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Full-Text Articles in Law
Proportionality And Prosecutorial Discretion: Challenges To The Constitutionality Of Georgia’S Death Penalty Laws And Procedures Amidst The Deficiencies Of The State’S Mandatory Appellate Review Structure, Kristen M. Nugent
Kristen Nugent
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent denial of certiorari in Walker v. Georgia—in which Justice Stevens and Justice Thomas expressed sharply divergent interpretations of the Court’s precedent regarding the importance of a thorough proportionality review to Georgia’s capital sentencing scheme—the Court seems poised to reexamine the constitutional implications of Georgia’s death penalty statute and the manner in which it is implemented. In anticipation of such an analysis, and in order to advocate that the U.S. Supreme Court clarify its position in a way that aligns with its longstanding tradition of requiring moderation in the infliction of death, this article dissects …
Killing Capital Punishment In New Jersey: The First State In Modern History To Repeal Its Death Penalty Statute, Robert Martin
Killing Capital Punishment In New Jersey: The First State In Modern History To Repeal Its Death Penalty Statute, Robert Martin
Robert J. Martin
This article examines how opponents of the death penalty were successful in lobbying and eventually achieving statutory repeal of New Jersey’s death penalty statute in December 2007. The primary goal of the article is to offer inspiration and guidance for similar efforts in the thirty-five states that still authorize capital punishment. In reviewing lessons learned from New Jersey, the article demonstrates that abolition proved both difficult and doubtful. Led by a small group of organizers and sympathetic legislators, the advocates of abolition faced multiple challenges. The article focuses special attention on their key strategic decisions: pursuit of both legislation and …
“Why Rebottle The Genie?”: Capitalizing On Closure In Death Penalty Proceedings, Jody L. Madeira
“Why Rebottle The Genie?”: Capitalizing On Closure In Death Penalty Proceedings, Jody L. Madeira
Jody L Madeira
Closure, though a term with great rhetorical force in the capital punishment context, has to date evaded systematic analysis, instead becoming embroiled in ideological controversy. For victims who have rubbed the rights lamp for years, inclusion in capital proceedings and accompanying closure opportunities are perceived as a force with the potential to grant wishes of peace and finality. Scholars, however, argue for rebottling the closure genie lest closure itself prove false or its pursuit violate a defendant’s constitutional rights. In order to effectively appraise the relationship of closure to criminal jurisprudence, however, and thus to decide whether and to what …
Fact Suppression And The Subversion Of Capital Punishment: What Death Penalty Foes On The Supreme Court And In The Media Do Not Want The Public To Know, Lester --- Jackson
Fact Suppression And The Subversion Of Capital Punishment: What Death Penalty Foes On The Supreme Court And In The Media Do Not Want The Public To Know, Lester --- Jackson
LESTER JACKSON
The U.S. Supreme Court and other courts, aided by the media in suppressing critical information about case facts and case law, have all but abolished capital punishment, turning what's left into a costly and agonizing farce. While pretending to superlative morality, dishonesty, especially half-truth, is central to their cause. An egregious example was Roger Coleman, widely but with knowing falsity portrayed as a choir boy executed because heartless judges impatiently refused to hear evidence of his innocence. Going further, in myriad cases, death sentences are reversed or banned when guilt is not even disputed. This is achieved by focusing upon …
Kennedy And The Tail Of Minos, Richard Broughton
Kennedy And The Tail Of Minos, Richard Broughton
Richard Broughton
In Dante’s Inferno, the damned appeared before Minos, who judged the gravity of their sins and assigned their souls to their respective circles of Hell by wrapping his tail around his body. In this paper, I examine whether, in light of its decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana and its methodology for reviewing categorical exemptions from the death penalty, the Supreme Court has problematically assumed for itself the role of a kind of contemporary constitutional Minos, at least in the realm of capital punishment. First, I argue, Kennedy is a case about comparative resulting harms among violent crimes. The Kennedy dissent …
Killing Capital Punishment In New Jersey: The First State In Modern History To Repeal Its Death Penalty Statute., Robert J. Martin
Killing Capital Punishment In New Jersey: The First State In Modern History To Repeal Its Death Penalty Statute., Robert J. Martin
Robert J. Martin
This article examines how opponents of the death penalty were successful in lobbying and eventually achieving statutory repeal of New Jersey’s death penalty statute in December 2007. The primary goal of the article is to offer inspiration and guidance for similar efforts in the thirty-five states that still authorize capital punishment. In reviewing lessons learned from New Jersey, the article demonstrates that abolition proved both difficult and doubtful. Led by a small group of organizers and sympathetic legislators, the advocates of abolition faced multiple challenges. The article focuses special attention on their key strategic decisions: pursuit of both legislation and …