Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Criminal Law (2)
- Criminal Procedure (2)
- Criminology (2)
- Criminology and Criminal Justice (2)
- Legal Studies (2)
-
- Public Law and Legal Theory (2)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (2)
- Sociology (2)
- Constitutional Law (1)
- Courts (1)
- Dispute Resolution and Arbitration (1)
- Inequality and Stratification (1)
- Law Enforcement and Corrections (1)
- Law and Society (1)
- Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration (1)
- Public Policy (1)
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Law
Incompetent Plea Bargaining And Extrajudicial Reforms, Stephanos Bibas
Incompetent Plea Bargaining And Extrajudicial Reforms, Stephanos Bibas
All Faculty Scholarship
Last year, in Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye, a five-to-four majority of the Supreme Court held that incompetent lawyering that causes a defendant to reject a plea offer can constitute deficient performance, and the resulting loss of a favorable plea bargain can constitute cognizable prejudice, under the Sixth Amendment. This commentary, published as part of the Harvard Law Review’s Supreme Court issue, analyzes both decisions. The majority and dissenting opinions almost talked past each other, reaching starkly different conclusions because they started from opposing premises: contemporary and pragmatic versus historical and formalist. Belatedly, the Court noticed …
Life Without Parole Under Modern Theories Of Punishment, Paul H. Robinson
Life Without Parole Under Modern Theories Of Punishment, Paul H. Robinson
All Faculty Scholarship
Life without parole seems an attractive and logical punishment under the modern coercive crime-control principles of general deterrence and incapacitation, a point reinforced by its common use under habitual offender statutes like "three strikes." Yet, there is increasing evidence to doubt the efficacy of using such principles to distributive punishment. The prerequisite conditions for effective general deterrence are the exception rather than the rule. Moreover, effective and fair preventive detention is difficult when attempted through the criminal justice system. If we really are committed to preventive detention, it is better for both society and potential detainees that it be done …
The Machinery Of Criminal Justice, Stephanos Bibas
The Machinery Of Criminal Justice, Stephanos Bibas
All Faculty Scholarship
Two centuries ago, the American criminal justice was run primarily by laymen. Jury trials passed moral judgment on crimes, vindicated victims and innocent defendants, and denounced the guilty. But over the last two centuries, lawyers have taken over the process, silencing victims and defendants and, in many cases, substituting a plea-bargaining system for the voice of the jury. The public sees little of how this assembly-line justice works, and victims and defendants have largely lost their day in court. As a result, victims rarely hear defendants express remorse and apologize, and defendants rarely receive forgiveness. This lawyerized machinery has purchased …