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Full-Text Articles in Law
Severe Mental Illness And The Death Penalty: A Menu Of Legislative Options, Richard J. Bonnie
Severe Mental Illness And The Death Penalty: A Menu Of Legislative Options, Richard J. Bonnie
Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
In 2003, the American Bar Association established a Task Force on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty to further specify and implement the Supreme Court’s ruling banning execution of persons with intellectual disability and to consider an analogous ban against imposing the death penalty on defendants with severe mental disorders. The Task Force established formal links with the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the final report was approved by the ABA and the participating organizations in 2005 and 2006. This brief article focuses primarily on diminished responsibility at the time …
Does The Death Penalty Still Matter: Reflections Of A Death Row Lawyer, David I. Bruck
Does The Death Penalty Still Matter: Reflections Of A Death Row Lawyer, David I. Bruck
Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
This talk was given by Professor David Bruck for the Frances Lewis Law Center at Washington and Lee University School of Law, April, 2002. It is a follow-up to “Does the Death Penalty Matter?,” given by Professor Bruck as the 1990 Ralph E. Shikes Lecture at Harvard Law School.
Certain Prosecutors: Geographical Arbitrariness, Unusualness, & The Abolition Of Virginia’S Death Penalty, Bernadette M. Donovan
Certain Prosecutors: Geographical Arbitrariness, Unusualness, & The Abolition Of Virginia’S Death Penalty, Bernadette M. Donovan
Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Virginia’s abolition of the death penalty in 2021 was a historic development. As both a southern state and one of the country’s most active death penalty jurisdictions, Virginia’s transition away from capital punishment represented an important shift in the national landscape. This article considers whether that shift has any constitutional significance, focusing on the effect of Virginia’s abolition on the geographical arbitrariness of the country’s death penalty.
As a starting point, the death penalty in America is primarily regulated by the Eighth Amendment, which bars “cruel and unusual punishments.” The United States Supreme Court has held that the death penalty …
Atkins V. Virginia At Twenty: Still Adaptive Deficits, Still In The Developmental Period, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Brendan Van Winkle
Atkins V. Virginia At Twenty: Still Adaptive Deficits, Still In The Developmental Period, Sheri Lynn Johnson, John H. Blume, Brendan Van Winkle
Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Twenty years ago, in Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Eighth Amendment prohibited states from executing persons with intellectual disability. While the Court’s decision is laudable and has saved many of the most vulnerable persons from the executioner, its effect has been undermined by recalcitrant states attempting to exploit language in the opinion permitting states to create procedures to implement the (then) new categorical prohibition. In this article, we examine how some states have adopted procedures which are fundamentally inconsistent with the clinical consensus understanding of the disability and how one state, …
Revisiting The Ox-Bow Incident: The Almost Forgotten Western Classic About The Lynching Of Three Innocent Men Is As Relevant As Ever, Marc Bookman
Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
The concept of lynching, several hundred years old and unclear in its origins, has never really left the lexicon. The word itself, however, has taken on different meanings over the years, from a mob’s taking the law into its own hands, to an organized utilization of racial violence as a means of societal control and intimidation; and finally to the more casual and defensive use of the word (“high tech lynching”) by current Supreme Court justices Thomas and Kavanaugh and others after being questioned about their past behaviors. Many academics have opined that the modern system of capital punishment is …
When Police Volunteer To Kill, Alexandra L. Klein
When Police Volunteer To Kill, Alexandra L. Klein
Scholarly Articles
The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection, yet states continue to struggle with drug shortages and botched executions. Some states have authorized alternative methods of execution, including the firing squad. Utah, which has consistently carried out firing squad executions throughout its history, relies on police officers from the jurisdiction where the crime took place to volunteer to carry out these executions. This represents a plausible--and probable--method for other states in conducting firing squad executions.
Public and academic discussion of the firing squad has centered on questions of pain and suffering. It has not engaged with the consequences …
"Only To Have A Say In The Way He Dies": Bodily Autonomy And Methods Of Execution, Alexandra L. Klein
"Only To Have A Say In The Way He Dies": Bodily Autonomy And Methods Of Execution, Alexandra L. Klein
Scholarly Articles
Capital punishment is one of the most significant intrusions into a person's bodily autonomy; the state takes a person's life. Even though the state has stripped a person on death row of much of their autonomy and intends to kill them, removing all autonomy, a person sentenced to death may, in some circumstances, choose how they will die. While most states rely on a single method of execution, some states permit a condemned person to choose among two or more methods of execution. Constitutional challenges to methods of execution requires the challenger to demonstrate a substantial risk of severe pain …
Three Observations About The Worst Of The Worst, Virginia-Style, Corinna Barrett Lain
Three Observations About The Worst Of The Worst, Virginia-Style, Corinna Barrett Lain
Washington and Lee Law Review Online
Much could be said about Virginia’s historic decision to repeal the death penalty, and Professor Klein’s essay provides a wonderful starting point for any number of important discussions. We could talk about how the decision came to be. Or why the move is so momentous. Or what considerations were particularly important in the decision‑making process. Or where we should go from here. But in this brief comment, I’ll be focusing not on the how, or the why, or the what, or the where, but rather on the who. Who are condemned inmates, both generally and Virginia‑style?
