Law Commons^™

Introduction, William S. Geimer

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

Tyburn Thanatos And Marxist Historiography: The Case Of The London Hanged , Charles J. Reid Jr.

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Murder, Capital Punishment, And Deterrence: A Review Of The Evidence And An Examination Of Police Killings., William C. Bailey, Ruth Peterson

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

This paper reviews and assesses the empirical literature on murder, capital punishment, and deterrence. There is a large body of evidence regarding these issues, with studies yielding a rather consistent pattern of nondeterrence. However, most investigations are limited because they rely upon the general homicide rate as the criterion variable, although both legally and theoretically, different types of murder may be differentially subject to deterrence. As an example of how deterrence investigations may benefit from examining different types of homicide, we conduct a monthly time-series analysis of the possible deterrent effect of the provision for capital punishment, levels of execution, …

The New Law Of Murder, Daniel Givelber

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Burden V. Zant 114 S. Ct. 654 (1994)

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction, William S. Geimer

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

Spencer V. Murray (Spencer H) 18 F. 3d 229 (4th Cir. 1994)

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

Overlooked Victories: Techniques For Negotiating Non-Capital Outcomes, Lesley Meredith James

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

To Attain The Ends Of Justice: Confronting Virginia's Default Rules In Capital Cases, Michael A. Groot

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

Justice Blackmun And The "Failed Experiment", William S. Geimer

Capital Defense Journal

No abstract provided.

Deliberate Indifference: Judicial Tolerance Of Racial Bias In Criminal Justice, Bryan A. Stevenson, * Ruth E. Friedman

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To Post-Conviction Remedies, Practice And Procedure In South Carolina, John H. Blume

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to discuss various aspects of an inmate's available post-conviction remedies in South Carolina. Very little has been written about this topic, perhaps because post-conviction is considered by many to be the "redheaded stepchild of the legal system." Despite the importance of post-conviction remedies as a safeguard against unjust, unconstitutional, and erroneous confinements, this systemic devaluing of the importance of the post-conviction process is widespread. Convicted persons in South Carolina raising post-conviction challenges rely almost exclusively on appointed counsel, most of whom have little experience in this area of the law. Counsels' enthusiasm for the …

Is Electrocution An Unconstitutional Method Of Execution? The Engineering Of Death Over The Century, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This Article provides the Eighth Amendment analysis of electrocution that the courts thus far have not approached. The analysis has two parts. The first inquires whether, according to available scientific evidence, electrocution amounts to cruel and unusual punishment even if it is administered as planned. The second inquires whether, in light of the frequency with which electrocutions are botched, continuing the practice amounts to cruel and unusual punishment even if the properly administered electrocution would not.

Commentary, Ronald J. Tabak

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Ronald J. Tabak, Chair of the Committee on the Death Penalty for the American Bar Association's Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, discusses the Section's purpose in organizing Forhdam University School of Law's panel discussion on "Politics and the Death Penalty." The goal was to illuminate the variety of effects of a widespread perception that the belief of legislators, governors, prosecutors, judges, clemency boards, political candidates and others that the public is overwhelmingly in support of capital punishment. The Section aimed to bring together knowledgeable people from a variety of perspectives to discuss (a) how the capital punishment system and …

“Endgame”: Competency And The Execution Of Condemned Inmates—A Proposal To Satisfy The Eighth Amendment's Prohibition Against The Infliction Of Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Roberta M. Harding

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The first section of this Article provides a brief historical overview of the proscription against executing the incompetent and the proffered rationales. This section also examines key factors contributing to the increase in the number of mentally dysfunctional condemned inmates. Then the Article explores the traditional competency-to-execute model that remains in use. This analysis will include a discussion of specific issues, such as: the term used to describe the requisite mental affliction, how that term is defined in order to identify who may ultimately benefit from the rule in Ford v. Wainwright, what standard is appropriate to determine whether …

Hardening Of The Attitudes: Americans' Views On The Death Penalty, Phoebe C. Ellsworth, Samuel R. Gross

Articles

American support for the death penalty has steadily increased since 1966, when opponents outnumbered supporters, and now in the mid-1990s is at a near record high. Research over the last 20 years has tended to confirm the hypothesis that most people’s death penalty attitudes (pro or con) are based on emotion rather than information or rational argument. People feel strongly about the death penalty, know little about it, and feel no need to know more. Factual information (e.g., about deterrence and discrimination) is generally irrelevant to people’s attitudes, and they are aware that this is so. Support for the death …

Depravity Thrice Removed: Using The 'Heinous, Cruel, Or Depraved' Factor To Aggravate Convictions Of Nontriggermen Accomplices In Capital Cases, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

In Tison v. Arizona, the Tison brothers' appeal from their death sentences, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a nontriggerman convicted of first-degree felony murder could constitutionally be executed if he was a major participant in the crime and if he exhibited a reckless disregard for human life. This decision blurred the bright-line rule announced just five years earlier in Enmund v. Florida, which limited the death penalty to defendants who kill, attempt to kill, or at least intend to kill. Tison thus dramatically increased the exposure of nontriggermen to capital punishment, undercutting the death penalty's limited purpose of identifying …

Reassessing The Individualization Mandate In Capital Sentencing: Darrow's Defense Of Leopold And Loeb, Scott W. Howe

Scott W. Howe

This article begins by recounting the story of Clarence Darrow's defense of Leopold and Loeb in 1924. The account is based heavily on a recently republished trial transcript. The Leopold and Loeb trial captured world-wide attention and, even today, continues to engender interest and controversy. It was apparently the first instance of an elaborate psychological defense offered in mitigation to avoid the death penalty for defendants who conceded their guilt of a horrendous murder. Darrow's summation in the case is also considered one of the most spectacular examples in history of legal advocacy.

After describing Darrow's extrordinary defense at length, …