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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Law
Why The Model Penal Code's Sexual Offense Provisions Should Be Pulled And Replaced, Deborah W. Denno
Why The Model Penal Code's Sexual Offense Provisions Should Be Pulled And Replaced, Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
By all accounts, the Model Penal Code is enormously respected and influential. Yet, relatively soon after the Code's 1962 publication, the Code's sexual offense provisions and even its 1980 revised Commentaries were already considered outdated. The rapid onslaught of the sexual and feminist revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s brought an intense momentum to change rape laws that the Code had, in part, either mirrored or inspired. Only because of the passage of time, the Code's sexual offense provisions and Commentaries now misrepresent the progressive thinking of the Code's reporters. For these reasons, I think the Model Penal Code's sexual …
Are Collateral Sanctions Premised On Conduct Or Conviction?: The Case Of Abortion Doctors, Gabriel J. Chin
Are Collateral Sanctions Premised On Conduct Or Conviction?: The Case Of Abortion Doctors, Gabriel J. Chin
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Traditionally, collateral sanctions are viewed as civil measures designed to prevent undue risk by proven lawbreakers. If a collateral sanction were a criminal penalty instead, that would trigger constitutional provisions like the Ex Post Facto Clause, which would mean the sanction could not be imposed retroactively. This Article argues that collateral sanctions based on conduct and not conviction indicate a civil regulatory measure, but that when the sanctions only apply in the event of conviction, the sanction looks more like punishment. Conviction is not the only way to show risky conduct, and it is the conduct that civil sanctions should …
Fifteen Years After The Federal Sentencing Revolution: How Mandatory Minimums Have Undermined Effective And Just Narcotics Sentencing Perspectives On The Federal Sentencing Guidelines And Mandatory Sentencing, Ian Weinstein
Faculty Scholarship
Federal criminal sentencing has changed dramatically since 1988. Fifteen years ago, judges determined if and for how long a defendant would go to jail. Since that time, changes in substantive federal criminal statutes, particularly the passage of an array of mandatory minimum penalties and the adoption of the federal sentencing guidelines, have limited significantly judicial sentencing power and have remade federal sentencing and federal criminal practice. The results of these changes are significantly longer federal prison sentences, as was the intent of these reforms, and the emergence of federal prosecutors as the key players in sentencing. Yet, at the same …
A Mind To Blame: New Views On Involuntary Acts, Deborah W. Denno
A Mind To Blame: New Views On Involuntary Acts, Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
This article examines the legal implications linked to recent scientific research on human consciousness. The article contends that groundbreaking revelations about consciousness expose the frailties of the criminal law's traditional dual dichotomies of conscious versus unconscious thought processes and voluntary versus involuntary acts. These binary doctrines have no valid scientific foundation and clash with other key criminal law defenses, primarily insanity. As a result, courts may adjudicate like individuals very differently based upon their (often unclear) understanding of these doctrines and the science that underlies them. This article proposes a compromise approach by recommending that the criminal law's concept of …
Who Is Andrea Yates? A Short Story About Insanity, Deborah W. Denno
Who Is Andrea Yates? A Short Story About Insanity, Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her four children in a bathtub. At Andrea’s trial, in Harris County, Texas, the prosecution’s star expert, Patrick Dietz, appeared particularly adept at persuading the jury to accept the prosecution’s assertion that Andrea was sane and acting intentionally when she killed her children. This Article analyzes the problematic aspects of Dietz's testimony in an effort to contribute some balance to the Andrea Yates story. Despite the long history of expert witnesses in criminal trials, the justice system should question the fairness and efficacy of such an unregulated storytelling process. Part I of this …
The Failure Of Local And Federal Prosecutors To Curb Police Brutality, Asit S. Panwala
The Failure Of Local And Federal Prosecutors To Curb Police Brutality, Asit S. Panwala
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Although police departments across the country have attempted to ameliorate the hostility between police officers and the cumminity, through careful screening of applicants, minority recruitment, and community policing, police brutality remains a problem within our urban cities. This Essay will first argue that police brutality is largely ignored. Second, it will examine the obstacles facing local and federal prosecutors in obtaining convictions. Then it will compare the advantages and disadvantages of delegating primary responsibility for these cases to the state versus the federal level. Finally, it will argue that, although there are obstacles and advantages for both local and federal …
Snapshots: Holistice Images Of Female Offenders In The Criminal Justice System, Jennifer Ward
Snapshots: Holistice Images Of Female Offenders In The Criminal Justice System, Jennifer Ward
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Essay attempts to pull together the various threads of thought regarding the relationships between gender, race, and class within the justice system, and suggests possible patterns that could be used to create holistic images of female offenders. Part I provides a brief overview of the various explanations used over time to account for criminal behavior by women. Part II details the ways in which gender can affect the processes of the criminal justice system. Part III discusses the impact that race can have on the female offender's experience in the system. Part IV briefly overviews the types of influences …
Starting Over With A Clean Slate: In Praise Of A Forgotten Section Of The Model Penal Code, Margaret Colgate Love
Starting Over With A Clean Slate: In Praise Of A Forgotten Section Of The Model Penal Code, Margaret Colgate Love
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Convicted felons have no realistic hope of full reintegration into society when jurisdictions do not provide for eventual removal of collateral penalties and when relief mechanisms are insufficient or ineffective. Because Americans are uncomfortable with such an unforgiving system and states are considering the economic burdens of such a system, jurisdictions should take steps to limit the scope and duration of these collateral consequences. This Article proposes a legal framework aimed to fully reintegrate an offender into society post incarceration. It urges a return to the reforms of the 1960s and 70s, the ABA Standards on Collateral Sanctions, and Section …
