing Public Transparency Of Penal Institutions, Andrea Armstrong

Andrea Armstrong

Prisoners suffer life-long debilitating effects of their incarceration, making them a subordinated class of people for life. This article examines how prison conditions facilitate subordination and concludes that enhancing transparency is the first step towards equality. Anti-subordination efforts led to enhanced transparency in schools, a similar but not identical institution. This article argues that federal school transparency measures provide a rudimentary and balanced framework for enhancing prison transparency.

An Anachronism Too Discordant To Be Suffered: A Comparative Study Of Parliamentary And Presidential Approaches To Regulation Of The Death Penalty, Derek R. Verhagen

Derek R VerHagen

It is well-documented that the United States remains the only western democracy to retain the death penalty and finds itself ranked among the world's leading human rights violators in executions per year. However, prior to the Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976, ending America's first and only moratorium on capital punishment, the U.S. was well in line with the rest of the civilized world in its approach to the death penalty. This Note argues that America's return to the death penalty is based primarily on the differences between classic parliamentary approaches to regulation and that of the American presidential system. …

U.S. Government Counterterrorism Asset Freezes: Regulatory Seizures In A Digital Age Of Terrorism, Adam S. Wallwork

Adam S Wallwork

This Article addresses the question of when, if ever, the Department of the Treasury’s counterterrorism asset freezes against US persons (US citizens, resident aliens, and US-based organizations) violate the Fourth Amendment. It addresses two questions that currently divide the federal courts: (1) whether OFAC blocking orders are seizures subject to the Fourth Amendment and (2) whether the Fourth Amendment’s warrant and probable-cause requirements apply to OFAC counterterrorism blocking orders if these orders are in fact seizures.

My Originalist analysis of OFAC counterterrorism blocking orders draws on evidence of the Framers’ original understanding of “unreasonable . . . seizures,” including the …

An Exploratory Study Of Investment Compliance Management In The Enron Collapse, Valencia Tamir Johnson Dr.

Valencia T Johnson

This paper is to critique a thesis titled An Exploratory Study of Investment Compliance Management in the Enron Collapse (2013). This thesis can be found on the IBLS database, and on the Thomas Jefferson School of Law record database. This paper mentions the Enron scandal that played a major role in shaking investors’ and stakeholders’ confidence, in part because the corporation’s administrators were able to conceal its losses for nearly five years. This thesis examines the history of Enron and describes the circumstances leading up to its collapse in 2001, paying particular attention to the violation of corporate governance laws …

Detention Of Children Under Vietnamese Administrative Law: Is It Criminal?, Cheryl J. Lorens

Cheryl J Lorens

In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the administrative law system permits executive authorities to detain children who have committed minor violations of the law for up to two years in reform schools. Under Vietnamese law these children have not committed a criminal offence and remain outside the protections of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). However, the Human Rights Committee allows for the full application of Article 14 and the right to a fair trial to situations where individuals are charged with offences under laws distinct from the criminal law, but which are nevertheless …

Plugging The School-To-Prison Pipeline By Improving Behavior And Protecting Core Judicial Functions, Patrick Metze

Patrick Metze

The consolidation of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) into the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) in 2011, produced a unified state juvenile justice agency to promote public safety first and to produce positive outcomes for youth, families, and communities second. As Professor Metze’s second paper discussing ways to effect a change in the School-to-Prison Pipeline, he first highlights the progress of TJJD’s use of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in the Texas juvenile correctional context as continued evidence that such techniques, if effective in the correctional setting, will certainly work in the …

The Piranha Is As Deadly As The Shark: A Case For The Limitation On Deceptive Practices In Dna Collection, Brett A. Bauman

Brett A Bauman

Police deception tactics are utilized throughout the United States as a way to catch unsuspecting criminals. Although criticized in many respects, most deceptive police techniques are not only legal, but are actually encouraged. DNA collection and analysis is no exception—techniques are frequently used by law enforcement officers in an attempt to collect a suspect’s genetic specimen in the interest of solving crimes. While law enforcement officers typically have the best interests of society in mind, the current practices employed by officers to collect suspects’ DNA violate the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment provides protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and …

Los Derechos De La Personalidad De Los Menores De Edad, Leysser L. Leon

Leysser L. León

Entrevista sobre los derechos de la personalidad de los menores de edad, a propósito de la divulgación mediática de la imagen y vida privada de los niños y adolescentes homicidas o infractores de leyes penales en general.

Holmes And The Common Law: A Jury's Duty, Matthew P. Cline

Matthew P Cline

The notion of a small group of peers whose responsibility it is to play a part in determining the outcome of a trial is central to the common conception of the American legal system. Memorialized in the Constitution of the United States as a fundamental right, and in the national consciousness as the proud, if begrudged, duty of all citizens, juries are often discussed, but perhaps not always understood. Whatever misunderstandings have come to be, certainly many of them sprang from the juxtaposition of jury and judge. Why do we have both? How are their responsibilities divided? Who truly decides …

The Mental Element Of The Crime Of Genocide, Devrim Aydin

devrim aydin

No abstract provided.

