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Full-Text Articles in Law
Conference Report: New York City's Criminal Courts Are We Achieving Justice?, Martha Rayner
Conference Report: New York City's Criminal Courts Are We Achieving Justice?, Martha Rayner
Fordham Urban Law Journal
On October 18, 2003, more than one hundred professionals from the five boroughs of New York City came together to identify, evaluate, and begin to solve some of the complex problems embedded in the culture, operations, and practice in New York City's Criminal Courts. The conference planners focused on five problems that have undermined the pursuit of justice in New York City’s Criminal Court system for decades. The first group, Arraignment Norms, Practices and Culture, targeted professionalism and justice at the first and often last court appearance for people arrested and charged with misdemeanor crimes in New York City. The …
Broadening The Holistic Mindset: Incorporating Collateral Consequences And Reenty Into Criminal Defense Lawyering, Michael Pinard
Broadening The Holistic Mindset: Incorporating Collateral Consequences And Reenty Into Criminal Defense Lawyering, Michael Pinard
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Over the past two decades, public defender offices across the country have broadened the range of defense services provided to indigent clients. These expanded services, some of which involve representing clients on related non-criminal matters such as housing and public benefits, are included in what is now commonly referred to as "holistic representation."' This form of representation strives to encompass the various underlying issues that often lead to clients’ experiences with the criminal justice system, with the aim of addressing those circumstances and preventing future criminal involvement. Holistic representation signals a paradigmatic shift in defense philosophy and ideology and has …
Closing The Courts To Felonious Plaintiffs Who Are Injured By Their Own Conduct: A Case For Codifying Common Sense, Michael A. L. Balboni
Closing The Courts To Felonious Plaintiffs Who Are Injured By Their Own Conduct: A Case For Codifying Common Sense, Michael A. L. Balboni
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This article argues that criminals should not be allowed to bring civil tort suits against the victims of their crimes. It analyzes cases that allow and do not allow recovery by criminal for injuries occurring during the commission of a crime. The article closes with a plea for legislative reform to disallow criminal the protections of law while in the act of committing a crime.
The Expanding Right To Counsel In New York, Debra M. Zverins
The Expanding Right To Counsel In New York, Debra M. Zverins
Fordham Urban Law Journal
A series of recent New York Court of Appeals decisions have upheld the right of a criminal suspect to have the assistance of an attorney at every stage of legal proceedings against him. This approach is considered by some to be problematic, imposing onerous burdens on police which impede effective law enforcement. This Note discusses the criminal defendant's pre-trial right to counsel in New York. Section II outlines the historical development of this fundamental right. Judicial expansions of the pre-trial right to counsel, including the People v. Bartolomeo decision, are analyzed in Section III with a view toward their effect …
Probable Cause Based On Inaccurate Computer Information: Taking Judicial Notice Of Ncic Operating Policies And Procedures, Patrick Hand
Probable Cause Based On Inaccurate Computer Information: Taking Judicial Notice Of Ncic Operating Policies And Procedures, Patrick Hand
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is the most comprehensive computerized system for storing criminal justice information. It is managed by the FBI, but is used at the federal, state, and local level as an investigative tool. The use of computerized criminal information has raised questions in cases where an arrest was made relying on computer information which later proved to have been inaccurate. This Note discusses the fourth amendment implications of arrest based on inaccurate computer information and articulates the circumstances under which such an arrest should be upheld. NCIC safeguards are discussed and it is recommended that the …
Criminal Law--Rape--Cautionary Instruction In Sex Offense Trial Relating Prosecutrix's Credibility To The Nature Of The Crime Charged Is No Longer Mandatory; Discretionary Use Is Disapproved
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Defendant was convicted of rape, oral copulation, and attempted sodomy in Superior Court, Los Angeles County. The case against him rested predominantly on the testimony of his adult victim, partially corroborated as to identity by a scratch on defendant’s forehead, and further substantiated by defendant’s “if I did it I was drunk” admission to the police. The defendant appealed alleging error by the trial judge for failing to give a mandatory cautionary instruction. The California Supreme Court held that because the defendant was entitled to the cautionary instruction the trial judge had committed error in refusing to give it. Such …
Speedy Trials: Recent Developments Concerning A Vital Right, Stephen F. Chepiga
Speedy Trials: Recent Developments Concerning A Vital Right, Stephen F. Chepiga
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Historically, Anglo-American law has jealously guarded the right of an accused to have a speedy trial in a criminal prosecution. It is extended to defendants in federal cases by the sixth amendment to the Constitution. Through incorporation into the fourteenth amendment, the protection is likewise available to defendants in state prosecutions. Notwithstanding constitutional provisions and Supreme Court decisions, the concept of a speedy trial has always been ambiguous. Until recent times it has been considered a matter that could only be defined in the context of the special circumstances of individual cases. The right was said to be “consistent with …