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Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law

A New Balance Of Evils: Prosecutorial Misconduct, Iqbal, And The End Of Absolute Immunity, Mark Niles Jan 2017

A New Balance Of Evils: Prosecutorial Misconduct, Iqbal, And The End Of Absolute Immunity, Mark Niles

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Criminal prosecutors wield immense power in the criminal justice system. While the majority of prosecutors exercise this power in a professional manner, there is compelling evidence of a serious and growing problem ofprosecutorial misconduct in this country. Although much prosecutorial misconduct results in the violation of the constitutional and other legal rights of criminal defendants, prosecutors arep rotectedfrom any liability arisingf rom these violations in all but the most exceptional cases by the defense of absolute immunity. The US. Supreme Court has justified the application ofabsolute prosecutorial immunity, in part, by noting that other means of incentivizing appropriate prosecutorial conduct …


"Bad Juror" Lists And The Prosecutor's Duty To Disclose, Ira Robbins Jan 2012

"Bad Juror" Lists And The Prosecutor's Duty To Disclose, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Prosecutors sometimes use what are known as "bad juror" lists to exclude particular citizens from jury service. Not only does this practice interfere with an open and fair jury-selection process, thus implicating a defendant's right to be tried by a jury of his or her peers, but it also violates potential jurors' rights to serve in this important capacity. But who is on these lists? And is a prosecutor required to disclose the lists to defense counsel? These questions have largely gone unnoticed by legal analysts. This Article addresses the prosecutor's duty to disclose bad-juror lists. It reviews the federal …


Arrest Efficiency And The Fourth Amendment, Song Richardson Jan 2011

Arrest Efficiency And The Fourth Amendment, Song Richardson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In recent years, legal scholars have utilized the science of implicit social cognition to reveal how unconscious biases affect perceptions, behaviors, and judgments. Employing this science, scholars critique legal doctrine and challenge courts to take accurate theories of human behavior into account or to explain their failure to do so. Largely absent from this important conversation, however, are Fourth Amendment scholars. This void is surprising because the lessons of implicit social cognition can contribute much to understanding police behavior, especially as it relates to arrest efficiency or hit rates - the rates at which police find evidence of criminal activity …


Grand Jury Discretion And Constitutional Design, Roger Fairfax Jan 2008

Grand Jury Discretion And Constitutional Design, Roger Fairfax

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The grand jury possesses an unqualified power to decline to indict - despite probable cause that alleged criminal conduct has occurred. A grand jury might exercise this power, for example, to disagree with the wisdom of a criminal law or its application to a particular defendant. A grand jury might also use its discretionary power to send a message of disapproval regarding biased or unwise prosecutorial decisions or inefficient allocation of law enforcement resources in the community. This ability to exercise discretion on bases beyond the sufficiency of the evidence has been characterized pejoratively as grand jury nullification. The dominant …


Anthrax Hoaxes, Ira Robbins Oct 2004

Anthrax Hoaxes, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

INTRODUCTION: "[Y]ou are a disgusting piece of dirt."' Judge Steven Shutter, a county judge in South Florida, used these words to describe a twenty- four-year-old woman whom he labeled a terrorist2 and who was condemned by the media.3 Aside from name-calling, Judge Shutter raised the woman's bail from $3,500 to $25,000 when he learned the nature of the offense, 'just in case" the woman might be able to afford the lower bond.4 Given the strength of Judge Shutter's animosity toward her, one might assume that Yasmin Kassima Sealey- Doe had provided assistance to the terrorists who attacked the World Trade …


Without Charge: Assessing The Due Process Rights Of Unindicted Co-Conspirators, Ira Robbins Jan 2004

Without Charge: Assessing The Due Process Rights Of Unindicted Co-Conspirators, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The grand jury practice of naming individuals as unindicted co-conspirators routinely results in injury to reputations,lost employment opportunities, and a practical inability to run for public office. Yet, because these individuals are not parties to a criminal trial, they have neither the right to present evidence northe opportunity to clear their names. Thus, Professor Robbins argues that the practice violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee that “[n]o person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property,without due process of law[.]” While prosecutors may offer many justifications to support the practice of namingunindicted co-conspirators, these reasons do not withstand …


Justice By The Numbers: The Supreme Court And The Rule Of Four-Or Is It Five?, Ira Robbins Jan 2002