The Beginning Of The End: Abolishing Capital Punishment In Virginia, Alexandra L. Klein
The Beginning Of The End: Abolishing Capital Punishment In Virginia, Alexandra L. Klein
Washington and Lee Law Review Online
When thinking about the history of capital punishment in the United States, I suspect that the average person is likely to identify Texas as the state that has played the most significant role in the death penalty. The state of Texas has killed more than five hundred people in executions since the Supreme Court approved of states’ modified capital punishment schemes in 1976. By contrast, Virginia has executed 113 people since 1976.
But Virginia has played a significant role in the history of capital punishment. After all, the first recorded execution in Colonial America took place in 1608 at Jamestown, …
Nondelegating Death, Alexandra L. Klein
Nondelegating Death, Alexandra L. Klein
Scholarly Articles
Most states’ method of execution statutes afford broad discretion to executive agencies to create execution protocols. Inmates have challenged this discretion, arguing that these statutes unconstitutionally delegate legislative power to executive agencies, violating the state’s nondelegation and separation of powers doctrines. State courts routinely use the nondelegation doctrine, in contrast to the doctrine’s historic disfavor in federal courts. Despite its uncertain status, the nondelegation doctrine is a useful analytical tool to examine decision-making in capital punishment.
This Article critically evaluates responsibility for administering capital punishment through the lens of nondelegation. It analyzes state court decisions upholding broad legislative delegations to …
Discretionary Life Sentences For Juveniles: Resolving The Split Between The Virginia Supreme Court And The Fourth Circuit, Daniel M. Coble
Discretionary Life Sentences For Juveniles: Resolving The Split Between The Virginia Supreme Court And The Fourth Circuit, Daniel M. Coble
Washington and Lee Law Review Online
At the age of 17, Donte Lamar Jones shot and killed a store clerk as she laid down on the floor during a robbery. He was spared the death penalty by agreeing instead to die in prison at the end of his life. Two years later in Virginia, 12 individuals were murdered for doing nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Those individuals were killed by Lee Malvo and John Muhammad, better known as the “D.C. Snipers.” While John Muhammad was given the death penalty for his heinous crimes, Lee Malvo, who was 17 during …
Rectifying Wrongful Convictions: May A Lawyer Reveal Her Client's Confidences To Rectify The Wrongful Conviction Of Another? (A Roundtable Discussion Of The Aba's Standards For Criminal Litigation), James E. Moliterno
Scholarly Articles
None available.
Standby Me: Self-Representation And Standby Counsel In A Capital Case, Meghan H. Morgan
Standby Me: Self-Representation And Standby Counsel In A Capital Case, Meghan H. Morgan
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Mickens V. Taylor 122 S. Ct. 1237 (2002)
Mickens V. Taylor 122 S. Ct. 1237 (2002)
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
The Equality Principle Revisited: The Relationship Of Daubert V. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals To Ake V. Oklahoma, Lee Richard Goebes
The Equality Principle Revisited: The Relationship Of Daubert V. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals To Ake V. Oklahoma, Lee Richard Goebes
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Protecting The Defendant's Right To A Fair Trial In The Information Age, Erika Patrick
Protecting The Defendant's Right To A Fair Trial In The Information Age, Erika Patrick
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Proportionality Review: Still Inadequate, But Still Necessary, Cynthia M. Bruce
Proportionality Review: Still Inadequate, But Still Necessary, Cynthia M. Bruce
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
No One Can Serve Two Masters: Arguments Against Private Prosecutors, Matthew S. Nichols
No One Can Serve Two Masters: Arguments Against Private Prosecutors, Matthew S. Nichols
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Procedural Default: A De Facto Exception To Civility?, Ashley Flynn
Procedural Default: A De Facto Exception To Civility?, Ashley Flynn
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Bridging The Procedural Default Chasm, Matthew K. Mahoney
Bridging The Procedural Default Chasm, Matthew K. Mahoney
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Resurrecting The Confrontation Clause In Virginia, Joseph D. Platania
Resurrecting The Confrontation Clause In Virginia, Joseph D. Platania
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Lonchar V. Thomas 116 S. Ct. 1293 (1996) United States Supreme Court
Lonchar V. Thomas 116 S. Ct. 1293 (1996) United States Supreme Court
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
The Incredible Shrinking Writ: Habeas Corpus Under The Anti-Terrorism And Effective Death Penalty Act Of 1996, Jeanne-Marie S. Raymond
The Incredible Shrinking Writ: Habeas Corpus Under The Anti-Terrorism And Effective Death Penalty Act Of 1996, Jeanne-Marie S. Raymond
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Virginia's New State Habeas: What Every Attorney Needs To Know, Gregory J. Weinig
Virginia's New State Habeas: What Every Attorney Needs To Know, Gregory J. Weinig
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Stockton V. Murray 41 F.3d 920 (4th Cir. 1994) United States Court Of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Stockton V. Murray 41 F.3d 920 (4th Cir. 1994) United States Court Of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Capital Defense Journal
No abstract provided.
Introduction, William S. Geimer
Burden V. Zant 114 S. Ct. 654 (1994)
Introduction, William S. Geimer