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Full-Text Articles in Law

Fact Suppression And The Subversion Of Capital Punishment: What Death Penalty Foes On The Supreme Court And In The Media Do Not Want The Public To Know, Lester --- Jackson Jan 2009

Fact Suppression And The Subversion Of Capital Punishment: What Death Penalty Foes On The Supreme Court And In The Media Do Not Want The Public To Know, Lester --- Jackson

LESTER JACKSON

The U.S. Supreme Court and other courts, aided by the media in suppressing critical information about case facts and case law, have all but abolished capital punishment, turning what's left into a costly and agonizing farce. While pretending to superlative morality, dishonesty, especially half-truth, is central to their cause. An egregious example was Roger Coleman, widely but with knowing falsity portrayed as a choir boy executed because heartless judges impatiently refused to hear evidence of his innocence. Going further, in myriad cases, death sentences are reversed or banned when guilt is not even disputed. This is achieved by focusing upon …


Heller’S Constitutional Dialogue: How The Supreme Court’S Choice Of Language In District Of Columbia V. Heller Is Instructive For Anticipating Future Interpretations Of The Second Amendment., Jason E. Niehaus Jan 2009

Heller’S Constitutional Dialogue: How The Supreme Court’S Choice Of Language In District Of Columbia V. Heller Is Instructive For Anticipating Future Interpretations Of The Second Amendment., Jason E. Niehaus

Jason E Niehaus

This article was an analysis of the language used by the Supreme Court in its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller to predict (ultimately correctly) the Court's later ruling regarding the Incorporation of the Second Amendment.


Cumulative Jurisprudence And Hate Speech: Sexual Orientation And Analogies To Disability, Age And Obesity, Eric Heinze Jan 2009

Cumulative Jurisprudence And Hate Speech: Sexual Orientation And Analogies To Disability, Age And Obesity, Eric Heinze

Prof. Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London

Non-discrimination norms in human rights instruments generally enumerate specified categories for protection, such as race, ethnicity, sex or religion, etc. They often omit express reference to sexual minorities.

Through open-ended interpretation, however, sexual minorities subsequently become incorporated. That ‘cumulative jurisprudence’ yields protections for sexual minorities through norms governing privacy, employment, age of consent, or freedoms of speech and association.

Hate speech bans, too, are often formulated with reference to traditionally recognised categories, particularly race and religion. It might be expected that the same cumulative jurisprudence should therefore be applied to include sexual minorities. In this article, that approach is challenged. …


The Bridge Connecting Pontius Pilate's Sentencing Of Jesus To The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission's Concerns Over Executing The Innocent: When Human Beings With Human Flaws Determine Guilt Or Innocence And Life Or Death, James B. Johnston Jan 2009

The Bridge Connecting Pontius Pilate's Sentencing Of Jesus To The New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission's Concerns Over Executing The Innocent: When Human Beings With Human Flaws Determine Guilt Or Innocence And Life Or Death, James B. Johnston

James B Johnston

No abstract provided.


R. V. Ha: Upholding General Warrants Without Asking The Right Questions, Steve Coughlan Jan 2009

R. V. Ha: Upholding General Warrants Without Asking The Right Questions, Steve Coughlan

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

To date, in considering general warrants, courts have been failing even to think about a distinction which ought to be seen as essential. The distinction arises in connection with the requirement in section 487.01 (l)(c) of the Criminal Code that a general warrant is only available when no other provision in any statute could authorize the search. In R. v. Ha, reported ante p. 24, the Ontario Court of Appeal notes that: The simple fact is that there is no provision in the Code, the CDSA, or in any other federal statute that would authorize an unlimited number of covert …


The Unexceptionalism Of Evolving Standards, Corinna Barrett Lain Dec 2008

The Unexceptionalism Of Evolving Standards, Corinna Barrett Lain

Corinna Lain

Conventional wisdom is that outside the Eighth Amendment context, the Supreme Court does not engage in the sort of explicitly majoritarian state nose-counting for which the “evolving standards of decency” doctrine is famous. Yet this impression is simply inaccurate. Across a stunning variety of civil liberties contexts, the Court routinely—and explicitly—bases constitutional protection on whether a majority of states agree with it. This Article examines the Supreme Court’s reliance on the majority position of the states to identify constitutional norms, then turns to the qualifications, explanations, and implications of state polling as a larger doctrinal phenomenon. While the past few …


Step Out Of The Car: License, Registration, And Dna Please, Brian Gallini Dec 2008

Step Out Of The Car: License, Registration, And Dna Please, Brian Gallini

Brian Gallini

No Arkansas appellate court has examined the constitutionality of the recently enacted House Bill 1473 – better known as “Juli’s Law” – which allows officers to take DNA samples from suspects arrested for capital murder, murder in the first degree, kidnapping, sexual assault in the first degree, and sexual assault in the second degree. This Essay contends that Juli’s Law violates the Fourth Amendment of the federal constitution. Part I highlights certain features of the statute and explores the rationale underlying its enactment. Part II discusses the only published decision upholding the practice of taking of DNA samples from certain …


Help Wanted: Seeking One Good Appellate Brief That Forces The Arkansas Supreme Court To Clarify Its Criminal Discovery Jurisprudence, Brian Gallini Dec 2008

Help Wanted: Seeking One Good Appellate Brief That Forces The Arkansas Supreme Court To Clarify Its Criminal Discovery Jurisprudence, Brian Gallini

Brian Gallini

This Essay first argues that Arkansas has yet to conclusively articulate when a prosecutorial suppression of evidence in response to defense counsel's discovery request violates either the federal or state due process clauses, or the state rules of criminal procedure. More importantly, however, this Essay contends that the Arkansas Supreme Court should require prosecutors to turn over all statements in response to a specific discovery request even if those statements are only arguably “material” and “favorable to the accused.” Doing so would provide to defendants more protection pursuant to the Arkansas Constitution than they now enjoy under the Federal Constitution. …