Justice By The Numbers: The Supreme Court And The Rule Of Four-Or Is It Five?, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

INTRODUCTION:In the early hours of April 14, 2000, Robert Lee Tarver died in Alabama's electric chair, even though four Justices of the United States Supreme Court had voted to review the merits of his case. This situation is not unique. Each year, practitioners and pro se litigants alike petition the Supreme Court without fully knowing the rules pursuant to which the Court will decide their client's, or their own, fate. The reason is that the Supreme Court operates under two sets of rules-those that are published and those that are not. The former specify This Article is based on a …


The American Prosecutor: Independence, Power, And The Threat Of Tyranny, Angela J. Davis Jan 2001

The American Prosecutor: Independence, Power, And The Threat Of Tyranny, Angela J. Davis

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This Article compares the power, practices, and policies of the Independent Counsel with those of ordinary state and federal prosecutors and suggests that the purported distinctions turn out to be illusory. Part I charts the principal structural characteristics of the Independent Counsel and regular prosecutors, with particular focus on prosecutorial discretion and the charging power. This section notes the public outrage over former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and argues that the American prosecutor deserves similar scrutiny. Using illustrations from the author’s former experience as a public defender, this Part explains how regular prosecutors engage in the same acts of misconduct …


The Bill Of Rights And The Constitution: Facing The Challenge Of The Future, Stephen Wermiel Jan 2000

The Bill Of Rights And The Constitution: Facing The Challenge Of The Future, Stephen Wermiel

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


The Revitalization Of The Common-Law Civil Writ Of Audita Querela As A Post-Conviction Remedy In Criminal Cases: The Immigration Context And Beyond, Ira Robbins Jan 1992

The Revitalization Of The Common-Law Civil Writ Of Audita Querela As A Post-Conviction Remedy In Criminal Cases: The Immigration Context And Beyond, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Introduction: An alien lawfully enters the United States in 1972. He gets a job, gets married, and becomes a productive worker in the community. He is subsequently convicted of a felony, such as making false statements on a loan application. As a result, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) brings deportation proceedings against him. The individual will seek any means possible to vacate the conviction, in order to stay in this country.' This Article explores whether the writ of audita querela. primarily used to provide post-judgment relief in civil cases at common law, can be used to challenge criminal convictions …


The Philippines: A Country In Crisis - A Report By Lawyers Committee For International Human Rights, Diane Orentlicher, Marvin E. Frankel, Jack Greenberg Jan 1983

The Philippines: A Country In Crisis - A Report By Lawyers Committee For International Human Rights, Diane Orentlicher, Marvin E. Frankel, Jack Greenberg

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.


A Constitutional Analysis Of The Prohibition Against Collateral Attack In The Mexican-American Prisoner Exchange Treaty, Ira Robbins Oct 1978

A Constitutional Analysis Of The Prohibition Against Collateral Attack In The Mexican-American Prisoner Exchange Treaty, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Introduction: On November 25, 1976, the United States and Mexico concluded a bilateral treaty providing for reciprocal prisoner exchange, so that a national of one party to the agreement could complete his sentence in his home country.' The objectives of the agreement essentially were twofold: first, there was a need to ameliorate relations with Mexico on the delicate matter of the abuse of American citizens confined in Mexican prisons; second, there was a strong desire to alleviate special hardships, such as those respecting living conditions and prospects for rehabilitation, resulting from imprisonment in a foreign country. The Treaty was ratified …


Punitive Conditions Of Prison Confinement: An Analysis Of Pugh V. Locke And Federal Court Supervision Of State Penal Administration Under The Eighth Amendment, Ira Robbins May 1977

Punitive Conditions Of Prison Confinement: An Analysis Of Pugh V. Locke And Federal Court Supervision Of State Penal Administration Under The Eighth Amendment, Ira Robbins

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The 1960's marked a watershed for the criminal justice system. In such areas as search and seizure, right to counsel and the privilege against self-incrimination, the federal courts first defined substantive constitutional rights and then imposed them upon disinclined functionaries at the state level. At first, these innovations raised thorny questions of constitutional interpretation about the rights involved, but, as is especially visible in the search and seizure area, the debate more recently has focused on the remedy chosen by the Supreme Court for enforcing these rights against the states.' This pattern of escalating federal involvement in the criminal justice …