Law Commons^™

A Larger War On Terror?, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Toward Ethical Plea Bargaining, Erica J. Hashimoto

Scholarly Works

Defendants in criminal cases are overwhelmingly more likely to plead guilty than to go to trial. Presumably, at least a part of the reason that most of them do so is that it is in their interest to plead guilty, i.e., they will receive a more favorable outcome if they plead guilty than if they go to trial. The extent to which pleas reflect fair or rational compromises in practice, however, depends upon a variety of factors, including the amount of information each of the parties has about the case. Some level of informational symmetry therefore is critical to the …

Judicial Fact-Finding At Sentencing, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This encyclopedia entry summarizes the pendulum-swings that led the Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey, Blakely v. Washington, and United States v. Booker to limit judges' ability to find facts at sentencing. Paradoxically, the much-criticized Federal Sentencing Guidelines have survived; a line of cases that began as an effort to restore juries' role has turned into a guarantor of judicial discretion; and the doctrine has quickly moved far from its Sixth Amendment roots to a policy balancing test. The Court could instead have pursued a different, more fruitful path. The Court did not have to force sentencing factors into …

Summary Of Valdez V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 97, Elham Roohani

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Cumulative effect of prosecutorial misconduct and the abuse of discretion on the part of the district court through a failure to give the jury a written bifurcation instruction and the resultant effect of juror misconduct warrants reversal warranted reversal of a first-degree murder and attempted murder conviction.

Teaching Tips: Personal Criminal History Analysis Paper, Gordon Crews, Angela Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

Students often have difficulty visualizing the practical application of criminological theory. The following activity assists instructors to develop students‘ abilities in evaluating behaviors and determining the theoretical perspectives that potentially could be used to explain those behaviors. It also is designed to assist students in comprehending how their own experiences impact their views on law-violating behavior and its etiology. This exercise facilitates students‘ awareness of how their beliefs about the causes of law-violating behavior inevitably impact their beliefs about potential solutions or responses to this type of behavior. Eventually, students unfailingly begin to realize the artificial dichotomy between us, as …

The Effect Of Blakely V. Washington On Upward Departures In A Sentencing Guideline State, Brian Iannacchione, Jeremy Ball

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

One of the problems facing the criminal justice system is unwarranted disparity as a result of unbridled discretion. Although disparity, by itself, does not necessarily indicate a problem in the criminal justice system, disparity unwarranted does present a problem. Disparity becomes unwarranted when, controlling for legal factors, extralegal factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, and age influence court processing decisions. The greater the discretion one possesses, the higher the likelihood of unwarranted disparity in one’s decisions (Albonetti, 1991; Meeker, Jesilow, & Aranda, 1992; Bushway & Piehl, 2001). Within the criminal court system, judicial discretion in sentencing has received the most scrutiny.

Exacerbating Injustice, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This brief essay responds to Josh Bowers' argument that criminal procedure should openly allow innocent defendants to plead guilty as a legal fiction. Though most scholars emphasize the few but salient serious felony cases, Bowers is right to refocus attention on misdemeanors and violations, which are far more numerous. And though the phrase wrongful convictions conjures up images of punishing upstanding citizens, Bowers is also right to emphasize that recidivists are far more likely to suffer wrongful suspicion and conviction. Bowers' mistake is to treat the criminal justice system as simply a means of satisfying defendants' preferences and choices. This …

Legitimating Criminal Justice Through Community Engagement: Lessons From The Jury Experience, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Fundamentally justifying the jury is the opportunity it provides for community participation in criminal justice and the legitimation function that offers. Indeed, a strong political motivation for the recent introduction of jury trial in several transitional jurisdictions is the public confidence it transfers to the system at large. Recent research on juror comprehension and satisfaction suggests the possibility of interrogating the participation/confidence nexus more intricately. This note argues that it is the quality of the participation and the participant satisfaction which eventuates that predicts juror confidence. Where the legitimacy of criminal justice through juror participation is to be maximised then …

Summary Of State V. Harte, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 82, Ian Houston

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a district court order partially granting a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a death penalty case.

