Digital Commons Network^™

Children Without Homes: Rights To Education And To Family Stability, Stanley S. Herr

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Limiting Disclosure Of Rape Victims' Identities, Paul Marcus, Tara L. Mcmahon

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Pure Politics, Girardeau A. Spann

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this article considers the impact that judicial discretion has on the traditional model of judicial review, and that model's reliance on the Supreme Court as the primary guardian of minority interests. Part II argues that the interests of racial minorities can be better advanced through the ordinary political process than through the process of Supreme Court adjudication. Part Ill emphasizes that minority participation in Supreme Court proceedings cannot ultimately be avoided and, accordingly, suggests a political model of the Court that minorities can use in an effort to neutralize the Court's distortion of the political process. Part …

Teeth For A Paper Tiger: A Proposal To Add Enforceability To Florida's Hate Crimes Act, Marc L. Fleischauer

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rico Threatens Civil Liberties, Antonio J. Califa

Vanderbilt Law Review

The history of conspiracy, according to Justice Robert Jackson, exemplifies the "'tendency of a principle to expand itself to the limit of its logic.' "" This same phenomenon is present today in the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 (RICO). RICO has moved beyond logic and intent into areas far removed from racketeering. Originally intended to combat organized crime, RICO is used increasingly in ideological disputes. For example, it has been used against abortion clinic protesters and anti-pornography groups.

This Article argues that using RICO in ideological disputes is inappropriate and harmful because it results in the chilling …

Report Of The Special Joint Committee On Gender Bias In The Courts — May 1989

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gideon V. Wainwright Revisited: What Does The Right To Counsel Guarantee Today?, Michael B. Mushlin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court unanimously held that indigent state felony defendants are constitutionally entitled to the appointment of trial counsel. The opinion aroused wide support, and even enthusiasm, almost from the moment it was announced in 1963. Two and a half decades later this support has not diminished. However, are the words of praise only lip service to the noble idea of the right to counsel? Has Gideon really made a difference? Has its promise of a fair shake for poor criminal defendants been kept, or has Gideon meant only that defendants are provided with the fleeting …

Washington's New Sexual Offender Civil Commitment System: An Unconstitutional Commitment System And Unwise Policy Choice, Brian G. Bodine

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will discuss the portion of the legislation that established the system of involuntary civil commitment of violent sexual predators [hereinafter Violent Sexual Predator Commitment System]. This Comment will explore whether the Violent Sexual Predator Commitment System could withstand procedural and substantive due process challenges. Additionally, because the system is premised on a mental disorder of the sexually violent person, the commitment scheme will also be compared with the Involuntary Treatment Act's civil commitment system, to determine whether the Violent Sexual Predator Commitment System violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. After …

"Sentencing And Visible Minorities: Equality And Affirmative Action In The Criminal Justice System", Bruce P. Archibald

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Canadian criminal justice system is facing serious criticism for being racist. Certain Canadian laws and judicial decisions in the past have made the legal system an easy target for such charges. Canadian governments have acknowledged the problems of racism in Canadian society, and provincial and federal human rights legislation exemplify efforts to eradicate racial discrimination. However, racial discrimination persists in Canadian society and the criminal justice system occupies a particularly sensitive place in controversies over the role of the state in these problems. Moreover, the equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms have quite properly raised …

Adverse Inferences From Silence, Department Of Justice Office Of Legal Policy

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Report, the eighth in the Truth in Criminal Justice series, assesses the rules relating to the evidentiary consideration of the defendant's silence. Its general conclusion is that the existing restrictive rules in this area are unjustified impediments to the search for truth. The notion that the fifth amendment's prohibition of compelling a person in a criminal case to be a witness against himself bars drawing adverse inferences from the defendant's silence is not well-founded. In practical effect, these rules impede the conviction of the guilty by barring consideration of an aspect of the defendant's conduct-his failure to respond to …

The Admission Of Criminal Histories At Trial, Department Of Justice Office Of Legal Policy

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As part of a continuing series of studies on impediments to the search for truth in criminal investigation and adjudication, the Office of Legal Policy has carried out a review of the law governing the admission of the criminal records of defendants and other persons at trial. The results of this review are set out in this Report.

The Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel Under The Massiah Line Of Cases, Department Of Justice Office Of Legal Policy

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The sixth amendment guarantees to the accused in a criminal prosecution the right "to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." In Massiah v. United States, the Supreme Court held this right was violated when there was used against the defendant at trial evidence of incriminating statements deliberately elicited from him by an informant after he had been indicted and in the absence of counsel. In effect, this decision and others that 'followed have created a new constitutional right not to be questioned about pending charges prior to trial except in the presence of an attorney.

One consequence …

Federal Habeas Corpus Review Of State Judgments, Department Of Justice Office Of Legal Policy

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Report carries out a review of the historical development of the federal habeas corpus jurisdiction; examines its contemporary character and operation; and discusses relevant policy considerations. The Report concludes that federal habeas corpus as a post-conviction remedy for state prisoners should be abolished or limited as far as possible. The limited reform proposals that were passed by the Senate in 1984 and that are currently before Congress as Title II of the proposed Criminal Justice Reform Act provide the best immediate prospect for improvement.