Determining The Retroactive Effect Of Laws Altering The Consequences Of Criminal Convictions, Nancy Morawetz
Determining The Retroactive Effect Of Laws Altering The Consequences Of Criminal Convictions, Nancy Morawetz
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article explores when laws altering the consequences of conviction can retroactively apply. It traces the roots of the current emphasis on plea agreements to the current confusion about how to determine retroactivity in cases involving quasi-economic transactions and those involving wrongful conduct. Using I.N.S. v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 298 (2001), it focuses on the open issue of the date against which new legal consequences are measured. Finally, the Article argues that reliance is an improper indicia of retroactivity for laws governing wrongful conduct and that the proper question is whether the offender had fair notice of the degree …
No Guns Or Butter For Thomas Bean: Firearms Disabilities And Their Occupational Consequences, Mark M. Stavsky
No Guns Or Butter For Thomas Bean: Firearms Disabilities And Their Occupational Consequences, Mark M. Stavsky
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Through the case of Thomas Bean, a firearms dealer convicted of a felony and subsequently denied his firearms license and right to possess firearms, this Article discusses the injustice that occurs when the law arbitrarily denies an individual his occupation merely because he is a felon. The Article argues that 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) gives the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms the power to review a petition to restore those rights but that Congress has rendered the statute useless by depriving the Bureau of funding to investigate such petitions. Because this denies individuals, like Bean, the ability to reenter …
Transformative Criminal Defense Practice: Truth, Love, And Individual Rights- The Innovative Approach Of The Georgia Justice Project, Douglas Ammar, Tosha Downey
Transformative Criminal Defense Practice: Truth, Love, And Individual Rights- The Innovative Approach Of The Georgia Justice Project, Douglas Ammar, Tosha Downey
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Georgia Justice Project has a unique approach to criminal defense and rehabilitation which is based on a relationship and community-oriented ethic. Focused on only accepting clients who are willing to make a serious commitment to changing their lives, the GJP ensures that the client moves beyond social, emotional and personal challenges that contributed to their legal problems. This article describes the unique factors of the GJP that have contributed to its continued success.
"Forgive Me Victim For I Have Sinned": Why Repentance And The Criminal Justice System Do Not Mix - A Lesson From Jewish Law, Cheryl G. Bader
"Forgive Me Victim For I Have Sinned": Why Repentance And The Criminal Justice System Do Not Mix - A Lesson From Jewish Law, Cheryl G. Bader
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This essay will critique the Georgia Justice Project's encouragement of confessions in the context of the secular American justice system via comparison with the treatment of confessions under ancient Jewish law. Specifically, this essay posits that the absolute prohibition on the use of confessions in a legal system firmly rooted in religious values recognizes the danger inherent in combining the act of speaking of one's sins for religious penance with the use of such confessions in the criminal adjudication process. The Jewish legal system avoids these inherent dangers by completely devaluing the accused's confession. The GJP, in contrast, merges the …
Abusing State Power Or Controlling Risk?: Sex Offender Commitment And Sicherungverwahrung, Nora V. Demleitner
Abusing State Power Or Controlling Risk?: Sex Offender Commitment And Sicherungverwahrung, Nora V. Demleitner
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This article addresses civil commitment of sexually predatory offenders. It first outlines the most common American approaches to controlling sexual offenders, then details the German concept of Sicherungsverwahrung and greater state control, and finally proposes adopting a modified German approach that assures proportionality and public safety without sacrificing individual liberties. The article concludes by arguing that criminal penalties and safety-based detention should both be seen as elements of social control, which requires that safety measures with clearly punitive components be recognized as part of the punishment process.
Criminal Neglect: Indigent Defense From A Legal Ethics Perspective Ethics Symposium What Do Clients Want: Practice Contexts, Bruce A. Green
Criminal Neglect: Indigent Defense From A Legal Ethics Perspective Ethics Symposium What Do Clients Want: Practice Contexts, Bruce A. Green
Faculty Scholarship
Most criminal defendants in the United States cannot afford to pay for a lawyer's services, and as a result their lawyers are government funded. Unfortunately, some state and local governments drastically under-fund indigent defense services. Criminal defense lawyers serving in these jurisdictions typically carry grossly excessive caseloads and are therefore severely restricted in how much time they can devote to individual clients. Commentators have targeted the under-funding of indigent defense systems as a problem of criminal justice, constitutional law, and civil rights. That is certainly true, but the under-funding of indigent defense also raises a serious and inadequately recognized problem …
Arrested Adults Awaiting Arraignment: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, And Criminal Justice Characteristics And Needs, Nahama Broner, Stacy S. Lamon, Damon W. Mayrl, Martin G. Karopkin
Arrested Adults Awaiting Arraignment: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, And Criminal Justice Characteristics And Needs, Nahama Broner, Stacy S. Lamon, Damon W. Mayrl, Martin G. Karopkin
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Study is one of the first to look at the mentally ill during the pre-arraignment process. The pre-arraignment process is an excellent place to identify individuals with mental health and substance abuse problems, to examine those problems, to consider legal interventions, such as diversion or routing to specialized courts, for instance, drug and mental health courts, and to plan for community mental health, substance abuse, health, and social service interventions. Following a brief review of the literature on rates of substance abuse and mental health problems for ciminal justice populations, the process from arrest to arraignment in Kings County …