Summary Of Hernandez V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. 83, Julian R. Gregory

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a district court order denying Defendant’s post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a capital case.

Summary Of Rubio V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 87, Holly Cheong

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a district court order denying relief for ineffective assistance in a criminal case resulting in deportation.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 84, No. 16, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles in this issue:

• Paul, Corey. Fights & Frenzy
• Day, Michelle. Gunfire Unconfirmed, Investigation Continues
• Hale, Marianne. Campus, Community Voice Concerns
• Timeline of Events
• Slitz, Alex. A Thousand Words – Charus Changchit
• Howerton, Christina. Enrollment Increases 2.6 Percent
• Howerton, Christina. Task Force Explores Ways to Make College Cost Less
• Gadbois, Chris. Rudeness Isn’t an Issue with Shuttle Drivers
• Bonneau-Kaya, Chrystal. Objectification of Women is Dehumanizing, Wrong
• Schwab, Edmond. Learn the Background of the Financial Troubles
• Bybee, Sarah. Please Slow Down and Watch Out for Pedestrians
• Cawthorn, Shawna. Poor Football …

Everyone Deserves Defense, Peter Keane

Publications

In his decades as a public defender, Peter Keane represented murderers and other criminals as skillfully as he could – even when he knew they were guilty . Keane believes every one, no matter what they’ve done, deserves to have somebody on their side.

Summary Of Davidson V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. 76, Moorea Katz

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a criminal conviction of two counts of burglary, two counts of robbery, two counts of battery, and adjudication as a habitual criminal.

Summary Of Knipes V State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 79, Miranda Mahe

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a conviction of driving under the influence causing death on the basis that the district court failed to follow the procedural safeguards for juror questioning.

Linkage And The Deterrence Of Corporate Fraud, Miriam Baer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Spare The Rod, Save The Child: Reviewing Corporal Punishment Through The Lens Of Domestic Violence, Sarah Brady Brundage

W&M Law Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Involuntary Endogenous Rfid Compliance Monitoring As A Condition Of Federal Supervised Release - Chips Ahoy?, Isaac B. Rosenberg

W&M Law Student Publications

Among the many cutting edge technologies law enforcement agencies increasingly covet is radio frequency identification ("RFID"). Researchers predict RFID will become the most pervasive computer technology in history. Among the more extraordinary and controversial government uses of RFID-and the focus of this Paper-include implantation of subdermal RFID transmitters. Privacy concerns abound. Not surprisingly, critics and privacy advocates are wary of subdermal RFID implants, fearful that only afine line separates relatively innocuous, voluntary implantation from arbitrary government-mandated implantation. But for involuntary implantation of RFID chips to take root, government implantation programs would have to start on the small scale, targeting the …

Criminal Justice Federalism And National Sex Offender Policy, Wayne A. Logan

Scholarly Publications

This paper, part of a symposium, examines the federal government's sustained effort to recast state policies regarding sex offender registration and community notification laws. While commentators have typically focused on federal Commerce Clause-based incursions on state criminal justice authority, with registration and notification the U.S. has invoked the Spending Clause, a less controversial yet more invasive strategy, driving outcomes nationwide, not merely within the federal system alone. As a result, borrowing from Justice Harlan, the U.S. has "fasten[ed] on the States federal notions of criminal justice" in a major way.

