Law Commons^™

Free, But Still Behind Bars: Reading The Illinois Post-Conviction Hearing Act To Allow Any Person Convicted Of A Crime To Raise A Claim Of Actual Innocence, 35 B.C. J. L. & Soc. Just. 1 (2015), Hugh Mundy

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

As the number of wrongfully convicted prisoners who are subsequently exonerated continues to rise, the importance of access to post-conviction relief also increases. Under the Illinois Post-Conviction Hearing Act, this access is restricted to petitioners who are currently imprisoned or otherwise facing a restraint on their liberty. Persons convicted of a crime who have completed their sentence are barred from pursuing post-conviction relief under the Act, regardless of the existence of exculpatory evidence that supports their innocence. Removing this procedural roadblock and interpreting the Act broadly to allow any person convicted of a crime to raise a claim of actual …

Why Illinois Should Adopt Federal Rule Of Evidence 803(18) To Allow The Learned Treatise Exception To The Hearsay Rule, 39 S. Ill. U. L.J. 275 (2015), Ralph Ruebner, Katarina Durcova, Amy Taylor

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Illinois still adheres to a rigid and outdated common law principle that treats a learned treatise as hearsay. This principle stands at odds with the adoption of Federal Rules of Evidence 703 ("FRE 703")' and 705 ("FRE 705") by the Illinois Supreme Court. Illinois courts have developed clever ways to get around the common law prohibition thereby creating an incoherent and inconsistent jurisprudence that at times yields bizarre outcomes.

Adopting the federal learned treatise exception to the hearsay rule would set out a consistent standard in Illinois for admitting learned treatises and allowing them as substantive evidence. Now that Illinois …

The Complexity Of International Criminal Trials Is Necessary, 48 Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 151 (2015), Stuart Ford

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

There is a widespread belief among both academics and policymakers that international criminal trials are too complex. As a result, tribunals have come under enormous pressure to reduce the complexity of their trials. However, changes to trial procedure have not meaningfully affected trial complexity. This Article explains why these changes have failed and argues that the complexity of international criminal trials is necessary for them to achieve their purposes.

Using a multiple regression model of the factors driving trial complexity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), this Article shows that the largest drivers of complexity are …

A Silver Bullet: Should The Mere Presence Of Ammunition Create A Reasonable Suspicion Of Criminal Activity?, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 843 (2015), Kyle Gruca

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jones, Lackey, And Teague, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 961 (2015), J. Richard Broughton

UIC Law Review

In a recent, high-profile ruling, a federal court finally recognized that a substantial delay in executing a death row inmate violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments. Courts have repeatedly rejected these so-called “Lackey claims,” making the federal court’s decision in Jones v. Chappell all the more important. And yet it was deeply flawed. This paper focuses on one of the major flaws in the Jones decision that largely escaped attention: the application of the non-retroactivity rule from Teague v. Lane. By comprehensively addressing the merits of the Teague bar as applied to Lackey claims, and making …

Amending Rape Shield Laws: Outdated Statutes Fail To Protect Victims On Social Media, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1087 (2015), Sydney Janzen

UIC Law Review

This Comment will first discuss the discoverability and admissibility of social media evidence in criminal and/or civil sexual assault cases. Section II(A) provides a broad overview of both federal and state rape shield laws, including the legislative policies behind their enactments, as well as the modern expansion of social media in the context of the legal system. Section II(B) will address the modern utility of social media in the context of the legal system. Section III first analyzes how courts look at discoverability and admissibility of social media evidence generally, and then focuses on sexual assault cases specifically. Further, Section …

The Smarter Sentencing Act: Achieving Fairness Through Financially Responsible Federal Sentencing Policies, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 911 (2015), Colleen Shannon

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Little “Black” Pill: Dressing Unlikely Murderers For Defense Success, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 933 (2015), Cassandra Wich

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Guidelines For Guidelines: Implications Of The Confrontation Clause's Revival For Federal Sentencing, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1039 (2015), Sopen Shah

UIC Law Review

Scholars and commentators heavily criticize the current federal sentencing system for over-incarceration, racial disparities in outcomes, and a lack of procedural protections for criminal defendants. This Article focuses on a procedural protection recently revived by the Supreme Court’s 2004 decision in Crawford v. Washington: the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Though Crawford only addressed the Clause’s application during trial, the case and its reasoning have important implications for today’s federal sentencing regime under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Though the Supreme Court has yet to directly address the issue, I argue that lower courts incorrectly interpret an old, pre-Crawford case …