Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Practicality And Constitutionality Of Alaska's Split-Recovery Punitive Damages Statute, Scott Dodson

Faculty Publications

In 1997, Alaska responded to its reputation for unusually high punitive awardsby amending its punitive damages statuteto require that 50% of any punitive damages award be deposited into the general fund of the state.Such “split-recovery” statutes attempt to reduce some of the plaintiff's windfall by allocating part of the punitive award to the state.Although the plaintiff shares in the award to compensate her for bringing the punitive claim in the first place,the state receives the balance to use for the public benefit.This Note evaluates the practicality and constitutionality of Alaska’s split- recovery statute. Part I reviews the nature and purpose …

When Can A Defendant Challenge His Acca Sentence On The Basis That His Prior State Convictions Were Unconstitutional?, Michael O'Hear

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Toward The Development Of A Pursuit Decision Calculus: Pursuit Benefits Versus Pursuit Cost, Thomas J. Madden, Geoffrey P. Alpert

Faculty Publications

To make unbiased decisions about whether to pursue a fleeing vehicle, officers must understand both the costs and the potential benefits of a pursuit. This manuscript describes an approach that identifies and assesses the impact of pursuit characteristics on pursuit costs. Data from official pursuit forms generated by officers in the Miami-Dade police department were used as a basis of the study. Log-linear models were used to identify direct and interactive effects of the pursuit characteristics. Upon finding significant effects, odds ratios were calculated. The findings indicate that there are certain pursuit characteristics, including number of units and speed, that …

Practical Magic: A Few Down-To-Earth Suggestions For The New Sentencing Commission, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

Most of the contributions to this outpouring of advice to the new Sentencing Commissioners have to do with the substance of the Guidelines. What follows here is far more prosaic - some suggestions not about what the Commission should do, but about how the Commission should work. I make these suggestions with some trepidation, recognizing the difficulty of the task the new members have undertaken. However, I hope the perspective of one who practiced before and after the Guidelines as a federal prosecutor, participated in the internal workings of the Commission as Special Counsel in 1995-96, and has been a …

The World Of Courtroom Technology, Fredric I. Lederer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Defending Substantial Assistance: An Old Prosecutor's Meditation On Singleton, Sealed Case, And The Maxfield-Kramer Report, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

This essay begins with a brief analysis of the panel and en banc opinions in Sealed Case and Singleton, and then turns to the more arresting question of whether the panel decisions were transitory aberrations or something more. Particularly if one considers Singleton and Sealed Case together with the Sentencing Commission's staff report on substantial assistance practice (the “Maxfield - Kramer Report”), it is difficult to escape the conclusion that unease with the current substantial assistance regime is growing. Unlike many observers, I view §5K1.1 as a very good thing, an invaluable prosecutorial tool against group criminality, but a tool …

Departing Is Such Sweet Sorrow: A Year Of Judicial Revolt On "Substantial Assistance" Departures Follows A Decade Of Prosecutorial Indiscipline (Prosecution Law Symposium), Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

the first section of this essay is devoted to demonstrating the courts' errors. Nonetheless, considered together, these opinions are perhaps an understandable reflection of judicial unease with an important component of the federal sentencing system — the longstanding, but increasingly common, practice of making deals with criminal defendants to reduce their sentences in return for testimony against their accomplices. This Article's second section will consider the most common criticisms of the system of bargaining for testimony under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the Guidelines) to determine whether Singleton and Sealed Case may be good policy even if they are bad …

United States Supreme Court: 1999 Term, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

No-Drop Prosecution Of Domestic Violence: Just Good Policy, Or Equal Protection Mandate?, Kalyani Robbins

Faculty Publications

Domestic violence is a problem that must be dealt with for what it is: a criminal act. The only way to effectively diminish it is through the full force of the criminal justice system, which must treat domestic violence the same as it treats crime by strangers. The purpose of this note is to argue that aggressive prosecution of domestic violence-at least to the same extent that other violent crimes are prosecuted-is mandated by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part I will examine the extent of the problems that pervade the criminal justice system, both historically and …

