Law Commons^™

Re-Thinking Minnesota's Criminal Justice Response To Sexual Violence Using A Prevention Lens, Caroline Palmer, Bradley Prowant

Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Criminal Code-Looking Back and Looking Forward

Sexual violence is one of the most difficult issues we face in the human condition. Even with the many strides that have occurred in recent years to support a victim-centered response, survivors who seek help from the legal, medical and mental health systems, among others still “may face disbelief, blame, and refusals of help instead of assistance.” It is a problem that demands a response from all levels of society. And yet this response is lacking.

The key question we as a society confront is what changes will satisfactorily balance justice for victims with offender accountability, attempts at rehabilitation through …

Escape From The Twilight Zone: Minnesota’S Definitions Of “Substantial Bodily Harm” And “Great Bodily Harm” Leave Too Much Room For Injustice, And They Can Be Improved, Joshua Larson

Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Criminal Code-Looking Back and Looking Forward

The article first will discuss the current assault-statute regime in Minnesota and its origin and development. Then, the article will identify appellate decisions that have examined the concepts of bodily harm, substantial bodily harm, and great bodily harm. Following this, the article will describe the Wisconsin assault-statute regime. Lastly, the article will propose how Minnesota should improve.

Structuring Criminal Codes To Perform Their Function, Paul H. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper argues that criminal codes have two distinct functions. First, a code must ex ante announce the rules of conduct. Second, it must set out the principles of for adjudicating, ex post, violations of those rules. These two functions often are in tension with one another. Each calls for a different kind of code, addressed to a different audience, with different objectives: To be effective ex ante, the rules of conduct must be formulated in a way that they will be understood, remembered, and able to be applied in daily life by lay persons with a wide range of …

Truth In Codification, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

Some men think that the earth is round, others think it flat; it is a matter capable of question. But if it is flat, will the King's command make it round? And if it is round, will the King's command flatten it?

These are the words of Thomas More as interpreted by Robert Bolt in his play A Man for All Seasons. More invokes the issue of scientific truth to question Parliament's authority to determine whether King Henry VIII should be recognized as the head of the Church of England. The point is well taken. When the issue is scientific …

Dogmas Of The Model Penal Code, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

The Model Penal Code has become the central document of American criminal justice. It has had some effect on law reform in over 35 states. More significantly, it provides the lingua franca of most people who teach criminal law in the United States. Most academics think that the precise definitions of culpability states in section 2.02(2) are really neat, and they applaud the liberal rules that restrict the use of strict liability to administrative fines. Indeed, all things considered, for a code drafted with almost total indifference to what might be learned from European models, the Model Penal Code is …

Making Criminal Codes Functional: A Code Of Conduct And A Code Of Adjudication, Paul H. Robinson, Peter D. Greene, Natasha R. Goldstein

All Faculty Scholarship

A traditional criminal code performs several functions. It announces the law's commands to those whose conduct it seeks to influence. It also defines the rules to be used in deciding whether a breach of the law's commands will result in criminal liability and, if so, the grade or degree of liability. In serving the first function, the code addresses all members of the public. In performing the second function, it addresses lawyers, judges, jurors, and others who play a role in the adjudication process. In part because of these different audiences, the two functions call for different kinds of documents. …

Lessons From Reforming Inquisitorial Systems, William T. Pizzi

Publications

No abstract provided.

Legality And Discretion In The Distribution Of Criminal Sanctions, Paul H. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

The judicial system now responds to criminal conduct in two rather divergent steps. A judge or jury first determines if a defendant should be held liable for a criminal offense. If so, then the judge or jury goes on to choose a penalty. Precise rules, designed to ensure fairness and predictability, govern the first stage, liability assignment. In the second stage, sentencing, however, judges and juries exercise broad discretion in meting out sanctions. In this Article, Professor Robinson argues that both liability assignment and sentencing are part of a single process of punishing criminal behavior and should be made more …

Element Analysis In Defining Criminal Liability: The Model Penal Code And Beyond, Paul H. Robinson, Jane A. Grall

All Faculty Scholarship

The pursuit of fairness and effectiveness has inspired and guided criminal code reformers of the past two decades. Because penal law protects the most important societal interests and authorizes the most serious sanctions the government may impose - the stigma of conviction, imprisonment, and even death - a criminal code, more than any other body of law, should be rational, clear, and internally consistent. Only a precise, principled code that sufficiently defines forbidden conduct can achieve its goals of condemnation and deterrence. Such a code gives citizens fair warning of what will constitute a crime, limits governmental discretion in determining …

Reflections On Felony-Murder, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

Of all the reforms proposed by the Model Penal Code, perhaps none has been less influential than the Model Code's recommendation on the perennial problem of felony-murder. As found in our nineteenth-century criminal codes, the rule has several variations. The basic scheme is to hold the accused liable for murder if the killing is connected in any way with the attempt to commit a felony or the flight from the scene of a felony. It does not matter whether the accused or an accomplice causes the death. Nor does it matter whether the killing occurs accidentally and non-negligently. According to …

Codification, Reform, And Revision: The Challenge Of A Modern Federal Criminal Code, John L. Mcclellan

Journal Articles

The four chief factors influencing the quality of American justice were identified by Dean Roscoe Pound as personnel, administration, procedure, and the substantive law. It is certain that better judges, prosecutors, and enforcement officers, better organization of courts, better administrative methods, and more adequate administrative personnel must come first in any effective program for the improvement of our nation's system of criminal justice. At the same time, the men who staff that system will be guided by an authoritatively prescribed criminal procedure, and they will be giving effect to an authoritatively prescribed criminal law. An archaic code of procedure and …

Codification Of The Criminal Law, Jerome Hall

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.