Criminal Law Commons^™

Criminal Law, Bernadette C. Crucilla

Mercer Law Review

In this year's criminal law survey, I have taken a cue from my colleagues of past years and included only the most significant cases and statutory amendments. A body of law born from resolving the inherent conflicts between prosecutors and defenders is necessarily in a constant state of change. It is, therefore, impossible to comment on every development within a specific time period. To that end, this Survey limits the discussion to those legal developments with the widest application to Georgia criminal law practitioners for the time period from June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014.

Death Penalty, Josh D. Moore

Mercer Law Review

The Georgia Supreme Court addressed two death sentences on direct appeal in this survey period, affirming both of them, and addressed four more death penalty cases at various stages of collateral review, leaving death sentences intact in all but one case. Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel frequently dominated the court's discussion of these cases, playing a central role in all but two of them. The court, however, also addressed some important issues touching on mental-health evaluations and evidence, lethal injection, death qualification, and victim-impact testimony

Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Rosemary Cakmis

Mercer Law Review

In recent years, the United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG, or the Guidelines) for offenses involving drugs, immigration, fraud and theft, and firearms have consistently been applied more frequently at federal sentencings than any other primary offense guidelines. The Guidelines allow for consequential enhancements, many related to victims and criminal history. These Guidelines, especially the enhancements, dominated the precedential guideline decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2013. This Article focuses on the recurring issues in those decisions.

Permissive Discrimination: How Committing A Crime Makes You A Criminal In Georgia, Luke Caselman

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Suspects Beware: Silence In Response To Police Questioning Could Prove As Fatal As A Confession, Larissa L. Ollivierre

Mercer Law Review

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution' provides that "[nlo person shall be . . . compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."' The Fifth Amendment guarantees a right against government-compelled self-incrimination. A person may invoke the right against self-incrimination when he believes he is being forced by a government official to implicate himself in any crime, and his belief is reasonable considering his situation. If his belief is reasonable, he is not required to answer the incriminating question, and he cannot be punished for refusing to answer.

The right to remain silent, as declared …

National Treasure: A Comparative Analysis Of Domestic Laws Criminalizing Illicit Excavation And Exportation Of Archaeological Objects, Kimberly L. Alderman, Chelsey S. Dahm

Mercer Law Review

Some participants in the illicit antiquities trade are more equal than others.

For every good that is subject to governmental regulation, there is a corresponding underground economy.' Archaeological materials are no exception to this rule. Antiquities have been heavily sought after and collected since Roman times. As the trade of antiquities becomes more global and sophisticated, so does the corresponding underground economy.

The global antiquities trade has been referred to as a "grey market," because it is not distinctively "black" or "white." Many antiquities are discovered through illicit excavations and transported to the country of their final purchaser through illicit …

Back To The Future: The Revival Of The Theory Of Nullification, Keely N. Kight

Mercer Law Review

American federalism, a system of dual sovereignty between the national government and state governments, is a "tale as old as time." Inherent in the dual sovereignty system is the issue that has been a point of great debate since the very inception of the United States of America: Which powers should the national government have and which should belong to the states? Indeed, "[e]lections have been won and lost," "a Civil War fought," and, most recently, the federal government shut down over this timeless question. With the exponential expansion of the federal government and sharp political disunion over health care, …