Digital Commons Network^™

Of Pardons, Politics And Collar Buttons: Reflections On The President's Duty To Be Merciful, Margaret Colgate Love

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the President's ability to grant Federal Pardons, and the moral and political factors which influence the exercise of that power. The article proposes that the President has a duty to pardon, not so much as to do justice in particular cases, but to be merciful as a more general obligation of office.

Forgiveness And The Law - A Redemptive Opportunity, Douglas B. Ammar

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the role of forgiveness in criminal law. The author relates the approach of the Georgia Justice Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide justice to indigent criminal defendants and help them become productive citizens.

Forgiveness In Psychology And Law: The Meeting Of Moral Development And Restorative Justice, Robert D. Enright, Bruce A. Kittle

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the psychological meaning of forgiveness and its relation to the criminal justice system. Includes a discussion of the four phases of the development progression of forgiveness.

Restorative Justice And The Prosecutor, Frederick W. Gay

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of restorative justice and its relation to prosecutorial discretion. The article gives examples of the restorative alternatives to traditional criminal punishment and argues that such alternatives are an effective means of providing justice.

Forgiveness, Reconciliation And Responding To Evil: A Philosophical Overview, Jeffrie G. Murphy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the nature of forgiveness and its place in the law. This keynote address touches on the nature of forgiveness, dangers of hasty forgiveness, forgiveness as a virtue, forgiveness and Christianity

Forgiveness And The Law, Martha Minow

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the role of forgiveness in the law, substituting forgiveness for the law, and whether or not the law can or should pursue higher moral ambitions

Welcoming Remarks, John Ferrick

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Opening remarks of Dean John Ferrick at the Ninth Annual Stein Center Symposium on the Role of Forgiveness in the Law.

Forgiveness In The Civil Law, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the role of forgiveness in civil law, specifically relating to bankruptcy. Includes an audience question-and-answer session.

Forgiveness And International Amnesty, Martin S. Flaherty (Moderator)

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the role of forgiveness in international amnesty. Includes an audience question-and-answer session.

Of Pardons, Politics And Collar Buttons: Reflections On The President's Duty To Be Merciful, Margaret Colgate Love

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the President's ability to grant Federal Pardons, and the moral and political factors which influence the exercise of that power. The article proposes that the President has a duty to pardon, not so much as to do justice in particular cases, but to be merciful as a more general obligation of office.

Forgiveness And Public Trust, Linda Ross Meyer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of forgiveness and its relation to the community as a whole. The author argues that forgiveness is not merely personal, emotional, nor private, but rather that forgiveness grounds the basic trust which binds the community together.

Forgiveness In Psychology And Law: The Meeting Of Moral Development And Restorative Justice, Robert D. Enright, Bruce A. Kittle

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the psychological meaning of forgiveness and its relation to the criminal justice system. Includes a discussion of the four phases of the development progression of forgiveness.

Forgiveness In The Criminal Justice System: If It Belongs, Then Why Is It So Hard To Find?, David M. Lerman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay advocates the role of forgiveness within the criminal justice system, particularly from a prosecutor's perspective, and discusses common impediments to its increased presence and the leadership needed to allow it to develop within the system.

Is There A Place For Forgiveness In The Justice System?, Everett L. Worthington, Jr.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the role of forgiveness in the criminal justice system, and explores related concepts of empathy, restorative justice, and truth and reconciliation.

Drug Policy Alternatives- A Response From The Bench, John Curtin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The article begins by discussing the tremendous financial and social cost incurred by drug use and regulation. It then discusses some positive efforts to deal with the problem such as legalization and decriminalization. The article then states that it will take time to figure out the extent of legalization needed, and until that is figured out we need to focus efforts on harm reduction. The article then addresses whether the constitution bans drugs at all. Finally, the article concludes by stating that we can never hope to fully eliminate drug use, we can only hope to contain it, and gives …

Institutionalizing Innovation: The New York Drug Court Story, John Feinblatt, Greg Berman, Aubrey Foxx

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The article begins by discussing the problems that drug use is causing in the American Criminal Justice System. The article then discusses the use of "drug courts," which have proven effective in reducing drug use and recidivism. It then looks at the potential benefit of drug courts to the criminal justice system and states some of the questions pertaining to drug courts, such as limits and the requirement of specialized judges. The article concludes by looking at what critics have said about the use of drug courts, and by stating that the drug court idea is worth trying.

Our Drug Laws Have Failed - So Where Is The Desperately Needed Meaningful Reform?, David C. Leven

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The article begins by stating that the harsh drug laws of New York have failed to have an effect on the amount of drug dealers and instead have led to overcrowding of prisons with non-addict drug users. It states that the laws must be modified to give greater sentencing to judges, increasing diversion of non-violent offenders to rehabilitation. The article then delineates the problems resulting from current drug law and the criticism thereof. It then states the attempted reforms of drug laws that have been insufficient. The article concludes by suggesting proposals to solve the problems delineated, including proportionate sentences, …

Is Our Drug Policy Effective, Jefferson M. Fish

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The article begins by stating that the time has come for a reexamination of our drug policy. It continues by discussing the two day conference "Is Our Drug Policy Effective?" "Are There Alternatives?" organized by several committee's. Because of space constraints, the article mainly delves into two topics, certain substances both licit and illicit with regard to both their physiological effects and the policies governing them, and also the disproportionate emphasis placed by the war on drugs on combating marijuana. The article then gives summaries of the speakers at the conference. These include: Objectives of our drug policy, overviews of …

The New Policing, Philip B. Heymann

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article explores new forms of policing in New York, Chicago, and Boston. These cities developed new policing strategies that each involves a different combination of problem solving and new forms of "community policing". The article explores whether these developments resulted in crime reduction and changes in belief in the efficacy of policing. The article concludes by considering the costs of the resulting increased security - reduction in democratic control of policing and increased risk to civil liberties.

