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Articles 1 - 30 of 46
Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
Will The Real Mens Rea Please Stand Up: Assessing The Fifth Circuit’S Kickback Jurisprudence After United States V. Nora, John J. Locurto
Will The Real Mens Rea Please Stand Up: Assessing The Fifth Circuit’S Kickback Jurisprudence After United States V. Nora, John J. Locurto
St. Mary's Law Journal
Many criminal statutes require willful misconduct, yet willfulness remains an elusive concept. Its meaning and application depend as much on the outcome a court desires as the definition or legal standard a court claims to apply. Ambiguity in the required mens rea is an age-old problem with a venerable pedigree in the circuits and Supreme Court. This article considers anew the struggle to define “willfully” as that term is used in the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b, one of the federal government’s key weapons against health care fraud.
When it decided United States v. Nora and reversed the …
Resolving The Anders Dilemmas: How & Why Texas Should Abandon The Anders Procedure, Michael J. Ritter
Resolving The Anders Dilemmas: How & Why Texas Should Abandon The Anders Procedure, Michael J. Ritter
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
When an indigent defendant has a right to counsel for an appeal, and counsel believes the appeal is wholly frivolous, Texas has adopted the Anders v. California procedure that permits counsel to withdraw from representation and argue to the appellate court why their client’s appeal is wholly frivolous. This Article argues that, either by a change to the disciplinary rules or by judicial decision, Texas should abandon the Anders procedure as other states have. Doing so will promote the integrity of the right to counsel, avoid numerous conflicts and dilemmas created by the Anders procedure, and advance judicial efficiency and …
Justice For Venezuela: The Human Rights Violations That Are Isolating An Entire Country, Andrea Matos
Justice For Venezuela: The Human Rights Violations That Are Isolating An Entire Country, Andrea Matos
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming.
Barred By Their Brains: Inmates With Traumatic Brain Injury (Tbi), Claire Mikita
Barred By Their Brains: Inmates With Traumatic Brain Injury (Tbi), Claire Mikita
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming.
Police Use Of Force Laws In Texas, Gerald S. Reamey
Police Use Of Force Laws In Texas, Gerald S. Reamey
St. Mary's Law Journal
Abstract forthcoming.
Appraising Problems, Not Stuff, Chad J. Pomeroy
Appraising Problems, Not Stuff, Chad J. Pomeroy
St. Mary's Law Journal
Abstract forthcoming.
Bitcoin Searches And Preserving The Third-Party Doctrine, Christine A. Cortez
Bitcoin Searches And Preserving The Third-Party Doctrine, Christine A. Cortez
St. Mary's Law Journal
Abstract forthcoming.
When Mental Health Meets “The One-Armed Man” Defense: How Courts Should Deal With Mccoy Defendants, Farid Seyyedi
When Mental Health Meets “The One-Armed Man” Defense: How Courts Should Deal With Mccoy Defendants, Farid Seyyedi
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
The Supreme Court’s opinion in McCoy v. Louisiana held that a defendant has a constitutional right to insist their attorney not concede guilt as to any element of an offense, even if doing so is the only reasonable trial strategy to give the defendant a chance at life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. Under McCoy’s holding, a defendant can insist on maintaining their innocence—even in the face of overwhelming evidence—and force their attorney to pursue a defense that will land them on death row. The Supreme Court’s holding makes clear that a strategic concession of guilt at trial—over …
Collared—A Film Case Study About Insider Trading And Ethics, Garrick Apollon
Collared—A Film Case Study About Insider Trading And Ethics, Garrick Apollon
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
This Article discusses the visual legal advocacy documentary film, Collared, by Garrick Apollon (author of this Article). Collared premiered in fall 2018 to a sold-out audience at the Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto for the Hot Docs for Continuing Professional Education edutainment initiative. Collared features the story and reveals the testimony of a convicted ex-insider trader who is still struggling with the tragic consequences of “the most prolonged insider trading scheme ever discovered by American and Canadian securities investigators.” The intimate insights shared by former lawyer and reformed white-collar criminal, Joseph Grmovsek, serves as a painful reminder of the …
It Is Time To Get Back To Basics On The Border, Donna Coltharp
It Is Time To Get Back To Basics On The Border, Donna Coltharp
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming.
