Law Commons^™

Where Did My Privilege Go? Congress And Its Discretion To Ignore The Attorney-Client Privilege, Don Berthiaume, Jeffrey Ansley

Don R Berthiaume

“The right to counsel is too important to be passed over for prosecutorial convenience or executive branch whimsy. It has been engrained in American jurisprudence since the 18th century when the Bill of Rights was adopted... However, the right to counsel is largely ineffective unless the confidential communications made by a client to his or her lawyer are protected by law.”[1] So said Senator Arlen Specter on February 13, 2009, just seven months before Congress chose to ignore the very privilege he lauded. Why then, if the right to counsel is as important as Senator Specter articulated, does Congress maintain …

Dea: Science And Law Unto Itself, John F. Kelly

John F. Kelly

No abstract provided.

30 = 20: ‘Understanding’ Maximum Sentence Enhancements, Frank R. Herrmann S.J.

Frank R. Herrmann, S.J.

In this article, Professor Herrmann argues that the due process protections of a criminal trial should apply to aggravating factors that under current “maximum-enhancing statutes” allow judges to impose lengthier punishments in the sentencing phase. Part I considers the Supreme Court's rationale for refusing to apply full due process safeguards to all types of sentencing schemes. This background will reveal the unique quality of maximum-enhancing statutes and establish why the due process protections of a criminal trial should apply to sentencing under maximum-enhancing statutes. Part I, therefore, undertakes to explain courts' rationales to deny criminal defendants full criminal due process …

Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: Confronting Issues Of Race And Dignity, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

This article explores the racial dimensions of the various collateral consequences that attach to criminal convictions in the United States. The consequences include ineligibility for public and government-assisted housing, public benefits and various forms of employment, as well as civic exclusions such as ineligibility for jury service and felon disenfranchisement. To test its hypothesis that these penalties, both historically and contemporarily, are rooted in race, the article looks to England and Wales, Canada and South Africa. These countries have criminal justice systems similar to the United States’, have been influenced significantly by United States’ criminal justice practices in recent years, …

An Integrated Perspective On The Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Convictions And Reentry Issues Faced By Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

This article examines the emergent focus on the collateral consequences of criminal convictions and the reentry of formerly incarcerated individuals. Specifically, the article details the ways in which legal scholars, policy analysts, elected officials, legal services organizations and community based organizations have begun to address these components of the criminal justice system. The article argues that these various groups have compartmentalized collateral consequences and reentry by focusing almost exclusively on one component to the exclusion of the other. In doing so, they have narrowed the lens through which to view these components, and have therefore missed opportunities to develop integrated …

Reflections And Perspectives On Reentry And Collateral Consequences, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

This essay addresses the continued and dramatic increase in the numbers of individuals released from correctional institutions and returning to communities across the United States. It provides a brief history of the collateral consequences of criminal convictions, and the ways in which these consequences impede productive reentry. It then highlights national and state efforts to address to persistent reentry obstacles and to better understand the range and scope of collateral consequences. It concludes by offering suggestions for reform.

The Logistical And Ethical Difficulties Of Informing Juveniles About The Consequences Of Adjudications, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

In this article, Professor Michael Pinard observes that the recent attention devoted to the collateral consequences of criminal convictions has overlooked the ways in which these consequences impact juvenile offenders. The article recognizes the emergent arguments for informing adult defendants of these consequences as part of the guilty plea or sentencing process, and argues that juvenile defendants should also be informed of the collateral consequences that attach to their adjudications. However, the article asserts that there are ethical and logistical questions unique to the juvenile justice process that would pose difficulties in conveying this information to juveniles. These issues (or …

Broadening The Holistic Mindset: Incorporating Collateral Consequences And Reentry Into Criminal Defense Lawyering, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

In this article, Professor Michael Pinard highlights the holistic model of criminal defense representation, which seeks to address the myriad issues that often lead to the client’s involvement with the criminal justice system with the overarching goal of providing a comprehensive solution to those underlying factors. While lauding these developments, however, Professor Pinard argues that the holistic model has largely overlooked two facets of the criminal justice system that impact greatly the client’s life once the formal representation has concluded: the collateral consequences of criminal convictions and reentry. Professor Pinard explores the emerging attention devoted to these two components, but …

A Reentry-Centered Vision Of Criminal Justice, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

