Digital Commons Network^™

The Road To Adopting And Implementing Systemic Disclosure Changes In The Dallas County District Attorney’S Office, Susan Hawk, Patricia J. Cummings

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

Discovery and Brady are currently two of the most discussed and debated topics in our criminal justice system. Americans have become more and more aware of the number of individuals convicted and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. In 2007, in a very bold and innovative move, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office created the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) to reexamine questionable convictions to determine if a particular defendant was in fact guilty.

Justice-As-Fairness As Judicial Guiding Principle: Remembering John Rawls And The Warren Court, Michael Anthony Lawrence

Brooklyn Law Review

The decade-and-a-half period when Earl Warren served as the fourteenth Chief Justice (1953–1969) was marked by numerous landmark rulings in the areas of racial justice, criminal procedure, reproductive autonomy, First Amendment freedom of speech, association, and religion, voting rights, and more. These decisions led to positive, fundamental changes in the lives of millions of less advantaged Americans who had been historically disfavored because of their race, nationality, gender, socioeconomic class, or political views. The legacy of the Warren Court is one of an institution committed to “a dedication in the law to the timeless ideals of ‘human dignity, individual rights, …

Policing In The Era Of Permissiveness: Mitigating Misconduct Through Third-Party Standing, Julian A. Cook Iii

Brooklyn Law Review

On April 4, 2015, Walter L. Scott was driving his vehicle when he was stopped by Officer Michael T. Slager of the North Charleston, South Carolina, police department for a broken taillight. A dash cam video from the officer’s vehicle showed the two men engaged in what appeared to be a rather routine verbal exchange. Sometime after Slager returned to his vehicle, Scott exited his car and ran away from Slager, prompting the officer to pursue him on foot. After he caught up with Scott in a grassy field near a muffler establishment, a scuffle between the men ensued, purportedly …

Waive Goodbye To Appellate Review Of Plea Bargaining: Specific Performance Of Appellate Waiver Provisions Should Be Limited To Extraordinary Circumstances, Holly P. Pratesi

Brooklyn Law Review

In the federal criminal justice system, plea bargaining remains the predominant method for disposing of cases. An important provision in most plea agreements consists of the waiver of the defendant’s right to appeal the conviction or sentence. This note explores the constitutional, contractual, and policy implications of a recent Third Circuit decision that would allow specific performance as a remedy where a defendant’s only breach of the plea agreement consists of filing an appeal arguably precluded by an appellate waiver provision. This note argues that the approach taken by the Third Circuit in United States v. Erwin could effectively preclude …

The Inequality Of America's Death Penalty: A Crossroads For Capital Punishment At The Intersection Of The Eighth And Fourteenth Amendments, John Bessler

All Faculty Scholarship

We live in a divided society, from gated communities to cell blocks congested with disproportionate numbers of young African-American men. There are rich and poor, privileged and homeless, Democrats and Republicans, wealthy zip codes and stubbornly impoverished ones. There are committed "Black Lives Matter" protesters, and there are those who—invoking "Blue Lives Matter" demonstrate in support of America‘s hardworking police officers. In her new article, "Matters of Strata: Race, Gender, and Class Structures in Capital Cases," George Washington University law professor Phyllis Goldfarb highlights the stratification of our society and offers a compelling critique of America‘s death penalty regime—one, she …

Youthfulness Matters: A Call To Modernize Juvenile Waiver Statutes, Chelsea Ellen Heaney

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The fundamental values that underlie the juvenile justice system have developed and changed since its inception in 1899. A system that was once focused on rehabilitating and protecting troubled youth, has developed into a system focused on punishing and confining youth. A decade of increased juvenile crime rates in the United States from the mid-1980s to the mid- 1990s, led many states to change their policies regarding the treatment of juvenile delinquents. Specifically, between 1992 and 1994, forty-nine out of the fifty states broadened or enacted legislation making it easier for juveniles to be tried as adults. Automatic and mandatory …