The Never-Ending Grasp Of The Prison Walls: Banning The Box On Housing Applications, Ashley De La Garza
The Never-Ending Grasp Of The Prison Walls: Banning The Box On Housing Applications, Ashley De La Garza
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming.
No Path To Redemption: Evaluating Texas’S Practice Of Sentencing Kids To De Facto Life Without Parole In Adult Prison, Lindsey Linder, Justin Martinez
No Path To Redemption: Evaluating Texas’S Practice Of Sentencing Kids To De Facto Life Without Parole In Adult Prison, Lindsey Linder, Justin Martinez
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming.
Must A Friend Indeed Reveal A Friend’S Misdeed? Exploring The Merits Of A Friendship Privilege, Michael D. Moberly
Must A Friend Indeed Reveal A Friend’S Misdeed? Exploring The Merits Of A Friendship Privilege, Michael D. Moberly
St. Mary's Law Journal
Abstract forthcoming.
Restoring The Presumption Of Innocence: Protecting A Defendant’S Right To A Fair Trial By Closing The Door On 404(B) Evidence, Aaron Diaz
St. Mary's Law Journal
Congress enacted the Federal Rules of Evidence to govern evidentiary procedures and “eliminate unjustifiable expense and delay.” In criminal cases, for example, Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) seeks to prevent prosecutors from improperly introducing a defendant’s past misdeeds. Nevertheless, prosecutors often attempt to introduce a defendant’s past misconduct to suggest that a defendant has a propensity to commit crimes, which is improper character evidence. Unsurprisingly, 404(b) is one of the most litigated evidence rules and has generated more published opinions than any other subsections of the Rules. And despite efforts to amend Rule 404(b), the rule has remained virtually untouched. …
Ethical And Aggressive Appellate Advocacy: The Decision To Petition For Certiorari In Criminal Cases, J. Thomas Sullivan
Ethical And Aggressive Appellate Advocacy: The Decision To Petition For Certiorari In Criminal Cases, J. Thomas Sullivan
St. Mary's Law Journal
Over the past six decades, United States Supreme Court decisions have dramatically reshaped the criminal justice process to provide significant protections for defendants charged in federal and state proceedings reflecting a remarkable expansion of due process and specific constitutional guarantees. For criminal defendants seeking relief based on recognition of new rules of constitutional criminal procedure, application of existing rules or precedent to novel factual scenarios, or in some cases, enforcement of existing precedent, obtaining relief requires further action on the Court’s part. In those situations, the Court’s exercise of its certiorari jurisdiction is the exclusive remedy offering an avenue for …
Beat The Heat: Texas’S Need To Reduce Summer Temperatures In Offender Housing, Mary E. Adair
Beat The Heat: Texas’S Need To Reduce Summer Temperatures In Offender Housing, Mary E. Adair
St. Mary's Law Journal
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s lack of air conditioning in offender housing areas is a violation of the Eighth Amendment and deprives offenders of humane living conditions. Unlike most Texans, offenders housed in the TDCJ are unable to adequately protect themselves from the higher, prolonged summer temperatures. Most Texas prisons do not provide air conditioning or other types of cooling systems in offender housing areas, so offenders are at the mercy of the elements with little protection against heat-related illnesses. Several jurisdictions, other than Texas, have recognized extreme temperatures in housing areas can lead to constitutional violations because the …
Lessons Learned, Lessons Offered: Creating A Domestic Violence Drug Court, Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez, Dr. Stacy Speedlin Gonzalez
Lessons Learned, Lessons Offered: Creating A Domestic Violence Drug Court, Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez, Dr. Stacy Speedlin Gonzalez
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming.
