Criminal Law Commons^™

The Case Of Beatriz: An Outcry To Amend El Salvador’S Abortion Ban, Jonathan Alvarez

Pace International Law Review

This Note examines the evolution of El Salvador’s existing penal code, specifically focusing on the abortion legislation. Further, it examines the significance of The Case of Beatriz and it suggests reform for El Salvador’s government to include exceptions in their penal code, similar to exceptions available in the United States, to provide women with access to safe abortions in extreme circumstances. Part II will illustrate the struggle that women face in El Salvador. Part III will briefly explore the historical background of the current Penal Code, exclusively the abortion ban. Part IV will also discuss women’s rights violated by the …

A Dangerous Situation – The Knowing Transmission Of Hiv In An Out-Of-Body Form And Whether New York Should Criminally Punish Those Who Commit Such An Act, Griffin C. Kenyon

Pace Law Review

In June 2013 the New York State Court of Appeals held that the saliva of a defendant afflicted with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus ("HIV”) does not constitute a dangerous instrument so as to support a conviction for aggravated assault. Despite this holding, the question remains whether the administration of HIV in an out-of-body form to another individual qualifies for dangerous instrument treatment so as to subject greater criminal liability under the New York State Penal Law (“Penal Law”). Another question remains – should New York punish those who knowingly transmit HIV to another individual? If so, should the punishment be …

Slaying The Dragon: How The Law Can Help Rehab A Country In Crisis, Samantha Kopf

Pace Law Review

Motor-vehicle-related deaths consistently topped the accidental death count in the United States for decades. In 2009, for the first time, drug poisoning took over as the number one accidental killer. In 1980, approximately 6,100 people died from drug overdose. In the past ten years, the drug overdose rate for males and females, regardless of race, ethnicity and age, increased. In 2000, 4.1 per 100,000 people died from unintentional drug overdose; in 2010, that number rose to 9.7 per 100,000. The drug overdose epidemic, now the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States, warrants national attention.

To reduce the …

Adjudicating Sex Crimes As Mental Disease, Melissa Hamilton

Pace Law Review

The psychiatric diseases of the paraphilias are now entrenched in the law in decisions concerning culpability, desert, and risk. Though, as the foregoing cases suggest, it is a tough balancing act, considering the existence of psychiatric illness suggests less responsibility, while at the same time implying a greater risk of future dangerousness. To better navigate this conundrum, the law has drawn on the psychiatric sciences. Part II of this Article outlines a basic need for law and science to serve each other even though they may not share objectives. With respect to the advent of new laws to control sex …

The "Fetal Protection" Wars: Why America Has Made The Wrong Choice In Addressing Maternal Substance Abuse - A Comparative Legal Analysis, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Integrating The Complexity Of Mental Disability Into The Criminal Law Course, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The New "Fetal Protection": The Wrong Answer To The Crisis Of Inadequate Health Care For Women And Children, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article will expand upon the feminist critique by focusing on children's health as well as the health and liberty interests of their mothers. In the first part of this article, I examine the legal and cultural underpinnings of “fetal protection” and explore its current manifestations. In the second part, I place “fetal protection” in a broader context, documenting the ways in which American law currently promotes fetal life, while simultaneously neglecting the lives and health of born children. The third part of the article offers concrete recommendations about how government, both state and federal, can actually achieve the goal …

Criminal Prosecution For Hmo Treatment Denial, John A. Humbach

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article will first provide a brief examination of the economic pressures that market forces bring to bear on HMOs and their decision-making personnel. The objective is to show how the natural effect of normal market forces is to exert a constant pressure towards treatment delays and denials, particularly in the cases of elderly and chronically ill patients. Part III will provide an overview of the existing criminal law as it applies to situations in which death results because someone has violated a legal duty to provide medical treatment. In Part IV, the question of the requisite mental culpability will …

Current Issues In The Psychiatrist-Patient Relationship: Outpatient Civil Commitment, Psychiatric Abandonment And The Duty To Continue Treatment Of Potentially Dangerous Patients--Balancing Duties To Patients And The Public, Vanessa Merton, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.