The Right To Education For Unaccompanied Minors, Jeanette M. Acosta

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In response to the increase of unaccompanied minors seeking refuge in the United States in 2014, officials within federal, state, and local institutions readied themselves to receive and serve a greater number of child migrants in detention facilities, shelters, immigration courts, and public schools. While attention has been paid to the need for legal representation of unaccompanied minors and the need to end the inhumane detention of children, this Note reveals the state of educational opportunities and services provided for unaccompanied minors in detention facilities, shelters, and public schools. This Note looks to the role education plays in the lives …

To Catch A Terrorist: The Improper Use Of Profiling In U.S. Post-9/11 Counterterrorism, Kamillia Crawford

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) caused thousands of deaths, national and global panic, and immediate action by the federal government to protect the borders of the United States of America (USA) from terrorism. In response to these attacks, the United States (U.S.) government enacted laws for law enforcement agencies to protect against terrorist activities. Law enforcement agencies are effective in combating terrorism, but their measures contain a major flaw - the improper use of race in profiling to address national security and public safety concerns. Racial profiling is an ineffective measure for preventing terrorism. There are solutions to …

Reforming High-Stakes Police Departments: How Federal Civil Rights Will Rebuild Constitutional Policing In America, Ivana Dukanovic

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Over the past two decades, the Justice Department has untaken dozens of topdown interventions of local police departments plagued with unconstitutional policing. From Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Ferguson, Missouri, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has instituted reform in departments exhibiting patterns or practices that violate individuals' constitutional rights. The government's tool for imposing such reform and oversight on local, state power is a twenty-three-year-old statute: 42 U.S.C. 14141. This Note proposes that § 14141 is the change agent for rebuilding constitutional policing in America.

But with change comes challenge, and many pushback departments continue to resist reform. The Note …

Reasonable Doubt And Moral Elements, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

The law is axiomatic. In order to convict a person of a crime, every element of the crime with which he is charged must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This Article argues that this fundamental proposition of American criminal law is wrong. Two types of elements are typically found in crime definitions: factual elements and moral elements. Proving factual elements involves answering questions about historical facts—that is, questions about what happened. By contrast, proving moral elements—such as “reckless,” “unjustifiable,” “without consent,” or “cruel”—involves answering questions not only about what happened but also about the evaluative significance of what happened. …

Hate Speech And Double Standards, Thomas M. Keck

Political Science - All Scholarship

Many European states ban the public expression of hateful speech directed at racial and religious minorities, and an increasing number do so for anti-gay speech as well. These laws have been subjected to a wide range of legal, philosophical, and empirical investigation, but this paper explores one potential cost that has not received much attention in the literature. Statutory bans on hate speech leave democratic societies with a Hobson’s choice. If those societies ban incitements of hatred against some vulnerable groups, they will inevitably face parallel demands for protection of other such groups. If they accede to those demands, they …

The Death Knell For The Death Penalty: Judge Carney's Order To Kill Capital Punishment Rings Loud Enough To Reach The Supreme Court, Alyssa Hughes

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Society Becomes The Criminal: An Exploration Of Society’S Responsibilities To The Wrongfully Convicted, Amelia A. Haselkorn

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis explores how society can and should compensate those who have been wrongfully convicted after they are exonerated and how we can prevent these mistakes from happening to others in the future. It begins by presenting research on the scope of the problem. Then it suggests possible reforms to the U.S. justice system that would minimize the rate of innocent convictions. Lastly, it takes both a philosophical and political look at what just compensation would entail as well as a variety of state compensation laws.

