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Full-Text Articles in Law
Stories That Kill: Masculinity And Capital Prosecutors' Closing Arguments, Pamela A. Wilkins
Stories That Kill: Masculinity And Capital Prosecutors' Closing Arguments, Pamela A. Wilkins
Cleveland State Law Review
The American death penalty is a punishment by, for, and about men: Both historically and today, most capital prosecutors are men, most capital defendants are men, and killing itself is strongly coded male. Yet despite—or perhaps because of—the overwhelming maleness of the institution of capital punishment, the subject of masculinity is largely absent from legal discourse about the death penalty. This Article addresses that gap in the legal discourse by applying the insights of masculinities theory, an offshoot of feminist theory, to capital prosecutors’ closing arguments. This Article hypothesizes that capital prosecutors’ masculinity is strongly influenced both by white Southern …
Capital Punishment Of Young Adults In Light Of Evolving Standards Of Science And Decency: Why Ohio Should Raise The Minimum Age For Death Penalty Eligibility To Twenty-Five (25), Talia Stewart
Cleveland State Law Review
Up until the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling in Roper v. Simmons, juveniles could constitutionally be executed for qualifying criminal offenses. The Roper Court raised the minimum age for execution to eighteen, citing both a national consensus against executing minors, as well as recent research (at the time) showing that juveniles are more vulnerable to negative influences and outside pressures. Since Roper, the Supreme Court has remained silent regarding the requisite minimum age for execution and has left the decision up to individual states. While a slim majority of states have now abolished the death penalty in its entirety, …
The Hanging Judge By Michael A. Ponsor––Capital Punishment: Is The Death Penalty Worth The Price?, Beth D. Cohen, Pat K. Newcombe
The Hanging Judge By Michael A. Ponsor––Capital Punishment: Is The Death Penalty Worth The Price?, Beth D. Cohen, Pat K. Newcombe
Cleveland State Law Review
No abstract provided.
Life, Death, And Iq: It's Much More Than Just A Score: Understanding And Utilizing Forensic Psychological And Neuropsychological Evaluations In Atkins Intellectual Disability/Mental Retardation Cases, John Matthew Fabian, William W. Thompson, Jeffrey B. Lazarus
Life, Death, And Iq: It's Much More Than Just A Score: Understanding And Utilizing Forensic Psychological And Neuropsychological Evaluations In Atkins Intellectual Disability/Mental Retardation Cases, John Matthew Fabian, William W. Thompson, Jeffrey B. Lazarus
Cleveland State Law Review
This article highlights best practices for assessing MR and ID in capital cases with an emphasis on Atkins trial preparation and potential problems the authors have noted through experience. These best practices in Atkins hearings concern issues for the lawyers, forensic psychologists, and neuropsychologists, which include:
1. Practice effects and IQ testing
2. Consistency of IQ scores over time
3. Flynn Effect
4. Malingering versus cognitive suboptimal effort
5. Lack of records indicating pre-age 18 diagnosis of MR/ID
6. Retrospective assessment of adaptive behaviors
7. Death row trends of increasing IQ over the years while incarcerated
8. Maladaptive behaviors versus …
Inconsistent Methods For The Adjudication Of Alleged Mentally Retarded Individuals: A Comparison Of Ohio's And Georgia's Post-Atkins Frameworks For Determining Mental Retardation, Scott R. Poe
Cleveland State Law Review
This Note compares Ohio's and Georgia's post-Atkins frameworks for determining mental retardation. Ohio's framework offers a fairer application of Atkins and should serve as a guide for a national legal standard for use by state trial courts to determine mental retardation. Specifically, Ohio's use of preponderance of the evidence is a more appropriate standard of proof for determining mental retardation because it better reaches the overall goal in Atkins. Allowing the judge to make the mental retardation determination protects the alleged mentally retarded defendant from potential jury bias. Because Ohio's and Georgia's definitions of mental retardation are substantially similar and …
Nothing Less Than The Dignity Of Man: Evolving Standards, Botched Executions And Utah's Controversial Use Of The Firing Squad , Christopher Q. Cutler
Nothing Less Than The Dignity Of Man: Evolving Standards, Botched Executions And Utah's Controversial Use Of The Firing Squad , Christopher Q. Cutler
