Law Commons^™

Eliminating Rule 609 To Provide A Fair Opportunity To Defend Against Criminal Charges: A Proposal To The Advisory Committee On The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

Federal Rule of Evidence 609 authorizes the admission of prior convictions to impeach criminal defendants who testify. And in this important and uniquely damaging application, the [r]ule’s logic fails, distorting American trials and depriving defendants of a fair opportunity to defend against the charges. The Advisory Committee [on Evidence Rules (the “Advisory Committee”)] should propose the elimination of Rule 609 and prohibit cross-examination with specific instances of a criminal defendant’s past conduct when those instances are unrelated to the defendant’s testimony and unconnected to the case.

This short essay begins by setting out the proposed rule change alongside a proposed …

One Mistake Does Not Define You: Why First-Time Felony Drug Convictions Should Be Automatically Expunged After Five Years, Kaylynn Johnson

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Categorical Nonuniformity, Sheldon Evans

Faculty Publications

The categorical approach, which is a method federal courts use to ‘categorize’ which state law criminal convictions can trigger federal sanctions, is one of the most impactful yet misunderstood legal doctrines in criminal and immigration law. For thousands of criminal offenders, the categorical approach determines whether a previous state law conviction—as defined by the legal elements of the crime—sufficiently matches the elements of the federal crime counterpart that justifies imposing harsh federal sentencing enhancements or even deportation for noncitizens. One of the normative goals courts have invoked to uphold this elements-based categorical approach is that it produces nationwide uniformity. Ironically, …

Uncorrected Injustice: Plain Error Review Of Misapplied Sentencing Law, Alec D. Guy

Missouri Law Review

Criminal convictions often result in a restriction on the defendant’s freedom and a deprivation of the defendant’s liberty. Given the gravity of these consequences, there are multiple procedures the court must follow not only in determining guilt but also in imposing a sentence. Sentencing ranges are an essential component of criminal law. In Missouri, sentencing ranges are found in statutes, and these statutes help trial judges determine what sentence to impose. Unfortunately, these guidelines can be incorrectly applied. If these errors are not addressed at the trial level, the appellate process can provide relief. However, interesting questions arise when the …

Civil Disabilities In An Era Of Diminishing Privacy: A Disability Approach For The Use Of Criminal Records In Hiring, Andrew Elmore

Articles

No abstract provided.

Clear And Simple Deportation Rules For Crimes: Why We Need Them And Why It's Hard To Get Them, Rebecca Sharpless

Articles

In Padilla v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court held that defense attorneys have a Sixth Amendment duty to advise noncitizen clients of the "clear" immigration consequences of a proposed plea agreement. This Article argues that the Court's reference to clarity denotes predictability, not simplicity, and that defense attorneys must advise their clients of predictable immigration consequences, even if they are difficult to ascertain. The scope of this duty has broadened as the U.S. Supreme Court has made the crime-related deportation rules more determinate, although many rules remain complex. A legislative move to a regime of simple deportation rules would …

The Immortal Accusation, Lindsey Webb

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

In the American criminal justice system, accusations have eternal life. Prosecutors, judges, and prison officials regularly consider dismissed charges and even prior acquittals in the defendant’s criminal history when making decisions ranging from the filing of charges to the imposition of punishment. This Article argues that the criminal justice system’s reliance on “accusation evidence” should be understood as furthering its larger allegiance to attaining and preserving findings of guilt.

Once the government obtains a guilty plea or verdict, appellate courts rarely overturn convictions based on concerns about the accuracy of the conviction; indeed, post-conviction review procedures often are structured to …

Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: Confronting Issues Of Race And Dignity, Michael Pinard

Michael Pinard

This article explores the racial dimensions of the various collateral consequences that attach to criminal convictions in the United States. The consequences include ineligibility for public and government-assisted housing, public benefits and various forms of employment, as well as civic exclusions such as ineligibility for jury service and felon disenfranchisement. To test its hypothesis that these penalties, both historically and contemporarily, are rooted in race, the article looks to England and Wales, Canada and South Africa. These countries have criminal justice systems similar to the United States’, have been influenced significantly by United States’ criminal justice practices in recent years, …

Wall Street As Yossarian: The Other Effects Of The Rajaratnam Insider Trading Conviction, J. Scott Colesanti

Hofstra Law Review

Without warning, the patient sat up in bed and shouted, ‘I see everything twice!’

And thus Yossarian, the war-weary bomber pilot of the masterful novel, Catch-22, was able to malinger in an Italian hospital even longer while nervous doctors attended to the strange malady of his neighbor.

The storied literary diversion may highlight the good fortune of those evading government prosecution of financial crimes in 2011, a year that fulfilled the promise that observers of hedge fund discipline would similarly see things twice. To wit, in May 2011, a Manhattan jury convicted billionaire hedge fund entrepreneur Raj Rajaratnam of fourteen …

Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Convictions: Confronting Issues Of Race And Dignity, Michael Pinard

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the racial dimensions of the various collateral consequences that attach to criminal convictions in the United States. The consequences include ineligibility for public and government-assisted housing, public benefits and various forms of employment, as well as civic exclusions such as ineligibility for jury service and felon disenfranchisement. To test its hypothesis that these penalties, both historically and contemporarily, are rooted in race, the article looks to England and Wales, Canada and South Africa. These countries have criminal justice systems similar to the United States’, have been influenced significantly by United States’ criminal justice practices in recent years, …

Minnesota's Distortion Of Rule 609, Ted Sampsell-Jones

Faculty Scholarship

Rule of Evidence 609, which governs the admission of prior convictions of a witness for purposes of impeachment, occupies an important place in the day to day operation of American criminal trials. The rule is a compromise that reflects these competing values. It admits some prior convictions but not all. Crimen falsi offenses such as perjury and fraud are automatically admissible under 609(a)(2). All other felonies are analyzed under the balancing test of 609(a)(1), which allows the admission of a defendant-witness's crimes if the “probative value of admitting this evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect to the accused.” The rule seeks …

Collateral Remedies In Criminal Cases In Maryland: An Assessment, Michael A. Millemann

Maryland Law Review

Millemann surveys the legal remedies that convicted persons in Maryland have, focuses on the remedies provided by the Uniform Post Conviction Procedures Act, identifies several problems with the application of the Act - including the courts' overuse of the waiver provisions and failures to more fully develop and use exceptions to waiver, and argues that state courts have a special responsibility to protect the rights of prisoners given the general disengagement by federal courts.

The Cases Of Mooney And Billings, Fowler V. Harper

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.