Law Commons^™

A Retributive Theory Of The Pardoning Power?, Hugo Adam Bedau

University of Richmond Law Review

During the past two decades; the retributive theory of punishment has made remarkable strides in recapturing the affections of penologists. The story has been told elsewhere and need not be reviewed here. For philosophers, if not for others interested in the theory and practice of punishment, a retributive approach holds a double attraction.

Rawls's Excessively Secular Political Conception, Gary C. Leedes

University of Richmond Law Review

In Political Liberalism, John Rawls clarifies the differences between general theories of human nature and his model of justice. Unlike most philosophers in the Western tradition, Rawls does not place the subject of justice within a comprehensive theory of human behavior. His conception of justice rests solely on a unique "construct" called the "liberal political conception" (LPC). Rawls claims that his freestanding LPC, if adopted by citizens of a constitutional democracy, could unite reasonable persons otherwise divided by their ideologies. As a result,, citizens-given favorable conditions-enjoy the benefits of a stable, well-ordered society.

Brecht V. Abrahamson: Another Step Toward Evisceration Of Habeas Corpus, Lisa S. Spickler

University of Richmond Law Review

As the amount of crime in this country increases, society is becoming more conscious of our criminal justice system. People are increasingly concerned with the outcome of criminal trials, specifically in assuring that crimes do not go unpunished. Determining guilt, ensuring that verdicts are not overruled on a "technicality," and issuing punishment have taken precedence over the protection of constitutional rights. However, the Constitution is not only concerned with the outcome of criminal trials. It is just as surely concerned with individual rights and process.

The Revolution That Wasn't: On The Business As Usual Aspects Of Employment At Will, Sid L. Moller

University of Richmond Law Review

With a pronouncement that has become quite familiar to those who follow employment law, a nineteenth century state court captured the employment at will rule in its pristine form: "An employer can fire an employee for good reason, bad reason or for a reason morally wrong, without incurring any liability."

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Business And Corporate Law, Richard T. Horan Jr., Thomas E. Repke

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews recent developments in the law affecting Virginia businesses and corporations. Part II discusses recent judicial decisions in Virginia courts involving businesses and corporations. Part III discusses several acts of the 1993 session of the Virginia General Assembly that amend Virginia's corporate, partnership, limited liability company and securities act statutes.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Property Law, L. Charles Long Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

While the Supreme Court of Virginia handed down decisions of significance dealing with the ownership and operation of real property in the Commonwealth during the past year, in most cases the court was content to apply well-settled law in new fact situations, or to extend the boundaries of such law gently into new territory. The General Assembly, for its part, spent most of its energy clarifying existing legislation or repairing portions of statutes which, either in operation or in prospect, needed relatively minor modifications. The foregoing statements are not intended to belittle the cases which were decided and the legislation …

Child Custody Modification Based On A Parents Non-Marital Cohabitation: Protecting The Best Interests Of The Child In Virginia, Katherine A. Salmon

University of Richmond Law Review

In recent years, courts have been faced with deciding what constitutes "parental fitness" for custody purposes in light of society's changing mores and values. In attempting to define the role that a parent's sexual lifestyle plays in a custody or visitation dispute, courts across the country have lost sight of their ultimate responsibility - to protect the best interests of the child. Instead, courts often seem more concerned with protecting the sexual freedom of unmarried parents than in contemplating the impact cohabitation may have on children. The Court of Appeals of Virginia is no exception.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Executive Clemency In Modern Death Penalty Cases, Bruce Ledewitz, Scott Staples

University of Richmond Law Review

When a governor commutes a sentence of death, typically to one of life imprisonment either with an extended mandatory term or without possibility of parole, how is this action to be understood? As former Governor Pat Brown's book about his commutation decisions illustrates, in a period of widespread support for the death penalty, each commutation contains an appeal for popular support and understanding as to why the decision was made. Where the case for commutation cannot be made to the public's satisfaction, a governor is not likely to act.

Due Process In Death Penalty Commutations: Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Clemency, Daniel T. Kobil

University of Richmond Law Review

The idea of the last-minute reprieve granted by a distant, unknowable dispenser of mercy to a man condemned to death has a powerful hold on our imaginations. Fyodor Dostoevsky's eleventh hour pardon by the czar in many ways shaped his literary career. The scene of the haunted Death Row prisoner who awaits word from the governor as a ticking clock punctuates his final hours is a stock vignette of Hollywood crime films. Anyone who has ever seized on the slimmest hope, whose fate has been committed to the hands of another - virtually all of us - can identify with …

The Clemency Process In Virginia, Walter A. Mcfarlane

University of Richmond Law Review

When asked to contribute an article on the issue of clemency, I immediately knew the area I wanted to address: the procedural and practical aspects of the clemency process in Virginia. While numerous articles have been written about clemency, few have examined the procedural rules and none have comprehensively studied the executive viewpoint regarding this area of the law.

