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The Criminal Justice Act Of 1964, Robert J. Kutak

Nebraska Law Review

The Criminal Justice Act of 1964 goes a long way toward making the idea that a poor man should not be denied an opportunity to defend himself against a criminal charge because he lacks the means a reality in our federal court system. By its impact on the administration of criminal justice, it is quite possible that the act will become recognized and rank as one of the major legislative achievements in a decade spanning both the New Frontier and the Great Society and crowded with congressional actions. The Criminal Justice Act of 1964 is quite short. Behind it, however, …

Constitutional Law—Statute Making The Status Of Being A Drug Addict A Crime Held Unconstitutional—Robinson V. California (Sup. Ct. 1962), Calvin E. Robinson

Nebraska Law Review

Had Robinson v. California been decided fifty years ago, the decision would probably have been to allow the conviction of a narcotic addict. But with scientific knowledge of the nature and methods of treatment for narcotics addiction developed to what it is today, the Court could only say that narcotics addiction is not truly a type of criminal conduct. Inherent in Robinson is all the medical knowledge that has been gained in recent years. As medical and scientific knowledge increase, especially in the fields of mental and emotional illness, perhaps even greater emphasis will be placed upon treatment of wrongdoers, …

Pretrial Discovery In Criminal Cases: A Necessity For Fair And Impartial Justice, Sheldon Krantz

Nebraska Law Review

I. History of Pretrial Discovery in Criminal Cases

II. Policy Considerations … A. Why Is Pretrial Discovery Necessary? … (1) Confessions … (2) Items of Evidence and Scientific Reports … (3) Witness Statements … B. Arguments against Pretrial Discovery … (1) Pretrial discovery will lead to perjury and the suppression of evidence … (2) Defendants in criminal cases already have an unfair advantage, and pretrial discovery would only increase this imbalance … (3) Pretrial discovery in criminal cases will subvert the whole criminal system … (4) The crime rate has increased so rapidly that we must tighten our criminal procedures …

The Decline And Fall Of Wolf V. Colorado, Dale W. Broeder

Nebraska Law Review

The purpose here is to examine critically the recent opinion of the United States Supreme Court in Mapp v. Ohio; to place the opinion in historical perspective; to examine important questions the opinion raises but leaves unanswered; and to consider the implications of the opinion in the difficult area of federal-state relationships. Mapp holds that evidence procured by state officers in violation of the fourth amendment is inadmissible in state criminal prosecutions. Building on certain dicta in Wolf v. Colorado, while at the same time repudiating the actual holding of that case, the Court found not only that …

Compromise Verdicts In Criminal Cases, Philip C. Sorenson

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction

II. Jury Rationality

III. The General Verdict and What It May Show … A. Verdicts Contrary to Law … B. Verdicts Contrary to Fact

IV. Reversal of Compromise Verdicts

V. Problems in Reversal

VI. Conclusion

Criminal Law Revision Codification Vs. Piecemeal Amendment, Frank J. Remington

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction

This symposium issue of the Nebraska Law Review affords additional evidence of the growing interest in criminal law revision. Not only is there interest, but, more important, there are indications that steps are being taken to translate that interest into tangible contributions to the improvement of criminal justice, and particularly toward the improvement of the substantive criminal law which has for so long been ignored.1 It is with revision of the substantive statutory law that this article is primarily concerned.

II. The Need for Revision … A. Obsolescence … B. Needless Verbosity C. … Needless Distinctions … D. …

The Nature And Consequences Of The Plea Of Nolo Contendere, Patrick W. Healey

Nebraska Law Review

The last session of the Nebraska legislature made available as a part of the criminal procedure of the state the plea of nolo contendere, or non vult. This was done by amending Section 29-1819 of the Nebraska Statutes to read as follows:

If the issue on the plea in bar be found against the defendant, or if upon arraignment the accused offers no plea in bar, he shall plead "guilty," "not guilty," or "nolo contendere;" but if he pleads evasively or stands mute, he shall be taken to have pleaded "not guilty."

The accused may, at any time before conviction, …

Individualized Treatment Of Criminal Offenders, Allan J. Garfinkle, Charles H. Beatty

Nebraska Law Review

For many years the nation's criminologists and penologists have denounced the present system of treatment of criminal offenders as unrealistic and unproductive of desirable results. Dissatisfied with legislative tinkering at the peripheries of the problem, they have called for a sweeping re-examination of the basic procedures which appear untenable in the light of modern psychological knowledge.

In prior times the prime motive of society in its treatment of criminals was retribution; today it is still present, although in much reduced form. Deterrence from criminal acts and isolation of dangerous persons are present goals of criminal justice. Primarily, however, the aim …

Revision Of Criminal Law — Objectives And Methods, Jerome Hall

Nebraska Law Review

There are encouraging signs of the timeliness, of criminal law revision and of the recognition of its importance. For example, the current project to provide a model penal code under the auspices of the American Law Institute' has engaged the services of distinguished lawyers, judges, and scholars. And the recently announced program of the American Bar Association to survey the administration of criminal justice is sponsored by leaders of the American bar, including a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This interest in criminal law is rooted in the traditions of the American bar. Thus, while the unparalleled economic …

Books Received

Nebraska Law Review

American Constitutional Custom: A Forgotten Factor in the Founding. By Burliegh Cushing Rodick. New York: Philosophical Library, 1953. Pp. xx, 244. $4.75.

…

The Strange Case of Alger Hiss. By The Earl Jowett. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1953. Pp. 380. $3.95.

Book Review: The Case Of Mrs. Surratt, James A. Lake

Nebraska Law Review

On July 7, 1865, the lives of three men and a frail and almost unconscious woman were deliberately ended by the hangman’s noose operating from a hastily built quadruple scaffold near the north wall of what is now Fort Lesley McNair in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Thus ended the life of the Maryland widow who was accused, convicted, and condemned for having a part in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Her death did not end the case, and this book is the last of a long procession dedicated either to the task of justifying the conviction and punishment, or …

Foreward, Henry H. Foster Jr.

Nebraska Law Review

It is hoped that this symposium will be stimulating and provocative. In devoting an entire issue to criminal law, emphasis is placed on a somewhat neglected field. Although it may be true that "this interest in criminal law is rooted in the traditions of the American bar," the average practitioner gives insufficient attention and thought to a sound administration of criminal justice. It is most important that the public and especially lawyers consider the social and legal problems involved so that there is an approximation to justice in criminal law. For there is no area of law which is more …

Legislation By The Courts, W. G. Hastings

Mid-West Quarterly (1913–1918)

It is remarkable that in this second century of the republic our courts should be so vehemently assailed for interference in legislation. One who knew of our duplex governments only by study of their written constitutions would open his eyes when told that there is any such thing under them as legislation by the courts. The citizen of Nebraska lives under a constitution which devotes an entire article to declaring, not only that the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of its state government are and must be kept distinct, but that no person in anyone of them, except as specially …

Dissent In Dred Scott V. Sandford (1856), John Mclean

Electronic Texts in American Studies

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford set aside the Northwest Ordinance, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and the Illinois state constitution, in order to permit the holding of slaves in formerly free soil of the territories above the northern boundary of Missouri. The case exacerbated political tensions on the slavery issue and moved the United States closer to civil war.

The majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Taney ran over 150 pages. There were two dissenting opinions, including this one by associate justice John McLean. It draws upon a long …