Recognizing The Need For Mental Health Reform In The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice, Kara Mchorse
Recognizing The Need For Mental Health Reform In The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice, Kara Mchorse
St. Mary's Law Journal
The ways in which mental health care and the criminal justice system interact are in desperate need of reform in Texas. The rate of mental illness in Texas is higher than the current state of mental health care can provide for. While state hospitals were once the primary care facilities of those with mental illness, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has taken on that role in the last few decades; and when the criminal justice system becomes entangled with mental health care, it often leads to “unmitigated disaster.” If Texas continues to allow the TDCJ to act as …
Ethical Considerations For Prosecutors: How Recent Advancements Have Changed The Face Of Prosecution, Joshua L. Sandoval
Ethical Considerations For Prosecutors: How Recent Advancements Have Changed The Face Of Prosecution, Joshua L. Sandoval
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
The prosecutor acts as a minister of justice with sweeping discretion to charge an individual with a crime, plea a case in a manner supported by the strength of the evidence, proceed to trial on a case, and even dismiss a case. He must balance the interest of the victim, the community, and the constitutional rights of the accused in every decision he makes.
This article will explore the role of the American prosecutor and discuss various ethical issues encountered on a daily basis. After a brief introduction, the author will succinctly discuss the history of the prosecutor and will …
Texas, The Death Penalty, And Intellectual Disability, Megan Green
Texas, The Death Penalty, And Intellectual Disability, Megan Green
St. Mary's Law Journal
Abstract forthcoming
Handcuffing The Vote: Diluting Minority Voting Power Through Prison Gerrymandering And Felon Disenfranchisement, Rebecca Harrison Stevens, Meagan Taylor Harding, Joaquin Gonzalez, Emily Eby
Handcuffing The Vote: Diluting Minority Voting Power Through Prison Gerrymandering And Felon Disenfranchisement, Rebecca Harrison Stevens, Meagan Taylor Harding, Joaquin Gonzalez, Emily Eby
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
For the purposes of legislative redistricting, Texas counts prison populations at the address of the prison in which they are incarcerated at the time of the census, rather than their home prior to incarceration—regardless of whether the prisoners themselves maintain a residence in their home communities and intend to return home after incarceration. This deprives those home communities of full representation in the redistricting process. Combined with Texas’s felon disenfranchisement laws, this also results in arbitrarily bolstering the representational power of some Texans on the backs of other Texans who themselves are unable to vote. All of this takes place …
Peña-Rodriguez V. Colorado: Carving Out A Racial-Bias Exception To The No-Impeachment Rule, John Austin Morales
Peña-Rodriguez V. Colorado: Carving Out A Racial-Bias Exception To The No-Impeachment Rule, John Austin Morales
St. Mary's Law Journal
The Sixth Amendment safeguards an accused in criminal proceedings and affords them “the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” Consistent with this right, the no-impeachment rule prohibits a juror from testifying after a verdict has been handed down about the jurors’ deliberations. While there are limited exceptions to the no-impeachment rule, juror expressed racial bias is not one of them. When presented with the dilemma of a juror using racial bias in deliberations, courts must weigh two competing doctrines that serve as the foundation to our judicial system: (1) affording a defendant his or her …
Skinning The Cat: How Mandatory Psychiatric Evaluations For Animal Cruelty Offenders Can Prevent Future Violence, Ashley Kunz
Skinning The Cat: How Mandatory Psychiatric Evaluations For Animal Cruelty Offenders Can Prevent Future Violence, Ashley Kunz
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
In 2017, the Texas legislature amended Texas Penal Code § 42.092, which governs acts of cruelty against non-livestock animals. The statute in its current form makes torturing, killing, or seriously injuring a non-livestock animal a third degree felony, while less serious offenses carry either a state jail felony or a Class A misdemeanor charge.