The Reagan Administration's Civil Rights Policy: The Challenge For The Future, William B. Reynolds

Vanderbilt Law Review

The almost twenty years that followed Brown showed real progress toward a color-blind society. That progress, however, lost momentum in the 1970s as many civil rights leaders advanced well-intended, but poorly conceived, policies with the all-too-familiar consequence of dividing people along color lines. In that decade, the bright future of race relations began to dim as discriminatory techniques--mislabelled as"benign" or "affirmative"-reemerged to work their destruction on the hopes of a public anxious to find harmonious, goodwilled solutions to the problems of the past.Today, the struggle continues for a national heritage blind to skin color or ethnic background. The challenge for …

Arguments Appealing To Racial Prejudice: Uncertainty, Impartiality, And The Harmless Error Doctrine, Steven D. Debrota

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ii. Constitutional Law & Civil Rights

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discrimination Against Families With Children And Handicapped Persons Under The 1988 Amendments To The Fair Housing Act, 22 J. Marshall L. Rev. 541 (1989), Michael P. Seng

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Double Jeopardy And Government Appeals Of Acquittals, Department Of Justice Office Of Legal Policy

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As part of a continuing series of papers on impediments to the search for truth in criminal investigation and adjudication, the Office of Legal Policy has carried out a review of the law governing double jeopardy prohibitions on federal government appeals of criminal acquittals. These prohibitions undermine the search for truth in criminal adjudication by allowing some wrongly acquitted, culpable individuals to go unpunished. The results of our review are set out in this Report.

Bias Crimes: Unconscious Racism In The Prosecution Of Racially Motivated Violence, Tanya K. Hernandez

Faculty Scholarship

Within the past four years, a perceived surge of "bias crimes" has seized the nation's attention. Bias crimes, physical acts of violence used as an outlet for prejudiced hostilities, are usually street crimes spontaneously committed by casual clusters of "normal people on the street" with very little advanced planning. This Note focuses on the physical injuries to persons that result from bias crimes. Such physical injuries represent cog- nizable harms that can be redressed through criminal statutes.'

Black Women And The Constitution: Finding Our Place, Asserting Our Rights, Judy Scales-Trent

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Charleston Policy: Substance Or Abuse, The , Kimani Paul-Emile

Faculty Scholarship

In 1989, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) adopted a policy that, according to subjective criteria, singled out for drug testing, certain women who sought prenatal care and childbirth services would be tested for prohibited substances. Women who tested positive were arrested, incarcerated and prosecuted for crimes ranging from misdemeanor substance possession to felony substance distribution to a minor. In this Article, the Author argues that by intentionally targeting indigent Black women for prosecution, the MUSC Policy continued the United States legacy of their systematic oppression and resulted in the criminalizing of Black Motherhood.

A Board Does Not A Bench Make: Denying Quasi-Judicial Immunity To Parole Board Members In Section 1983 Damages Actions, Julio A. Thompson

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that neither the majority nor the minority approach is realistic. A thorough examination of the parole process and section 1983 litigation will show that a third approach is more appropriate - that parole board members are entitled only to qualified immunity for all actions taken within the scope of their official duties. Part I argues that parole board members should not enjoy absolute, quasi-judicial immunity because the parole board decisionmaking process is not "functionally comparable" to judicial decisionmaking. The differences in procedure, political accountability, training, and background lead to two very different systems. Part II shows that …

Racial Discrimination In The Criminal Justice System, Clyde E. Murphy

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Indigent Defendant's Right To Psychiatric Assistance: Ake V. Oklahoma 470 U.S. 68 (1985), Kevin T. Smith

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

One Judge's Battle Against The New York City Judicial Establishment, Percy R. Luney Jr.

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Cultures: Or Making The Proper Connection Between Law, Social History And The Political Economy Of Despair, Robert J. Cottrol

San Diego Law Review

In this Article, Professor Cottrol examines a pervasive culture of pessimism amongst a minority of underclass Black Americans the likes of which must be addressed if America's laws and public policy is to complete the unfinished work of the Civil Rights Revolution. The author argues that the development this culture is the result of long-term historical trends, the results of which came to fruition after the Second World War. He suggests Americans must shift their focus from familiar histories of southern slavery and Jim Crow to an examination of the histories of race relations in northern cities. Further, the author …

The Politics Of Predicting Criminal Violence, Sheri Lynn Johnson

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Prediction of Criminal Violence by Fernand N. Dutile and Cleon H. Foust

Enforcement Provisions Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1866: A Legislative History In Light Of Runyon V. Mccrary, The Review Essay And Comments: Reconstructing Reconstruction, Robert J. Kaczorowski

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this Comment is to examine the history of the enactment and early enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 from the perspective of the remedies Congress sought to provide to meet the problems that necessitated the legislation. Its main foci are the statute's enforcement provisions and their early implementation, an aspect of the history of the statute that has not been fully considered in relation to section one, the provision that has received the most scholarly attention. The occasion of this study is the Supreme Court's reconsideration of Runyon v. McCrary' in Patterson v. McLean Credit …

Privatization Of Prisons: An Analysis Of The State Action Requirement Of The Fourteenth Amendment And 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Ira Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Introduction: The privatization of prisons raises important issues with respect to liability in suits brought by inmates. If a private company operates the prison, the state likely will be directly involved in some aspects of prison life, such as using force when necessary or making quasi-judicial decisions, but it may not be directly involved in the day-to-day operation of the institution. This dichotomy of involvement may lead to con- fusion over responsibility and accountability when a violation of rights is alleged to have occurred. When a private party, as opposed to a government employee, is charged with abridging rights guaranteed …

Protecting The Parental Rights Of Incarcerated Mothers Whose Children Are In Foster Care: Proposed Changes To New York's Termination Of Parental Rights Law, Philip Genty

Faculty Scholarship

In the past decade, the number of female prisoners in New York state and city jails has risen dramatically. Currently, there are 1,890 women incarcerated in New York State prisons, and an additional 1,626 women confined in New York City jails. Approximately seventy- two percent of the women in state prisons are parents, and, according to one informal study, nearly sixty percent of the women in city prisons are single parents with minor children. While some of these women can make formal or informal child care arrangements with relatives or close friends, many others must turn to state-regulated foster care. …