Law Commons^™

Political Versus Administrative Justice, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This comment responds to an essay by Rachel Barkow, which insightfully links the decline of mercy in American criminal justice to the rise of a rule-of-law ideal inspired by administrative law. This comment notes the dangers of the administrative, rule-focused, judiciocentric approach to criminal justice. Instead, it suggests a more political approach, with more judicial deference to political actors and less judicial policing of equal treatment. The essay by Rachel Barkow to which this comment responds, as well as other authors' comments on this essay and the author's reply to those comments, can be found at http://www.law.upenn.edu/phr/conversations/status/

Invasions Of Conscience And Faked Apologies, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This comment responds to an essay by Jeffrie Murphy, which powerfully notes the limitations and dangers of using remorse and apology as metrics for punishment. But the state is more justified in teaching lessons than Murphy suggests, and retributivism ought to make more room for victim vindication and satisfaction. Gauging sincerity, while difficult, is not impossible. In the end, Murphy offers strong reasons to be cautious. But a humane society ought to be more willing to take chances and, having punished, to forgive. The essay by Jeffrie Murphy to which this comment responds, as well as other authors' comments on …

The American Prosecutor - Power, Discretion, And Misconduct, Angela J. Davis

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Habeas Corpus And State Sentencing Reform: A Story Of Unintended Consequences, Nancy J. King, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article tells the story of how fundamental shifts in state sentencing policy collided with fundamental shifts in federal habeas policy to produce a tangled and costly doctrinal wreck. The conventional assumption is that state prisoners seeking habeas relief allege constitutional errors in their state court convictions and sentences. But almost 20 percent of federal habeas petitions filed by noncapital state prisoners do not challenge state court judgments. They instead attack administrative actions by state prison officials or parole boards, actions taken long after the petitioner's conviction and sentencing. Challenges to these administrative decisions create serious problems for federal habeas …

Sex Offender Registration And Community Notification Policy: Past, Present, And Future, Wayne A. Logan

Scholarly Publications

It’s a great honor to be with you here today and to provide the keynote address in this wonderful symposium examining issues relating to probation and parole. The panels have been remarkably rich and informative. That they should occur here in Massachusetts, where probation in particular originated in 1841, makes the proceedings today especially fitting.

Probation and parole, of course, are the epitome of state-indeed, community-based criminal justice. As recognized since the founding era, and repeatedly acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court, criminal justice in our federal union is mainly an undertaking of state and local governments, which process the …