Pardon For Good And Sufficient Reasons, Kathleen Dean Moore

University of Richmond Law Review

The preamble to an executive grant of clemency from the Presi- dent of the United States implies that pardons are granted on the basis of "premises,... good and sufficient reasons." Yet, pardons have not always been regarded as the sort of acts that need to be justified by argument. In fact, most presidential pardons are issued without any statement of justification beyond the assurance that good reasons do exist. As a result, the issue of what constitutes good and sufficient reasons for a presidential pardon is seldom addressed and still unresolved.

Executive Clemency In Post-Furman Capital Cases, Michael L. Radelet, Barbara A. Zsembik

University of Richmond Law Review

In the 1972 case of Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court invalidated virtually all existing death penalty statutes in the United States. Consequently, those jurisdictions that wanted to continue to execute were forced to revise their capital sentencing procedures. Since Furman,nearly all aspects of American death penalty law have been rewritten. Left unchanged by both the courts and the legislatures, however, are the ways in which states decide which death-sentenced inmates will have their sentences commuted through the powers of executive clemency.

The Quality Of Mercy: Race And Clemency In Florida Death Penalty Cases, 1924-1966, Margaret Vandiver

University of Richmond Law Review

The scholarly literature on capital punishment includes few empirical studies of executive clemency. Commutations in capital cases have been rare since 1972 when the current era of capital punishment began with the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Furman v. Georgia. A large proportion of pre-1972 death sentences were commuted; examination of clemency decisions in those cases promises to reveal much about the history of capital punishment in the United States. The present study attempts to identify factors which influenced decisions to grant commutations of Florida death sentences pre-Furman, focusing particularly on whether the race of defendants and victims influenced …

Federal Executive Clemency Power: The President's Prerogative To Escape Accountability, James N. Jorgensen

University of Richmond Law Review

The United States Constitution vests the President with "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." Although Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph raised concerns about the executive branch possibly abusing the pardon power to conceal criminal conduct at the Constitutional Convention, Randolph's colleagues relied upon the presumption that a president would not break the law and defeated his motion to limit presidential pardon power to cases of treason. Recently, the scandalous Iran-Contra affair has demonstrated that, contrary to the Framers' expectations, presidents may circumvent or directly violate federal laws.

Indian Tribal Sovereignty And The Environment, Sarah P. Campbell

University of Richmond Law Review

States and Indian tribes alike have compelling reasons for demanding regulatory jurisdiction over the Indian reservations' environments. Proponents of state regulation argue that "[a] state's ability to coordinate a successful and comprehensive hazardous waste management plan depends at least in part on state control of all hazardous waste activity within its borders." In some states, the reservations are not isolated from the activities and residents of the state. In Washington state, for example, some Indian reservations have a high percentage of non-Indian residents, and others contain cities, municipalities, and heavily industrialized areas. This "checkerboard" reservation developed from the federal government's …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Another "Solemn Public Lie", Frederick Bernays Wiener

University of Richmond Law Review

When Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, and the founder of religious toleration in what was to become the United States of America, examined the charter that King James I had given the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, he found in that document two significant misstatements. Williams first pointed out the falsity of the recital wherein the King "blessed God that he was the first Christian Prince that had discovered this land."' He then denounced the royal land grant to the Massachusetts Bay Company, because that land belonged, not to the King, but to …

Employment-Based Preferences Categories: An Effort To Simplify Has Resulted In More Paperwork, Vishwa B. Bhargava

University of Richmond Law Review

With the passage of the Immigration Act of 19901 ("the Act"), employment-based and family-sponsored immigration underwent sweeping and dramatic reforms. By implementing new criteria for both these areas of immigration, the Act sought to realize its new policy of strengthening American competitiveness in the global economy and to reinforce its prior policy of favoring family reunification. The Act, which was signed into law by President Bush on November 29, 1990, and went into effect on October 1, 1991, "represents the culmination of a decade-long reform process that began with the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy in 1979." The …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Antitrust And Trade Regulation, Michael F. Urbanski, Francis H. Casola

