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Full-Text Articles in Law

Information Sharing In A Common Law Of Sentencing: A Skeptic's Guide, Ryan W. Scott Aug 2011

Information Sharing In A Common Law Of Sentencing: A Skeptic's Guide, Ryan W. Scott

Ryan W. Scott

For decades, prominent scholars and judges have called for the development of a “common law of sentencing” in the United States. One strand of scholarship stresses the information sharing function of the common law: sentencing judges need access to a body of written opinions that reveals how other courts have handled similar cases. The idea is that, fueled by better information, case-by-case common law reasoning will promote inter-judge consistency and rationality in sentencing law. This Article takes a skeptical view, identifying three sets of challenges for an information-sharing approach. First, there are daunting information-collection challenges. A healthy common law depends …


Philadelphia Lawyers: Policing The Law In Pennsylvania, Brian K. Pinaire, Milton Heumann, Christian Scarlett Mar 2011

Philadelphia Lawyers: Policing The Law In Pennsylvania, Brian K. Pinaire, Milton Heumann, Christian Scarlett

Brian K. Pinaire

Unlike other professions within the Commonwealth, Pennsylvania attorneys “police” themselves, meaning that ethical infractions and ramifications of criminal convictions are addressed not by the government, but rather by disciplinary entities within the profession. Recent socio-legal and social science research has addressed the various statutory “collateral consequences” that attach to criminal convictions, but we know comparatively little about consequential discipline instituted outside the purview of the state. Based on an examination of 419 disciplinary dispositions from 2005-2009, as well as interviews with elites, this study provides the first-ever examination of the process and legal-political implications of peer-policing of the law in …


The Eleventh Circuit's Selective Assault On Sentencing Discretion, Adam Shajnfeld Jan 2011

The Eleventh Circuit's Selective Assault On Sentencing Discretion, Adam Shajnfeld

Adam Shajnfeld

Ever since the Supreme Court declared that the sentences which district courts impose on criminal defendants are to be reviewed on appeal for “unreasonableness,” the standard’s contours have remained elusive and mired in controversy, despite the Court’s repeated attempts at elucidation. In few instances is this confounding state of affairs more apparent and acute than in the Eleventh Circuit’s recent lengthy and factious en banc decision in United States v. Irey. This article explores Irey’s merits, mistakes, and lessons, trying to locate each within the broader context of the Eleventh Circuit’s sentencing jurisprudence. In doing so, the article advances three …


"Terror Among The Gum Trees" - Is Our Criminal Legal Framework Adequate To Curb The Peril Of Bushfire Arson In Australia, John L. Anderson Jan 2011

"Terror Among The Gum Trees" - Is Our Criminal Legal Framework Adequate To Curb The Peril Of Bushfire Arson In Australia, John L. Anderson

John L Anderson

No abstract provided.