Cleveland State Law Review
While outrage boils to the surface when Utah uses its firing squad option, there is little substantive legal development concerning the firing squad's use. Few cases have challenged the firing squad's constitutionality. This article discusses the legal and political implications of the firing squad. Using the Supreme Court's everdeveloping Eighth Amendment jurisprudence as a guide, this article discusses whether the firing squad, both historically and in its present application, passes constitutional muster. Beyond those factors that trigger constitutional protection, this article discusses those elements of the firing squad's use which define society's humanity and demonstrate our dignity. In the end, …
It's Time To Put The Military's Death Penalty To Sleep , Michael I. Spak
It's Time To Put The Military's Death Penalty To Sleep , Michael I. Spak
Cleveland State Law Review
Part I will focus on the death penalty in the civilian sector of the United States. It begins with a brief history of and an introduction to death penalty laws in the United States. A critical examination of the primary arguments used to justify the death penalty follows. Part I next offers a brief overview of other independent reasons for the abolition of the death penalty. After having concluded that the application of the death penalty is unfair in the civilian sector and should thus be abolished, the article will then shift its focus to the death penalty in the …
The Right To Kill In Cold Blood: Does The Death Penalty Violate Human Rights, Alan Ryan
The Right To Kill In Cold Blood: Does The Death Penalty Violate Human Rights, Alan Ryan
Cleveland State Law Review
The essence of the argument is this: all punishment must be inflicted in cold blood; whatever damage we do to others not in cold blood is not punishment but self-defense or revenge; what we have a right to inflict in cold blood is a question of the rules of just social cooperation and especially the justice of the sanctions required to sustain those rules; it is here argued that the fundamental principle is that we may inflict whatever punishment is necessary to deter wrongdoing and not disproportionate to the offence; I do not dismiss 'pure' retribution as a goal of …
Life, Death And The Law - And Why Capital Punishment Is Legally Insupportable , Peter Fitzpatrick
Life, Death And The Law - And Why Capital Punishment Is Legally Insupportable , Peter Fitzpatrick
Cleveland State Law Review
Given that law has an integral commitment to life, in this lecture I want to show how the law should manifest something of a fundamental dissonance, even a terminal incoherence, when law is called upon to deal death. That is what happens in the judicial discourse on the death penalty in the United States. I will approach this demonstration in a way that may at first seem paradoxical, in a way that will bring out the deep affinity between law and death. That affinity is one in which death is, in a sense, the limit of law; a limit that …
On Seeking Controlling Law And Re-Seeking Death Under Section 2929.06 Of The Ohio Revised Code , Margery B. Koosed
On Seeking Controlling Law And Re-Seeking Death Under Section 2929.06 Of The Ohio Revised Code , Margery B. Koosed
Cleveland State Law Review
This article explores and analyzes the two-pronged legal dilemma that confronted the court in State v. Marshall: in Ohio, finding the correct sentencing law is often difficult; and a recent amendment to the resentencing portion of that law, S.B. 258, destroys the efficiency that was characteristic of Ohio's previous resentencing framework. Consequently, Part II of this article examines the facts and holding of State v. Marshall and suggests that finding the applicable law must be simplified. Practitioner handbooks are often confusing and incomplete, in part as the Ohio legislature generates an ever-changing body of law. Justice and the lives of …
When Something Wicked This Way Comes: Evolving Standards Of Indecency - Thompson And Stanford Revisited , Jennifer L. Whitney
When Something Wicked This Way Comes: Evolving Standards Of Indecency - Thompson And Stanford Revisited , Jennifer L. Whitney
Cleveland State Law Review
If the death penalty becomes an option for children under sixteen, the unavoidable conclusion must be that we have reverted back to colonial theories of punishment. The issue facing the nation will again become at what age to draw the line. In this article I argue that, as a society, we must prevent such executions and refute claims that, as a result of the failure of the juvenile justice system to rehabilitate killers before they kill, a consensus in favor of reducing the minimum age of execution has evolved. Part II of this note presents the theories of colonial crime …
