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Articles 1 - 30 of 37
Full-Text Articles in Law
Serious Discussions Needed On Police Tactics And False Confessions, Marc D. Falkoff
Serious Discussions Needed On Police Tactics And False Confessions, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
It’s a phenomenon that detectives, prosecutors, jurors and even defense lawyers typically have trouble believing: Sometimes suspects will confess to serious crimes even when they are completely innocent. “I certainly wouldn’t confess to a crime I didn’t commit!” we all think. But false confessions happen all the time and recent DNA exonerations and psychological studies suggest they occur more frequently than anyone involved with the criminal justice system should tolerate. Journalists and academic researchers increasingly understand how the typical police interrogation in the United States is structured to elicit confessions rather than gather accurate information about a crime. The techniques …
Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; "Correcting" The Foreclosure Crisis?, Matthew Broucek
Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; "Correcting" The Foreclosure Crisis?, Matthew Broucek
Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement
Mortgage Resolution Partners, a venture capitalist firm based out of San Francisco, has been visiting with state and local governments across the country. Mortgage Resolution Partners proposes that eminent domain can, and should, be used to seize mortgages and refinance them in an attempt to correct the United States' foreclosure crisis. This article identifies and analyzes the policy issues and constitutional concerns that are inherent in the plan. The most critical constitutional concerns with the plan implicate the Takings Clause, the Contracts Clause, and the Dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; Table Of Contents & Masthead, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement
Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; Table Of Contents & Masthead, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement
Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement
No abstract provided.
Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; Debtors Deserve The Dischargeability Of Tax Liability To Be "Honest And Reasonable", Robert Finegan
Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; Debtors Deserve The Dischargeability Of Tax Liability To Be "Honest And Reasonable", Robert Finegan
Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement
The most current version of the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), is considered one of the most technical and comprehensive reforms to the Bankruptcy Code. Facing a dramatic increase in consumer bankruptcies and fearing an increase in abuse of the system, Congress included stricter guidelines and rules to try and prevent debtor abuse in BAPCPA. Another addition that BAPCPA added, and at the heart of this Comment, was the addition of a hanging paragraph to the Bankruptcy Code section 523(a). The issue of whether a person can discharge their tax liability through a Chapter …
Investigative Alerts: Smart Policy Or A Way To Skirt Warrants?, Marc D. Falkoff
Investigative Alerts: Smart Policy Or A Way To Skirt Warrants?, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
Chicago’s little-understood “investigative alert” system has been in the news a lot in the past year. It was denounced by an appellate court judge as an “end run” around the Constitution and criticized in a news story as a way to “sidestep” civil liberties protections. “Critics: Police Sidestep Warrants,” Chicago Tribune (March 4, 2013). But what exactly are investigative alerts? Are they constitutional? And if so, are they smart policy?
Dictionary Blues: Judicial Reasoning Muddied By Definition Wrangling, Marc D. Falkoff
Dictionary Blues: Judicial Reasoning Muddied By Definition Wrangling, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
Maybe it would be best if judges left their dictionaries on the shelf. That’s the conclusion I reached after reading an Illinois court opinion last month, in which the decision turned on the dictionary definition of a commonplace word – “presence” – whose statutory meaning was in dispute. The construction eventually adopted by the court was reasonable enough. But by relying solely on a dictionary as authority, the court reflected a troubling trend nationwide. Increasingly, dictionaries are used to make the resolution of cases appear to be the product of common sense and unchallengeable authority, rather than of policy decisions …
The Evolving Right To Counsel On State Post-Conviction Review, Marc D. Falkoff
The Evolving Right To Counsel On State Post-Conviction Review, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
Fifty years after Gideon v. Wainwright announced that lawyers at state criminal trials are constitutional necessities and not luxuries, the metes and bounds of the right to counsel are still being hashed out in the courts. In particular, the law is evolving on the right to counsel during state post-conviction review, with the U.S. Supreme Court recently acknowledging, in Martinez v. Ryan, that sometimes lawyers are necessary (albeit not constitutionally compelled) during state collateral proceedings. 132 S.Ct. 1309, 1320 (2012). But the importance of Martinez has not yet been recognized by either the Illinois courts or its legislature. Of particular …
Equal Pay For Women Can Become A Reality: A Proposal For Enactment Of The Paycheck Fairness Act, Catherine Lerum
Equal Pay For Women Can Become A Reality: A Proposal For Enactment Of The Paycheck Fairness Act, Catherine Lerum
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 has proved ineffective for women pursuing claims based on sex discrimination in the workplace. Legislative history indicates that the overall purpose of the EPA was to eliminate the wage gap; however, this honorable goal has not been achieved. The Paycheck Fairness Act, which was first introduced to Congress in 1997, will amend the EPA and further the original intent of Congress: eliminate the wage gap between men and women. The proposed legislation urges several new propositions, but this Legislative Note focuses on three amendments. First, the PFA would amend the infamous “any other factor …
