Law Commons^™

Illegal Stops And The Exclusionary Rule: The Consequences Of Utah V. Strieff, Emily Sack

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Riddle Of Harmless Error Revisited, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

Half a century ago, in Chapman v. California, the Supreme Court imposed on appellate courts an obligation to vacate or reverse criminal judgments marred by constitutional error unless the government demonstrates that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. But the Court did not explain the juridical status of this obligation or its relation to the federal harmless-error statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2111. In the intervening years, commentators have struggled to make sense of Chapman. Some see it as a constitutional mandate. Others view it as an example of constitutional common law. In THE RIDDLE OF HARMLESS ERROR, written …

Introduction To The Symposium On Child Witnesses In Sexual Abuse Cases, Carl T. Bogus

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Costs Of Abusing Probationary Sentences: Overincarceration And The Erosion Of Due Process, Andrew Horwitz

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Ivory Tower At Ground Zero: Conflict And Convergence In Legal Education's Responses To Terrorism, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Modeling The Effects Of Peremptory Challenges On Jury Selection And Jury Verdicts, Roger Allen Ford

Law Faculty Scholarship

Although proponents argue that peremptory challenges make juries more impartial by eliminating “extreme” jurors, studies testing this theory are rare and inconclusive. For this article, two formal models of jury selection are constructed, and various selection procedures are tested, assuming that attorneys act rationally rather than discriminate based on animus. The models demonstrate that even when used rationally, peremptory challenges can distort jury decision making and undermine verdict reliability. Peremptory challenges systematically shift jurors toward the majority view of the population by favoring median jurors over extreme jurors. If the population of potential jurors is skewed in favor of conviction …

Prosecutors' New Ethical Duty Relating To Wrongful Convictions, Niki Kuckes

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Federal Sentencing Policy: Learning Lessons From Republican Judicial Appointees In The Guidelines Era, David M. Zlotnick

Law Faculty Scholarship

In the two years since the landmark Booker decision, federal sentencing policy has been in a state of suspended animation. This Article urges federal sentencing reform advocates to look to an unlikely source for realistic goals and ideological support --the experiences of Republican judicial appointees in the Guidelines Era. Its findings are based upon a long-term research project into cases in which Republican appointees stated their disagreement with the sentences required by law from the bench. The Article discusses the primary product of my research, forty comprehensive case profiles and their policy implications. Specifically, the Article demonstrates how the lessons …

Civil Due Process, Criminal Due Process, Niki Kuckes

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Democratic Prosecutor: Explaining The Constitutional Function Of The Federal Grand Jury, Niki Kuckes

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Beyond Absolutism: Legal Institutions In The War On Terror, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Police Prosecution In Rhode Island: The Unauthorized Practice Of Law, Andrew Horwitz, John R. Grasso

Law Faculty Scholarship

Every day in Rhode Island, police officers are practicing law without a license in both the District Court and the Traffic Tribunal. They do so with the full stamp of approval of the judges before whom they appear, despite the fact that the unauthorized practice of law is a crime in Rhode Island, as it is in every other state in the country. While one can certainly speculate about reasons why this practice has developed, there is nothing in any published decision of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island or in any state statute that appears to permit or justify …

Mixed Signals And Subtle Cues: Jury Independence And Judicial Appointment Of The Jury Foreperson, Andrew Horwitz

Law Faculty Scholarship

Imagine that you are falsely accused of a serious crime and that you are now on trial before a judge and jury. You knew before the trial began that the judge had a reputation as a “law and order” judge, as a judge who was not at all receptive to the arguments of most criminal defense attorneys. You have been watching as the judge and your attorney have been engaged in what appears to be an adversarial battle throughout the trial, but you have taken some comfort in the fact that it will be the jury, not the judge, who …

Above Contempt?: Regulating Government Overreaching In Terrorism Cases, Peter Margulies

Law Faculty Scholarship

Prosecutors face the continual temptation to overreach in decisions about the control of information. At each phase of a criminal proceeding, from investigation through trial, prosecutors make crucial decisions about information to disclose and highlight with courts, juries, and the public. In ordinary times, courts, defense counsel, the media, and internal sources of oversight can place some constraints, however tenuous, on the prosecutor’s efforts to monopolize the management of information. However, external events, such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, can weaken these constraints, producing alarming spikes in prosecutorial power.

The Right To Counsel In Criminal Cases: The Law And The Reality In Rhode Island District Court, Andrew Horwitz

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Shouting Into The Wind: District Court Judges And Federal Sentencing Policy, David M. Zlotnick

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Justice In Rhode Island: Edson Toro And Procedural Default, Larry J. Ritchie

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Prior Convictions After Apprendi, Colleen P. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Useful, Dangerous Fiction Of Grand Jury Independence, Niki Kuckes

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Delusions Of Grand Juries, Niki Kuckes

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Coercion, Pop-Psychology, And Judicial Moralizing: Some Proposals For Curbing Judicial Abuse Of Probation Conditions, Andrew Horwitz

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Taking The Cop Out Of Copping A Plea: Eradicating Police Prosecution Of Criminal Cases, Andrew Horwitz

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Tenth Circuit: Playing By The Rules, Keith M. Harrison

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "In 1994, the Tenth Circuit published more than four dozen opinions construing the guidelines and joined the majority of circuits in adopting the "One- Book" rule. The Court continued to refrain from interfering with the exercise of discretion by district judges, but made clear that it does not give district courts carte blanche.

Four issues in decisions covered in this review are the retroactive application of amendments to the guidelines; the standards used in characterizing a defendant as a major or minor player for purposes of increasing or decreasing the sentence; the impact of post-arrest efforts at rehabilitation on …

Spelling Guilt Out Of A Record? Harmless Error Review Of Conclusive Mandatory Presumptions And Elemental Misdescriptions, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this Article summarizes the history of harmless-error review. Part II explains more fully the constitutional infirmities generated by conclusive mandatory presumptions and elemental misdescriptions, and demonstrates that the unique nature of these infirmities complicates the question of how courts should review them for harmlessness. It also examines the Supreme Court's attempts to answer the questions of whether, and how, conclusive mandatory presumptions and elemental misdescriptions should be reviewed for harmlessness. In so doing, it focuses particularly on how these attempts have been undermined by the Court's failure to take account of the structural rights undermined by these …

Be All You Can Be (Without The Protection Of The Constitution), Keith M. Harrison

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] “Despite the generous inclusion by President Reagan of the many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the concept of "the people" of this republic, it is not altogether dear whether one whose status has changed from ordinary "citizen" to "a member of the armed forces" can legitimately claim any of the constitutional protections of citizenship until he or she is no longer a member of the armed forces. In the course of this nation's history the Supreme Court has denied some or all of the protection of the Constitution to many groups of people, including African-Americans, 2 women,3 Native …