Law Commons^™

Rural Rhetoric, Lisa Pruitt

Lisa R Pruitt

This Article investigates law’s constitutive rhetoric about rural people, places, and livelihoods. Specifically, it considers five categories of judicial opinions that discuss the legal relevance of rurality: judicial self-identification as rural; definitions of rural; line-drawing between rural and urban; taking judicial notice of rural characteristics; and idealized portrayals of the rural. Viewed together, these clusters of opinions reveal a comprehensive – if not entirely coherent – judicial portrait of rurality. They also provide an overview of the many instances when a rural setting is relevant to a legal outcome. Implicated are issues of tort, property, criminal, and constitutional law, among …

The “Csi Effect”: Better Jurors Through Television And Science?, Michael Mann

Michael D. Mann

This Comment explores how television shows such as CSI and Law & Order have created heightened juror expectations in courtrooms across America. Surprise acquitals often have prosectors scratching their heads as jurors hold them to this new "Hollywood" standard. The Comment also analyzes the CSI phenomena by reflecting on past legal television shows that have influenced the public's perception of the legal profession and how the "CSI effect" has placed an even greater burden on parties to proffer some kind of forensic evidence at trial.

The Comment was published in volume 24 of the Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal (2006).

Defense Of Others And Defenseless "Others", Amy J. Sepinwall

Amy J. Sepinwall

Recent efforts at fetal protection transgress the nation's most fundamental political commitments. These efforts notably include the enactment of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA) in 2004 and, in 2002, a doctrinal development that presaged the potentially illiberal effects of the UVVA when a Michigan court recognized a woman's right to use deadly force to protect her fetus even as it denied her right to self-defense. This Article adopts a theory of political liberalism that can be traced from the Founders to contemporary political theorists, and argues that the UVVA, as well as the extension of defense of others …

Ontario (Attorney General) V. $29, 020 In Canadian Currency: A Comment On Proceeds Of Crime And Provincial Civil Forfeiture Laws, Michelle Gallant

Michelle Gallant

Many provinces are embracing a modern approach to crime control, an approach which uses civil proceedings, primarily a device known as forfeiture, to tackle criminal activity. The strategy targets the financial underpinnings of crime, the proceeds or the assets linked to illegal activity. It effectively gives the public actor the ability to use civil actions to recover financial resources tainted by criminality.

New to provincial law, this convergence of civil proceedings and crime, of civil forfeiture and the financial element of crime, invites obvious questions about the consistency of this approach with constitutional norms. On the jurisdictional front, there is …

Hate Crime Law And The Limits Of Inculpation, Janine Young Kim

Janine Kim

The Role Of Retributive Justice In The Common Law Of Torts: A Descriptive Theory, Ronen Perry

Ronen Perry

This article is the first academic attempt to explain in a systematic manner how the "third-form-of-justice", usually thought of as one of the theoretical foundations of criminal law, operates within the law of torts. Tort jurisprudence is definitely not the natural habitat for retributive concerns. Since retributive justice is technically inconsistent with the corrective structure of tort law its role is (and probably ought to be) very limited. The article first explains the notion of retributive justice and defends the view that it constitutes a third form of justice, distinct from the classical Aristotelian forms. It then rejects monistic retributive …

The Conviction Of Lynne Stewart And The Uncertain Future Of The Right To Defend, Tamar R. Birckhead

Tamar R Birckhead

At the heart of the attorney-client relationship lies the ability to communicate freely and without fear that someone is listening. Since 9/11, the government has passed regulations, such as the Special Administrative Measures ("SAMs"), that by virtue of their broad scope and lack of procedural safeguards have endangered this privilege, particularly for incarcerated criminal defendants. The recent conviction of attorney Lynne Stewart for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization has brought this issue to the forefront, as the prosecution relied upon government-monitored conversations between Stewart and her client, convicted terrorist Sheik Abdel Rahman, to prove its case against …

Parsing Personal Predilections: A Fresh Look At The Supreme Court’S Cruel And Unusual Death Penalty Jurisprudence, Susan Raeker-Jordan

Susan Raeker-Jordan

No abstract provided.