Rethinking The Worker Classification Test: Employees, Entrepreneurship, And Empowerment, Griffin Toronjo Pivateau
Rethinking The Worker Classification Test: Employees, Entrepreneurship, And Empowerment, Griffin Toronjo Pivateau
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The structure of the American workplace depends on the ability to distinguish between employees and independent contractors. Unfortunately, the law provides little to guide employers in classifying workers. The legal tests to determine worker status are confusing, yield inconsistent results, and are not suited to the evolving employment relationship. Traditionally, courts examine the amount of control exerted over the putative employee by the employer: The more control exerted by the employer over the work, the more likely it is that the worker will be considered an employee. Control, however, is not the only factor to examine in determining worker status. …
How Tax Increment Financing (Tif) Districts Correlate With Taxable Properties, Randall K. Johnson
How Tax Increment Financing (Tif) Districts Correlate With Taxable Properties, Randall K. Johnson
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This article deals with Tax Increment Financing (TIF), which is a popular economic development tool. TIF borrows against future tax revenues to subsidize current development projects. In Illinois, this economic development tool is justified by its promise to expand the local tax base: by increasing tax revenues, increasing the number of taxpayers or increasing the number of taxable properties in the area. However, it is not clear that TIF delivers on its promise. A new dataset, which is introduced in this article, helps to clarify the issue. It does so by providing information about the number of TIF Districts in …
Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right: Implications Of The Sex Discrimination Present In Same-Sex Marriage Exclusions For The Next Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Case, Catherine Jean Archibald
Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right: Implications Of The Sex Discrimination Present In Same-Sex Marriage Exclusions For The Next Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Case, Catherine Jean Archibald
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This year was a historic time in the gay rights movement. While the nation held its collective breath, the Supreme Court deliberated over the questions of whether same-sex couples have constitutional rights to marry and have their marriages recognized by the federal government. In its landmark decision issued last summer, the Supreme Court struck down part of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), finding that same-sex couples married under state law must have their marriages recognized by the federal government. However, in its other same-sex marriage decision, the Supreme Court avoided the question, for now, of whether same-sex couples …
A Bend In The Law & Literature: Greed, Anarchy, And Dictatorship In The African Worlds Of V.S. Naipaul And Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Dustin A. Zacks
A Bend In The Law & Literature: Greed, Anarchy, And Dictatorship In The African Worlds Of V.S. Naipaul And Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Dustin A. Zacks
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This Article examines two giants of colonial and postcolonial fiction involving African states that heretofore have been largely ignored by the law and literature movement. Nobel Prize winner V.S. Naipaul and East Africa's foremost novelist Ngugi Wa Thiongo'o are worth studying for their vivid descriptions of the challenges postcolonial societies face “ challenges such as corruption and authoritarianism that are usually addressed, at least in legal scholarship, in the context of international or human rights law, rather than in the context of narrative fiction. The Article also critiques traditional academic literary criticism for its disparate treatment of the two authors. …
Consideration For A Price: Using The Contract Price To Interpret Ambiguous Contract Terms, Donald J. Smythe
Consideration For A Price: Using The Contract Price To Interpret Ambiguous Contract Terms, Donald J. Smythe
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Most contract cases involve disputes about the interpretation of the contracts. There is a voluminous law and economics literature on contract interpretation, but ironically, it does not address whether and how the contract term that is usually of most interest to economists “ the contract price “ might be used to interpret other ambiguous contract terms. This is no doubt in part because there are legal authorities that discourage courts from considering the adequacy of the contract price in deciding whether other clauses are contractually enforceable. However, these authorities are much more persuasive for some contracts than for others. Indeed, …
Two Years Is Too Long: The Two-Year Ban On The Agency Model Can Save The E-Book Industry But Ruin Bookstores, Jessica Harrill
Two Years Is Too Long: The Two-Year Ban On The Agency Model Can Save The E-Book Industry But Ruin Bookstores, Jessica Harrill
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Ever since electronic books and their e-readers hit the market, there has been a near constant struggle between the e-book retailers and the publishers on who should set the price for each e-book. In 2011, when Apple decided to join the e-reader battle, the publishers changed their pricing scheme with all e-book retailers, giving the publishers most of the power. An investigation by the Department of Justice into Apple and five of the six major publishing companies led to an antitrust suit for fixing prices that most publishers have since settled out of court. This Comment argues that one specific …
Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2013: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2013: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Northern Illinois University Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Oddly Perverse Consequences Of Mandatory Sentencing Enhancements, Marc D. Falkoff
The Oddly Perverse Consequences Of Mandatory Sentencing Enhancements, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
In June, the Illinois 2nd District Appellate Court reversed the first-degree murder conviction of defendant Gareng Deng under rather unusual circumstances. Deng, who pleaded guilty to a killing in 2009 in exchange for 35 years in prison, argued that his conviction should be overturned because the sentencing judge had given him too lenient a sentence – and the appellate panel agreed. People v. Deng, 2013 IL App (2d) 111089 (2013). The counterintuitive ruling was in accord with Illinois decisional law, under which sentences falling outside of statutory maximums or minimums are deemed “void” from the outset. People v. White, 953 …
Afterthought Crimes And The Felony Murder Rule In Illinois, Marc D. Falkoff
Afterthought Crimes And The Felony Murder Rule In Illinois, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
Last month, the Mississippi Supreme Court held that a defendant who decided to commit a robbery after killing his victim could be convicted of capital murder on the basis of a “felony-murder” theory. In other words, in order to convict the defendant of murder, the state didn’t have to prove that he intended to kill his victim or even that he caused his victim’s death as a result of a robbery attempt. Rather, the state only had to demonstrate that the robbery was committed as an “afterthought” to the killing. Batiste v. State, __ So. 3d __ (Miss., May 16, …
Reconsidering The Gathering/Publication Dichotomy: Recording As Speech? What Next?, Steven Helle
Reconsidering The Gathering/Publication Dichotomy: Recording As Speech? What Next?, Steven Helle
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The First Amendment information-gathering right has always been inferior to the long-established right to speak and publish. As such, the danger has been that a court concerned, for example, with prejudicial publicity could characterize the issue as gathering instead of publication—and apply a more relaxed standard. Indeed, the transparent concern in most gathering cases has been with the ultimate publication. When states defend statutes prohibiting recording without the consent of all parties to a conversation, the asserted “privacy” interests are generally not threatened by the physical act of recording, but by the disclosure of the content of the recording. Thus, …
Domestic Surveillance Via Drones: Looking Through The Lens Of The Fourth Amendment, Saby Ghoshray
Domestic Surveillance Via Drones: Looking Through The Lens Of The Fourth Amendment, Saby Ghoshray
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Prompted by a newly minted governmental conceptualization of domestic surveillance, this Article focuses on a set of legal and philosophical dimensions to evaluate whether drone-enabled surveillance of citizens comports with fundamental liberty. Identifying the post-9/11 landscape as a primary contributor to the emergence of a security-centric society, this Article provides an interpretative gloss on the contemporary legal frame-work's tendency toward immunizing governmental surveillance of its own citizens. By evaluating how the original understanding of the Fourth Amendment may have been attenuated within jurisprudence, this Article provides a stark reminder of why the aspiratory dimensions of the Framers' view of liberty …
Stop, Collaborate, And Listen!: The Effect Of Collaboration On Innovation And Policy In Medicaid Reform As Applied To The Illinois Smart Act And The New York Approach, Bailey Standish
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Recently, both Illinois and New York found themselves between a rock and a hard place as they were forced to choose where to save on providing vital medical services for their aging and poor residents. In order to cut their bloated budgets, the states took two approaches yielding vastly different results. After a brief background on Medicaid, the Illinois SMART Act, New York's reform model, and collaboration theory, this Legislative Note compares the approaches in Illinois and New York and seeks to explain why they yielded different results by applying collaboration theory to Medicaid reform. This Note argues that the …
New Private Privacy Intrusions During Prelitigation Civil Claim Investigations, Jeffrey A. Parness
New Private Privacy Intrusions During Prelitigation Civil Claim Investigations, Jeffrey A. Parness
Northern Illinois University Law Review
In Lawlor v. North American Corporation of Illinois, 2012, IL 112530, the Illinois Supreme Court first recognized the intentional tort of intrusion upon seclusion. It then applied the tort in favor of a former employee against a former employer whose agents deceitfully investigated the employee in contemplation of future civil litigation. In Lawlor, the employer’s lawyer was also involved in the investigation. Under certain circumstances, under the Lawlor rationale, that lawyer could also be liable in tort to the former employee. Lawyer liability after Lawlor could be founded on either the intentional or unintentional acts of either the lawyer or …
Before You Press Record: Unanswered Questions Surrounding The First Amendment Right To Film Public Police Activity, Jesse Harlan Alderman
Before You Press Record: Unanswered Questions Surrounding The First Amendment Right To Film Public Police Activity, Jesse Harlan Alderman
Northern Illinois University Law Review
