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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Law
An Empirical Evaluation Of The Connecticut Death Penalty System Since 1973: Are There Unlawful Racial, Gender, And Geographic Disparities?, John J. Donohue
An Empirical Evaluation Of The Connecticut Death Penalty System Since 1973: Are There Unlawful Racial, Gender, And Geographic Disparities?, John J. Donohue
John Donohue
This article analyzes the 205 death-eligible murders leading to homicide convictions in Connecticut from 1973–2007 to determine if discriminatory and arbitrary factors influenced capital outcomes. A regression analysis controlling for an array of legitimate factors relevant to the crime, defendant, and victim provides overwhelming evidence that minority defendants who kill white victims are capitally charged at substantially higher rates than minority defendants who kill minorities, that geography influences both capital charging and sentencing decisions (with the location of a crime in Waterbury being the single most potent influence on which death-eligible cases will lead to a sentence of death), and …
Capital Punishment In Connecticut, 1973-2007: A Comprehensive Evaluation From 4686 Murders To One Execution, John J. Donohue
Capital Punishment In Connecticut, 1973-2007: A Comprehensive Evaluation From 4686 Murders To One Execution, John J. Donohue
John Donohue
This study explores and evaluates the application of the death penalty in Connecticut from 1973 until 2007, a period during which 4686 murders were committed in the state. The objective is to assess whether the system operates lawfully and reasonably or is marred by arbitrariness, caprice, or discrimination. My empirical approach has three components. First, I provide background information on the overall numbers of murders, death sentences, and executions in Connecticut. The extreme infrequency with which the death penalty is administered in Connecticut raises a serious question as to whether the state’s death penalty regime is serving any legitimate social …
Community Redevelopment, Public Use, And Eminent Domain, Patricia E. Salkin, Lora A. Lucero
Community Redevelopment, Public Use, And Eminent Domain, Patricia E. Salkin, Lora A. Lucero
Patricia E. Salkin
Published just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court handed down their controversial decision on Kelo v. City of New London in 2005, this article, in correctly predicting the outcome of the Supreme Court opinion, explores in Section I how the concept of what constitutes a public use has evolved over the decades from traditionally accepted uses such as public roads, buildings (e.g., government buildings and schools), and utilities to urban redevelopment. It explains how the broad concepts of community redevelopment have been stretched to encompass needed economic development projects that promise jobs, tax revenue, and other public benefits similar to …
Ethical Considerations In Land Use Decision Making: 2006 Annual Review Of Cases And Opinions, Patricia E. Salkin
Ethical Considerations In Land Use Decision Making: 2006 Annual Review Of Cases And Opinions, Patricia E. Salkin
Patricia E. Salkin
This article reviews reported cases and opinions documenting allegations of unethical conduct involved in land use planning and zoning decision making in 2006.
Defendants Win "Round One" Of Climate Change Litigation In United States Supreme Court, Richard O. Faulk, John S. Gray
Defendants Win "Round One" Of Climate Change Litigation In United States Supreme Court, Richard O. Faulk, John S. Gray
Richard Faulk
In American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut (“AEP”), the United States Supreme Court held that federal common law public nuisance claims seeking injunctive relief against emitters of greenhouse gases (“GHG”) were displaced by the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) and EPA’s regulatory implementation of the Act’s provisions. In hindsight, this holding seems an inevitable outgrowth of Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), which held that GHGs are pollutants subject to CAA regulation. Building on that precedent in a unanimous 8-0 opinion, the AEP Court gave the defendant utility companies a clear-cut victory by precluding judicial direct regulation of GHG through …
A Political Question: Public Nuisance, Climate Change And The Courts, Richard O. Faulk, John S. Gray
A Political Question: Public Nuisance, Climate Change And The Courts, Richard O. Faulk, John S. Gray
Richard Faulk
When it comes to climate change regulation, one of the great discussions of our day is whether the political branches of government or the judiciary should lead the way. Is it appropriate or wise to use the crucible of the courtroom to forge standards regarding what emission levels are, and are not, acceptable? In other words, is the use of tort litigation in this context a legitimate judicial exercise, or does the judiciary overstep its bounds by reaching impermissibly into the political sphere? Although the poet’s imagination may dream of leaping to seize an otherwise inaccessible prize, wise jurists know …
The Lawyer Scribe: The Litchfield Law School, Laptops, And The Metaphysics Of Soul-Searching, Louise Harmon
The Lawyer Scribe: The Litchfield Law School, Laptops, And The Metaphysics Of Soul-Searching, Louise Harmon
Louise Harmon
No abstract provided.
Uncommon Law: Ruminations On Public Nuisance, Richard O. Faulk
Uncommon Law: Ruminations On Public Nuisance, Richard O. Faulk
Richard Faulk
The ancient common tort of public nuisance is one of the most highly visible issues in modern tort jurisprudence. Its growth is particularly notable in climate change and environmental litigation, where it seems to be the “tort of choice” for plaintiffs seeking breathtakingly broad relief from global warming and trans-border pollution. Traditionally limited to local concerns, the tort now aspires to global dimensions, and its expanding scope has attracted review by the United States Supreme Court. If its advocates succeed, the “monster that will devour in one gulp the entire law of torts” may be afforded a prime seat at …
From Nondiscrimination To Civil Marriage, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
From Nondiscrimination To Civil Marriage, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
Prof. Elizabeth Burleson
As William Faulkner explained, we must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. This article analyzes the continuing constitutional struggle for civil rights on the basis of sexual orientation, concentrating on the constitution state's critique of its constitution. Connecticut is currently at the forefront of recognizing civil rights. Connecticut has ruled that discrimination against gay and lesbian persons is subject to intermediate scrutiny, which has historically been used to review laws that employ quasi-suspect classifications such as gender. Civil marriage for same sex couples is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. …