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Danger Or Resort To Underwear: The Safford Unified School District No. 1 V. Redding Standard For Strip Searching Public School Students., Joseph O. Oluwole
Danger Or Resort To Underwear: The Safford Unified School District No. 1 V. Redding Standard For Strip Searching Public School Students., Joseph O. Oluwole
St. Mary's Law Journal
Safford Unified Sch. Dist. No. 1 v. Redding (Redding III) represents a pivotal decision in school search and seizure jurisprudence, specifically regarding strip searches of students. Redding III establishes constraints specific to strip searches on the search and seizure authority of school officials. Redding III is intended to provide a uniform test for the judiciary and school officials when evaluating the reasonableness of strip searches of students. The Court explicitly interposed a “reliable knowledge” element requiring: (1) the degree to which known facts imply prohibited conduct; (2) the specificity of the information received; and (3) the reliability of its source. …
Texas Law's Life Or Death Rule In Capital Sentencing: Scrutinizing Eight Amendment Violations And The Case Of Juan Guerrero, Jr., John Niland, Riddhi Dasgupta
Texas Law's Life Or Death Rule In Capital Sentencing: Scrutinizing Eight Amendment Violations And The Case Of Juan Guerrero, Jr., John Niland, Riddhi Dasgupta
St. Mary's Law Journal
The United States Supreme Court has never explained the Eighth Amendment’s impact in noncapital cases involving a mentally retarded or brain-injured defendant. The Court has not provided guidance to legislatures or lower courts concerning the acceptable balancing of aggravating and mitigating factors and the role that mitigating factors must play in the sentencing decision. A definitive gap exists between the protections afforded to a criminal defendant facing a life sentence as opposed to those confronted with the death penalty. The Court requires sentencing procedures to consider aggravating and mitigating factors, including mental retardation and brain damage, when imposing a death …
Framing A Texas Bill Of Rights Argument., James C. Harrington
Framing A Texas Bill Of Rights Argument., James C. Harrington
St. Mary's Law Journal
As federal courts have allowed individual rights to diminish, the Texas judiciary nurtures state constitutional jurisprudence. Texas has a unique history requiring special care in approaching the construction and presentation of arguments utilizing the Texas Constitution or Texas Bill of Rights. The state constitution evolved over six revisions resulting with the eventual ratification of the final version in 1876. A confluence of goals ultimately resulted in a document where the bill of rights appears in Article I and by specifically framing individual liberties as affirmative rights rather than restrictions of government power. Four modes of interpretation are typically employed when …
Congressional Reform: Can Term Limitations Close The Door On Political Careerism., Julia C. Wommack
Congressional Reform: Can Term Limitations Close The Door On Political Careerism., Julia C. Wommack
St. Mary's Law Journal
Addressing Congressional woes requires reform. Entrenched incumbency is a detriment to the legislative system. Although the enactment of initiatives restricting Congressional terms limits signal voters agree, better alternatives exist. The only prerequisites found in the Constitution for serving in Congress are age, residency, and citizenship. While the twenty-second amendment proscribes the presidential office limit maximum as two terms, no such limitations exist for a congressman or congresswoman. Sitting incumbents have substantial advantages over their challengers. Incumbents success ratio exceeds 80% in Senate races and is approximately 90% for elections in the House of Representatives. Congressional term limitations attempt to eliminate …
A Synopsis Of The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act., William S. Sessions, Faye M. Bracey
A Synopsis Of The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act., William S. Sessions, Faye M. Bracey
St. Mary's Law Journal
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (Act) was passed by the United States Congress on September 7, 1974. The Act amended the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA) which had been virtually unchanged since its enactment in 1938. The Act sets up a procedural framework for the treatment of minors who are within the jurisdictional reach of a federal court due to the commission of an act which contradicts a federal criminal statute. With a thorough understanding of the original FJDA and its amendments, benefits, required procedures, and a juvenile’s constitutional rights, counsel for a juvenile offender in …