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Articles 1 - 19 of 19
Full-Text Articles in Law
Judging Genes: Implications Of The Second Generation Of Genetic Tests In The Courtroom, Diane E. Hoffmann, Karen H. Rothenberg
Judging Genes: Implications Of The Second Generation Of Genetic Tests In The Courtroom, Diane E. Hoffmann, Karen H. Rothenberg
Faculty Scholarship
The use of DNA tests for identification has revolutionized court proceedings in criminal and paternity cases. Now, requests by litigants to admit or compel a second generation of genetic tests – tests to confirm or predict genetic diseases and conditions – threaten to affect judicial decision-making in many more contexts. Unlike DNA tests for identification, these second generation tests may provide highly personal health and behavioral information about individuals and their relatives and will pose new challenges for trial court judges. This article reports on an original empirical study of how judges analyze these requests and uses the study results …
At His Discretion (N.): "To Be Disposed Of As He Thinks Fit; At His Disposal, At His Mercy; Unconditionally", J. Amy Dillard
At His Discretion (N.): "To Be Disposed Of As He Thinks Fit; At His Disposal, At His Mercy; Unconditionally", J. Amy Dillard
All Faculty Scholarship
Review of ANGELA J. DAVIS, ARBITRARY JUSTICE (Oxford University Press, Inc. 2007) 264 pp.
Studying The Death Penalty In Tennessee, Dwight Aarons
Studying The Death Penalty In Tennessee, Dwight Aarons
Scholarly Works
No abstract provided.
Can Prosecutors Bluff? Brady V. Maryland And Plea Bargaining, John G. Douglass
Can Prosecutors Bluff? Brady V. Maryland And Plea Bargaining, John G. Douglass
Law Faculty Publications
The author discusses the symbolic value of the Brady rule in the pretrial context in the U.S. criminal justice system. Brady's symbolic power remains stronger than its corrective power in post-trial motions. It serves as a constitutional reminder to prosecutors because they cannot serve as architects of unfairness. Most prosecutors disclose more Brady material in pretrial discovery than the constitutional rule actually demands. This indicates that prosecutors can bluff.
American Buffalo: Vanishing Acquittals And The Gradual Extinction Of The Federal Criminal Trial Lawyer, Frank O. Bowman Iii
American Buffalo: Vanishing Acquittals And The Gradual Extinction Of The Federal Criminal Trial Lawyer, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Faculty Publications
This essay is an invited response to Professor Ronald Wright's impressive study of the fact that the acquittal rate in federal criminal trials is declining even faster than the rate of trials themselves, Trial Distortion and the End of Innocence in Federal Criminal Justice, 154 U. PA. L. REV. 79 (2005). The essay concurs with Professor Wright's conclusion that one significant factor driving down both federal trial and acquittal rates is the government's use of the markedly increased bargaining leverage afforded to prosecutors by the post-1987 federal sentencing system consisting of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines interacting with various statutory mandatory …
Extraordinary Crimes At Ordinary Times: International Justice Beyond Crisis Situations, Sonja Starr
Extraordinary Crimes At Ordinary Times: International Justice Beyond Crisis Situations, Sonja Starr
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
The Origins Of Shared Intuitions Of Justice, Owen D. Jones, Paul H. Robinson, Robert Kurzban
The Origins Of Shared Intuitions Of Justice, Owen D. Jones, Paul H. Robinson, Robert Kurzban
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Contrary to the common wisdom among criminal law scholars, empirical evidence reveals that people's intuitions of justice are often specific, nuanced, and widely shared. Indeed, with regard to the core harms and evils to which criminal law addresses itself-physical aggression, takings without consent, and deception in transactions-the shared intuitions are stunningly consistent across cultures as well as demographics. It is puzzling that judgments of moral blameworthiness, which seem so complex and subjective, reflect such a remarkable consensus. What could explain this striking result?