Law, Politics, And Legacy Building At The Mclachlin Court In 2014, Jamie Cameron

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

This Article was written for Osgoode Hall Law School’s annual Constitutional Cases conference, and provides the keynote overview of the McLachlin Court’s 2014 constitutional jurisprudence. The Court’s 2014 constitutional decisions (Appointment and Senate References; Tsilqot’in Nation; Trial Lawyers) and restrictions on Mr. Big operations (Hart), in combination with a tsunami of Charter decisions early in 2015 (the 2015 Labour Trilogy; Carter v. Canada; R. v. Nur; and others), made this a legacy-building year. More than an overview, this Article probes the nature of the McLachlin Court’s legacy this year and the relationship between legal and political dynamics, to ask: in …

"Your Corrupt Ways Had Finally Made You Blind": Prosecutorial Misconduct And The Use Of "Ethnic Adjustments" In Death Penalty Cases Of Defendants With Intellectual Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Are Intellectually Disabled Individuals Still At Risk Of Capital Punishment After Hall V. Florida? The Need For A Totality-Of-The-Evidence Test To Protect Human Rights In Determining Intellectual Disability, Ruthie Stevens

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Law Enforcement Officers In Schools, Jason P. Nance

UF Law Faculty Publications

A recent event that occurred in a South Carolina classroom illustrates why there should be concern about assigning law enforcement officers to work in public schools. In October of 2015, a teacher called a law enforcement officer into a classroom to handle a student behavior problem. A female student was using a cell phone in violation of school rules. Other students in the classroom captured what happened next by video. The videos show that when the student refused to exit the classroom, the officer grabbed her by the neck, flipped her and her desk to the floor, and then forcibly …

The Right To Silence V. The Fifth Amendment, Tracey Maclin

UF Law Faculty Publications

This paper concerns a well-known, but badly misunderstood, constitutional right. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees, inter alia, that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” For the non-lawyer, the Fifth Amendment protects an individual’s right to silence. Many Americans believe that the Constitution protects their right to remain silent when questioned by police officers or governmental officials. Three rulings from the Supreme Court over the past twelve years, Chavez v. Martinez (2003), Berghuis v. Thomkpins (2010) and Salinas v. Texas (2013), however, demonstrate that the “right to remain silent” that …

The American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards: Revisions For The Twenty-First Century, Christopher Slobogin

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The American Bar Association's revision of its Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards ("Standards"), promulgated in August 2016, tackles a wide range of issues concerning the involvement of people with mental disabilities in the criminal justice system. Consisting of over ninety black letter provisions, the Standards address diversion and specialized courts; the role of mental health professionals, the police, lawyers and correctional officials in cases involving people with mental disabilities; and the law and processes associated with competency, insanity, commitment, and capital and non-capital sentencing. This article describes the genesis of the Standards and explains their content, organized in terms of …

Prisoners' Fundamental Right To Read: Courts Should Ensure That Rational Basis Is Truly Rational, Alicia Bianco

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Students, Police, And The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Jason P. Nance

UF Law Faculty Publications

Since the terrible shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, lawmakers and school officials continue to deliberate over new laws and policies to keep students safe, including putting more police officers in schools. Yet these decisionmakers have not given enough attention to the potential negative consequences that such laws and policies may have, such as creating a pathway from school to prison for many students. Traditionally, only educators, not law enforcement, handled certain lower-level offenses that students committed, such as fighting or making threats without using a weapon. Drawing on recent restricted data from the US Department of …

Category Errors And Executive Power, Jonathan H. Adler

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

To Loose The Bonds: The Deceptive Promise Of Freedom From Pretrial Immigration Detention, Denise L. Gilman

Indiana Law Journal

Each year, the United States government detains more than 60,000 migrants who are eligible for release during immigration court proceedings that will determine their right to stay in the United States. Detention or release should be adjudicated through a custody determination process focused on the question of whether a mi-grant poses a flight risk or danger to the community. Yet, because the process skips the critical inquiry into the need for detention before setting monetary bond require-ments for release that are difficult to fulfill, freedom remains elusive.

