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Full-Text Articles in Law
Utah's Children Need A Tourniquet, Not A Band-Aid: Why Utah Should Adopt A Separate Involuntary Civil Commitment Statute For Incompetent Sexual Offenders, Tara Pincock
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
Utah needs to close the loophole that allows ISOs to be released by adopting a separate civil commitment statute. Utah should model its statute after similar statutes passed in Kansas and Washington, except Utah’s statute should only apply to incompetent individuals who are unlikely to regain competency. This separate civil commitment procedure will ensure that the ISO is sequestered until such a time that he is no longer a threat to society. The state could house those committed under this statute at a secure facility, such as the Utah State Hospital. The state could then use the sex-offender-treatment program used …
Removing The Presumption Of Innocence: A Constitutional Analysis Of The Ogden Trece Gang Injunction, Megan K. Baker
Removing The Presumption Of Innocence: A Constitutional Analysis Of The Ogden Trece Gang Injunction, Megan K. Baker
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
Gang activity poses a substantial problem in many communities. The city of Ogden, Utah, is home to many gangs, and law enforcement is constantly looking for a way to decrease gang violence. In an attempt to reduce gang violence in Ogden, Judge Ernie Jones issued the Ogden Trece gang injunction on September 27, 2010, in Weber County, Utah. The injunction, based on several similar injunctions in California, affects hundreds of alleged Ogden Trece gang members and spans an area including virtually the entire city of Ogden. The injunction prohibits those enjoined from engaging in various illegal activities as well as …
Factually Innocent Without Dna? An Analysis Of Utah's Factual Innocence Statute, Nic Caine
Factually Innocent Without Dna? An Analysis Of Utah's Factual Innocence Statute, Nic Caine
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
Since 1989, DNA evidence has fueled the innocence movement, helping hundreds prove their innocence and obtain freedom. DNA technology has been an invaluable development for the innocence movement, and DNA technology will continue to advance and improve in the future. DNA evidence is not available in the majority of cases, however, and many believe that DNA exonerations will eventually diminish as DNA analysis becomes more widely available. Furthermore, “for every DNA exoneree there are hundreds if not over a thousand wrongfully convicted defendants whose cases do not contain biological evidence that could prove innocence.”150 It is time for other states …
Protecting Tax Payers And Crime Victims: The Case For Restricting Utah's Preliminary Hearings To Felony Offenses, Paul G. Cassell, Thomas E. Goodwin
Protecting Tax Payers And Crime Victims: The Case For Restricting Utah's Preliminary Hearings To Felony Offenses, Paul G. Cassell, Thomas E. Goodwin
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
Requiring preliminary hearings for Class A misdemeanors is undesirable for two simple reasons. First, the court’s decision will result in hundreds of additional preliminary hearings a year, thus imposing substantial costs on taxpayers and burdens on an already overwhelmed criminal justice system. Second, the decision will create substantial hardships for crime victims, who will now be twice subjected to cross-examination by defense attorneys—once at the preliminary hearing and again later at trial. And these costs will generate no significant benefit in return.