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Fordham Urban Law Journal

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American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Report To The House Of Delegates, Myrna S. Raeder Jan 1995

American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Report To The House Of Delegates, Myrna S. Raeder

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence, Rules 413-15 regarding the admission of character testimony in cases of sexual abuse and child molestation, have been roundly criticized by the legal community on both substantive and procedural grounds. The ABA has resolved to oppose the substance of these rules, and fear that in addition to the direct concerns regarding the result of the rules, they raise troubling policy issues going forward.

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The Battle Over The Brady Bill And The Future Of Gun Control Advocacy, Richard M. Aborn Jan 1995

The Battle Over The Brady Bill And The Future Of Gun Control Advocacy, Richard M. Aborn

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No matter how effective a legislative scheme is, legislation alone will not eradicate the deeply rooted culture of gun violence that exists in this country. Accordingly, Handgun Control divides its efforts between legislative and non-legislative efforts. In this regard, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence carries out the non-legislative interventions of Handgun Control. These efforts include working with elementary, secondary and high schools to promote a gun violence reduction curriculum; litigating on behalf of gun victims; defending gun control legislation in the courts; working with the entertainment industry concerning the messages in popular entertainment about gun violence; and working with …

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Are Executions In New York Inevitable?, Ronald J. Tabak Jan 1995

Are Executions In New York Inevitable?, Ronald J. Tabak

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article is an edited trascription of a program considering whether executions in New York State are inevitable. Shortly after the program a law was enacted to this effect, however, Mr. Tabak argues that the law is so badly flawed that it may not survive judicial scrutiny. Present on the panel were Barbara Paul Robinson, John Cardinal O'Connor, Dean John Feerick, Archibald Murray, Thomas McDermott, Lee Grant, Cessie Alfonso and George Kendall.

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Replace Welfare For Contingent Workers With Unemployment Compensation, Stephen Bingham Jan 1995

Replace Welfare For Contingent Workers With Unemployment Compensation, Stephen Bingham

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay examines the manner in which the current unemployment insurance system maintains poverty and increases dependence on public assistance programs. It examines the plight of the working poor, the inadequacy of unemployment compensation, and the failure of welfare to compensate for the weaknesses of the unemployment system. It then proposes reforms to the unemployment compensation system, and a new system for employable individuals without ties to the workforce, explaining why this proposal makes sense in light of the current unemployment situation.

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Protecting Women's Welfare In The Face Of Violence, Martha F. Davis, Susan J. Kraham Jan 1995

Protecting Women's Welfare In The Face Of Violence, Martha F. Davis, Susan J. Kraham

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article argues that the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program provides a valuable means of continuing support for impoverished women. It points out that such women are at an increased risk of domestic violence, and that they are often unable to escape from abusive relationships because they and their children are economically dependent on their partners. The article criticizes proposed reforms to AFDC from this context, arguing that without the safety net provided by public assistance, many women and children would be trapped by financial constraints in dangerous or life threatening relationships. Thus, an adequate level of public …

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Federal Enforcement Of Civil Rights During The First Reconstruction, Robert J. Kaczorowski Jan 1995

Federal Enforcement Of Civil Rights During The First Reconstruction, Robert J. Kaczorowski

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay recounts the heroic efforts of federal legal officers and judges to enforce citizens' rights during the 1870s. Part I sets forth the historical events giving rise to the enforcement effort of the Grant Administration. Part II details the problems which the federal executive branch faced when it aggressively prosecuted civil rights violations. Part III details the problems which the federal judiciary faced in administering the civil rights prosecutions brought by the executive branch. Part IV details the national political problems that eventually ended effective enforcement of federal civil rights laws. This Essay concludes that, notwithstanding the problems faced …

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Politics And The Death Penalty: Can Rational Discourse And Due Process Survive The Perceived Political Pressure?, Norman Redlich Jan 1994

