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- Safety valve; abuse; sexual assault; sentencing; drugs; drug crimes; substance abuse; drug courier; downward departure; sentencing guidelines; psychologist; psychiatrist; non-violent drug crime; qualification; judicial discretion; cognitive function; mental health; female; non-violent. (1)
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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Addressing Abuse In Drug Cases: Violence As A Mitigating Factor In Safety Valve Sentencing, Samantha Louise Burton
Addressing Abuse In Drug Cases: Violence As A Mitigating Factor In Safety Valve Sentencing, Samantha Louise Burton
Brigham Young University Prelaw Review
Our current criminal justice system does not adequately consider the effects of abuse on drug crime offenders during the process of determining their sentences. Despite the fact that abuse has very real scientifically corroborated effects on a defendant’s culpability, judges sometimes misinterpret how abuse suffered by (predominantly female) defendants affects their participation in a drug crime. Furthermore, the safety valve—a provision that allows downward departure on a sentence for low-level nonviolent drug offenders who meet certain conditions—does not account for abuse at all. This paper proposes adding a qualification to the safety valve that prompts judges to consult with mental …
Plea Bargains: Justice For The Wealthy And Fear For The Innocent, Emily Stauffer
Plea Bargains: Justice For The Wealthy And Fear For The Innocent, Emily Stauffer
Brigham Young University Prelaw Review
The Supreme Court has consistently recognized the hardships of the poor in the criminal justice system and has set a precedent that if a person cannot afford access to any level of the criminal justice system, the state must remove that financial barrier. Prosecutorial tactics in the plea-bargaining process coerce the poor into waiving their right to trial. The unequal access to trial between the poor and non-poor violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires that states remove any barrier that restricts the poor from the criminal justice system. The Court has left the states to decide which solutions will work …
Evolving Standards Of Decency: A View Of 8th Amendment Jurisprudence And The Death Penalty, Jared Lockhart, Madeline Hill
Evolving Standards Of Decency: A View Of 8th Amendment Jurisprudence And The Death Penalty, Jared Lockhart, Madeline Hill
Brigham Young University Prelaw Review
In July 1997, Kenneth Foster was indicted on capital murder charges
and sentenced to death even though he had only committed robbery.
3 On August 14, 1996, Kenneth Foster and his friends, Mauriceo
Brown, DeWayne Dillard, and Julius Steen, rented a car and
drove to downtown San Antonio, Texas. Later that night, Brown
suggested that the men rob a few people in order to make up for the
money they had lost while partying. After their second robbery that
evening, Foster did not want to continue breaking the law, according
to Dillard’s courtroom testimony four years later. Dismissing
his request, …
Eliminating Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Putting Sentencing Power Back In The Hands Of The Judiciary, Hunter Anderson, Joseph Dummar
Eliminating Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Putting Sentencing Power Back In The Hands Of The Judiciary, Hunter Anderson, Joseph Dummar
Brigham Young University Prelaw Review
Ron Miller had been a general manager of a company for twentyfour
years with no criminal record when his best friend asked
him to allow a shipment of drugs to be delivered to his company’s
address. Ron reluctantly agreed to help his friend, who was desperate
for money. Before the drugs arrived, Ron backed out and asked
his friend not to send the drugs, but by that point the shipment had
already been made. The police tracked the shipment to Ron and
arrested him. Even though Ron never knew the type nor the quantity
of drug that was delivered to …