The custody determination process is a cornerstone in the U.S. immigration de-tention edifice …

Anti-Incarcerative Remedies For Illegal Conditions Of Confinement, Margo Schlanger

Articles

Opposition to mass incarceration has entered the mainstream. But except in a few states, mass decarceration has not, so far, followed: By the end of 2014 (the last data available), nationwide prison population had shrunk only 3% off its (2009) peak. Jail population, similarly, was down just 5% from its (2008) peak. All told, our current incarceration rate - 7 per 1,000 population - is the same as in 2002, and four times the level in 1970, when American incarceration rates began their rise. Our bloated prisoner population includes many groups of prisoners who are especially likely to face grievous …

Shocking The Eighth Amendment's Conscience: Applying A Substantive Due Process Test To The Evolving Cruel And Unusual Punishments Clause, Jency Megan Butler

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Excessive force is today's most prominently debated governmental abuse. The "shocks the conscience" test is a widely used substantive due process protection that analyzes excessive force claims. More specifically, under excessive force law, the "shocks the conscience" test evaluates whether the government has violated a person's constitutional rights. This Note begins with an overview of Eighth Amendment history and articulates a problem in today's Cruel and Unusual jurisprudence created by the Supreme Court's unsettled proportionality review. This Note then proposes that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause should be interpreted with the "shocks the conscience" standard. For an Eighth Amendment …

Procedural Due Process Liberty Interests, Ann Woolhandler

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The Supreme Court's divided decision inKerry v. Din, 135 S. Ct. 2128 (2015), shows the difficulty of defining liberty for purposes of procedural due process. Din, a United States citizen, claimed that she had been denied procedural due process when the State Department refused to grant an immigrant visa to her husband. Justice Scalia's plurality opinion reasoned that Din had no liberty interest protected by procedural due process, while Justice Breyer's dissent concluded that Din had such an interest based on fundamental rights involving marriage, the right of citizens to reside in the country, and statutory immigration preferences for spouses. …

Waiving Goodbye: In Memory Of The Reasonable-Doubt Standard, Steven Wall

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This Note will focus on the unique helplessness of innocent defendants who have plead guilty in cases involving governmental misconduct. The Supreme Court has recognized that our criminal justice system is, for the most part, a system of pleas rather than trials. Unfortunately, there are many indications that innocent people plead guilty. The most developed realm of law being used to push for measures to reduce the occurrence of this phenomena is the body of cases stemming from Brady v. Maryland. Brady v. Maryland requires prosecutors to disclose material exculpatory evidence (evidence demonstrating actual innocence) and impeaching evidence at trial. …

Testing Racial Profiling: Empirical Assessment Of Disparate Treatment By Police, Sonja B. Starr

Articles

In this Article, I explore why measuring disparate-treatment discrimination by police is so difficult, and consider the ways that researchers' existing tools can make headway on these challenges and the ways they fall short. Lab experiments have provided useful information about implicit racial bias, but they cannot directly tell us how these biases actually affect real-world behavior. Meanwhile, for observational researchers, there are various hurdles, but the hardest one to overcome is generally the absence of data on the citizen conduct that at least partially shapes policing decisions. Most crime, and certainly most noncriminal "suspicious" or probable-cause-generating behavior, goes unreported …

The Just-Barely-Sustainable California Prisoners' Rights Ecosystem, Margo Schlanger

Articles

Over the past two decades, the United States has seen a marked decline in the frequency and depth of court interventions in prisons and jails. Prisoners’ rights litigation has not disappeared—but it has been drastically curtailed by the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), along with myriad other forces, doctrinal and political. The PLRA, enacted as part of the Newt Gingrich “Contract with America,” undermined prisoners’ ability to bring, settle, and win lawsuits. (Schlanger 2003; Schlanger 2006)

The resulting impact on jail and prison litigation has been extremely substantial. Significant prisoners’ rights cases certainly remain on court dockets, and new …

Miranda 2.0, Tonja Jacobi

Faculty Articles

Fifty years after Miranda v. Arizona, significant numbers of innocent suspects are falsely confessing to crimes while subject to police custodial interrogation. Critics on the left and right have proposed reforms to Miranda, but few such proposals are appropriately targeted to the problem of false confessions. Using rigorous psychological evidence of the causes of false confessions, this Article analyzes the range of proposals and develops a realistic set of reforms — Miranda 2.0 — which is directed specifically at this foundational challenge to the justice system. Miranda 2.0 is long overdue; it should require: warning suspects how long they …