South Carolina Practice Materials: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography, Duncan E. Alford

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The False Litigant Syndrome: "Nobody Would Say That Unless It Was The Truth", Alan Scheflin, Daniel Brown

Faculty Publications

In this article we intend to focus on the narrow but increasingly more signif icant issue of retractors in malpractice actions against therapists. It is generally believed that people do not make confessions unless they are actually guilty. It is also generally believed that retractors who recant their earlier statements must now be telling the truth. Courts have allowed expert testimony to be admitted on the issue of why people will falsely confess. In this paper we argue that expert testimony on why people falsely recant should also be admissible.

Book Review: Cameras In The Courtroom: Television And The Pursuit Of Justice, Gerald F. Uelmen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Privileges And Stereotypes: A Commentary, Patricia A. Cain

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Domestication Of International Human Rights: Non-Self-Executing Declarations And Human Rights Treaties, David Sloss

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Who Is The Lawyer Of The Century?, Gerald F. Uelmen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Second Redemption?, Bradley W. Joondeph

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Independent Counsel Law Improvements For The Next Five Years, John Q. Barrett

Faculty Publications

This Article is adapted from remarks made in New Orleans on January 8, 1999, as part of an Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Administrative Law Section panel discussion entitled, "Separation of Powers Revisited: Should the Independent Counsel Law Be Renewed?" Our topic is "Should the Independent Counsel Law Be Renewed?" and my answer is, "Not exactly." I will not be, in other words, defending the status quo. Indeed, the empty chair you see here on the dais nicely contains the only "defender" of the status quo of whom I know. What I would like to do is remind us …

The Privilege's Last Stand: The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination And The Right To Rebel Against The State, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Much Justice Hangs In The Balance? A New Look At Hung Jury Rates, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, G. Thomas Munsterman

Faculty Publications

This article discusses what is currently known about hung juries based on exist­ing empirical research and examines some preliminary data about the contempo­rary incidence of hung juries in the federal courts and several state courts. The paucity of information on hung jury rates highlights the need for a rigor­ous and system-wide examination that extends beyond the scope of the jury itself and encompasses the insti­tutional characteristics of each juris­diction and how those characteristics affect the types of cases that are pre­sented to juries.

This abstract has been taken from the authors' introduction.

The Arizona Jury Reform Permitting Civil Jury Trial Discussions: The Views Of Trial Participants, Judges, And Jurors, Valerie P. Hans, Paula Hannaford-Agor, G. Thomas Munsterman

Faculty Publications

In 1995, the Arizona Supreme Court reformed the jury trial process by allowing civil jurors to discuss the evidence presented during trial prior to their formal deliberations. This Article examines and evaluates the theoretical, legal, and policy issues raised by this reform and presents the early results of a field experiment that tested the impact of trial discussions. Jurors, judges, attorneys, and litigants in civil jury trials in Arizona were questioned regarding their observations, experi­ences, and reactions during trial as well as what they perceived to be the benefits and drawbacks of juror discussions. The data revealed that the majority …

Justice Blackmun, Franz Kafka, And Capital Punishment, Martha Dragich

Faculty Publications

The Article discusses the problem of judging death penalty cases, comparing Justice Blackmun's death penalty jurisprudence to the struggle of a character in Kafka's story. It focuses on three critical moments in the decisional process--hesitation, decision, and escape--and assesses Justice Blackmun's performance at each step. It concludes that although Justice Blackmun's views remained consistent throughout his judicial career, his death penalty legacy is equivocal, and in some important respects, unsatisfying.

