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Full-Text Articles in Law
Turning A Blind Eye To Misleading Scientific Testimony: Failure Of Procedural Safeguards In A Capital Case, William C. Thompson
Turning A Blind Eye To Misleading Scientific Testimony: Failure Of Procedural Safeguards In A Capital Case, William C. Thompson
ExpressO
In September 1999, Robin Lovitt was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a pool hall manager in Arlington, Virginia. The DNA evidence that was a key part of the government’s case was presented in a misleading and unfair manner. In this case study, we first examine the way in which DNA evidence was misused. We then discuss the failure of the legal system at all levels to recognize and remedy this problem. Our goal is to explain how a system that supposedly leaves no stone unturned in capital trials managed to miss or ignore a crucial problem …
No Due Process: How The Death Penalty Violates The Constitutional Rights Of The Family Members Of Death Row Prisoners, Rachel C. King
No Due Process: How The Death Penalty Violates The Constitutional Rights Of The Family Members Of Death Row Prisoners, Rachel C. King
ExpressO
The article makes the case for a novel theory that the death penalty violates the constitutional rights of the family members of death row prisoners. First, the article establishes that Americans are entitled to a fundamental “right to family,” based on a long history of Supreme Court jurisprudence that has established substantive due process rights such as the right to marry, to use contraceptives, to have children, to make educational decisions for children, and decisions about how to configure ones’ household. Next, the article makes the case that the death penalty interferes with the constitutional right to family by harming …
Christ, Christians & Capital Punishment, Mark Osler
Christ, Christians & Capital Punishment, Mark Osler
ExpressO
Last year, I came to a startling conclusion: That the debate over the death penalty in the United States is largely among Christians, but has ignored the capital sentencing which is at the center of that faith. The result of this epiphany is Christ, Christians & Capital Punishment.
In this article, I argue that the story of Christ parallels modern capital practice in many respects: Christ was turned in by a paid informant (Judas), arrested in a strategic manner, given an arraignment and stood mute, was tried, convicted and sentenced, appealed to two separate sovereigns, and finally was denied a …