Punishment And Rights, Benjamin L. Apt

Benjamin L. Apt

Prevalent theories of criminal punishment lack a rationale for the precise duration and nature of state-ordered criminal punishment. In practice, too, criminal penalization suffers from inadequate evidence of punitive efficacy. These deficiencies, in theory and in fact, would not be so grave were the state to enjoy unfettered power over the disposition of criminal penalties. However, in societies that recognize legal rights, criminal punishments must be consistent with rights. Efficacy, even where demonstrable, does not suffice as a legal justification for punishment. This article analyzes the source of rights and how they function as primary rules in a legal system. …

Guns, Violence, And Schools: Policies To Prevent And Respond To School Shootings, Mark A. Velez

Mark A. Velez

The United States continues to deal with school shootings. The most recent massacre occurred in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Several strategies have been used to try and prevent such tragedies from happening. These strategies have included tough gun laws, gun-free school zones, and updating school policies and infrastructure. However, despite these, and other, strategies, school shootings continue to occur. Unfortunately, when a school shooting occurs, school personnel and children are left helpless until the police arrive or the shooter decides to end the rampage. During this time many lives may be lost. Therefore, it …

Cipa V. State Secrets: How A Few Mistakes Confused Two Important National Security Privileges, Elisa Poteat

Elisa Poteat

No abstract provided.

Oppositional Politics In Criminal Law And Procedure, Janet Moore

Janet Moore

There is a democracy deficit at the intersection of crime, race, and poverty. The causes and consequences of hyperincarceration disproportionately affect those least likely to mount an effective oppositional politics: poor people and people of color. This Article breaks new ground by arguing that the democracy deficit calls for a democracy-enhancing theory of criminal law and procedure that modifies traditional justifications of retributivism, deterrence, and rehabilitation by prioritizing self-governance. Part I contextualizes the argument within cyclical retrenchments across movements for racial and economic justice. Part II sketches the contours of a democracy-enhancing theory. Part III turns that theoretical lens on …

Guns, Violence, And School Shootings: A Policy Change To Arm Some Teachers And School Personnel, Mark A. Velez

Mark A. Velez

The United States continues to deal with school shootings. The most recent massacre occurred in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Several strategies have been used to try and prevent such tragedies from happening. These strategies have included tough gun laws, gun-free school zones, and updating school policies and infrastructure. However, despite these, and other, strategies, school shootings continue to occur. Unfortunately, when a school shooting occurs, school personnel and children are left helpless until the police arrive or the shooter decides to end the rampage. During this time many lives may be lost. Therefore, it …

Costs Of Codification, Dru Stevenson

Dru Stevenson

Between the Civil War and World War II, every state and the federal government shifted toward codified versions of their statutes. Academia has so far ignored the systemic effects of this dramatic change. For example, the consensus view in the academic literature about rules and standards has been that precise rules present higher enactment costs for legislatures than would general standards, while vague standards present higher information costs for courts and citizens than do rules. Systematic codification – featuring hierarchical format and numbering, topical arrangement, and cross-references – inverts this relationship, lowering transaction costs for legislatures and increasing information costs …

Los Acuerdos En El Procedimiento Penal Según La Corte Constitucional Alemana, Dario Nicolas Rolon

Dario Nicolas Rolon

En este artículo me ocuparé de los argumentos de la sentencia relacionados con la validez constitucional del §257c StPO. Si bien la sentencia se refiere a la regulación en Alemania, los argumentos de la corte podrían ser extensibles al examen de la praxis y regulación normativa de los acuerdos en los sistemas procesales que han incorporado la figura del juicio abreviado o mecanismos similares de aceleración del proceso, y podría tener incidencia en las sentencias de los países de Europa que han legislado el acuerdo, como es el caso de España, así como también en prácticamente toda Latinoamérica y que …

Marijuana Impaired Driving: Proposed Updates To California Vehicle Code Sections 13353.2, 23152 & 23153, B. Otis Felder Esq.

B. Otis Felder Esq.

The article discusses the current problems in prosecuting driving under the influence of marijuana and the evolution of the paradigm in prosecuting driving under the influence of alcohol. To deter those who use marijuana from driving impaired, the article proposes that Sections 23152 and 23153 of California’s Vehicle Code, which govern driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, should be updated to set an objective limit. Whether a per se limit or an inference is implemented, the article also proposes that Vehicle Code Section 13343.2 be amended so as to authorize the California Department of Motor Vehicles to be …

Livelihood, Ability To Pay, And The Original Meaning Of The Excessive Fines Clause, Nicholas M. Mclean

Nicholas M. McLean

Most modern courts that have been called upon to interpret and apply the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment have concluded that a fine or forfeiture can be unconstitutionally excessive only if it is grossly disproportionate to its associated offense. However, in light of its text, history, and purpose, the Excessive Fines Clause is appropriately understood as encoding both a proportionality principle and a further limiting principle linking financial penalties to the personal circumstances and economic status of the offender. This Article seeks to address a significant and surprising gap in the extant literature by articulating and systematically developing …

