Law Commons^™

A Miscarriage Of Justice In Massachusetts: Eyewitness Identification Procedures, Unrecorded Admissions, And A Comparison With English Law, Stanley Z. Fisher, Ian K. Mckenzie

Faculty Scholarship

Like many other states, Massachusetts has recently known a number of acknowledged miscarriages of justice. This article examines one of them, the Marvin Mitchell case, in order to ask two questions: "What went wrong?" and "What systemic reforms might have prevented this injustice?" In seeking ideas for reform, we look to English law.

In 1990 Marvin Mitchell was convicted of rape in Massachusetts. Seven years later he became the first Massachusetts prisoner to be exonerated by DNA testing. In this article we describe the two key factors leading to Mitchell's wrongful conviction: faulty eyewitness identification procedures, and inadequate safeguards surrounding …

Should The Model Penal Code's Mens Rea Provisions Be Amended?, Kenneth Simons

Faculty Scholarship

The Model Penal Code approach to mens rea was a tremendous advance. The MPC carefully defines a limited number of mens rea terms, firmly establishes element analysis in place of offense analysis, and recognizes that the doctrine of mistake is part and parcel of the basic analysis of mens rea.

However, a revised Code could improve the drafting of the mens rea provisions in a number of respects:

* Clarify how to distinguish result, circumstance, and result elements

* Simplify the definitions of knowledge and purpose

* Perhaps eliminate the category of mens rea as to conduct

* Clarify the …

Towards A Legal History Of American Criminal Theory: Culture And Doctrine From Blackstone To The Model Penal Code, Gerald F. Leonard

Faculty Scholarship

Many writers in recent decades have objected to the utilitarian aspects of substantive criminal law that cannot be squared with modern, retributivist versions of criminal justice. One particular target of the retributivists has been the use of strict liability, especially as it is applied in statutory rape cases. This article is an effort, not to take sides between utilitarians and retributivists, but to historicize the ideas and assumptions on all sides of the debates in criminal law, including the debate about strict liability in statutory rape.

Discovering very little historical work on the subject, I offer the first general intellectual …