Law Commons^™

Criminal Law, Franklin J. Hogue, Laura D. Hogue

Mercer Law Review

The Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court produce a prodigious number of opinions in criminal cases every year. We reviewed 940 cases for this reporting period. We refrained from straying outside the reporting period, even though one recent case of significance tempted us greatly. Look for it in next year's review. We are trial lawyers, so we organized this article in roughly the order in which issues may arise in the average case. If no opinions of note came out of the appellate courts in a given area of law, such as in the area of bonds and pretrial …

Federal Sentencing Guidelines, James T. Skuthan, Rosemary T. Cakmis

Mercer Law Review

The Eleventh Circuit decided several cases this past year covering a broad range of United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G.") issues. Two areas of particular concern were firearms and departures.

Due to the 1995 Supreme Court decision in Bailey v. United States, several defendants had their firearm convictions vacated and were resentenced. Thus, the Eleventh Circuit in 1998 was faced with reviewing these resentencings to determine the applicability of guideline enhancements for firearms.

The court also decided several cases relating to downward departures based on cultural differences, a defendant's impulse control disorder, the over-representation of a career offender's prior record, …

The Calling Of Criminal Defense, Abbe Smith, William Montross

Mercer Law Review

INTRODUCTION: A HOSTILE CLIMATE FOR CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS AND OUR CLIENTS

Criminal defense work is an increasingly difficult undertaking in these harsh times. Blame is a favorite pastime. Vengeance follows close behind. Compassion for those who commit wrongdoing out of misfortune seems either nostalgic or naive. Instead, there is a universal call for individual accountability; wrongdoers ought to be held strictly responsible for their actions, no matter the circumstance.

Along with blame and vengeance comes a lust for punishment. The public cannot seem to get enough of it. The United States is building prisons at a record pace. If the …

Blackmail From A To Z: A Reply To Joseph Isenbergh's "Blackmail From A To C", Walker Block, Robert W. Mcgee

Mercer Law Review

The long and the short of blackmail is that it consists of two acts, each of which, were they to occur alone, would be considered legal by everyone. Yet somehow, when these elements occur together, virtually all commentators who have ever written on the subject consider the complex act consisting of both elements to be unlawful. There is only a corporal's guard that demurs. Is the mainstream view due perhaps to some sort of alchemy? How else can two legal "rights" be rendered a "wrong" when they take place in tandem?

Let us consider the specifics. Which two acts together …