While a step in the right direction, Texas law is not comprehensive in that it fails to address a significant aspect of animal cruelty offenses: mental illness. For over fifteen years, Texas Family Code § 54.0407 has required psychiatric counseling for juveniles convicted of cruelty to …
Texas Indian Holocaust And Survival: Mcallen Grace Brethren Church V. Salazar, Milo Colton
Texas Indian Holocaust And Survival: Mcallen Grace Brethren Church V. Salazar, Milo Colton
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
When the first Europeans entered the land that would one day be called Texas, they found a place that contained more Indian tribes than any other would-be American state at the time. At the turn of the twentieth century, the federal government documented that American Indians in Texas were nearly extinct, decreasing in number from 708 people in 1890 to 470 in 1900. A century later, the U.S. census recorded an explosion in the American Indian population living in Texas at 215,599 people. By 2010, that population jumped to 315,264 people.
Part One of this Article chronicles the forces contributing …
Reforming Recidivism: Making Prison Practical Through Help, Katelyn Copperud
Reforming Recidivism: Making Prison Practical Through Help, Katelyn Copperud
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
While Texas has long been recognized as “Tough Texas” when it comes to crime, recent efforts have been made to combat that reputation. Efforts such as offering “good time” credit and more liberal parole standards are used to reduce the Texas prison populations. Although effective in reducing prison populations, do these incentives truly reduce a larger issue of prison overpopulation: recidivism?
In both state and federal prison systems, inmate education is proven to reduce recidivism. Texas’s own, Windham School District, provides a broad spectrum of education to Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmates; from General Education Development (GED) classes to …
Breaking The Silence: Holding Texas Lawyers Accountable For Sexual Harassment, Savannah Files
Breaking The Silence: Holding Texas Lawyers Accountable For Sexual Harassment, Savannah Files
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
Following the 2017 exposure of Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement spread rapidly across social media platforms calling for increased awareness of the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault and demanding change. The widespread use of the hashtag brought attention to the issue and successfully facilitated a much-needed discussion in today’s society. However, this is not the first incident prompting a demand for change.
Efforts to bring awareness and exact change in regards to sexual harassment in the legal profession date back to the 1990s. This demonstrates that the legal profession is not immune from these issues. In fact, at least …
Ethical Cannabis Lawyering In California, Francis J. Mootz Iii
Ethical Cannabis Lawyering In California, Francis J. Mootz Iii
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
Cannabis has a long history in the United States. Originally, doctors and pharmacists used cannabis for a variety of purposes. After the Mexican Revolution led to widespread migration from Mexico to the United States, many Americans responded by associating this influx of foreigners with the use of cannabis, and thereby racializing and stigmatizing the drug. After the collapse of prohibition, the federal government repurposed its enormous enforcement bureaucracy to address the perceived problem of cannabis, despite the opposition of the American Medical Association to this new prohibition. Ultimately, both the states and the federal government classified cannabis as a dangerous …
Autonomy Isn't Everything: Some Cautionary Notes On Mccoy V. Louisiana, W. Bradley Wendel
Autonomy Isn't Everything: Some Cautionary Notes On Mccoy V. Louisiana, W. Bradley Wendel
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
The Supreme Court’s May 2018 decision in McCoy v. Louisiana has been hailed as a decisive statement of the priority of the value of a criminal defendant’s autonomy over the fairness and reliability interests that also inform both the Sixth Amendment and the ethical obligations of defense counsel. It also appears to be a victory for the vision of client-centered representation and the humanistic value of the inherent dignity of the accused. However, the decision is susceptible to being read too broadly in ways that harm certain categories of defendants. This paper offers a couple of cautionary notes, in response …
Undocumented Crime Victims: Unheard, Unnumbered, And Unprotected, Pauline Portillo
Undocumented Crime Victims: Unheard, Unnumbered, And Unprotected, Pauline Portillo
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming
Effects Of Senate Bill 4 On Wage-Theft: Why All Workers Are At Risk In Low-Income Occupations, Daniella Salas-Chacon
Effects Of Senate Bill 4 On Wage-Theft: Why All Workers Are At Risk In Low-Income Occupations, Daniella Salas-Chacon
The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice
Abstract forthcoming