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Testing Lay Intuitions Of Justice: How And Why?, Paul H. Robinson May 2000

Testing Lay Intuitions Of Justice: How And Why?, Paul H. Robinson

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When John Darley and I wrote Justice, Liability, and Blame: Community Views and the Criminal Law, our goal was not to provide the definitive account of lay intuitions of justice but rather to stimulate interest in what we saw as an important but long-term project that would require the work of many people. Having this American Association of Law Schools program is itself something toward that end and for that we thank Christopher Slobogin and Cheryl Hanna. In this brief introduction to the Symposium, let me set the stage by doing four things. Part I of this Article summarizes the …


Some Doubts About Argument By Hypothetical, Paul H. Robinson May 2000

Some Doubts About Argument By Hypothetical, Paul H. Robinson

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In his paper, Why the Successful Assassin Is More Wicked than the Unsuccessful One, Leo Katz "pick[s] up the gauntlet [Sandy] Kadish throws down" to offer a nonconsequentialist justification for giving significance to resulting harm and, in particular, to justify the common practice of punishing attempts less than the completed offense. In one sense, I may not be the ideal person to serve as critic. I am not one of those who, like Kadish and others, does not believe in the significance of resulting harm in assessing blameworthiness (people whom Katz calls the "luck- skeptics" but to whom I will …


The Inefficiency Of Mens Rea, Claire Oakes Finkelstein Jan 2000

The Inefficiency Of Mens Rea, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

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No abstract provided.


Rationality And Responsibility, Stephen J. Morse Jan 2000

Rationality And Responsibility, Stephen J. Morse

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No abstract provided.


Positivism And The Notion Of An Offense, Claire Oakes Finkelstein Jan 2000

Positivism And The Notion Of An Offense, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

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While the United States Supreme Court has developed an elaborate constitutional jurisprudence of criminal procedure, it has articulated few constitutional doctrines of the substantive criminal law. The asymmetry between substance and procedure seems natural given the demise of Lochner and the minimalist stance towards due process outside the area of fundamental rights. This Article, however, argues that the "positivistic" approach to defining criminal offenses stands in some tension with other basic principles, both constitutional and moral. In particular, two important constitutional guarantees depend on the notion of an offense: the presumption of innocence and the ban on double jeopardy. Under …


Creating And Solving The Problem Of Drug Use During Pregnancy, Dorothy E. Roberts Jan 2000

Creating And Solving The Problem Of Drug Use During Pregnancy, Dorothy E. Roberts

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No abstract provided.


Structuring Criminal Codes To Perform Their Function, Paul H. Robinson Jan 2000

Structuring Criminal Codes To Perform Their Function, Paul H. Robinson

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This paper argues that criminal codes have two distinct functions. First, a code must ex ante announce the rules of conduct. Second, it must set out the principles of for adjudicating, ex post, violations of those rules. These two functions often are in tension with one another. Each calls for a different kind of code, addressed to a different audience, with different objectives: To be effective ex ante, the rules of conduct must be formulated in a way that they will be understood, remembered, and able to be applied in daily life by lay persons with a wide range of …


Is America A Systematic Violator Of Human Rights In The Administration Of Criminal Justice?, Stephen C. Thaman Jan 2000

Is America A Systematic Violator Of Human Rights In The Administration Of Criminal Justice?, Stephen C. Thaman

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This article focuses on vast American violations of human rights in the administration of criminal justice. It traces the development of these rights in the context of the two most pernicious human rights violations plaguing the United States: the death penalty and racism in the enforcement of criminal laws. The author calls attention to the politicization of the American justice system and its devastatingly negative impact on America’s preservation of human rights.


The Separation Of Questions Of Law And Fact In The New Russian And Spanish Jury Verdicts, Stephen C. Thaman Jan 2000

The Separation Of Questions Of Law And Fact In The New Russian And Spanish Jury Verdicts, Stephen C. Thaman

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This article discusses the division of labor between the judge and the jury in rendering judgment, and the separation of law and fact historically and currently, focusing on Spain and Russia. Both Russia and Spain rejected the Anglo-American general verdict of “guilty” or “not-guilty” in favor of a list of questions or propositions presented to the jury during their criminal procedure reforms of the 1990’s. This article also delves into the jury deliberation, verdict, and judgment process of the two countries.


Privatizing Regulation: Whistleblowing And Bounty Hunting In The Financial Services Industries, Henry Ordower, James Fisher, Ellen F. Harshman, William B. Gillespie, Leland Ware, Fred C. Yeager Jan 2000

Privatizing Regulation: Whistleblowing And Bounty Hunting In The Financial Services Industries, Henry Ordower, James Fisher, Ellen F. Harshman, William B. Gillespie, Leland Ware, Fred C. Yeager

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Addresses use of whistleblowers and suggests private enforcement methodologies to supplement or supplant public enforcement activities in financial services under new law.


Why Does The Criminal Law Care What The Layperson Thinks Is Just? Coercive Versus Normative Crime Control, Paul H. Robinson Jan 2000

Why Does The Criminal Law Care What The Layperson Thinks Is Just? Coercive Versus Normative Crime Control, Paul H. Robinson

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THE criminal law codification movement of the 1960s and 70s was guided by instrumentalist principles designed to reduce crime, rather than by retributivist notions of giving offenders deserved punishment. The Model Penal Code, which served as a model for nearly all of the period's code reforms, was explicit on the point: The Code's "dominant theme is the prevention of offenses" and its "major goal is to forbid and prevent conduct that threatens substantial harm." Yet, as Part I of this Article will show, even from such a staunchly instrumentalist code came a criminal law that defers to laypersons' shared intuitions …


Why The Successful Assassin Is More Wicked Than The Unseccessful One, Leo Katz Jan 2000

Why The Successful Assassin Is More Wicked Than The Unseccessful One, Leo Katz

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No abstract provided.


The Five Worst (And Five Best) American Criminal Codes, Paul H. Robinson, Michael T. Cahill, Usman Mohammad Jan 2000

The Five Worst (And Five Best) American Criminal Codes, Paul H. Robinson, Michael T. Cahill, Usman Mohammad

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Each American jurisdiction has a criminal code. Most jurisdictions have substantially restructured and improved their codes since 1962, when the American Law Institute first promulgated its Model Penal Code. Such reform efforts are worthwhile, especially in criminal law, because many advantages flow from the thoughtful codification of criminal law rules. By compiling all criminal rules in a single comprehensive source, codification makes access to these rules easier, increasing the chance that citizens will know what the criminal law commands. A codified rule has the advantage of increased precision, which is likely to increase the uniformity of its application. Uncodified rules--or, …


The Moral Metaphysics Of Causation And Results, Stephen J. Morse Jan 2000

The Moral Metaphysics Of Causation And Results, Stephen J. Morse

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No abstract provided.


When The Rule Swallows The Exception, Claire Oakes Finkelstein Jan 2000

When The Rule Swallows The Exception, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

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No abstract provided.