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Full-Text Articles in Law

Policy Paper: The Need To Enhance Victims’ Rights In The Florida Constitution To Fully Protect Crime Victims’ Rights, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin Dec 2017

Policy Paper: The Need To Enhance Victims’ Rights In The Florida Constitution To Fully Protect Crime Victims’ Rights, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Given the emerging consensus concerning victims' rights as reflected in many state constitutions as well as in federal law, Florida should not simply rest on the nearly thirty-year-old provison currently in its constitution. Instead, Florida should, through its established and recognized procedures, expand the protections contained in its provision to cover the rights reflected in provisions enacted across the country and reflected in Marsy's Law.


The Bail Book: A Comprehensive Look At Bail In America's Criminal Justice System - Introduction, Shima Baughman Apr 2017

The Bail Book: A Comprehensive Look At Bail In America's Criminal Justice System - Introduction, Shima Baughman

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Mass incarceration is one of the greatest social problems facing the United States today. America incarcerates a greater percentage of its population than any other country and is one of only two countries that requires arrested individuals to pay bail to be released from jail while awaiting trial. After arrest, the bail decision is the single most important cause of mass incarceration, yet this decision is often neglected since it is made in less than two minutes. Shima Baradaran Baughman draws on constitutional rights and new empirical research to show how we can reform bail in America. Tracing the history …


Still Handcuffing The Cops? A Review Of Fifty Years Of Empirical Evidence Of Miranda's Harmful Effects On Law Enforcement, Paul Cassell, Richard Fowles Jan 2017

Still Handcuffing The Cops? A Review Of Fifty Years Of Empirical Evidence Of Miranda's Harmful Effects On Law Enforcement, Paul Cassell, Richard Fowles

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The fiftieth anniversary of Miranda v. Arizona offers a chance to assess how the decision has played out in the real world and, in particular, to determine whether it has harmed law enforcement. In this Article, we take advantage of the time since the Miranda decision—now a little more than fifty years—to see whether it has produced the predicted harmful consequences. In particular, we survey the available empirical evidence about Miranda’s effects on law enforcement. We collect confession rate data, both from the time of Miranda and since, to assess whether Miranda caused confession rates to fall. We also review …


Crime Victims' Rights, Paul Cassell Jan 2017

Crime Victims' Rights, Paul Cassell

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Over the last 40 years, advocates for crime victims have succeeded in enshrining victims’ rights in state constitutions and other enactments. These provisions show that a consensus has developed around the country on certain core victims’ rights. Included in the core are, among other things, the right to notice of court hearings, to attend court hearings, to be heard at appropriate court hearings, to proceedings free from unreasonable delay, to consideration of the victims’ safety during the process, and to restitution. The current challenge for the country is ensuring that these core rights are fully and effectively implemented and that …


Can We Protect The Innocent Without Freeing The Guilty? Thoughts On Innocence Reforms That Avoid Harmful Tradeoffs, Paul Cassell Jan 2017

Can We Protect The Innocent Without Freeing The Guilty? Thoughts On Innocence Reforms That Avoid Harmful Tradeoffs, Paul Cassell

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

It is fundamentally important that the criminal justice system accurately separate the guilty from the innocent. But many recent reform measures from the innocent movement rest on shaky ground. Protecting against wrongful convictions can create tradeoffs. If poorly crafted, a reform measure might not only prevent convicting innocent persons but also guilty persons, allowing dangerous criminals to avoid incarceration and continue to victimize innocent persons. From a public policy perspective, these tradeoffs create concern that reform measures may be cures worse than the disease.

With this caution in mind, it is possible to craft reforms that help to protect the …


Costs Of Pretrial Detention, Shima Baughman Jan 2017

Costs Of Pretrial Detention, Shima Baughman

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Spending on U.S. incarceration has increased dramatically over the last several decades. Much of this cost is on incarcerating pretrial detainees—inmates not convicted of a crime—which constitute the majority of individuals in our nation’s jails. Current statutory schemes give judges almost complete discretion to order pretrial detention based on unexplained or unidentified factors. With this discretion, judges tend to make inconsistent decisions in every jurisdiction, some releasing almost all defendants—including the most dangerous—and others detaining most defendants—even those who are safe to release. There are constitutional and moral reasons to evaluate our current detention scheme, but even the fiscal impact …