Law Commons^™

J.S Mill On Liberty, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Bar Council Of India, Mubashshir Sarshar

Mubashshir Sarshar

No abstract provided.

Designing A Litigation Hold Process, Robert L. Kardell

Robert L Kardell

No abstract provided.

Sistema Penitenciário Brasileiro: Uma Visão Crítica Acerca Da Ineficiência Do Direito Penal Brasileiro, Rafaela Loureiro Pinheiro Furlan

Rafaela Loureiro Pinheiro Furlan

No abstract provided.

Commercial Fraud: Cases And Commentary, Alex Steel

Alex Steel

This monograph - published online - is a detailed analysis of theft and fraud laws in NSW. It was developed for UNSW Law students because of a lack of any up to date commercially published text on theft and fraud. It contains extracts and commentary on all key offences and caselaw. The law was current as of 2008.

Proportionality In The Criminal Law: The Differing American Versus Canadian Approaches To Punishment, Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

Roozbeh (Rudy) B. Baker

The focus of this Article shall be upon the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution and s. 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, both of which prohibit “cruel and unusual punishment”; and their effect on mandatory criminal sentencing (via penal statute) in the two countries. The Article shall begin by briefly explain the differences between the jurisdictional application of criminal justice in the United States and Canada. The Article will next present and explain the American Eighth Amendment approach to the constitutionality of mandatory criminal sentencing and contrast this to the Canadian s. 12 approach to …

Discretion Without Guidance, William W. Berry Iii

William W Berry III

The exercise of the discretion accorded to a judge in determining the sentence of a convicted criminal offender bears directly on the coherence and the legitimacy of any criminal justice system. The United States federal criminal sentencing system has, at various points in time over the past century, employed schemes that have approached either the one extreme of unfettered judicial discretion or the other extreme of highly restricted judicial discretion. In January, 2005, the United States Supreme Court held in United States v. Booker that the mandatory federal sentencing guidelines, the source of the strict restriction on judicial discretion for …

American Procedural Exceptionalism, William W. Berry Iii

William W Berry III

This article offers a new theory to explain the persistence of the death penalty in the United States at a time when most western nations have abolished it. Contrary to cultural explanations that have been advanced by other scholars, this piece hypothesizes that the retention is best explained by "American procedural exceptionalism," defined as the unique American belief in the efficacy and fairness of its legal process. This American exceptionalism of process validates the expression of the impulse toward retribution commonly found in western nations. In other words, the perceived fairness of the process affirms the retributive notion that the …

California Youth And Criminal Law: 2007 Juvenile Justice Reform And Gang Prevention Initiatives, Sandhya Ramadas

Sandhya Ramadas

Debate shaping criminal law and policy inevitably involves the intersection, and sometimes conflict, of “tough on crime” policies, victims’ rights, rehabilitation, incarceration, and of course, the securing of funding. Nowhere was this more apparent than in 2007 reforms surrounding the treatment of California’s youth. While legislators and policy groups pushed through Senate Bill 81 – the State Senate bill which ushered in a host of juvenile justice realignment provisions and shifted the focus of juvenile programs from the state to localities – they also provided increased funding for gang-related investigations, convictions, and for tracking programs through several bills and the …

Prosecuting Trafficking In Persons: Known Issues, Emerging Responses, Fiona M. David Ms

Fiona David

This paper is the second in a series that examines the different components of the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons. Specifically, this paper seeks to identify some of the practical issues that may affect trafficking prosecutions, such as unclear legal frameworks, the transnational nature of trafficking, and reliance on often traumatised victims as witnesses who may also be unwilling or unable to participate in prosecutions. Proposed strategies to support or improve prosecution practice include legal reform, protection of witnesses and specialist training for prosecution units.