Politics And The Death Penalty: Can Rational Discourse And Due Process Survive The Perceived Political Pressure?, Norman Redlich

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article is a transcript from a program sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities entitled, “Politics and the Death Penalty: Can Rational Discourse and Due Process Survive the Perceived Political Pressure?” In it, Norman Redlich, former Dean of New York University Law School, James Coleman, Shabata Sundiata Waglini, Attorney General Ernest Preate, Jr., Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center, journalist Nat Hentoff, New York State Assemblywoman Susan John, and Chief Justice Exum of the North Carolina Supreme Court discuss the issue of the death penalty in America. Redlich discusses …

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Suits By Public Hospitals To Recover Expenditures For The Treatment Of Disease, Injury And Disability Caused By Tobacco And Alcohol, Raymond E. Gangarosa, Frank J. Vandall, Brian M. Willis Jan 1994

Suits By Public Hospitals To Recover Expenditures For The Treatment Of Disease, Injury And Disability Caused By Tobacco And Alcohol, Raymond E. Gangarosa, Frank J. Vandall, Brian M. Willis

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Public hospitals are forced to absorb many of the costs of treating indigent patients whose alcohol and tobacco consumption has predictably lead to illness. This is contradictory to hospital's own interests in preventing disease, improving the efficiency of therapy and minimizing their financial losses. The goal of this article is to examine the possibility of reassigning these coasts through litigation. A cause of action should be available to public hospitals to recover their expenditures for the uncompensated medical treatment that is necessitated by alcohol and tobacco use. Such litigation in Mississippi and similar Florida legislation should serve as a model …

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Considering Lead Poisoning As A Criminal Defense, Deborah W. Denno Jan 1993

Considering Lead Poisoning As A Criminal Defense, Deborah W. Denno

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A brief survey of the causes and consequences of lead poisoning suggests that lead poisoning is pervasive, particularly among blacks in urban communities, that it's effects can be debilitating, and that it has been linked to disciplinary problems, aggression, and repetitive and oftentimes violent crime. There is a legitimate question, then, about whether lead poisoning should be considered a viable criminal defense. The question of whether lead poisoning should be a defense is perhaps most appropriately placed in the context of debates regarding free will, determinism, and the ability of social scientists to predict the course of any one individual's …

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Needed: A Community Experiment In Problem-Oriented Justice, Felice Kirby, Michael Clark, Tim Wall Jan 1993

Needed: A Community Experiment In Problem-Oriented Justice, Felice Kirby, Michael Clark, Tim Wall

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay examines some of the problems widely perceived to exist within the criminal justice system. Our experience is that when both the community and the police communicate and become more involved with each other, notable successes have transpired. The strategy of community policing affords the police agency, and through it the community at large, a chance for problem-solving every time an officer responds to an incident. This is in contrast to what is now considered traditional policing, whereby a 911 operator, removed from the scene of the incident, dispatches officers and then urges them to move on as soon …

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Maiming The Soul: Judges, Sentencing And The Myth Of The Nonviolent Rapist, Lynn Hecht Schafran Jan 1993

Maiming The Soul: Judges, Sentencing And The Myth Of The Nonviolent Rapist, Lynn Hecht Schafran

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Rape, by definition and in sentencing, is a crime that is predicated on a male-defined concept of violence. The lack of knowledge about rape trauma produces erroneous assessments or rape and erroneous sentences for rapists. The inability to recognize the damage cause by a "nonviolent" rape trivializes the seriousness of the crime and devalues the individual victim. Judges and attorneys must expand their definitions of violence to include injury to the victim's psyche.