In 2011 and 2012, two circuit courts of appeals held that there exists a positive First Amendment liberty to record police officers in the public performance of their official duties. The opinions represent a swift response to the hundreds of arrests of ordinary citizens for filming police that have received national and local publicity in recent years. After a recitation of the two opinions, Glik v. Cunniffe and ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez, this Article discusses four unresolved questions that remain: (1) Will future courts that have not addressed the issue be persuaded by Judge Richard A. Posner's dissent in …
Illinois's Freedom Of Information Act: More Access Or More Hurdles?, Alyssa Harmon
Illinois's Freedom Of Information Act: More Access Or More Hurdles?, Alyssa Harmon
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Although the 2009 amendments to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were intended to increase government transparency, the amendments lack the necessary sanctions, neutral oversight, and incentives for compliance with the Act. The purpose of enacting such "Sunshine" laws is to simplify the road to public access and rebuild public trust in government. This purpose has not yet been realized in Illinois. This Comment argues that sanctions against public bodies should be strengthened in order to increase compliance with the Act, that a cost-effective path to enforcement of the law should be created in order to increase incentives for …
Vol. 33, No. 3, Summer 2013: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Vol. 33, No. 3, Summer 2013: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Northern Illinois University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Recording Police Interrogations Has Worked -- And Should Be Expanded, Marc D. Falkoff
Recording Police Interrogations Has Worked -- And Should Be Expanded, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
Legislation to expand the use of audio and video recordings of police interrogations of criminal suspects is now pending in the Illinois General Assembly. As originally conceived, the bills would modify the current statute requiring police to record interrogation of homicide suspects, further obliging them to tape interrogations of all felony suspects. The legal community – from police to prosecutors to defense lawyers – should embrace the reforms. The bills would enhance the reliability of criminal trials, deter harsh and abuse interrogations and squelch frivolous claims of abuse by criminal defendants. Moreover, the reforms will save the state money.
Vol. 4 No. 2, Spring 2013; The Error In Finding That Undocumented Persons Are Not “The People”: A Deeper Look At The Implications Of United States V. Portillo-Munoz, Dorota Gibala
Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement
In 2011, the Fifth Circuit held in United States v. Portillo-Munoz that undocumented persons are not entitled to the protections of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Although part of the court’s reasoning was based on 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), its decision also turned on the belief that the meaning of the phrase “the people” in the Second Amendment did not incorporate undocumented persons. This Note argues that Portillo-Munoz’s interpretation of “the people,” as implying that “the people” exclusively encompasses only citizens, is erroneous with how the phrase “the people” is similarly situated in the Fourth Amendment. As set out …
Vol. 4 No. 2, Spring 2013; Table Of Contents & Masthead, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement
Vol. 4 No. 2, Spring 2013; Table Of Contents & Masthead, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement, Northern Illinois University Law Review Online Supplement
Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement
No abstract provided.
Vol. 4 No. 2, Spring 2013; The “Cowardly Counsel” Exception: Eliminating The Contemporaneous Objection Rule, Elizabeth George
Vol. 4 No. 2, Spring 2013; The “Cowardly Counsel” Exception: Eliminating The Contemporaneous Objection Rule, Elizabeth George
Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement
The contemporaneous objection rule is very clear and precise in its application. However, as the law stands in the Ninth Circuit, failure to contemporaneously object coupled with any mention of race by the sentencing judge is automatic grounds for resentencing. This article explores the origins of this exception to the contemporaneous objection rule. Next, it explores why these statements constitute harmless error on the part of the trial court. Finally, it explains why this “cowardly counsel” exception could have potentially devastating effects to the policies that underlie the contemporaneous objection rule.
"Attempted Threat" Crimes And Oduwole, Marc D. Falkoff
"Attempted Threat" Crimes And Oduwole, Marc D. Falkoff
College of Law Faculty Publications
Last month, an appellate court reversed the conviction of Olutosin Oduwole — a former Southern Illinois University student and aspiring rap artist — for an “attempt to make a terroristic threat” (People v. Oduwole, __ N.E.2d __, 2013 WL 885173 (Ill. App. 5th Dist., March 6, 2013)). The case became a cause célèbre in the blogosphere when Illinois Attorney General Lisa M. Madigan announced she would appeal the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court. The notion circulating on the Internet is that Oduwole is being victimized by overzealous prosecutors who are persecuting him for no more than drafting provocative song …
The Constitutionality Of Government Fees As Applied To The Poor, Henry Rose
The Constitutionality Of Government Fees As Applied To The Poor, Henry Rose
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The United States Supreme Court has frequently addressed the constitutionality of government fees that indigent persons cannot afford to pay, relying on due process or equal protection principles to decide these cases. The most recent decision by the Supreme Court involving this issue, M.L.B. v. S.L.J., 519 U.S. 102 (1996), relied on a confusing analysis of the applicable constitutional principles. This Article proposes that courts should apply the traditional equal protection analysis to decide this important constitutional issue in the future.