Criminal Procedure Commons^™

What We Should Learn From Garner And Ferguson Cases, Jeffrey Bellin

Jeffrey Bellin

No abstract provided.

Justice On The Line: Prosecutorial Screening Before Arrest, Adam M. Gershowitz

Adam M. Gershowitz

Police make more than eleven million arrests every year. Yet prosecutors dismiss about 25% of criminal charges with no conviction being entered. Needless arrests are therefore clogging the criminal justice system and harming criminal defendants. For instance, Freddie Gray was fatally injured in police custody after being arrested for possession of a switchblade knife. Prosecutors later announced, however, that they did not believe the knife was actually illegal. If prosecutors had to approve warrantless arrests before police could take suspects into custody, Freddie Gray would still be alive. Yet prosecutors’ offices almost never dictate who the police should or should …

Consolidating Local Criminal Justice: Should Prosecutors Control The Jails?, Adam M. Gershowitz

Adam M. Gershowitz

No abstract provided.

Interrogation Parity, Stephen Rushin, Kate Levine

Stephen Rushin

This Article addresses the special interrogation protections afforded exclusively to the police when they are questioned about misconduct. In approximately twenty states, police officers suspected of misconduct are shielded by statutory Law Enforcement Officer Bills of Rights. These statutes frequently limit the tactics investigators can use during interrogations of police officers. Many of these provisions limit the manner and length of questioning, ban the use of threats or promises, require the recording of interrogations, and guarantee officers a reprieve from questioning to tend to personal necessities. These protections, which are available to police but not to ordinary criminal suspects, create …

The Grand Jury: A Shield Of A Different Sort, R. Michael Cassidy, Julian A. Cook Iii

R. Michael Cassidy

According to the Washington Post, 991 people were shot to death by police officers in the United States during calendar year 2015, and 957 people were fatally shot in 2016. A disproportionate percentage of the citizens killed in these police-civilian encounters were black. Events in Ferguson, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Charlotte, North Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Staten Island, New York - to name but a few affected cities - have now exposed deep distrust between communities of color and law enforcement. Greater transparency is necessary to begin to heal this culture of distrust and to inform the debate going forward …

Carpenter V. United States And The Fourth Amendment: The Best Way Forward, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

Fourth Amendment Anxiety, Stephen E. Henderson, Kiel Brennan-Marquez

Stephen E Henderson

Prisoner's Rights And The Correctional Scheme: The Legal Controversy And Problems Of Implementation - A Symposium - Introduction, Donald W. Dowd

Donald W. Dowd

No abstract provided.

Law Enforcement And Criminal Law Decisions, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

No abstract provided.

The Beast Of Burden In Immigration Bond Hearings, Mary P. Holper

Mary Holper

In this article, I examine the burden of proof in bond proceedings. I apply theories for why burdens of proof exist in the law to demonstrate why the government should bear the burden of proof. I also argue that in order to ensure that such detention comports with Due Process, the government must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that a detainee is dangerous. This presumption of freedom previously existed, yet was eviscerated by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in a 1997 regulation and the Board of Immigration Appeals in a 1999 decision. That the detainee must bear the …

Small Cells, Big Problems: The Increasing Precision Of Cell Site Location Information And The Need For Fourth Amendment Protections, Robert M. Bloom, William T. Clark

Robert M. Bloom

The past fifty years has witnessed an evolution in technology advancement in police surveillance. Today, one of the essential tools of police surveillance is something most Americans carry with them in their pockets every day, the cell phone. Cell phones not only contain a huge repository of personal data, they also provide continuous surveillance of a person’s movement known as cell site location information (CSLI). In 1986, Congress sought to provide some privacy protections to CSLI in the Stored Communication Act. Although this solution may have struck the proper balance in an age when cell phones were a mere novelty …

The Murder Of Black Males In A World Of Non-Accountability: The Surreal Trial Of George Zimmerman For The Killing Of Trayvon Martin, Mark S. Brodin

Mark S. Brodin

A critique of the "prosecution" of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin, concluding that the effort was botched from the beginning, tragically missing an early opportunity to hold killers of unarmed black youth accountable.

Sentencing Reform: The Power Of Reasons, R. Michael Cassidy, Robert L. Ullmann

R. Michael Cassidy

No abstract provided.

Unintended Consequences: Addressing The Impact Of Domestic Violence Mandatory And Pro-Arrest Policies And Practices On Girls And Young Women, Francine T. Sherman

Francine T. Sherman

The OJJDP-funded National Girls Initiative and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) convened a roundtable of advocates to discuss the unintended consequences of mandatory and pro-arrest policies for domestic violence on girls and young women. Out of that convening arose this summary report, Unintended Consequences: Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence Mandatory and Pro-Arrest Policies and Practices on Girls and Young Women. Our hope is that this summary report fuels a conversation about the unintended consequences and impact of mandatory and pro-arrest domestic violence policies on girls, young women, and women, as well as the disproportionate impact on communities …

Dusty Order: Law Enforcement And Participant Cooperation At Burning Man, Manuel A. Gomez

