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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Poverty Defense, Michele E. Gilman
The Poverty Defense, Michele E. Gilman
All Faculty Scholarship
Poverty is correlated with crime, but it is widely assumed that it should not be a defense. In the 1970s, Judge David Bazelon challenged this assumption, proposing a rotten social background defense, that is, how growing up under circumstances of severe deprivation can subsequently impact a criminal defendant's mental state and actions. Relatedly, other theorists have posited that poverty should be a defense to crime based on poverty's coercive aspects or because society forfeits its right to condemn when it tolerates significant economic inequality. Critics counter that a poverty defense should not be adopted because it is not only inconsistent …
When Juveniles Face Questioning, Tamar R. Birckhead
When Juveniles Face Questioning, Tamar R. Birckhead
Tamar R Birckhead
This op-ed argues that the age of a suspect should be considered when evaluating whether the questioning was custodial, thereby triggering the right to Miranda warnings.
Culture Clash: The Challenge Of Lawyering Across Difference In Juvenile Court, Tamar R. Birckhead
Culture Clash: The Challenge Of Lawyering Across Difference In Juvenile Court, Tamar R. Birckhead
Tamar R Birckhead
In analyzing the causes of wrongful convictions of youth in juvenile court, the role of the defense attorney can be overlooked and its importance underestimated. Although juvenile defenders are trained to advocate based on their young client‟s expressed interest rather than relying on what they deem to be in the child‟s best interest, this basic tenet is often more challenging to follow than is commonly acknowledged. The norms of effective criminal defense practice—which emphasize rigorous oral and written advocacy with little mention of whether the client has learned a lesson from the experience—stand in direct contrast to the informal culture …