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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Scientific Shortcomings Of Roper V. Simmons, Deborah W. Denno
The Scientific Shortcomings Of Roper V. Simmons, Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
This Article contends that some of the case law and social science research that form the basis for the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roper v. Simmons are insufficient and outdated. The Court also relies heavily upon briefs submitted by the respondent and his amici, in lieu of providing more pertinent citations and analysis that could have enhanced and modernized the Court's arguments. The sparse and sometimes archaic sources for Roper potentially limit the opinion's precedential value. For example, the Court cites Erik Erikson's 1968 book, Identity: Youth and Crisis, to support the view that, relative to adults, juveniles …
Continued Vitality Of Structured Sentencing Following Blakely: The Effectiveness Of Voluntary Guidelines, The , John F. Pfaff
Continued Vitality Of Structured Sentencing Following Blakely: The Effectiveness Of Voluntary Guidelines, The , John F. Pfaff
Faculty Scholarship
In two recent opinions, Blakely v. Washington and United States v. Booker, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively invalidated the binding nature of sentencing guidelines used by many states and the federal government over the past thirty years. Not surprisingly, numerous commentators have asserted that Blakely and Booker profoundly altered the nature of sentencing in the United States. But these claims have been made without any meaningful empirical consideration of whether viable alternatives exist. This Article fills that gap. It explores the extent to which voluntary, nonbinding criminal sentencing guidelines influence the sentencing behavior of state trial judges. In particular, it …
Vitality Of Voluntary Guidelines In The Wake Of Blakely V. Washington: An Empirical Assessment, The Articles On Guideline Operation Issues, John F. Pfaff
Faculty Scholarship
This Article explores the extent to which voluntary, non-binding criminal sentencing guidelines influence the sentencing behavior of state trial judges. In particular, it focuses on the ability of such guidelines to encourage judges to sentence consistently and to avoid improperly taking into account a defendant's race or sex. It also compares such guidelines to more-binding presumptive guidelines, which were recently found constitutionally impermissible in Blakely v. Washington. In general, the results indicate that voluntary guidelines are able to accomplish much, though not all, that presumptive guidelines were able to, especially with respect to sentence variation. For example, voluntary guidelines appear …
Teaching Reflective Lawyering In A Small Case Litigation Clinic: A Love Letter To My Clinic Papers Presented At The Ucla/Ials Conference On Enriching Clinical Education, Ian Weinstein
Faculty Scholarship
This article describes a live client, small case, teaching and learning centered, criminal defense clinic set in a high volume urban court. It offers concrete suggestions about how clinical educators can help students develop analytic and technical skills. The clinic model is conceived in three phases: giving students the opportunity to develop a contextualized understanding of the client; guiding students through strategic analysis and planning; and focusing students' litigation strategies on executing their tactical vision for their client. The article argues that this clinical setting structures the students' experiences so that they develop a complex and deeply moral lawyerly problem …