Coping With "Loss": A Re-Examination Of Sentencing Federal Economic Crimes Under The Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

This Article has three objectives. First, it attempts to rethink the sentencing of federal economic criminals in light of the basic purposes of sentencing and of the Guidelines' particular structure and objectives. Second, it examines the deficiencies in the current sentencing guidelines regarding theft, fraud, and other economic crimes, and the problem areas in the case law construing those guidelines. Third, it proposes and analyzes a consolidated guideline, together with accompanying application notes, for sentencing virtually all theft and fraud cases (a draft of which follows the text of this Article as Appendix A).

New Voices In The Nation: Women And The Greek Resistance, 1941-1964, By Janet Hart, Gerasimos Augustinos

Faculty Publications

Reviews the book New Voices in the Nation: Women and the Greek Resistance, 1941-1964, by Janet Hart.

Comment, The Green Aspects Of Printz: The Revival Of Federalism And Its Implications For Environmental Law, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

This Comment reviews the Printz decision in the context of the Supreme Court's recent federalism jurisprudence and assesses its implications for environmental law. Part I provides a brief historical overview of the federal-state relationship in the environmental context and recent Supreme Court decisions on federalism. Part II discusses and evaluates the Printz decision. Part III applies the Supreme Court holdings in Printz and related federalism cases to current environmental policies and identifies federal environmental programs that are constitutionally suspect. Finally, Part IV addresses the public policy concern that limiting the federal government's power in the environmental context will inevitably weaken …

Allocation Of Decisionmaking Between Defense Counsel And Criminal Defendant: An Empirical Study Of Attorney-Client Decisionmaking, Rodney J. Uphoff

Faculty Publications

In Commonwealth v. Woodward, the highly publicized murder trial of an au pair accused of killing an infant in her care, the defense team faced a strategic decision commonly encountered at trial: whether to request or to object to lesser included jury instructions. Put simply, the Woodward defense team had to decide whether to ask for an instruction that would permit the jury to return a manslaughter verdict, or to object to such an instruction, leaving the jury only the choice either to acquit the defendant or to convict her of second degree murder as charged in the indictment. Undoubtedly …

Crime Or Punishment: The Parental Corporal Punishment Defense - Reasonable And Necessary, Or Excused Abuse, Kandice Johnson

Faculty Publications

The parental right to use physical force to discipline and restrain children is a privilege firmly rooted in the American system of jurisprudence. This privilege is often asserted as a defense when parents are charged with a crime of aggression against their child. While the privilege to use disciplinary force is universally recognized as a defense in criminal actions, it is equally acknowledged that child abuse is a pervasive reality of American life. This article postulates that current laws, addressing assertion of the parental privilege defense in criminal actions, fail either to provide adequate guidance to parents or to sufficiently …

Desert, Utility, And Minimum Contacts: Toward A Mixed Theory Of Personal Jurisdiction, Kevin C. Mcmunigal

Faculty Publications

In this Essay, I suggest several steps to improve the Supreme Court's approach to minimum contacts analysis. Though they necessitate some modification of current doctrine, these steps require neither radical alteration of the test's current factors nor abandonment of any of its purposes. I propose a new way of looking at the Court's minimum contacts analysis that better explains and integrates the factors, temporal perspectives, and purposes that presently figure in the analysis. My approach draws on criminal law, analogizing a state's imposition of the burdens of jurisdiction to its imposition of a criminal sanction. It sees the minimum contacts …

In Defense Of Private Orderings: Comments On Julie Cohen's "Copyright And The Jurisprudence Of Self-Help", David D. Friedman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Fattest Crocodile: Why Elected Judges Can't Ignore Public Opinion, Gerald F. Uelmen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Of The Permanent International Criminal Court: An International Symposium, Beth Van Schaack

Faculty Publications

This Article presents the results of an international conference held in 1998 between academics, government officials, and legal practitioners from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and representatives from the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Tribunal for Rwanda, and the International Committee of the Red Cross on the establishment of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC). Attendees discussed and debated the most contentious of the unresolved issues surrounding the ICC, including its proposed subject matter, trigger mechanisms, structure, and the relationship between the ICC and the Security Council and domestic legal systems. The Article - drafted by …