Street Stops And Broken Windows: Terry, Race, And Disorder In New York City, Jeffrey Fagan, Garth Davies

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article explores patterns of police "stop and frisk" activity across New York City neighborhoods. While “Broken Windows” theory may account for higher stop and frisk activity for “quality of life” crimes, the authors suggest neighborhood characteristics like racial composition, poverty levels, and extent of social disorganization are strong predictors of race- and crime-specific stops. The authors consider whether street-stops in various neighborhoods comply with the Terry standard of reasonable suspicion as insight into the social and strategic meaning of policing. Their empirical evidence suggests policing focuses on policing poor people in poor places. Their strategy departs from "Broken Windows" …

Why Did People Stop Committing Crimes? An Essay About Criminology And Ideology, George L. Kelling

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay considers the sharp decline in crime that was observed in 1994 in New York City and across the nation. The author suggests that crime reduction in various areas must be understood in a local context. This article discusses the steps New York City took prior to the observed crime reduction. The essay then discusses how urban renewal projects, weakening institutional control of youth behavior, and highly centralized facilities and strategies of law enforcement may have contributed to the violence of the 1980's. The author concludes that bad social policies contributed to elevated the crime rate and improvement of …

How Do We Reduce Crime And Preserve Human Decency? The Role Of Leadership In Policing For A Democratic Society, Benjamin B. Tucker

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay cautions that the successes in crime reduction cannot be sustained unless police-community relations improve. The essay discusses progress and development in law enforcement, documents the innovative rise in community policing, and concludes with suggestions on how to improve police-community tension, particularly tension between law enforcement and minority communities.

Law And Disorder: Is Effective Law Enforcement Inconsistent With Good Police-Community Relations?, William J. Bratton, Andrew G. Celli, Paul Chevigny, Johnnie L. Cochran

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This roundtable discusses crime reduction and police-community relations. Professor Chevigny asserted that violation of rights is an unacceptable trade-off for more effective law enforcement and advocated problem-solving policing. Commissioner Bratton discussed the compatibility of civil liberties and civil police and his work as commissioner. Attorney Lynch discussed the federal government's role in handling law enforcement as it relates to community relations by discussing the cases the federal government handles and the federal government 's powers and abilities in this area. Mr. Celli discussed the Attorney General Office's study of the New York City Police Department, theories behind the New York …

The Pursuit Of The Hunt, Interrupted: Changing Literary Image Of Law, William J. Wagner

Scholarly Articles

In the course of reaching its substantive conclusions, this article seeks to shed light on the theoretical and methodological requisites of a valid and fruitful application of literary sources in jurisprudence.

The article begins by explicating the original literary image of the pursuit of the hunt interrupted, within its thematic setting in Aeschylus. It then offers theoretical and methodological postulates for drawing out the fuller meaning for law and legal studies of the image. It explores variations on the same pattern of imagery in subsequent works of Western literature, and offers reflections on how these variations can enrich our understanding …

Gang Loitering, The Court, And Some Realism About Police Patrol, Debra A. Livingston

Faculty Scholarship

When the Supreme Court voted to review the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court holding Chicago's "gang loitering" ordinance invalid on federal constitutional grounds, it seemed plausible that City of Chicago v Morales would be the occasion for a major statement from the Court on a set of complex issues – issues including not only the nature of the police officer's authority to maintain order in public places, but also the relative roles of politics and judicial decision making in delineating both the limits on this authority and the latitude left to police to employ discretion in its exercise. After …

Death Is The Whole Ball Game, Jeffrey A. Fagan, James S. Liebman, Valerie West

Faculty Scholarship

In Capital Appeals Revisited and The Meaning of Capital Appeals, Barry Latzer and James N.G. Cauthen argue that a study of capital appeals should focus only on overturned findings of guilt, and complain that in A Broken System we examine all overturned capital verdicts. But the question they want studied cannot provide an accurate evaluation of a system of capital punishment. By proposing to count only "conviction" error and not "sentence" error, Latzer and Cauthen ignore that if a death sentence is overturned, the case is no longer capital and the system of capital punishment has failed to achieve its …

Dignity And Victimhood, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

If Sandy Kadish has reminded us of limitations of consequentialist approaches to the criminal law and has proposed persuasive resolutions of issues that deontological perspectives reveal, Meir Dan-Cohen has jarred us to rethink fundamental premises about rules in the criminal justice system. His Essay is an example of his ingenuity for unsettling understandings. The Essay reads easily and seems deceptively straightforward, but it is rich in nuance and its themes are complex. This Response identifies the various themes and evaluates their plausibility. I take Professor Dan-Cohen's Essay as a preliminary exploration of a major subject, and I have responded accordingly, …

Death Matters – A Reply To Latzer And Cauthen, James S. Liebman, Jeffrey A. Fagan, Valerie West

Faculty Scholarship

The legal treatment of capital punishment in the United States "rests squarely on the predicate that the penalty of death is qualitatively different from a sentence of imprisonment, however long. Death, in its finality, differs more from life imprisonment than a 100-year prison term differs from one of only a year or two. This predicate is among "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" and determine whether a punishment is "cruel and unusual" in violation of the Constitution. Because "'[f]rom the point of view of the defendant, [death] is different in both its severity …

Regulating Consenseual Sex With Minors: Defining A Role For Statutory Rape, Michelle Oberman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Girls In The Master's House: Of Protection, Patriarchy And The Potential For Using The Master's Tools To Reconfigure Statutory Rape Law, Michelle Oberman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.