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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Culture Of Misdemeanor Courts, Jessica A. Roth
The Culture Of Misdemeanor Courts, Jessica A. Roth
Articles
The misdemeanor courts that preside over the majority of criminal cases in the United States represent the “front porch” of our criminal justice system. These courts vary in myriad ways, including size, structure, and method of judicial appointment. Each also has its own culture – i.e., a settled way of doing things that reflects deeper assumptions about the court’s mission and its role in the community – which can assist or impede desired policy reforms. This Article, written for a Symposium issue of the Hofstra Law Review, draws upon the insights of organizational culture theory to explore how leaders can …
Four Reforms For The Twenty-First Century, Barry C. Scheck
Four Reforms For The Twenty-First Century, Barry C. Scheck
Articles
What follows are my top four suggestions for judicial action and advocacy that can result in urgently needed and readily achievable reforms. Ass the American Judicature Society and its members consider their agenda and mission for the coming years, each of these issues deserves their support.
Alternative Elements, Jessica A. Roth
Alternative Elements, Jessica A. Roth
Articles
The U.S. Constitution provides a criminal defendant with a right to trial by jury, and most states and the federal government require criminal juries to agree unanimously before a defendant may be convicted. But what exactly must a jury agree upon unanimously? Well-established doctrine, pursuant to In re Winship, provides that the jury must agree that the prosecution has proven every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet what the elements of any given offense are is not as clear as one might expect. Frequently, criminal statutes—especially federal statutes—describe an array of prohibited conduct, leaving ambiguous whether …
Solving The Apprendi Puzzle, Kyron Huigens
Towards Neutral Principles In The Administration Of Criminal Justice: A Critique Of Supreme Court Decisions Sanctioning The Plea Bargaining Process, Malvina Halberstam
Towards Neutral Principles In The Administration Of Criminal Justice: A Critique Of Supreme Court Decisions Sanctioning The Plea Bargaining Process, Malvina Halberstam
Articles
This article compares the Court's reasoning in plea bargaining cases with its reasoning in non-plea-bargaining cases that involve the same legal principles. It analyzes the Court's arguments for sustaining guilty pleas induced by fear of the death penalty or by promises of leniency, and for sanctioning the imposition of harsher penalties on those who reject prosecutional offers to plead and insist on a trial. Finally, it briefly addresses the contention that the system for the administration of criminal justice in the United States could not function if use of a sentencing differential to induce guilty pleas were prohibited.