On The Abolition Of Man: A Discussion Of The Moral And Legal Issues Surrounding The Death Penalty, Thomas J. Walsh
On The Abolition Of Man: A Discussion Of The Moral And Legal Issues Surrounding The Death Penalty, Thomas J. Walsh
Cleveland State Law Review
This article examines the moral and practical arguments supporting the death penalty in an effort to show why the United States should join other Western nations in the abolition of the death penalty. First, this article explores the historical context of the death penalty in the United States and examines the current status of constitutional doctrine on the death penalty. Next, because an analysis of the arguments for and against the death penalty are invariably charged with moral issues, an effort will be made to examine the moral aspects of the death penalty. The arguments offered in support of the …
Ford V. Wainwright, Statutory Changes And A New Test For Sanity: You Can't Execute Me, I'M Crazy, Steven J. Huff
Ford V. Wainwright, Statutory Changes And A New Test For Sanity: You Can't Execute Me, I'M Crazy, Steven J. Huff
Cleveland State Law Review
In Ford v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of an insane inmate. In answering this query, the Court created a constitutional right not to be executed while incompetent. However, the Ford decision is not only important for its creation of a "new" constitutional right, it also has the potential of nullifying several state statutes in regards to the due process requirements of hearings addressing the issue of insanity at the time of execution. The Ford decision also requires that a new test of sanity be created the test of whether …
Capital Punishment In Ohio: Aggravating Circumstances, Elaine C. Hilliard
Capital Punishment In Ohio: Aggravating Circumstances, Elaine C. Hilliard
Cleveland State Law Review
The state of Ohio enacted a new death penalty statute which became effective October 19, 1981. As of January 18, 1983, eighty-three defendants had been indicted under the new statute. It is, therefore, both necessary and timely to evaluate Ohio's statutory delineation of who may die and its effect for compliance with constitutional mandates. This Note sets forth the hypotheses and supporting legal authority for analyzing Ohio's statutory aggravating circumstances individually and in the aggregate on equal protection and procedural due process grounds.
Some Legislative History And Comments On Ohio's New Criminal Code , Harry J. Lehman, Alan E. Norris
Some Legislative History And Comments On Ohio's New Criminal Code , Harry J. Lehman, Alan E. Norris
Cleveland State Law Review
Having briefly outlined the history of the formal development of the Act, it is the purpose of this Article to discuss in narrative form the legislative process on certain key provisions which were the subject of much debate and disagreement. These areas of disagreement include murder and felony penalties, especially minimum sentences; capital punishment to conform to the U.S. Supreme Court's Furman decision as well as other changes; parole eligibility for those serving life sentences for a capital offense; early release on parole, also known as shock parole; eligibility for probation; definition of reasonable doubt and jury instructions on reasonable …
The Response To Furman: Can Legislators Breathe Life Back Into Death, Carol Irvin, Howard E. Rose
The Response To Furman: Can Legislators Breathe Life Back Into Death, Carol Irvin, Howard E. Rose
Cleveland State Law Review
In the eighteen months since the Supreme Court of the United States struck down capital punishment in Furman v. Georgia twenty-three states have reinstated the death penalty. While the Supreme Court has not yet heard arguments concerning the constitutionality of these statutes, their validity will determine the fate of the forty-four persons currently awaiting execution in eight states. It is the purpose of this comment to consider the statutes reinstating capital punishment, in light of Furman.
Should Ohio Abolish Capital Punishment, Richard J. Goetz
Should Ohio Abolish Capital Punishment, Richard J. Goetz
Cleveland State Law Review
In view of all the controversy surrounding this topic, it is interesting to review the history of the death penalty in Ohio, in other states, and elsewhere in the world.