In recent years, record numbers of individuals have been released from U.S. correctional facilities and have reentered their communities. At present, approximately 650,000 individuals are released annually from U.S. federal and state prisons, while an estimated additional 7 million are released from its jails. In addition, the number of individuals with criminal records – whether or not they were incarcerated – continues to climb. At present, approximately 20 percent of adults in the United States have criminal records. Part I [of this article] details the shortcomings of current reentry practice. Part II sets forth a reentry-centered vision of criminal justice …

When The Emperor Has No Clothes Ii: A Proposal For A More Serious Look At “The Weight Of The Evidence”, Carrie Leonetti

Carrie Leonetti

While the Bail Reform Act and state statutes modeled after it command courts to consider the weight of the evidence in making pretrial release/detention decisions, as a practical matter, courts do not do so – at least not when the weight-of-the-evidence factor cuts in favor of release – and they should. In particular, courts should accord substantially more weight to the “weight of the evidence” factor in making or reviewing pretrial-detention determinations when one or more jury has already refused unanimously to convict the defendant of the crime(s) charged. Unless the prosecution has obtained significant, material new evidence between the …

When The Emperor Has No Clothes Ii: A Proposal For A More Serious Look At “The Weight Of The Evidence”, Carrie Leonetti

Carrie Leonetti

While the Bail Reform Act and state statutes modeled after it command courts to consider the weight of the evidence in making pretrial release/detention decisions, as a practical matter, courts do not do so – at least not when the weight-of-the-evidence factor cuts in favor of release – and they should. In particular, courts should accord substantially more weight to the “weight of the evidence” factor in making or reviewing pretrial-detention determinations when one or more jury has already refused unanimously to convict the defendant of the crime(s) charged. Unless the prosecution has obtained significant, material new evidence between the …

The Decision Zone: The New Stage Of Interrogation Created By Berghuis V. Thompkins, Meghan M. Morris

Meghan M Morris

This essay addresses a new stage of interrogation, approved of for the first time in the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision, Berghuis v. Thompkins. This stage – the “decision zone” – is the period, however brief or prolonged, after officers have read a suspect his rights but before the suspect has decided whether to waive or to invoke his rights. In Thompkins, the Supreme Court allowed interrogation during this stage, which lasted almost 3 hours in that case. Through this decision, the Supreme Court implicitly assented to prolonged interrogation before a suspect decides whether to invoke or to waive his rights, …

Arizona V. Gant: Decoding The Meaning Of Reasonable Belief, Geoffrey S. Corn

Geoffrey S. Corn

This article addresses the uncertainty created by the Supreme Court’s decision in Arizona v. Gant as to when police may search an automobile after the recent arrestee is secured and no longer able to access the vehicle. In Gant, the Court authorized such a search whenever the police have ‘reasonable belief’ evidence related to the crime of arrest may be in the automobile. However, the Court did not define the meaning of reasonable belief. This has led to various lower court interpretations, ranging from reasonable suspicion to probable cuase.

This article first explains why treating reasonable belief as synonymous with …

Counting Heads: Does The Existence Of A National Consensus Give Rise To A Substantive-Due-Process Right To A Particular Criminal Procedure?, Carrie Leonetti

Carrie Leonetti

Anomalousness in a state’s criminal procedure(s), standing alone, is sufficient (to constitute a violation of substantive due process and that the substantive process due to a criminal defendant in a state with an anomalous criminal procedure is the process that would be provided to a similarly situated defendant in a mainstream jurisdiction. This does not mean that the fact that a majority of jurisdictions fails to afford a particular beneficial procedure to a criminal defendant means that such procedure is not guaranteed by due process. Nor is the recognition of a right by a majority of jurisdictions dispositive of whether …

What's Terrorism Got To Do With It? The Perils Of Prosecutorial Misuse Of Terrorism Offenses, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

michal buchhandler-raphael

State and federal statutes contain many criminal prohibitions that are commonly perceived as terrorism-related crimes. These statutes, however, do not make the definition of terrorism -- a term whose components legislatures do not agree upon – an element of the crime. Instead, the terrorism classification is merely inferred based on features that typically characterize crimes of terrorism. These include the scope of the harm intended or inflicted, the nature of the technical measures used to carry out the attack, or the aid provided to terrorist organizations. These statutes, however, are too broad, covering a wide variety of crimes above and …

The Evolution Of Unconstitutionality In Sex Offender Registration Laws, Catherine L. Carpenter

