Law Commons^™

United States V. Bean: Shoveling After The Elephant?, Pannal A. Sanders

ExpressO

Thomas Bean’s felony conviction in Mexico implicated provisions of federal law that preclude certain persons, including specified felons, from owning or trading in firearms and ammunition which have been transported in interstate commerce. 18 USC Sec. 922. Affected persons can seek relief from the federal firearms disability by invoking procedures established in 18 USC Sec. 925(c) under the Dept of Treasury, Director of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (“ATF”). Beginning in 1992, Congress has enacted provisions annually in the ATF’s appropriations laws that ban it from investigating or acting upon Sec. 925(c) applications from individuals. Section 925(c) contains provisions for judicial …

Resource Parity For Defense Counsel And The Struggle Between Public Choice And Public Ideals, Ronald F. Wright

ExpressO

The quality of criminal defense counsel desperately needs improving. The strategy this article explores is not a change in the legal standard governing ineffective assistance of counsel claims, or a change in the Supreme Court's reasoning, but something far more fundamental: money. I ask whether it is feasible to link the funding available for defense lawyers to the money that the government spends on prosecution lawyers - in other words, parity of resources.

For reasons described in this article, resource parity will probably not come from the courts, at least not if they act alone. Major funding changes like this …