Law Commons^™

The Georgia Death Penalty Habeas Corpus Reform Act Of 1995, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Scholarly Works

On April 10, 1995, Gov. Zell Miller signed into law Georgia's Death Penalty Habeas Corpus Reform Act of 1995. The Act is premised upon the following findings and determinations of the General Assembly: that through direct appeal, sentence review, and habeas corpus the state now provides persons sentenced to death "adequate opportunities" to assert their constitutional rights; that habeas corpus proceedings should not be used by persons sentenced to death "solely as a delaying tactic under the guise of asserting rights;" and that "strict compliance" with habeas corpus procedures "will prevent the waste of limited resources and will eliminate unnecessary …

Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions: Admitting Out-Of-Court Statements Of Child Victims And Witnesses In Louisana, Charles W. Ehrhardt, Ryon M. Mccabe

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

How Juries Decide Death: The Contributions Of The Capital Jury Project, Valerie P. Hans

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In 1988 I concluded a review of what was then known about capital jury decision-making with the following observations: “[T]he penalty phase presents significant incongruities. The jurors are charged with representing the community's judgment, yet the voir dire and challenge processes have eliminated significant segments of the public from the jury. Jurors have been influenced by preceding events during voir dire questioning and the trial in pivotal ways, yet they are instructed to focus only on aggravating and mitigating evidence. They are told to ignore their emotions in perhaps one of the most emotionally charged decisions they will ever make, …

The "Burden" Of Proof In Federal Habeas Litigation, J. Thomas Sullivan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

No Magic Formula: A New Approach For Calculating The Ten Year Time Period For Admission Of Prior Conviction Evidence, Amy E. Sloan

All Faculty Scholarship

Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 609 governs admission of prior conviction evidence. Under this rule, it is easier to admit evidence of a prior conviction that is less than ten years old than to admit evidence of older convictions. The ten year period is measured from the later of either the date of conviction or the date of release from confinement.

Calculating the ten year period is fairly straightforward in most cases but becomes confusing when the witness has been confined for violating the terms of probation, parole, or some other period of conditional release. Does the confinement for violation …

The Federal Rules Of Evidence--Past, Present, And Future: A Twenty-Year Perspective, Faust Rossi

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Essay surveys three major transformations in state and federal rules of evidence since the introduction of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Rules have not only inspired a movement toward codification in the states, they have also liberalized the admission of expert testimony and hearsay. This partially explains thirteen states' reluctance to codify. Judges have furthered this trend by admitting far more discretionary hearsay evidence than Congress intended. Professor Rossi doubts this expansion of the hearsay exceptions would have occurred without the adoption of the FRE and suggests that the newly formed Advisory Committee will produce greater substantive changes …

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 …

On The 'Fruits' Of Miranda Violations, Coerced Confessions, And Compelled Testimony, Yale Kamisar

Articles

Professor Akhil Reed Amar and Ms. Renee B. Lettow have written a lively, provocative article that will keep many of us who teach constitutional-criminal procedure busy for years to come. They present a reconception of the "first principles" of the Fifth Amendment, and they suggest a dramatic reconstruction of criminal procedure. As a part of that reconstruction, they propose, inter alia, that at a pretrial hearing presided over by a judicial officer, the government should be empowered to compel a suspect, under penalty of contempt, to provide links in the chain of evidence needed to convict him.

Epilogue: Making Reconceptualization Of Violence Against Women Real, Elizabeth M. Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Proportionality In Non-Capital Sentencing: The Supreme Court's Tortured Approach To Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Steven P. Grossman

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the Supreme Court's treatment of the Eighth Amendment with respect to claims of excessive prison sentences. Specifically, it addresses the issue of whether and to what degree the Eighth Amendment requires that a punishment not be disproportionate to the crime. In analyzing all of the modern holdings of the Court in this area, this Article finds significant fault with each. The result of this series of flawed opinions from the Supreme Court is that the state of the law with respect to proportionality in sentencing is confused, and what law can be discerned rests on weak foundations. …

Introduction, Mary Kay Kane

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Probability And Proof In State V. Skipper: An Internet Exchange, Roger C. Park, Ronald J. Allen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Let's Try A Small Claims Calendar For The U.S. Courts, William W. Schwarzer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Feminism And The False Dichotomy Of Victimization And Agency, Elizabeth M. Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Fourth Amendment Protection Against Unreasonable Searches And Seizures And The French Experience, Florence Sophie Boreil

