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Articles 1 - 30 of 35
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Big Black Man Syndrome: The Rodney King Trial And The Use Of Racial Stereotyes In The Courtroom, Lawrence Vogelman
The Big Black Man Syndrome: The Rodney King Trial And The Use Of Racial Stereotyes In The Courtroom, Lawrence Vogelman
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Rodney King was portrayed as the prototypical "Big Black Man". Having recognized the existence of the Big Black Man Syndrome as a factor in the Rodney King Case, what are the moral and ethical implications of allowing defense counsel to so cleverly play upon the racial fears they evidently recognized? The issue is whether the use of racist arguments by defense counsel in a criminal trial is unethical. This essay explores the ethical consideration that come into play where a trial advocate is faced with a case where racism, homophobia, or ethnic prejudice is part of the courtroom dynamic.
Curing America's Addiction To Prisons, David C. Leven
Curing America's Addiction To Prisons, David C. Leven
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Our prisons have failed society because they do not, generally, provide an experience that is likely to help offenders overcome the obstacles that led them to make mistakes for which they are now being punished. Instead, they reinforce the violence and exploitation that many offenders were sentenced to prison for in the first place. They have failed because they do not promote restoration, a key to successful reintegration, and nobody benefits when offenders are more dangerous when they are released than when they entered prison. This Essay proposes that a restorative model of justice replace our failed punitive model. By …
Financial Arrangements In Class Actions, And The Code Of Professional Responsibility, Daniel J. Capra, Thomas W. Jackson, John Koeltl
Financial Arrangements In Class Actions, And The Code Of Professional Responsibility, Daniel J. Capra, Thomas W. Jackson, John Koeltl
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The Rules of Professional Conduct impose various restrictions relating to attorney fees and the payment of litigation costs, which are designed to preserve the lawyer's role as a zealous but objective advocate. Class actions stand apart from other kinds of litigation in that they are designed to promote efficiency by their combining like claims into single actions, and individual justice by their vindicating claims that if taken individually might not be economically viable. In light of these special concerns, the courts have carved out several exceptions to ordinary attorney's fees, litigation expense, and disbursement rules that they routinely apply to …
County Powers In Assisted Housing Programs: The Constitutional Limits In New York, John P. Dellera
County Powers In Assisted Housing Programs: The Constitutional Limits In New York, John P. Dellera
Fordham Urban Law Journal
With the exception of facilities set aside for people who cannot live independently, the law has historically given counties in New York State little or no role in addressing housing issues, with decisions being left to private enterprise, municipalities, and public corporations. Proposals are thus regularly advanced to grant powers to county governments to initiate their own housing programs. In 1992, the Attorney General of New York State issued an opinion that departs form previous opinions of his office and invites greater county involvement in low-cost housing. This article argues that under New York law, the role of municipalities is …
The Community Reinvestment Act After Fifteen Years: It Works, But Strengthened Federal Enforcement Is Needed, Allen J. Fishbein
The Community Reinvestment Act After Fifteen Years: It Works, But Strengthened Federal Enforcement Is Needed, Allen J. Fishbein
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) was adopted to curb redlining, the discriminatory mortgage lending practice whereby lenders refuse to make loans to certain geographic areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those areas or the age of their housing stock. The law reflected Congressional judgment that lending institutions were overlooking important credit needs within their local communities and that the banking regulators’ efforts were inadequate to deter this neglect. Although the law was rarely enforced, some organized community groups made it work. Today’s climate of bank restructuring presents new challenges to making the law effective. Despite its apparent …
Considering Lead Poisoning As A Criminal Defense, Deborah W. Denno
Considering Lead Poisoning As A Criminal Defense, Deborah W. Denno
Fordham Urban Law Journal
A brief survey of the causes and consequences of lead poisoning suggests that lead poisoning is pervasive, particularly among blacks in urban communities, that it's effects can be debilitating, and that it has been linked to disciplinary problems, aggression, and repetitive and oftentimes violent crime. There is a legitimate question, then, about whether lead poisoning should be considered a viable criminal defense. The question of whether lead poisoning should be a defense is perhaps most appropriately placed in the context of debates regarding free will, determinism, and the ability of social scientists to predict the course of any one individual's …
