Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Institution
Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Law
Circumventing Congress: How The Federal Courts Opened The Door To Impeaching Criminal Defendants With Prior Convictions, Jeffrey Bellin
Circumventing Congress: How The Federal Courts Opened The Door To Impeaching Criminal Defendants With Prior Convictions, Jeffrey Bellin
Faculty Publications
This Article spotlights the flawed analytical framework at the heart of the federal courts’ approach to one of the most controversial trial practices in American criminal jurisprudence — the admission of prior convictions to impeach the credibility of defendants who testify. As the Article explains, the flawed approach is a byproduct of the courts’ reliance on a five-factor analytical framework to implement the governing legal standard enacted by Congress in Federal Rule of Evidence 609. Tracing the evolution of the fivefactor framework from its roots in pre-Rule 609 case law, the Article demonstrates that the courts’ reinterpretation of the framework …
Get In The Game Or Get Out Of The Way: Fixing The Politics Of Death, Adam M. Gershowitz
Get In The Game Or Get Out Of The Way: Fixing The Politics Of Death, Adam M. Gershowitz
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Significance (If Any) For The Federal Criminal Justice System Of Advances In Lie Detector Technology, Jeffrey Bellin
The Significance (If Any) For The Federal Criminal Justice System Of Advances In Lie Detector Technology, Jeffrey Bellin
Faculty Publications
Against a backdrop of accelerating developments in the science of lie detection certain to reopen the debate on the reliability and therefore admissibility of lie detector evidence in the federal courts, this Article examines whether the prohibition on hearsay evidence (or other evidentiary objections) will preclude admissibility of even scientifically reliable lie detector evidence. The Article concludes that the hearsay prohibition, which has been largely ignored by courts and commentators, is the primary obstacle to the future admission of scientifically valid lie detector evidence. The Article also suggests a potential solution to the hearsay problem that may allow admission of …
The Mythical Divide Between Collateral And Direct Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: Involuntary Commitment Of "Sexually Violent Predators", Jenny M. Roberts
The Mythical Divide Between Collateral And Direct Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: Involuntary Commitment Of "Sexually Violent Predators", Jenny M. Roberts
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
Thomas Steele pleaded guilty to rape and other charges in exchange for a sentence of twelve to thirty years in a Massa- chusetts state prison.' Shortly before he became eligible for pa- role on this criminal conviction, the state classified Steele as a "sexually dangerous person." Although Steele has completed his prison sentence, the state continues to confine him under a Massachusetts law that allows for the involuntary civil com- mitment of "sexually dangerous persons." The order commit- ting him stated that he could be held for a period ranging from one day to life.
Improving Privacy Protection, But By How Much?, Steve Coughlan
Improving Privacy Protection, But By How Much?, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
The discussion of reasonable expectation of privacy in R. v. M. (A.) is extremely useful. In the wake of Tessling, many courts had effectively reduced the protection offered by s. 8 based on two arguments: that what was detected was an emanation in the public domain similar to heat coming from a house, and that what was discovered merely related to informational privacy and was not part of the biographical core of such data. Justice Binnie's decision puts paid the notion that either of these arguments is a trump card. He suggests that generalizing about "emanations" is not a useful …
Arbitrary Detention: Whither - Or Wither? - Section 9, Steve Coughlan
Arbitrary Detention: Whither - Or Wither? - Section 9, Steve Coughlan
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
It is a remarkable fact that more than 25 years after the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect, we still have no section 9 jurisprudence. It is not that there have been no decisions at all concerning the right not to be arbitrarily detained, of course, but taken in total they do not come anywhere near setting out an analytical framework. This stands in contrast to most other legal rights in the Charter. Section 7 jurisprudence has established the two-step approach to take in assessing claims under that section, including a three-step test for determining whether a …
Russia's Criminal Procedure Code Five Years Out, William Burnham, Jeffrey D. Kahn
Russia's Criminal Procedure Code Five Years Out, William Burnham, Jeffrey D. Kahn
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
After a long delay in drafting, a new Criminal Procedure Code for Russia was passed in 2001 and went into effect in 2002. The new Code contains some striking innovations, most notably changes at the trial stage, which implement the constitutional requirements of adversarial principles. However, it also retains several throwbacks to the past, particularly its preservation of the formal pretrial investigation, during which evidence is parsed and collected in a dossier, which then dominates the trial of the case. The result is that old and new constantly contend with each other. Implementation of the new adversarial procedures is also …