The authors theorize that one explanation may be an evolved predisposition toward these shared intuitions of justice, …
Poetic (In)Justice? Rap Music Lyrics As Art, Life, And Criminal Evidence, Andrea L. Dennis
Poetic (In)Justice? Rap Music Lyrics As Art, Life, And Criminal Evidence, Andrea L. Dennis
Scholarly Works
Courts routinely admit defendant-authored rap music lyrics as substantive evidence in the adjudication of criminal cases. In doing so, courts fail to recognize that rap music lyrics are art. Rather, judges view the interpretation of rap music lyrics as a subject of common knowledge, interpret the defendant's lyrics literally, and characterize lyrics as autobiographical depictions of actual events. In making admissibility decisions, courts must give consideration to the social constraints and artistic conventions impacting the composition and interpretation of rap music lyrics. More particularly, they must understand the commercialized nature of the rap music industry, artist claims of authenticity, and …
The Myopia Of U.S. V. Martinelli: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction In The 21st Century, Christopher L. Blakesley
The Myopia Of U.S. V. Martinelli: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction In The 21st Century, Christopher L. Blakesley
Scholarly Works
Beginning in January 1999 and continuing through January 2000, a U.S. soldier began frequenting an off-post Internet cafe in Darmstadt, Germany, called the Netzwork Café. There he would download images of child pornography and search Internet websites, logging onto Internet chat rooms in order to communicate with individuals willing to send him images of naked children and children engaged in sex acts.
Specialist Martinelli was eventually caught and charged with various violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A for knowingly mailing, transporting or shipping child pornography in interstate or foreign commerce (by computer); knowingly receiving child pornography that had been mailed, …
Extraterritorial Criminal Jurisdiction: Bigger Picture Or Smaller Frame?, Robert Currie, Steve Coughlan
Extraterritorial Criminal Jurisdiction: Bigger Picture Or Smaller Frame?, Robert Currie, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
The authors review extensively Canadian law and practice on the exercise of extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction, and the extent to which that may have changed in recent years. They conclude that, while there are now many more instances of Canada asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction, any change in policy is more apparent than real. What has changed is how often the situations that prompt extraterritorial jurisdiction arise, particularly in that there are now many international treaties requiring Canada to exercise jurisdiction in this way. The authors also argue that this policy of cautious expansion and constructive engagement with international practice is desirable and …
Common Law Police Powers And The Rule Of Law, Steve Coughlan
Common Law Police Powers And The Rule Of Law, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
Common law police powers have long been a source of some dispute in the Canadian criminal justice system. On the one hand, their existence is difficult to reconcile with predictability in the law, since in any individual case where a new power is created (generally referred to as use of the "ancillary powers doctrine"), it would not have been possible to know in advance that the police were actually acting legally. On the other hand the benefit for society purchased with that ambiguity is a more tailored response to the particular problem, which might also lead to better results in …
Gambling, Commodity Speculation, And The 'Victorian Compromise', Joshua C. Tate
Gambling, Commodity Speculation, And The 'Victorian Compromise', Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This Essay examines two major strands of nineteenth-century jurisprudence related to gambling: Southern cases defining public and private space for the purpose of state gambling statutes, and Northern cases applying the intent to deliver test to speculative contracts. The Essay argues that both lines of cases reflect what Lawrence Friedman has termed the Victorian compromise: A strong official stance against immoral behavior is conjoined with de facto acceptance of many questionable practices, provided that they are conducted in a manner acceptable to the elite. The Essay concludes that nineteenth-century judges sought to preserve the semblance of a strict prohibition against …
Criminal Performances: Film, Autobiography, And Confession, Jessica Silbey
Criminal Performances: Film, Autobiography, And Confession, Jessica Silbey
Faculty Scholarship
This article questions the criminal justice emphasis on filmed confession as the superlative evidentiary proffer that promotes accuracy and minimizes unconstitutional coercion by comparing filmed confessions to autobiographical film. It suggests that analyzing filmed confessions as a kind of autobiographical film exposes helpful tensions between the law's reliance on confession as revealing the inner self and the literary and filmic conception of confession as constituting one self among many. Through a close examination of several filmed confessions along side an examination of the history of autobiographical writing and film, this article shows how filmed confessions do not reveal the truthfulness …
Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Dan Markel, Ethan J. Leib
Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Dan Markel, Ethan J. Leib
Faculty Scholarship
This Article asks two basic questions: When does, and when should, the state use the criminal justice apparatus to accommodate family ties, responsibilities, and interests? We address these questions by first revealing a variety of laws that together form a string of family ties subsidies and benefits pervading the criminal justice system. Notwithstanding our recognition of the important role family plays in securing the conditions for human flourishing, we then explain the basis for erecting a Spartan presumption against these family ties subsidies and benefits within the criminal justice system. We delineate the scope and rationale for the presumption and …
Improper Use Of The Trial Judge As Voucher: Improper Use Of Plea Agreements To Vouch, Stephen A. Saltzburg
Improper Use Of The Trial Judge As Voucher: Improper Use Of Plea Agreements To Vouch, Stephen A. Saltzburg
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
These articles discuss United States v. Harlow, 444 F.3d 1255 (10th Cir. 2006), in connection with: (1) whether a prosecutor acts improperly when he or she uses the trial judge to vouch for the credibility of prosecution witnesses; and (2) the impermissible use of plea agreements to vouch for the credibility of a witness.
Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Dan Markel, Jennifer M. Collins, Ethan J. Leib
Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Dan Markel, Jennifer M. Collins, Ethan J. Leib
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This Article asks two basic questions: When does, and when should, the state use the criminal justice apparatus to accommodate family ties, responsibilities, and interests? We address these questions by first revealing a variety of laws that together form a string of family ties subsidies and benefits pervading the criminal justice system. Notwithstanding our recognition of the important role family plays in securing the conditions for human flourishing, we then explain the basis for erecting a Spartan presumption against these family ties subsidies and benefits within the criminal justice system. We delineate the scope and rationale for the presumption and …
Holistic Culpability, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan
Holistic Culpability, Kimberly Kessler Ferzan
All Faculty Scholarship
There are two competing conceptions of mens rea. The first conception is descriptive. We look to a person's mental state to determine if the mental state element is satisfied. This is a question of fact. Alternatively, there is the normative conception of mens rea. This is the question of whether the defendant is blameworthy. The term, mens rea, or "culpability," can therefore refer to the descriptive usage (did the defendant have the requisite mental state, i.e, purpose or knowledge?) or to the normative usage (is the defendant blameworthy, wicked, indifferent?). The tension between descriptive and normative terminology was first identified …
Neuroimaging And The "Complexity" Of Capital Punishment, O. Carter Snead
Neuroimaging And The "Complexity" Of Capital Punishment, O. Carter Snead
Journal Articles
The growing use of brain imaging technology to explore the causes of morally, socially, and legally relevant behavior is the subject of much discussion and controversy in both scholarly and popular circles. From the efforts of cognitive neuroscientists in the courtroom and the public square, the contours of a project to transform capital sentencing both in principle and in practice have emerged. In the short term, these scientists seek to play a role in the process of capital sentencing by serving as mitigation experts for defendants, invoking neuroimaging research on the roots of criminal violence to support their arguments. Over …
Slow Dancing With Death: The Supreme Court And Capital Punishment, 1963-2006, James S. Liebman
Slow Dancing With Death: The Supreme Court And Capital Punishment, 1963-2006, James S. Liebman
Faculty Scholarship
This Article addresses four questions:
Why hasn't the Court left capital punishment unregulated, as it has other areas of substantive criminal law? The Court is compelled to decide the death penalty's constitutionality by the peculiar responsibility it bears for this form of state violence.
Why didn't the Court abolish the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia after finding every capital statute and verdict unconstitutional? The Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause was too opaque to reveal whether the death penalty was unlawful for some or all crimes and, if not, whether there were law-bound ways to administer it. So the Court …