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The Race Factor And Trial By Jury, Kenneth Conboy Jan 1993

The Race Factor And Trial By Jury, Kenneth Conboy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The institution of trial by jury in criminal cases, one of the great achievements in the history of civilization and a principal foundation of our federal constitutional order, is to day under challenge by two different by interrelated developments in American courtrooms. The first is the development of a broad national imperative to eliminate all aspects of racism in American legal, political, and social life. The second is the heightened scrutiny that electronic media presence is applying to the jury system. This essay explores the utility and fairness of the American trial jury and its premise as a democratic and …

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The Urban Criinal Justice System & The Juror's Perception, David Lewis Jan 1993

The Urban Criinal Justice System & The Juror's Perception, David Lewis

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The criminal justice system is anchored in its belief that twelve citizens are capable of working together to sift through the most difficult and complicated information without any preconception or bias to arrive at a "just" result. In this essay, the author explores the diverse perceptions the various actors in a courtroom (prosecutor, defense lawyer, police officer, jurors) and discusses how these views form an integral part of the courtroom dynamic.

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"A Good Murder", Leigh B. Bienen Jan 1993

"A Good Murder", Leigh B. Bienen

Fordham Urban Law Journal

People are profoundly interested in crimes because the law and legal punishments are supposed to address the fundamental human craving for justice. Courts are embedded in this system of law because we do not rust individuals alone or groups to judge fairly. This essay will describe a pattern which emerged when researchers examined all homicide cases in the state of New Jersey during the years immediately after the reimposition of capital punishment in 1982. Particularly relevant is the pattern of capital punishment for urban and suburban murders, and how those cases were regarded by law enforcement, the media, and the …

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The Urban Criminal Justice System: Where Young + Black + Male = Probable Cause, Elizabeth A. Gaynes Jan 1993

The Urban Criminal Justice System: Where Young + Black + Male = Probable Cause, Elizabeth A. Gaynes

Fordham Urban Law Journal

We live in a country where one out of four young African-American men is under some form of custodial supervision. In our nation's capital, seven out of ten African-American men can anticipate being arrested and jailed at least once before reaching the age of thirty-five. We live in a city where a black man between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four is far more likely to die of homicide than all other causes combined. The official response to the problem of urban crime by minority youth has been prison, prison, and more prison. This essay provides an overview and examples …

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Curing America's Addiction To Prisons, David C. Leven Jan 1993

Curing America's Addiction To Prisons, David C. Leven

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Our prisons have failed society because they do not, generally, provide an experience that is likely to help offenders overcome the obstacles that led them to make mistakes for which they are now being punished. Instead, they reinforce the violence and exploitation that many offenders were sentenced to prison for in the first place. They have failed because they do not promote restoration, a key to successful reintegration, and nobody benefits when offenders are more dangerous when they are released than when they entered prison. This Essay proposes that a restorative model of justice replace our failed punitive model. By …

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The High Cost Of Juvenile Justice, Diane Ridley Gatewood Jan 1993

The High Cost Of Juvenile Justice, Diane Ridley Gatewood

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay will discuss the high cost of incarcerating substantial numbers of minority juveniles and will advocate alternatives to detention. The author discusses how minority youth are disproportionately affected at multiple stages of the criminal justice process: arrests, detentions, adjudication, and disposition. The Essay further discusses the increased use of the prison system for juveniles. The Essay concludes with several recommendations for how minority youth can be treated more fairly within the system and recommends alternatives to incarceration.

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Targeting Conduct: A Constitutional Method Of Penalizing Hate Crimes, Kevin N. Ainsworth Jan 1993

Targeting Conduct: A Constitutional Method Of Penalizing Hate Crimes, Kevin N. Ainsworth

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Forty-three states have enacted hate-crime statutes. These laws generally fall into one of two classes, either hate-speech or penalty-enhancement statutes. The former has sought to control virulent expression by punishing the utterance or display of words or symbols that the user knows will arouse anger in others on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or some other immutable characteristic. The United States Supreme Court examined an ordinance of this type in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul and found that the law infringed on the First Amendment right to free speech. Penalty enhancement statutes vary slightly among states, but …