Catherine L Carpenter

ABSTRACT More is not always better. Consider sex offender registration laws. Initially anchored by rational basis, registration schemes have spiraled out of control because legislators, eager to please a fearful public, have been given unfettered freedom by a deferential judiciary. This particular article does not challenge the state’s legislative power to enact sex offender registration laws. Instead, this piece posits that, even if sex offender registration schemes were initially constitutional, serially amended sex offender registration schemes – what this piece dubs super-registration schemes – are not. Their emergence over the last several years demands re-examination of traditionally held assumptions that …

A Safety Doctrine To The Criminal Justice System, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert

Prof. Boaz Sangero

Criminal law, unlike other risk-creating fields, currently lacks any modern safety doctrine. In light of the proven phenomenon of wrongful convictions and the severe harm it causes to both those wrongly convicted and society, this Essay focuses on the necessary preliminary stages in developing a safety doctrine for the criminal justice system. Under our conception, criminal law is a "safety-critical system": it deals with matters of life and death. We view false conviction to be a type of accident, similarly to a crash of a fighter airplane. This comparison is not only metaphorical, but quite literal when the damage is …

What's Terrorism Got To Do With It? The Perils Of Prosecutorial Misuse Of Terrorism Offenses, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

michal buchhandler-raphael

State and federal statutes contain many criminal prohibitions that are commonly perceived as terrorism-related crimes. These statutes, however, do not make the definition of terrorism -- a term whose components legislatures do not agree upon – an element of the crime. Instead, the terrorism classification is merely inferred based on features that typically characterize crimes of terrorism. These include the scope of the harm intended or inflicted, the nature of the technical measures used to carry out the attack, or the aid provided to terrorist organizations. These statutes, however, are too broad, covering a wide variety of crimes above and …

What's Terrorism Got To Do With It? The Perils Of Prosecutorial Misuse Of Terrorism Offenses, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

michal buchhandler-raphael

State and federal statutes contain many criminal prohibitions that are commonly perceived as terrorism-related crimes. These statutes, however, do not make the definition of terrorism -- a term whose components legislatures do not agree upon – an element of the crime. Instead, the terrorism classification is merely inferred based on features that typically characterize crimes of terrorism. These include the scope of the harm intended or inflicted, the nature of the technical measures used to carry out the attack, or the aid provided to terrorist organizations. These statutes, however, are too broad, covering a wide variety of crimes above and …

Schneckloth V. Bustamonte: History’S Unspoken Fourth Amendment Anomaly, Brian Gallini

Brian Gallini

Disproportionate Representation Of Minority Youth In The Juvenile Justice System: A Lack Of Clarity And Too Much Disparity Among States "Addressing" The Issue, Elizabeth N. Jones

Elizabeth N Jones

This article explores how states are struggling to reduce the overrepresentation of youth of color in their juvenile justice systems by complying with the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The JJDPA provides funding for states following its directive to identify, assess, and reduce the disproportionate contact by minority youth with the juvenile justice system. This article queries whether the JJDPA is an effective instrument with which to seek racial parity for minority youth who are already “in contact” with the juvenile justice system. It first provides a brief history and overview of the JJDPA, highlighting three areas of …

Tough On Crime (On The State's Dime): How Violent Crime Does Not Drive California Counties’ Incarceration Rates—And Why It Should

W. David Ball

California’s prisons are dangerously and unconstitutionally overcrowded; as a result of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Plata v. Schwarzenegger, the state must act to reduce its prison population or face court-ordered prisoner releases. The state’s plans to reduce overcrowding are centered around what it calls criminal justice “realignment”, whereby California will send a portion of the state prison population to county facilities. The plan faces opposition from county officials, who see it as pushing the state’s problem on to the counties.

But what if state prison overcrowding is really a county problem? I argue that state prison overcrowding is …

Sacrificing Massiah: Confusion Over Exlusion And Erosion Of The Right To Counsel, James J. Tomkovicz

james j tomkovicz

ABSTRACT: “Sacrificing Massiah: Confusion Over Exclusion and Erosion of the Right to Counsel” - James J. Tomkovicz “Sacrificing Massiah” examines the legitimacy and impacts of Kansas v. Ventris’s explanation of the Massiah “exclusionary rule.” It first traces the cryptic development of Massiah’s right to counsel-based suppression doctrine through a series of post-Massiah opinions. It then discusses Ventris—the first definitive explanation of the justifications for barring admissions deliberately elicited from uncounseled defendants. The Ventris Court classified Massiah suppression as a mere deterrent safeguard designed to prevent pretrial counsel deprivations and denied that defendants have the personal right not to be convicted …

Reclaiming The Promise Of The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Study Of State Incorporation And Adoption Of Legal Protections For Indian Status Offenders, Thalia Gonzalez

Thalia Gonzalez

No abstract provided.