The Exclusionary Rule Lottery, Eugene R. Milhizer

Eugene R Milhizer

Abstract This Article/Essay, The Exclusionary Rule Lottery, critiques the contemporary Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule using an original analogy of a lottery to lay bare its moral and prudential insufficiency. The Article begins with a brief discussion of the Rule’s historical development and changing rationale. It next describes how the Rule has evolved to express an unprincipled and narrow utilitarian calculation. It then illustrates the moral and prudential insufficiency of the contemporary approach through the lottery analogy. In particular, it criticizes the Rule’s premise, absence of empirical support, and potential for abuse. The Article concludes by calling for the adoption of …

The Natural Right Of Self-Defense: Heller's Lesson For The World, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller constitutionalized the right of self-defense, and described self-defense as a natural, inherent right. Analysis of natural law in Heller shows why Justice Stevens' dissent is clearly incorrect, and illuminates a crucial weakness in Justice Breyer's dissent. The constitutional recognition of the natural law right of self-defense has important implications for American law, and for foreign and international law.

Yick Wo And The Constitutional Regulation Of Criminal Law, Darryl K. Brown

Darryl K. Brown

This comment on Jack Chin's revisionist account of the U.S. Supreme Court's Yick Wo decision elaborates on the history of and reasons for the Court's longstanding refusal to develop constitutional doctrines that limit the substantive reach of criminal law.

Using "A Jury Of Her Peers" To Teach About The Connection Between Domestic Violence And Animal Abuse, Caroline Forell

Caroline A Forell

In this essay I examine Susan Glaspell’s short story, A Jury of Her Peers, in the context of teaching about the connection between domestic violence and animal abuse in an Animal Law course. I discuss how Glaspell’s story, in which the motive for a woman killing her husband is his killing of her pet bird, enables students to better understand the perspective of battered women who behave in certain ways because they have pets. I pose several questions concerning how the law would and should respond when a battered woman reacts with violence to the killing or serious injury of …

The Scope Of The Supremacy Clause Of The United Nations Charter, Rain Liivoja

Rain Liivoja

Article 103 of the United Nations (UN) Charter stipulates that the obligations of UN Member States under the Charter prevail, in the event of a conflict, over their obligations under any other international agreement. While this important provision is often mentioned, its precise meaning remains something of a mystery. The present article tries to shed some light on the scope of this ‘supremacy clause’ by discussing, first, its operation with respect to treaties, and then by looking at its relevance to various other contractual arrangements and to customary international law.

Portland, Prohibition And Probable Cause: Maine's Role In Shaping Modern Criminal Procedure, Wesley M. Oliver

Wesley M Oliver

At the time the Constitution was written, police officers had very little power. In most cases they were required to wait for a complaint from a victim to arrest, or a warrant from a magistrate to perform a search of any kind. Victims had extraordinary discretion in this era. Generally, only victims could seek arrest or search warrants and they were required only to allege that they had probable cause to support the arrest or search they sought. In most cases, an officer could not obtain a warrant even if he could provide the facts supporting his suspicions. Warrantless arrests …

Swimming Upstream: Pre-Release Detainees In The Face Of Rising Bonds, Craig R. Novak

Craig R. Novak

Investigating a persistent thread discussed among immigration law practitioners, this Article explores whether or not bond determination amounts are increasing beyond what most non-criminal immigrants can raise, and therefore they are effectively incarcerated. Concluding affirmatively that immigration judges are dramatically raising the amount of bonds, the Article explores the background of pre-release bonds and bail and the spirit and nature of them in both criminal and immigration law.

Yet, although a case is made that the bond determination amounts are against the spirit of pre-release, the question remains as to why, and under what policies are people, some of whom …

Not Just The Peace Pipe But Also The Lance: Exploring Different Possibilities For Indigenous Control Over Criminal Justice, David Milward

Dr. David Milward

This article will exploring whether contrasts between restorative and punitive models of criminal justice inform an ideological struggle between Western and Indigenous approaches of criminal justice as Indigenous communities strive for greater control over criminal justice. The answer to this question will be examined in light of considerations for Indigenous control over justice. One concern by Western states is that Indigenous justice must strike the proper balance beteen community safety and offender healing. This paper contends that for self-determination to be effective, Indigenous leaders must include and consider the community at large when making decisions over criminal justice.