A Right To Contribution And Federal Restitution Orders, Jonathan R. Hornok

Jonathan R. Hornok

Amy and Vicky are victims of two of the most widely traded series of child sex-abuse images. The Violence Against Women Act requires courts to order full restitution for these women. However, with millions of dollars in requested restitution and thousands of defendants, the United States courts of appeals are split over whether to interpret the mandatory restitution provision broadly (providing a victim with comprehensive recovery from each defendant) or narrowly (frequently allowing only limited, expensive, and time-consuming recovery from many defendants). Partially motivating this circuit split are courts’ opposing views on whether a defendant has a right to contribution …

Amicus Brief: State V. Glover (Maine Supreme Judicial Court), Adam Lamparello, Charles Maclean

Adam Lamparello

When law enforcement seeks to obtain a warrantless, pre-arrest DNA sample from an individual, that individual has the right to say “No.” If silence is to become a “badge of guilt,” then the right to silence—under the United States and Maine Constitutions—might become a thing of the past. Allowing jurors to infer consciousness of guilt from a pre-arrest DNA sample violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States and Maine Constitutions.

Illinois, Cook County, Nu Torture, Enslave, Chemical Weapons, Response To State Police Concerns That Concern With Torture,Enslavement, Chemical Weapons Use Is Harassment, James T. Struck

James T Struck

Illinois, Northwestern, Cook County, IIT Torture, Enslave, Genocide, Use chemical weapons against people who are different or have disability- Response to Illinois State Police that concerns with NU, Illinois, Cook County torture is harassment, Asylum Sought to Avoid Illinois Torture. Illinois steals disabled resources to fund Boeing involved in weapons sales, Relevant Law Repealed. All communication would end with enforcement of harassing communications acts as someone may not want communication. CRIMINAL OFFENSES(720 ILCS 135/) Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. (Repealed by P.A. 97-1108)Some of the firsts I have achieved Some libraries have a book called Famous First Facts edited by …

The Fourth Amendment's National Security Exception: Its History And Limits, L. Rush Atkinson

L. Rush Atkinson

Each year, federal agents conduct thousands of “national security investigations” into suspected spies, terrorists, and other foreign threats. The constitutional limits imposed by the Fourth Amendment, however, remain murky, and the extent to which national security justifies deviations from the Amendment’s traditional rules is unclear. With little judicial precedent on point, the gloss of past executive practice has become an important means for gauging the boundaries of today’s national security practices. Accounts of past executive practice, however, have thus far been historically incomplete, leading to distorted analyses of its precedential significance. Dating back to World War II, national security investigations …

Taking Mistakes Seriously, Paul J. Larkin Jr.

Paul J Larkin Jr.

There are two very different mistake doctrines in the law. The common law doctrine that ignorance of the law is no excuse gives no weight to reasonable, good faith mistakes insofar as criminal liability is concerned. By contrast, three related lines of decisions—the reasonable mistake exception to the exclusionary rule, the qualified immunity doctrine, and the harmless error doctrine—express great willingness to overlook reasonable, good faith mistakes that police officers, prosecutors, and judges make. That discrimination between private parties and government officials is unwarranted. There is no good reason to treat private parties systematically worse than public officials in this …

Parole: Corpse Or Phoenix?, Paul J. Larkin Jr.

Paul J Larkin Jr.

Parole, once praised for its contribution to the rehabilitative ideal and later vilified for its close association with the same goal, no longer plays a major role in the twenty-first century federal criminal justice system, having been replaced by fixed mandatory sentences and sentencing guidelines. Congress believed a mandatory Sentencing Guidelines system was the ideal means of ending or ameliorating the nationwide sentencing disparities that had plagued the federal criminal justice process for most of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, after initially and repeatedly upholding that mandatory Sentencing Guidelines system, the Supreme Court ultimately kicked that approach to the curb as …

Public Choice Theory And Overcriminalization, Paul J. Larkin Jr.

Paul J Larkin Jr.

“Overcriminalization” is a neologism used to describe the overuse and misuse of the criminal law, oftentimes to punish conduct that society traditionally would not deem morally blameworthy. Overcriminalization is less a problem with the substantive criminal law than it is with the lawmaking process. Each new criminal law or sentence enhancement may be eminently sensible on its own, but may turn out to be utterly unreasonable when considered against the background of laws already on the books. In economic terms, the marginal benefit of each new criminal law may be nil, yet the marginal cost that each one imposes could …

Aging Prisoners: A Brief Report Of Key Legal And Policy Dilemmas, Israel Doron Prof., Helene Love

Israel Doron Dr.

Abstract: Background: The social phenomenon of the aging of the prison population has raised various legal and policy challenges. Objective: The goal of this brief report is to describe the current key legal-policy dilemmas in this field. Methods: A computerized search for legal documents, articles and studies using relevant key words was conducted in computerized databases. Results: Five key dilemmas were found: (1) Early and compassionate release of older prisoners; (2) Segregation or integration of older prisoners; (3) Heaven or hell? The meaning of imprisonment in old age; (4) Fixed v. tailored sentences to older offenders; and (5) Is prison …