Driving With A Suspended Or Revoked License Causing Death Versus Driving Without A License Causing Death: Why Is The Punishment So Vastly Different?, Leslie A. Shively

Leslie A. Shively

This article looks at the background, purpose, and discrepancies of code sections 9-24-19-3 and 4. It considers the reason(s) why they do not include persons who drive without ever having received a license and cause the death of another. Indiana Code section 9-24-19-3 states, “A person who operates a motor vehicle upon a highway when the person knows that the person’s driving privilege, license, or permit is suspended or revoked, when the person’s suspension or revocation was a result of the person’s conviction of an offense (as defined in IC 35-41-1-19) commits a Class A misdemeanor.” Currently Indiana Code section …

Selling Sex: Analyzing The Improper Use Defense To Contract Enforcement Through The Lens Of Carroll V. Beardon, Julie M. Spanbauer

Julie M. Spanbauer

The 1963 decision of the Supreme Court of Montana in Carroll v. Beardon, occupies less than three full pages in the Pacific Reporter and involves a simple real estate transaction in which a “madam” sold a house used for prostitution to another “madam.” The opinion is the last in a long line of cases to speak specifically to the issue of enforcement of facially legitimate contracts that in some manner arguably involve or are related to prostitution and is commonly cited in treatises and hornbooks as representative of the movement by courts toward enforcement of such contracts under the law …

Rethinking Gps Devices And Fourth Amendment Rights, Allison W. Chan

Allison W Chan

Technology advances rapidly. Constant innovation, however, comes at a cost. Law enforcement is able to engage in wholesale surveillance of suspects by attaching Global Positioning System (“GPS”) devices to their vehicles. Attaching GPS devices to those vehicles has few, if any, restrictions. Law enforcement does not need a warrant. Officers may legally attach a GPS device anytime a vehicle is in “public space.” However, the problem is that courts have been unable to agree on what constitutes public space, especially with regards to residential curtilage. In 2010, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Pineda Moreno, 591 F.3d 1212 …

Rethinking Gps Devices And Fourth Amendment Rights, Allison W. Chan

Allison W Chan

Technology advances rapidly. Constant innovation, however, comes at a cost. Law enforcement is able to engage in wholesale surveillance of suspects by attaching Global Positioning System (“GPS”) devices to their vehicles. Attaching GPS devices to those vehicles has few, if any, restrictions. Law enforcement does not need a warrant. Officers may legally attach a GPS device anytime a vehicle is in “public space.” However, the problem is that courts have been unable to agree on what constitutes public space, especially with regards to residential curtilage. In 2010, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Pineda Moreno, 591 F.3d 1212 …

Rethinking Gps Devices And Fourth Amendment Rights, Allison W. Chan

Allison W Chan

Technology advances rapidly. Constant innovation, however, comes at a cost. Law enforcement is able to engage in wholesale surveillance of suspects by attaching Global Positioning System (“GPS”) devices to their vehicles. Attaching GPS devices to those vehicles has few, if any, restrictions. Law enforcement does not need a warrant. Officers may legally attach a GPS device anytime a vehicle is in “public space.” However, the problem is that courts have been unable to agree on what constitutes public space, especially with regards to residential curtilage. In 2010, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Pineda Moreno, 591 F.3d 1212 …

Rethinking Gps Devices And Fourth Amendment Rights, Allison W. Chan

Allison W Chan

Technology advances rapidly. Constant innovation, however, comes at a cost. Law enforcement is able to engage in wholesale surveillance of suspects by attaching Global Positioning System (“GPS”) devices to their vehicles. Attaching GPS devices to those vehicles has few, if any, restrictions. Law enforcement does not need a warrant. Officers may legally attach a GPS device anytime a vehicle is in “public space.” However, the problem is that courts have been unable to agree on what constitutes public space, especially with regards to residential curtilage. In 2010, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Pineda Moreno, 591 F.3d 1212 …