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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

Fourteen Years Later: The Capital Punishment System In California, Robert M. Sanger Aug 2016

Fourteen Years Later: The Capital Punishment System In California, Robert M. Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

Fourteen years ago, the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment issued a Report recommending 85 reforms in the criminal justice system in that state to help minimize the possibility that an innocent person would be executed. The following year, this author conducted an empirical study, later published in the Santa Clara Law Review, to determine if  California’s system was in need of the same reforms.  The study concluded that over ninety-two percent of the same reforms were needed in California. In addition, the study showed that the California system had additional weaknesses beyond those of Illinois that also could lead to …


Shredded Fish Redux, Robert Sanger Apr 2015

Shredded Fish Redux, Robert Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

The Yates case, in which certiorari had been granted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit had been discussed in a previous column of Criminal Justice. The article was entitled “Shredded Fish” because the sea captain in Yates was prosecuted under the document shredding provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for destroying fish. That case has now been decided by the United States Supreme Court in Yates v. United States, on February 25, 2015. The case involves the rule of lenity as well as a discussion of overcriminalization.


Science Is Not Waiting For The Courts, Robert Sanger Mar 2015

Science Is Not Waiting For The Courts, Robert Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

The Forensic Science Community and the federal government are moving far beyond the courts in an effort to improve the quality of scientific evidence and expert testimony in the courts. Major events in forensics have caused a top to bottom reconsideration of what should count as expert testimony. Last month, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) convened the first set of meetings of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC). This is a forward-looking approach to forensic science.

The first OSAC meetings were held on February 16 and 17, 2015, at …


To Furman Or Not To Furman, Robert M. Sanger Mar 2015

To Furman Or Not To Furman, Robert M. Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

In capital litigation, the United States Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia and following cases required capital punishment systems to have a form of "narrowing" so that the death penalty was imposed only on the worst of the worst. The death penalty states have failed to successfully implement this concept. As a result, "narrowing" is currently raised in all capital cases by competent defense counsel both at trial and in post conviction litigation. It is raised in addition to all other issues, including issues related to the questions of whether exclusion from the death penalty should be expanded and whether …


Shredded Fish,, Robert Sanger May 2014

Shredded Fish,, Robert Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

There are just too many criminal laws and their proliferation has expanded exponentially over the last few decades. This is overcriminalization. In addition, the jurisdiction of federal authorities under general or vague laws has vastly expanded federal criminal prosecution of people and organizations for what otherwise would not be a crime. This is overfederalization and overcriminalization. In this article we will look at the current litigation before the United States Supreme Court that had directly taken on this controversy. The case of Yates v. United States involves briefing by the parties and by amici curae directly invoking and defending the …


New Legal Challenge To Guantanamo Confinement, Robert Sanger Aug 2013

New Legal Challenge To Guantanamo Confinement, Robert Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

We will discuss in this article a new Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed in the federal court relating to the non-release of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay notwithstanding the order of the Administration for their release. As of this writing, the President of the United States has issued orders releasing at least 40 detainees, including Ahmed Adnan Ajam who is the subject of the new Petition. Ironically, under the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Years 2011-20131 (“NDAA”), the President is restricted from releasing detainees under the NDAA which was enacted as a partisan rider to defense …


Beyond A Reasonable Doubt -- Human Dignity And Respect, Robert M. Sanger Dec 2005

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt -- Human Dignity And Respect, Robert M. Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

Essay on the Role of the Criminal Defense Lawyer. Criminal defense lawyers are often asked, "How can you represent "those" people?" The article contends that the answer is that the defense lawyer's job is to stand up for the dignity of the individual client and demand respect from the system for that client.


Chinese Encounters, Robert M. Sanger Mar 1981

Chinese Encounters, Robert M. Sanger

Robert M. Sanger

A Review of the book Chinese Encounters by Inge Morath and Arthur Miller. Miller inquired about cultural and legal issues in China as one of the first American intellectuals to be given relatively free access to China since the Mao regime. Inge Morath provided remarkable photographs. The significance was the juxtaposition of Miller's adherence to the Western concept of the Rule of Law with the communitarian values of Chinese culture.