Needed: A Community Experiment In Problem-Oriented Justice, Felice Kirby, Michael Clark, Tim Wall
Needed: A Community Experiment In Problem-Oriented Justice, Felice Kirby, Michael Clark, Tim Wall
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This essay examines some of the problems widely perceived to exist within the criminal justice system. Our experience is that when both the community and the police communicate and become more involved with each other, notable successes have transpired. The strategy of community policing affords the police agency, and through it the community at large, a chance for problem-solving every time an officer responds to an incident. This is in contrast to what is now considered traditional policing, whereby a 911 operator, removed from the scene of the incident, dispatches officers and then urges them to move on as soon …
The Political Economy Of Female Violent Street Crime, Deborah Baskin, Ira Sommers, Jeffrey Fagan
The Political Economy Of Female Violent Street Crime, Deborah Baskin, Ira Sommers, Jeffrey Fagan
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Our research has led us to the conclusion that women in New York City are becoming more and more likely to involve themselves in violent street crimes. This essay analyzes the developing role of women in violent street crime and poses a model, based on both historical analysis and empirical research, to explain the participation of women in violent street crimes in the 1980s.
Maiming The Soul: Judges, Sentencing And The Myth Of The Nonviolent Rapist, Lynn Hecht Schafran
Maiming The Soul: Judges, Sentencing And The Myth Of The Nonviolent Rapist, Lynn Hecht Schafran
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Rape, by definition and in sentencing, is a crime that is predicated on a male-defined concept of violence. The lack of knowledge about rape trauma produces erroneous assessments or rape and erroneous sentences for rapists. The inability to recognize the damage cause by a "nonviolent" rape trivializes the seriousness of the crime and devalues the individual victim. Judges and attorneys must expand their definitions of violence to include injury to the victim's psyche.
Urban Criminal Justice: Has The Response To The Hiv Epidemic Been "Fair"?, Richard J. Andrias
Urban Criminal Justice: Has The Response To The Hiv Epidemic Been "Fair"?, Richard J. Andrias
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The HIV epidemic is almost a decade old and it is estimated that one million to two million Americans are infected. Nevertheless, too often it has been irrational fears of contagion and disapproval of the subcultures associated with the illness that have driven society's response to the epidemic. Has the legal community, which prides itself on being governed by due process and rationality, reacted any differently than society at large? To what degree have legal decisions and policies been governed by fear, prejudice, and ignorance rather than by science and sound public policy? This Essay will explore the response of …
The Urban Crimnal Justice System: A Case Of Fairness, John F. Keenan
The Urban Crimnal Justice System: A Case Of Fairness, John F. Keenan
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This short essay contains the presiding judges recollections of the case People v. Robles as a way to discuss public perception of fairness in the criminal justice system.
The Race Factor And Trial By Jury, Kenneth Conboy
The Race Factor And Trial By Jury, Kenneth Conboy
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The institution of trial by jury in criminal cases, one of the great achievements in the history of civilization and a principal foundation of our federal constitutional order, is to day under challenge by two different by interrelated developments in American courtrooms. The first is the development of a broad national imperative to eliminate all aspects of racism in American legal, political, and social life. The second is the heightened scrutiny that electronic media presence is applying to the jury system. This essay explores the utility and fairness of the American trial jury and its premise as a democratic and …
The High Cost Of Juvenile Justice, Diane Ridley Gatewood
The High Cost Of Juvenile Justice, Diane Ridley Gatewood
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Essay will discuss the high cost of incarcerating substantial numbers of minority juveniles and will advocate alternatives to detention. The author discusses how minority youth are disproportionately affected at multiple stages of the criminal justice process: arrests, detentions, adjudication, and disposition. The Essay further discusses the increased use of the prison system for juveniles. The Essay concludes with several recommendations for how minority youth can be treated more fairly within the system and recommends alternatives to incarceration.