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The Need For Fair Trials Does Not Justify A Disciplinary Rule That Broadly Restricts An Attorney's Speech, Thomas Gibson, Diana Parker Jan 1993

The Need For Fair Trials Does Not Justify A Disciplinary Rule That Broadly Restricts An Attorney's Speech, Thomas Gibson, Diana Parker

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In "Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada," the Supreme Court held a Nevada law prohibiting attorneys from making extra-judicial statements that could reasonably be expected to lead to prejudiced proceedings unconstitutionally vague. The safe harbor provision of New York's restriction on extra-judicial attorney speech seems to suffer from a similar deficiency, and must therefore be amended. To cure vagueness concerns, an amended rule should pay heed to the timing of prohibited public statements by attorneys, limiting speech restrictions to the month preceding the start of the trial. The amended rule should also include a clear and present danger standard to …

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The Political Economy Of Female Violent Street Crime, Deborah Baskin, Ira Sommers, Jeffrey Fagan Jan 1993

The Political Economy Of Female Violent Street Crime, Deborah Baskin, Ira Sommers, Jeffrey Fagan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Our research has led us to the conclusion that women in New York City are becoming more and more likely to involve themselves in violent street crimes. This essay analyzes the developing role of women in violent street crime and poses a model, based on both historical analysis and empirical research, to explain the participation of women in violent street crimes in the 1980s.

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The Urban Criminal Justice System Can Be Fair, Charles J. Hynes Jan 1993

The Urban Criminal Justice System Can Be Fair, Charles J. Hynes

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay contains perspectives on fairness in the criminal justice system. It is written by a prosecutor with experience in an urban setting. He touches on topics such as racism, jury selection, the Rodney King case, the Howard Beach Case.

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What Is A "Fair" Reponse To Juvenile Crime?, Susan K. Knipps Jan 1993

What Is A "Fair" Reponse To Juvenile Crime?, Susan K. Knipps

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The question of how to deal fairly and effectively with the problem of juvenile crime has long perplexed the public and policy makers. The current juvenile justice system in New York State reflects this uncertainty -- as it simultaneously employs two completely different models for the adjudication of juveniles accused of unlawful acts. The first model emphasizes the provision of rehabilitative services for delinquent youth through noncriminal proceedings in the Family Court. The second model stresses the use of punitive sanctions in the adult criminal courts for more serious juvenile offenders. To begin to sort through these models, this Essay …

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Jails And Prisons -- Reservoirs Of Tb Disease: Should Defendants With Hiv Infection (Who Cannot Swim) Be Thrown Into The Reservoir?, Faith Colangelo, Mariana Hogan Jan 1993

Jails And Prisons -- Reservoirs Of Tb Disease: Should Defendants With Hiv Infection (Who Cannot Swim) Be Thrown Into The Reservoir?, Faith Colangelo, Mariana Hogan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in urban areas has direct and alarming consequences within the criminal justice system. Lock-up facilities, jails and prisons are TB breeding grounds. TB strikes with vengeance in populations with physical vulnerabilities caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS and other immune-suppressing conditions. This Essay argues that it is time for New York State to reevaluate the mandatory sentencing laws and restrictions on plea bargaining. The interaction of HIV disease and TB offers a striking example of why justice is not served by binding the judiciary's hands. This Essay provides a medical overview of HIV …

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Urban Criminal Justice: Has The Response To The Hiv Epidemic Been "Fair"?, Richard J. Andrias Jan 1993

Urban Criminal Justice: Has The Response To The Hiv Epidemic Been "Fair"?, Richard J. Andrias

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The HIV epidemic is almost a decade old and it is estimated that one million to two million Americans are infected. Nevertheless, too often it has been irrational fears of contagion and disapproval of the subcultures associated with the illness that have driven society's response to the epidemic. Has the legal community, which prides itself on being governed by due process and rationality, reacted any differently than society at large? To what degree have legal decisions and policies been governed by fear, prejudice, and ignorance rather than by science and sound public policy? This Essay will explore the response of …