University of Richmond Law Review

During the past year, Virginia's federal courts published surprisingly few antitrust opinions. These few opinions indicate fact-specific analysis and little significant development to the law. However, the decisions reflect the continued difficulties faced by private antitrust plaintiffs alleging conspiracy claims and criminal antitrust defendants prosecuted for conduct which is illegal per se. Antitrust plaintiffs, however, have enjoyed measured, if only temporary, success. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment against a durable medical equipment company alleging monopolization claims against a hospital and its affiliated medical equipment company. In another …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Civil Practice And Procedure, David D. Hopper

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia courts and the General Assembly have effected a number of changes in civil practice and procedure during the past year. This article focuses on some significant developments of interest to the general litigation attorney. Matters affecting real property, juveniles, and construction laws are treated elsewhere in this volume.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Consumer Protection Law, Edward P. Nolde

University of Richmond Law Review

This is the first year the University of Richmond Law Review has surveyed Virginia law concerning developments in the area of consumer protection. Thus, this article includes background material as well as recent developments that are more than one year old. Except as background for the current statutes, this survey does not discuss the common law torts of fraud and constructive fraud. Although these common law actions remain important to consumers, they have been discussed in several other recent publications.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Construction Law, D. Stan Barnhill, Matthew P. Pritts

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews recent legislation and judicial decisions in Virginia affecting owners, contractors, and design professionals in the construction context. The discussion includes amendments to the Code of Virginia promulgated by the General Assembly in the 1992 and 1993 legislative sessions, as well as important cases dealing with construction law issues decided by Virginia's state and federal courts in 1992 and the first half of 1993.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Criminal Law And Procedure, Steven D. Benjamin

University of Richmond Law Review

During the past year, the Court of Appeals of Virginia continued to be the major contributor to the development of substantive and procedural criminal law in the Commonwealth. Many of the court's decisions concerned the characterization of. police-citizen encounters in the context of both Fourth Amendment law and the rights of an accused under Miranda v. Arizona. A number of cases concerned the admissibility of uncharged misconduct, and the numerous double jeopardy opinions involved case-by-case application of Grady v. Corbin, Blockburger v. United States, and related statutes. A growing body of procedural law concerned the propriety of impanelling jurors of …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Legal Issues Involving Children, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

In the past year, several significant developments affecting children and the legal system have occurred: first, the General Assembly's enactment of Family Court legislation introduced under the auspices of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Judicial Council; second, the reaffirmation of the Comprehensive Services Act, a state-wide, community-based, inter-agency system of delivering services to children, youth and their families; third, the adoption of a number of bills which address the growing problem of violence by juveniles; and fourth, an increasing number of decisions concerning transfer of juveniles to the circuit courts to be tried as adults, which also reflects …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1993 session of the General Assembly enacted legislation dealing with wills, trusts, and estates that added, amended, or repealed a number of sections of the Code of Virginia (the code). In addition to this legislation, there were five cases from the Supreme Court of Virginia in the year ending June 1, 1993 which involve issues of interest to both the general practitioner and the specialist in wills, trusts, and estates. This article analyzes each of these leg- islative and judicial developments.

Products Liability Tort Reform: Why Virginia Should Adopt The Henderson-Twerski Proposed Revision Of Section 402a Restatement (Second) Of Torts, Peter Nash Swisher

University of Richmond Law Review

Over the past three decades, literally thousands of American products liability judicial opinions have explicitly referred to, and analyzed, section 402A of the Second Restatement of Torts. At least thirty-four states have judicially adopted section 402A, and

five other states have passed specific statutes adopting the section.3 Since the landmark products liability case of Greenman v. Yuba Power Products,Inc.4 in 1963, at least forty-five states have now adopted some form of strict liability in tort remedy in American products liability actions.5 Only Virginia and four other states do

not recognize a strict liability in tort remedy applied to state prod- …

The Credibility Distinction In Kroger Co. V. Morris, Nicole Rovner Beyer

University of Richmond Law Review

The opinion issued by the court of appeals in Kroger Co. v. Morris was both short and, in light of precedent, predictable. The practical consequences of the reasoning used by the court in this and similar cases, however, may be much less predictable than is desirable. The case concerned a Virginia Worker's Compensation Commission decision that contained a finding regarding the credibility of a witness which contradicted the finding of the deputy commissioner who presided at the hearing. The court of appeals held that it is permissible for the worker's Compensation Commission to make a credibility finding which differs from …

Kroger Co. V. Morris: The Diminution Of Hearing Officers, Cullen D. Seltzer

University of Richmond Law Review

In Kroger Co. v. Morris the Court of Appeals of Virginia reached two contradictory conclusions. On one hand the court held that the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission could overrule a deputy commissioner's fact findings based solely on evidence contained in the record below. On the other hand, the court concluded that it was itself unable to make such fact findings based solely on the record.