Targeting Conduct: A Constitutional Method Of Penalizing Hate Crimes, Kevin N. Ainsworth
Targeting Conduct: A Constitutional Method Of Penalizing Hate Crimes, Kevin N. Ainsworth
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Forty-three states have enacted hate-crime statutes. These laws generally fall into one of two classes, either hate-speech or penalty-enhancement statutes. The former has sought to control virulent expression by punishing the utterance or display of words or symbols that the user knows will arouse anger in others on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or some other immutable characteristic. The United States Supreme Court examined an ordinance of this type in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul and found that the law infringed on the First Amendment right to free speech. Penalty enhancement statutes vary slightly among states, but …
Conscripting Private Resources To Meet Urban Needs: The Statutory And Constitutional Validity Of Affordable Housing Impact Fees In New York, James Berger
Fordham Urban Law Journal
In the closing decade of the 20th century, American cities face difficult financial predicaments. Urban tax bases have atrophied, and the confidence rating of municipal bonds has been downgraded. At the same time, city expenditures have increased as century-old infrastructure begins to crumble and urban demographics demand an ever increasing array of public services. To meet these challenges, New York City would do well to adopt impact fee and linkage arrangements, which would require developers to contribute to State coffers in proportion to the expected environmental, social, and economic impact of their development projects. To pass constitutional muster, however, any …
The Need For Fair Trials Does Not Justify A Disciplinary Rule That Broadly Restricts An Attorney's Speech, Thomas Gibson, Diana Parker
The Need For Fair Trials Does Not Justify A Disciplinary Rule That Broadly Restricts An Attorney's Speech, Thomas Gibson, Diana Parker
Fordham Urban Law Journal
In "Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada," the Supreme Court held a Nevada law prohibiting attorneys from making extra-judicial statements that could reasonably be expected to lead to prejudiced proceedings unconstitutionally vague. The safe harbor provision of New York's restriction on extra-judicial attorney speech seems to suffer from a similar deficiency, and must therefore be amended. To cure vagueness concerns, an amended rule should pay heed to the timing of prohibited public statements by attorneys, limiting speech restrictions to the month preceding the start of the trial. The amended rule should also include a clear and present danger standard to …
Ethical Issues Arising When A Lawyer Leaves A Firm: Restrictions On Practice, Daniel J. Capra, Richard Friedman, Arthur Handler, Diana Parker
Ethical Issues Arising When A Lawyer Leaves A Firm: Restrictions On Practice, Daniel J. Capra, Richard Friedman, Arthur Handler, Diana Parker
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Restriction on covenants not to compete have been a long-time feature of legal practice. Rules prohibiting law firms from restricting lawyers' ability to practice or imposing penalties on lawyers that leave a firm attempt to balance the law firm's interest in survival in a competitive market with the countervailing interests of attorney mobility, and protecting clients' choice of counsel. Restrictions on covenants not to compete should be vigorously enforced, and the exception that allows for the forfeiture of retirement benefits by attorneys that choose to leave a firm should be narrowly applied to only those funds to which the departing …
Federal Preemption Of Rent Regulation Under Firrea, Eric William Hess
Federal Preemption Of Rent Regulation Under Firrea, Eric William Hess
Fordham Urban Law Journal
After hundreds of savings and loan institutions became insolvent in the 1980s, Congress enacted the Federal Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act, which was designed to provide affordable mortgage financing to low and moderate income individuals, and to dispose of the assets of the failed savings and loan institutions. Among the powers granted by FIRREA to the FDIC was the ability to disaffirm or repudiate leases held by insolvent institutions if those leases are deemed burdensome. In "Resolution Trust Corp. v. Diamond," the United States District Court wrongly held that FIRREA cannot be construed to allow Federal preemption of State …
Keeping The Faith: A Model Local Ethics Law - Content And Commentary, Mark Davies
Keeping The Faith: A Model Local Ethics Law - Content And Commentary, Mark Davies
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Investigations by the New York Temporary State Commission on Local Government Ethics has revealed serious problems in local government ethics laws. While in large part local officials behave ethically, due to lack of adequate guidance provided by existing local ethics rules, these officials are often perceived as acting unethically. The commission's investigations reveals a long list of commonplace activities by local officials that, while questionable, do not technically violate existing local ethics standards. The Model Local Ethics Law proposed by the commission, which was not seriously considered by the State legislature, would do much to clarify the bounds of ethical …