LLM Theses and Essays

Under the American approach to criminal justice, freedom of the individual is of the utmost importance. The American criminal justice system reflects a distrust of abuse of power and an emphasis on protection of personal freedom. However, the French take a contrary approach; under French law, freedom is achieved through the State. This paper examines the protection of individuals’ rights in American and French criminal procedure. Focus will be given to tracking the police investigatory powers in each country through searches and seizures, and the impact that those powers have on individuals’ rights. This paper will assert that the police …

Waiver Of The Right To Appeal, Robert K. Calhoun

Publications

This Article explores the legal and constitutional issues raised by appeal waivers. Section I analyzes the current state of the case law. Section II explores the due process challenge to appeal waivers, and concludes that such a challenge would be difficult to sustain given the current state of due process law. It, nonetheless, goes on to suggest that a key premise of due process theory as it relates to plea bargaining- the presumed equality of bargaining power between the prosecution and the defense-may be ripe for challenge. Section ill discusses the public policy arguments for and against appeal waivers, and …

In Defense Of Three-Strikes: Analyzing The Impact Of California's 1994 Anti-Crime Measures, Republican Office Of Asdsembly Research

California Assembly

No abstract provided.

Lessons From Reforming Inquisitorial Systems, William T. Pizzi

Publications

No abstract provided.

Changing Notions Of State Agency In International Law: The Case Of Paul Touvier, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Definition Of Hearsay: To Each Its Own, Roger C. Park

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Crime Bill Of 1994 And The Law Of Character Evidence: Congress Was Right About Consent Defense Cases, Roger C. Park

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Rape Law Pedagogy, Kate Bloch

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Myths And Principles Of Federalization, Rory K. Little

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Youth Justice In A Unified Court: Response To Critics Of Juvenile Court Abolition, Janet Ainsworth

Faculty Articles

In this article, Professor Ainsworth argues that a unified criminal justice system is preferable to our present two-tiered adult-juvenile court system. In fact, she contends that the cultural and ideological assumptions that underpin the current two-tiered justice system not only engender many of the serious shortcomings of the juvenile justice system, but also serve to exacerbate the very policies and practices of the adult criminal justice system that make it so abhorrent to defenders of the juvenile court. Critics of juvenile court abolitionists thus miss the point when they argue that juveniles would be worse off than they are at …

Avoiding Error In Closing Argument, H. Patrick Furman

Publications

No abstract provided.

Incoming Drug Calls And Performative Words: They're Not Just Talking About It, Baron Parke!, Christopher B. Mueller

Publications

No abstract provided.

Asymmetrical Peremptories Defended: A Reply, Richard D. Friedman

Articles

Three years ago, with the publication of his article ''An Asymmetrical Approach to the Problem of Peremptories" in this journal, Professor Friedman initiated a debate on the subject that was taken up in 1994 by three prosecutors who offered a rebuttal that was also printed in these pages. Professor Friedman continues the debate.

Multiple Punishment For Similar Crimes: Is The Double Jeopardy Clause Violated?, Jimmy Gurule

Journal Articles

Criminal defendants often are charged and convicted of multiple offenses. And often one offense is a lesser included offense of another, which means that proving one offense proves the other. If the offender is sentenced for both crimes, is the prohibition against double jeopardy violated? That is the question the Supreme Court addresses in this drug trafficking case, a case in which two concurrent life imprisonment sentences were imposed for virtually the same conduct.

Portioning Punishment: Constitutional Limits On Successive And Excessive Penalties, Nancy J. King

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

There has been a remarkable increase during the last decade in the imposition of overlapping civil, administrative, and criminal sanctions for the same misconduct, as well as a steady rise in the severity of those sanctions. In response, defendants have balked, arguing that legislators and the juries, judges, prosecutors, and regulators who apply legislatively authorized sanctions have overstepped the bounds of punishment permitted by the Constitution. Claiming that their penalties violate the Double Jeopardy, Due Process, Excessive Fines, and Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clauses in the Bill of Rights, civil and criminal defendants are prompting courts to reevaluate constitutional limits …

Psychiatric Defenses In Arkansas Criminal Trials, J. Thomas Sullivan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.