Law Commons^™

America's Paper Prisons: The Second Chance Gap, Colleen Chien

Michigan Law Review

Over the last decade, dozens of states and the federal government have enacted “second chance” reforms that increase the eligibility of individuals arrested, charged, or convicted of crimes to shorten their sentences, clear their criminal records, and/or regain the right to vote. While much fanfare has accompanied the increasing availability of “second chances,” little attention has been paid to their delivery. This study introduces the concept of the “second chance gap,” which it defines as the difference between eligibility and delivery of second chance relief; explores its causes; and approximates its size in connection with several second chance laws and …

Disentangling Michigan Court Rule 6.502(G)(2): The "New Evidence" Exception To The Ban On Successive Motions For Relief From Judgment Does Not Contain A Discoverability Requirement, Claire V. Madill

Michigan Law Review

Michigan courts are engaging in a costly interpretative mistake. Confused by the relationship between two distinct legal doctrines, Michigan courts are conflating laws in a manner that precludes convicted defendants from raising their constitutional claims in postconviction proceedings. In Michigan, a convicted defendant who wishes to collaterally attack her conviction must file a 6.500 motion. The Michigan Court Rules generally prohibit “second or subsequent” motions. Nonetheless, section 6.502(G)(2) permits a petitioner to avoid this successive motion ban if her claim relies on “new evidence that was not discovered” before her original postconviction motion. Misguided by the similarity between the language …

Rethinking The Timing Of Capital Clemency , Adam M. Gershowitz

Michigan Law Review

This Article reviews every capital clemency over the last four decades. It demonstrates that in the majority of cases, the reason for commutation was known at the conclusion of direct appeals—years or even decades before the habeas process ended. Yet when governors or pardon boards actually commuted the death sentences, they typically waited until the eve of execution, with only days or hours to spare. Leaving clemency until the last minute sometimes leads to many years of unnecessary state and federal habeas corpus litigation, and this Article documents nearly 300 years of wasted habeas corpus review. Additionally, last-minute commutations harm …

A Comprehensive Administrative Solution To The Armed Career Criminal Act Debacle , Avi M. Kupfer

Michigan Law Review

For thirty years, the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) has imposed a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence on those people convicted as felons in possession of a firearm or ammunition who have three prior convictions for a violent felony or serious drug offense. Debate about the law has existed mainly within a larger discussion on the normative value of mandatory minimums. Assuming that the ACCA endures, however, administering it will continue to be a challenge. The approach that courts use to determine whether past convictions qualify as ACCA predicate offenses creates ex ante uncertainty and the potential for intercourt disparities. Furthermore, …

Assessing Divisibility In The Armed Career Criminal Act, Ted Koehler

Michigan Law Review

When courts analyze whether a defendant's prior conviction qualifies as a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act's "residual clause," they use a "categorical approach," looking only to the statutory language of the prior offense, rather than the facts disclosed by the record of conviction. But when a defendant is convicted under a "divisible" statute, which encompasses a broader range of conduct, only some of which would qualify as a predicate offense, courts may employ the "modified categorical approach." This approach allows courts to view additional documents to determine whether the jury convicted the defendant of the Armed Career …

Criminal Sanctions In The Defense Of The Innocent, Ehud Guttel, Doron Teichman

Michigan Law Review

Under the formal rules of criminal procedure, fact finders are required to apply a uniform standard of proof in all criminal cases. Experimental studies as well as real world examples indicate, however, that fact finders often adjust the evidentiary threshold for conviction in accordance with the severity of the applicable sanction. All things being equal, the higher the sanction, the higher the standard of proof that fact finders will apply in order to convict. Building on this insight, this Article introduces a new paradigm for criminal punishments-a paradigm that focuses on designing penalties that will reduce the risk of unsubstantiated …

Bright Lines, Dark Deeds: Counting Convictions Under The Armed Career Criminal Act, James E. Hooper

Michigan Law Review

The Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 (ACCA) enables the federal government to help state authorities more effectively prosecute "career criminals.'' The ACCA imposes a mandatory sentence of at least fifteen years, and up to life imprisonment, for illegal possession of a firearm by anyone who has three prior convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses "committed on occasions different from one another."

To apply the ACCA, judges must determine first whether the defendant's prior convictions meet the definitions of "violent felony or serious drug offense," and secondly whether the offenses were committed on different occasions so that they …

Descent And Distribution - Inheritance As Affected By Heir's Murder Of Deceased

Michigan Law Review

Albert Tarlo shot and killed his wife while she slept, then killed his daughter, and next killed himself. He survived the wife and daughter by a few hours. The daughter left no will, and by the statute of distribution her property went to the father. A statute provided in effect that no one who should be "finally adjudged guilty" of murder should be allowed to take as heir or next of kin of the person killed. Held, that the father's estate might take the daughter's estate by inheritance. In re Tarlo's Estate, 315 Pa. 321, 172 Atl. 139 …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Right Of Defendant To Accompany Jury On View-Due Process

Michigan Law Review

During the trial of appellant in the Massachusetts courts for murder the jury was sent to view the scene of the crime. The accused asked that he be allowed to accompany them, invoking the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Permission was refused. At the view, judge and counsel being present, a stipulation was entered into as to changes which had occurred since the crime. Upon conviction, appellant appealed to the United States Supreme Court asserting that there had been a denial of due process. Held, four justices dissenting, that there had been no denial of due process since no …

Criminal Law And Procedure-Instructions To Jury

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was indicted for unlawful possession of liquor. He offered no substantial defense, and the trial judge, in charging the jury, said that while they were sole judges of the facts, "that on the undisputed evidence this man is guilty, and it is your duty to convict him." On appeal, the circuit court held that the charge, while drastic, was not error, as there were no controverted facts, and hence nothing for the jury to do but convict. United States v. Notto, (C. C. A. 2d, 1932) 61 F. (2d) 781.

Progress Report On The Study Of The Federal Courts, Edson R. Sunderland

Michigan Law Review

Report No. 7 is a progress report on the study of the Federal Courts. It describes the plan and scope of the study and presents the results which have been obtained in the only district where sufficiently complete data have been obtained to justify tabulation, namely, the district of Connecticut.

Report On Prosecution, Rollin M. Perkins

Michigan Law Review

The logical starting point was the discovery and restatement of existing knowledge and information on these subjects, and because of the tremendous mass of material which has appeared in the form of surveys and reports within the last decade and a half, it was deemed wise to enlist the services of an expert in such matters. The analysis which he has produced, let it be added, amply justifies the Commission in his selection.