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Full-Text Articles in Law
What Lurks Below Beckles, Leah Litman, Shakeer Rahman
What Lurks Below Beckles, Leah Litman, Shakeer Rahman
Articles
This Essay argues that if the Supreme Court grants habeas relief in Beckles v. United States, then it should spell out certain details about where a Beckles claim comes from and who such a claim benefits. Those details are not essential to the main question raised in the case, but the federal habeas statute takes away the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to hear just about any case that would raise those questions. For that reason, this Essay concludes that failing to address those questions now could arbitrarily condemn hundreds of prisoners to illegal sentences and lead to a situation where the …
Transparency And Comparative Executive Clemency: Global Lessons For Pardon Reform In The United States, Andrew Novak
Transparency And Comparative Executive Clemency: Global Lessons For Pardon Reform In The United States, Andrew Novak
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Article argues for transparency in the clemency process and contends that the concept of clemency as a benign sovereign’s “act of grace” is no longer appropriate in the modern world where executive action is subordinate to principles of constitutional due process and administrative equity. Despite calls for federal clemency reform in the United States, little comparative research examines clemency elsewhere in the common law world. This Article compares common law countries’ constitutional clemency mechanisms designed to promote openness, public and victim participation, and rational decision-making. In addition, this Article proposes four reforms to the U.S. pardon system that other …