Criminal Law On The Aboriginal Plains: The First Nations And The First Criminal Court In The North-West Territories, 1870 - 1903, Shelley A. M. Gavigan

Shelley A. M. Gavigan

This study undertakes an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the First Nations and the criminal law in the 'Saskatchewan' region of the North-West Territories, taking as its temporal point of departure the creation of the Territories in 1870. Through data derived from criminal court records from Hugh Richardson's tenure on the territorial bench (1876 - 1903), this study analyses the role of Canadian criminal law in a watershed period of social and legal transformation in and for the lives of the First Nations.The dissertation critically engages with discourses of criminalization in the historiography and calls for greater precision in …

Lessons Learned: Acting As Guardian/Special Master In The Bad Newz Kennels Case, Rebecca J. Huss

Rebecca J. Huss

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia appointed Rebecca Huss as the guardian/special master of the pit bulls that were the subject of the case against Michael Vick relating to dog fighting. In April of 2007, the Surry County Sheriff's Department seized fifty-three pit bulls from Vick's home in Virginia. According to the facts set forth in the plea agreement, dogs on the property were killed and subjected to violent dog fights. Similar to human victims of abuse, the dogs needed someone to represent their best interests during litigation. Huss was in charge of determining whether …

Case Comment - People V. Nelson: A Tale Of Two Statistics, David H. Kaye

Journal Articles

In recent years, defendants who were identified as a result of a search through a database of DNA profiles have argued that the probability that a randomly selected person would match a crime-scene stain overstates the probative value of the match. The statistical literature is divided, with most statisticians who have written on the subject rejecting this claim. In People v. Nelson, the Supreme Court of California held that when the random-match probability is so small as to make it exceedingly unlikely that any unrelated individual has the incriminating DNA profile, this statistic is admissible in a database-search case. …

Criminal Procedure In Perspective, Kit Kinports

Journal Articles

This Article attempts to situate the Supreme Court's constitutional criminal procedure jurisprudence in the academic debates surrounding the reasonable person standard, in particular, the extent to which objective standards should incorporate a particular individual's subjective characteristics. Analyzing the Supreme Court's search and seizure and confessions opinions, I find that the Court shifts opportunistically from case to case between subjective and objective tests, and between whose point of view - the police officer's or the defendant's - it views as controlling. Moreover, these deviations cannot be explained either by the principles the Court claims underlie the various constitutional provisions at issue …

Legal Rights Group Takes Illinois State Police To Court…The Charge: Criminal Contempt Of Court For Failure To Seal Court Ordered Criminal Records. , Chantal Kazay

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

No Longer A Safe Haven For Torturers: The United States Makes Its First Successful Prosecution Under The Torture Statute, Melissa A. Beckman

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Chicago Mob Not Quite "Sleeping With The Fishes", Tim Kerrigan

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Illinois' Criminal Justice System Goes To School, John Maki

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Telling Differences: Observational Equivalence, Externalities, And Wrongful Convictions, Manuel A. Utset

Scholarly Publications

We must begin with the mistake and transform it into what is true. That is, we must uncover the sources of error; otherwise hearing what is true won’t help us. It cannot penetrate when something is taking its place. To convince someone of what is true, it is not enough to state it; we must find the road from error to truth.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Remarks on Frazier's Golden Bough 1e (Rush Rhees ed., A.C. Miles trans., 1979 (emphasis in original).

Ditching "The Disposal Plan": Revisiting Miranda In An Age Of Terror, 20 St. Thomas L. Rev. 155 (2008), Kim D. Chanbonpin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

No Compensation For Slave Traders: Some Implications, 14 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 289 (2008), Allen R. Kamp

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Protecting Foreign Victims Of Domestic Violence: An Analysis Of Asylum Regulations, 12 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol'y 115 (2008), Michael G. Heyman

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.