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A Moral Standard For The Prosecutor's Exercise Of The Charging Discretion, Bennett L. Gershman Jan 1993

A Moral Standard For The Prosecutor's Exercise Of The Charging Discretion, Bennett L. Gershman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The prosecutor's decision to institute criminal charges is the broadest and least regulated power in American criminal law. The judicial deference shown to prosecutors generally is most noticeable with respect to the charging function. This Essay discusses three hypothetical cases that present both realistic and recurring challenges to the prosecutor's charging power. The first case depends on a factual determination of a witness's reliability. The second case depends on a factual determination of the witness's truthfulness. The third case revolves around a legal determination regarding the applicability of a defense. Together, these cases provide a setting in which a moral …

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Should Judges Consider The Demographics Of The Jury Pool In Deciding Change Of Venue Application?, Peter M. Kougasian Jan 1993

Should Judges Consider The Demographics Of The Jury Pool In Deciding Change Of Venue Application?, Peter M. Kougasian

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay considers the narrow question of whether, in changing venue, a court ought in principle to consider the demographic diversity of the venue. Deciding this issue require consideration of two preliminary questions: what is an impartial jury? And what role, if any, does racial diversity play in empaneling an impartial jury? The Rodney King trial raises questions about the dynamics of the jury panel, rather than the qualifications of individual jurors. After the Rodney King verdict, the Court's reasoning in the Batson line of cases seems naive for two reasons. First, the Court's faith in the ability of voire …

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The Big Black Man Syndrome: The Rodney King Trial And The Use Of Racial Stereotyes In The Courtroom, Lawrence Vogelman Jan 1993

The Big Black Man Syndrome: The Rodney King Trial And The Use Of Racial Stereotyes In The Courtroom, Lawrence Vogelman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Rodney King was portrayed as the prototypical "Big Black Man". Having recognized the existence of the Big Black Man Syndrome as a factor in the Rodney King Case, what are the moral and ethical implications of allowing defense counsel to so cleverly play upon the racial fears they evidently recognized? The issue is whether the use of racist arguments by defense counsel in a criminal trial is unethical. This essay explores the ethical consideration that come into play where a trial advocate is faced with a case where racism, homophobia, or ethnic prejudice is part of the courtroom dynamic.

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The Urban Crimnal Justice System: A Case Of Fairness, John F. Keenan Jan 1993

The Urban Crimnal Justice System: A Case Of Fairness, John F. Keenan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This short essay contains the presiding judges recollections of the case People v. Robles as a way to discuss public perception of fairness in the criminal justice system.

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Urban Criminal Justice: No Fairer Than The Larger Society, Joanne Page Jan 1993

Urban Criminal Justice: No Fairer Than The Larger Society, Joanne Page

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay reflects the author's personal perspective on the fairness of the criminal justice system. She argues that the key to assessing the fairness of the system is to examine it, not in isolation, but within a larger social context. The criminal justice system is part of the larger society, shares its values and is shaped by its allocation of resources. The criminal justice system is consistent with the values of that larger society: It treats the lives of poor people and people of color as being of inferior worth, skewing its intervention toward control and punishment rather than toward …

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A Modest Proposal To End Gun Running In America, Jeremy Travis, William Smarrito Jan 1992

A Modest Proposal To End Gun Running In America, Jeremy Travis, William Smarrito

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Gun violence is a serious issue in our society. However, finding common ground between those who favor, and those who oppose, gun control can be a difficult task. Mayor David Dinkins and the Police Department propose a four prong solution that would pave a middle ground acceptable to most individuals. (1) put teeth into the existing federal regulations concerning those proscribed from purchasing a gun, (2) limit interstate shipment of firearms only to those federal firearms dealers who show that they have complied with any existing local firearms dealer requirements; (3) provide tracing capabilities for interstate shipments of weapons; and …

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