Race, Space, And Place: The Relation Between Architectural Modernism, Post-Modernism, Urban Planning, And Gentrification, Keith Aoki
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Since the early 19th century, American city planning and architectural design has sought to reconcile the city with the countryside. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, city planning focussed on bringing elements of the country to the urban landscape, while for much of the 20th century architectural designs sought to make the city more accessible to suburbanites. Both approaches to urban planning were based on architectural modernism, which led to city development plans that reflected developers' subjective value laden biases about urban life. The result was significant urban decay as zoning regulations and utilitarian city planning resulted in …
Report On The Debate Over Whether There Should Be An Exception To Confidentiality For Rectifying A Crime Or Fraud, Maria Helen Bainor, Nancy Batterman
Report On The Debate Over Whether There Should Be An Exception To Confidentiality For Rectifying A Crime Or Fraud, Maria Helen Bainor, Nancy Batterman
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct fail to provide lawyers with adequate guidance for dealing with situations in which a client has used the lawyer's services to perpetuate a fraud. He Model Rules do not discuss confidentiality in cases of client-committed fraud at all, and the provided exceptions to the confidentiality requirement do little to help attorney's deal with past frauds committed by a client with the unwitting aid of the attorney. The Model Rules should be amended to authorize disclosure of client confidences to rectify a crime or fraud when the lawyer's services have been used in the commission …
The Community Reinvestment Act: Good Intentions Headed In The Wrong Direction, Lawrence J. White
The Community Reinvestment Act: Good Intentions Headed In The Wrong Direction, Lawrence J. White
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (“CRA” or “the Act”) places an obligation on commercial banks and savings and loan associations (“S&Ls”) and savings banks (together with S&Ls, frequently described as “thrifts”) to meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institutions. The Act offers no greater precision for these phrases, and the task of fleshing them out and enforcing them has been left to the bank and thrift regulatory agencies. This article argues that the CRA approach is fundamentally flawed. It is either redundant (because …
A Guide To Enforcing The Community Reinvestment Act, Richard Marisco
A Guide To Enforcing The Community Reinvestment Act, Richard Marisco
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) represents a continuing, affirmative obligation on banks to meet the credit needs of their communities — including low and moderate income neighborhoods — by providing appropriate credit products and deposit services. Federal regulators have been hesitant to enforce the CRA aggressively, and community based organizations (“CBO’s”) have taken the lead in using the CRA to improve bank lending in low and moderate income communities. A combination of recent legislation and social developments ensure an increase in the CBO’s CRA enforcement activity. This Guide’s purpose is twofold. The first is to catalogue and analyze the decisions, …
Can You Have Your Cake And Eat It Too? Ratification Of Releases Of Adea Claims, Lisa M. Imbrogno
Can You Have Your Cake And Eat It Too? Ratification Of Releases Of Adea Claims, Lisa M. Imbrogno
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Troubled economic conditions exacerbate acts of employment discrimination. It is a common concern that employers will replace their older, more expensive workers with younger employees who will work at lower salaries. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") was enacted by Congress to combat age discrimination against workers forty years of age and over. This Note focuses on one issue that has arisen out of the ADEA -- employers' use of waivers through which employees agree to release employers from any age discrimination claims in exchange for additional severance pay and benefits. Specifically, this Note analyzes whether an employee who …
Kinship Foster Care: A Relatively Permanent Solution, Marla Gottlieb Zwas
Kinship Foster Care: A Relatively Permanent Solution, Marla Gottlieb Zwas
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Kinship foster care is intended to provide substantially the same standard of care as children receive in placement with unrelated foster parents. In practice, however, the two differ enormously in New York City. Frequently, agencies place foster children in the homes of relatives with little regard for the adequacy of those homes. This Note evaluates the existing kinship foster care system, and examines the possibility of addressing the program's problems by creating a new legislative category for kinship guardians.