Manuel A. Gómez

Media depictions of Burning Man focus on the picturesque and eccentric appearance of the weeklong affair. The event is sometimes misportrayed as a lawless environment where participants are encouraged to engage in rowdy behavior. Most carnivalesque events offer an escape from reality and are generally thought to enable unruly conduct. Despite stereotypes, Burning Man is a different beast. Not only is the crime rate in Black Rock City lower than any other city of comparable size, but Burners show a high level of cooperative and law abiding behavior that helps maintain the social order without depending on official means of …

Lawn Signs: A Fourth Amendment For Constitutional Curmudgeons, Stephen E. Henderson, Andrew G. Ferguson

Stephen E Henderson

Fourth Amendment Time Machines (And What They Might Say About Police Body Cameras), Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

Penal Culture And Hyperincarceration: The Revival Of The Prison, Alex Steel, Chris Cunneen, David Brown, Eileen Baldry, Melanie Schwartz, Mark Brown

David C. Brown

What are the various forces influencing the role of the prison in late modern societies? What changes have there been in penality and use of the prison over the past 40 years that have led to the re-valorization of the prison? Using penal culture as a conceptual and theoretical vehicle, and Australia as a case study, this book analyses international developments in penality and imprisonment. Authored by some of Australia’s leading penal theorists, the book examines the historical and contemporary influences on the use of the prison, with analyses of colonialism, post colonialism, race, and what they term the ‘penal/colonial …

How The Justice System Fails Us After Police Shootings, Caren Morrison

Caren Myers Morrison

No abstract provided.

Why It's Time For Pervasive Surveillance...Of The Police, Russell Dean Covey

Russell D. Covey

No abstract provided.

Praise Defenders, Not Just Prosecutors, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

Rules, Standards, Sentencing, And The Nature Of Law, Russell D. Covey

Russell D. Covey

Sentencing law and practice in the United States can be characterized as an argument about rules and standards. Whereas in the decades prior to the 1980s when sentencing was largely a discretionary activity governed only by broad sentencing standards, a sentencing reform movement in the 1980s transformed sentencing practice through the advent of sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum provisions. As a result, sentencing became far less standard-like and far more rule-like. Although reform proponents believed that this "rulification" of sentencing would reduce unwarranted sentencing disparities and enhance justice, it is far from clear that these goals were achieved. Indeed, the …

Fixed Justice: Reforming Plea-Bargaining With Plea-Based Ceilings, Russell D. Covey

Russell D. Covey

The ubiquity of plea bargaining creates real concern that innocent defendants are occasionally, or perhaps even routinely, pleading guilty to avoid coercive trial sentences. Pleading guilty is a rational choice for defendants as long as prosecutors offer plea discounts so substantial that trial is not a rational strategy regardless of guilt or innocence. The long-recognized solution to this problem is to enforce limits on the size of the plea/trial sentencing differential. As a practical matter, however, discount limits are unenforceable if prosecutors retain ultimate discretion over charge selection and declination. Because the doctrine of prosecutorial charging discretion is immune to …

Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reforms For Girls, Francine Sherman, Annie Balck

Francine T. Sherman

Despite decades of attention, the proportion of girls in the juvenile justice system has increased and their challenges have remained remarkably consistent, resulting in deeply rooted systemic gender injustice. The literature is clear that girls in the justice system have experienced abuse, violence, adversity, and deprivation across many of the domains of their lives—family, peers, intimate partners, and community. There is also increasing understanding of the sorts of programs helpful to these girls. What is missing is a focus on how systems—and particularly juvenile justice systems—can be redesigned to protect public safety and support the healing and healthy development of …

Testimony On Oklahoma Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

Free, But Still Behind Bars: Reading The Illinois Post-Conviction Hearing Act To Allow Any Person Convicted Of A Crime To Raise A Claim Of Actual Innocence, Hugh M. Mundy

Hugh Mundy

As the number of wrongfully convicted prisoners who are subsequently exonerated continues to rise, the importance of access to post-conviction relief also increases. Under the Illinois Post-Conviction Hearing Act, this access is restricted to petitioners who are currently imprisoned or otherwise facing a restraint on their liberty. Persons convicted of a crime who have completed their sentence are barred from pursuing post-conviction relief under the Act, regardless of the existence of exculpatory evidence that supports their innocence. Removing this procedural roadblock and interpreting the Act broadly to allow any person convicted of a crime to raise a claim of actual …

What's Guilt (Or Deterrence) Got To Do With It?: The Death Penalty, Ritual, And Mimetic Violence, 38 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 487 (1997), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

Why Do People Support Capital Punishment? The Death Penalty As Community Ritual, 33 Conn. L. Rev. 765 (2001), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

Reflections On When "We, The People" Kill, 34 J. Marshall L. Rev. 713 (2001), Michael P. Seng

Michael P. Seng

No abstract provided.

Vagrants In Volvos: Ending Pretextual Traffic Stops And Consent Searches Of Vehicles In Illinois, 40 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 745 (2009), Timothy P. O'Neill

Timothy P. O'Neill

No abstract provided.