After providing an overview of the historic reluctance of the …

Equal Sentences For Unequal Participation: Should The Eighth Amendment Allow All Juvenile Murder Accomplices To Receive Life Without Parole?, Brian Gallini

School of Law Faculty Publications and Presentations

No court has addressed the constitutional significance of sentencing juvenile murder accomplices who play a minimal role in the underlying killing to life in prison without parole. Indeed, no precedent makes clear whether it is cruel and unusual to impose that sentence on juvenile offenders convicted of first-degree murder pursuant to either the felony-murder doctrine or an accomplice theory of liability, notwithstanding their minimal involvement in the victim’s death. To investigate this unanswered question, Part I of this Article explores the imposition of life without parole sentences on juvenile non-killers convicted of murder via either the felony-murder doctrine or accomplice …

Renaissance Redux? Chastity And Punishment In Italian Rape Law, Rachel A. Van Cleave

Publications

This essay examines an Italian sexual assault case that received significant media attention. The Corte d'appello of Cagliari concluded that the defendant was not entitled to a reduced sentence when he was convicted of sexually assaulting his fourteen-year-old stepdaughter. On review, the Third Section of Italy's Corte diCassazione held that the lower court's refusal was erroneous. Cassazione faulted the appellate court for failing to consider that the victim had already engaged in sexual activity with others. This case illustrates how changing rape laws on the books does not always bring about immediate change in attitudes. Indeed, notions of chastity and …

Fantasy Crime: The Role Of Criminal Law In Virtual Worlds, Susan W. Brenner

School of Law Faculty Publications

This article analyzes activity in virtual worlds that would constitute crime if they were committed in the real world. It reviews the evolution of virtual worlds like Second Life and notes research which indicates that more and more of our lives will move into this realm. The article then analyzes the criminalization of virtual conduct that inflicts “harm” in the real world and virtual conduct that only inflicts “harm” in the virtual world. It explains that the first category qualifies as cybercrime and can be prosecuted under existing law. Finally, it analyzes the necessity and propriety of criminalizing the second …

Danforth, Retroactivity, And Federalism, J. Thomas Sullivan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Section 7: Criminal Law, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

The Case Of Weak Will And Wayward Desire., Vera Bergelson

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

In this article, I confront Garvey¡¯s argument that a weak-willed individual deserves partial excuse for trying to resist a strong desire that pushes him toward commission of a criminal act even though in the end he unreasonably abandons his resistance and commits the crime.

I attempt to refute Garvey¡¯s argument on two counts: one, I question whether the law should indeed provide mitigation to such an offender; and two, I argue that, even if it should, this mitigation may not come in the form of a partial defense. Defenses, even partial, are desert based, and there is nothing in Garvey¡¯s …

Summary Of Mitchell V. State, 122 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 107, Aubree Nielsen

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Donald Mitchell appeals his second-degree murder conviction. Mitchell argues that the district court trial contained five procedural errors, the most significant being a violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Summary Of Chartier V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 66, Kelly Stout

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This case is an appeal from a jury conviction in district court on one count of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Summary Of Fergusen V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 69, Tara Zimmerman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal from a judgment of conviction, upon jury verdict, of one count each of burglary, sexual assault, robbery, and first-degree kidnapping.

Summary Of Picetti V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 68, Kristopher Zeppenfeld

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This appeal arises from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to a guilty plea, of one count of driving under the influence (DUI), which is his third offense within 7 years, a class B felony. Paul Thomas Picetti (“Picetti”) contends that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress his prior DUI convictions. Moreover, he claims the district court erroneously refused to allow him an opportunity to apply for a treatment program established in NRS 484.379412 for third offense DUI offenders.

Brief Of Amicus Curiae In Support Of Appellants, Quinton Richmond, Et Al., V. The District Court Of Maryland, Et Al., No. 08-54, Brenda Bratton Blom, Robert Rubinson, Phillip J. Closius

Court Briefs

Amici curiae brief filed by 78 faculty members from the University of Maryland School of Law and the University of Baltimore School of Law, on behalf of Appellants Quinton Richmond, et al. Amicus members felt the need to comment on the application and implications of the statutory right to counsel under Maryland law for indigent criminal defendants. The issue before the Court of Appeals was whether the Court’s previous holding in McCarter v. State, 363 Md. 705 (2001), that the plain language of the Maryland Public Defender Act created a right to counsel during all stages of a criminal …