The Urban Criminal Justice System Can Be Fair, Charles J. Hynes
The Urban Criminal Justice System Can Be Fair, Charles J. Hynes
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This essay contains perspectives on fairness in the criminal justice system. It is written by a prosecutor with experience in an urban setting. He touches on topics such as racism, jury selection, the Rodney King case, the Howard Beach Case.
What Is A "Fair" Reponse To Juvenile Crime?, Susan K. Knipps
What Is A "Fair" Reponse To Juvenile Crime?, Susan K. Knipps
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The question of how to deal fairly and effectively with the problem of juvenile crime has long perplexed the public and policy makers. The current juvenile justice system in New York State reflects this uncertainty -- as it simultaneously employs two completely different models for the adjudication of juveniles accused of unlawful acts. The first model emphasizes the provision of rehabilitative services for delinquent youth through noncriminal proceedings in the Family Court. The second model stresses the use of punitive sanctions in the adult criminal courts for more serious juvenile offenders. To begin to sort through these models, this Essay …
Jails And Prisons -- Reservoirs Of Tb Disease: Should Defendants With Hiv Infection (Who Cannot Swim) Be Thrown Into The Reservoir?, Faith Colangelo, Mariana Hogan
Jails And Prisons -- Reservoirs Of Tb Disease: Should Defendants With Hiv Infection (Who Cannot Swim) Be Thrown Into The Reservoir?, Faith Colangelo, Mariana Hogan
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in urban areas has direct and alarming consequences within the criminal justice system. Lock-up facilities, jails and prisons are TB breeding grounds. TB strikes with vengeance in populations with physical vulnerabilities caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS and other immune-suppressing conditions. This Essay argues that it is time for New York State to reevaluate the mandatory sentencing laws and restrictions on plea bargaining. The interaction of HIV disease and TB offers a striking example of why justice is not served by binding the judiciary's hands. This Essay provides a medical overview of HIV …
A Moral Standard For The Prosecutor's Exercise Of The Charging Discretion, Bennett L. Gershman
A Moral Standard For The Prosecutor's Exercise Of The Charging Discretion, Bennett L. Gershman
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The prosecutor's decision to institute criminal charges is the broadest and least regulated power in American criminal law. The judicial deference shown to prosecutors generally is most noticeable with respect to the charging function. This Essay discusses three hypothetical cases that present both realistic and recurring challenges to the prosecutor's charging power. The first case depends on a factual determination of a witness's reliability. The second case depends on a factual determination of the witness's truthfulness. The third case revolves around a legal determination regarding the applicability of a defense. Together, these cases provide a setting in which a moral …
Should Judges Consider The Demographics Of The Jury Pool In Deciding Change Of Venue Application?, Peter M. Kougasian
Should Judges Consider The Demographics Of The Jury Pool In Deciding Change Of Venue Application?, Peter M. Kougasian
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Essay considers the narrow question of whether, in changing venue, a court ought in principle to consider the demographic diversity of the venue. Deciding this issue require consideration of two preliminary questions: what is an impartial jury? And what role, if any, does racial diversity play in empaneling an impartial jury? The Rodney King trial raises questions about the dynamics of the jury panel, rather than the qualifications of individual jurors. After the Rodney King verdict, the Court's reasoning in the Batson line of cases seems naive for two reasons. First, the Court's faith in the ability of voire …