Law Commons^™

Silencing Nullification Advocacy Inside The Jury Room And Outside The Courtroom, Nancy J. King

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Jurors in criminal cases occasionally "nullify" the law by acquitting defendants who they believe are guilty according to the instructions given to them in court. American juries have exercised this unreviewable nullification power to acquit defendants who face sentences that jurors view as too harsh, who have been subjected to what jurors consider to be unconscionable governmental action, who have engaged in conduct that jurors do not believe is culpable, or who have harmed victims whom jurors consider unworthy of protection. Recent reports suggest jurors today are balking in trials in which a conviction could trigger a "three strikes" or …

Legal Images Of Motherhood: Conflicting Definitions From Welfare Reform Family And Criminal Law , Jane C. Murphy

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can Inordinate Delay Between A Death Sentence And Execution Constitute Cruel And Unusual Punishment?, Dwight Aarons

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Is Miranda Dead, Was It Overruled, Or Is It Irrelevant, Alfredo Garcia

St. Thomas Law Review

This Article will proceed in three stages. Part I will provide the historical, social, and political backdrop to the Miranda opinion. It will discuss the pragmatic basis for the path that the Court chose to follow in Miranda. Part II will underscore the attempts to overrule Miranda and the Court's almost instant departure from its doctrinal foundation. In doing so, the argument is that the Court's retreat can be viewed in large measure as a reaction to the negative response the opinion engendered, both politically and socially. It also can be viewed as the logical outcome of the Court's need …

Publicity In High Profile Criminal Cases, H. Patrick Furman

St. Thomas Law Review

Many may wonder about the wisdom of having a criminal lawyer discuss the ethical problems associated with high profile cases. Over the past few years, the performances of criminal lawyers on the public stage have been decidedly uneven with respect to professionalism and ethical behavior. We witnessed the spectacle of People v. Simpson. There, it seemed that the lawyers spent more time in front of the camera than in front of the bench. Ironically, after the trial, half of the lawyers got their own television shows. The Simpson trial was an event which deserved to be labeled a trial only …

Representation Of Subpoenaed Witnesses, Jack M. Denaro

St. Thomas Law Review

Recently, the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post have made witnesses before the grand jury a special topic for morning coffee. Issues of foul tactics, parental immunity, grand jury voyeurism, and the Fifth Amendment have reigned in the tabloids and on television.Today, in law, the representation of subpoenaed witnesses has become a subject as vast as that of contracts and as complicated as common law property.

"Leaks" In Federal Grand Jury Proceedings, Roma W. Theus Ii

St. Thomas Law Review

The subject of federal grand jury "leaks" came to the forefront most recently because of the continuous leaks regarding the Special Prosecutor's investigation of President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Anyone with a pulse realizes that there has been a flood of grand jury "leaks" about this matter. But, the repeated "leaks" in that matter have highlighted three things, two of which are negative and one that is positive. The positive feature is that there does not appear to be a significant problem with "leaks" of grand jury information in the "garden variety" or "routine case." The negative features are that: …

Mail Fraud: Redefining The Boundaries, Ellen S. Podgor

St. Thomas Law Review

This Article examines some of the recent judicial decisions that limit the conduct subject to prosecution under the mail fraud statute. It focuses on decisions regarding three key aspects of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, namely, the scheme to defraud, intent, and mailings in furtherance. Although these three aspects are discussed separately in this Article, the scheme to defraud and intent are often intertwined. This Article is limited to recent judicial decisions that have restricted the prosecution's use of the mail fraud statute. These recent cases serve to redefine the parameters of the statute. Due to the breadth of the statute, …

Another Three Strikes Law: An In Depth Look At Florida's Prisoner Releasee Reoffender Punishment Act, Desiree M. Cuason

St. Thomas Law Review

Part I of this Comment will provide a brief historical background of Florida's sentencing guidelines and present an in-depth analysis contrasting various "Three Strikes You're Out" laws throughout the nation and the Florida Act. Part II will discuss certain conflicts which may result from the passage of the Act. Part III will discuss future impact on issues such as increased workload, prison overcrowding, and the shifting of discretionary power from the judiciary to the prosecutor. Finally, Part IV will propose alternatives to further the goals of prevention and incapacitation.

United States V. Scheffer: What Is Left Of The Polygraph In Criminal Trials, Timothy M. Hughes

St. Thomas Law Review

Will courts uphold aper se rule against polygraph admissibility in all contexts despite the constraints imposed by a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to present a defense? For the first time, the Supreme Court of the United States has addressed whether a per se ban on polygraph evidence violates a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to present a defense. It appears that invoking the Sixth Amendment right to present a defense produces the strongest argument in favor of polygraph admittance. Therefore, since United States v. Scheffer involves a court-martial and arises under the Military Rules of Evidence, the Supreme Court's decision …

Islamic Law In Sudan: A Comparative Analysis, Kent Benedict Gravelle

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

Since the late 1970's, Islamic fundamentalism and violence has spread from the Middle East to as far away as Algeria in West Africa and Mindanao, an island in the Philippines.

Federal Criminal Conspiracy, Todd R. Russell, O. Carter Snead

Journal Articles

Under 18 U.S.C. § 371, it is a crime for "two or more persons [to] conspire . . . to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."

This Article first outlines, in Section I, the basic elements of a conspiracy offense under § 371. Defenses available to challenge charges brought under the statute are discussed in Section III of the Article. Section IV presents the evidentiary and constitutional guidelines governing admissibility of co-conspirator hearsay testimony at trials involving conspiracy charges. Section V surveys …

Battered Women Syndrome As A Tort Cause Of Action, Heather Tonsing

Journal of Law and Health

The focus of this Note is the upcoming development of a new tort cause of action which would afford battered women full recovery and also help alleviate a growing public health epidemic. This Note argues that battered women syndrome is a valid psychological theory which has a place in civil litigation as a recognized cause of action. Although the theory is criticized by feminist scholars who believe that the testimony may perpetuate gender bias in criminal trials, the syndrome is still advantageous for women seeking redress in civil courts. Part I examines the phenomenon of battered women syndrome and its …

An Argument For Preserving The Agency Defense As Applied To Prosecutions For Unlawful Sale, Delivery, And Possession Of Drugs, Scott W. Parker

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

State V. Lovejoy: Hung Juries And Retrial Vs. Double Jeopardy And Collateral Estoppel, Nicole M. Ellis

Cleveland State Law Review

This article argues that the Supreme Court of Ohio's decision in Lovejoy helps to preserve the purpose of our criminal laws, which is to protect society. The article starts by recapping the events leading up to trial, then it breaks down the court decisions on appeal. The analysis of these decisions arrives at the conclusion that allowing a defendant to be retried on charges in which the accused was not previously acquitted, but rather the jury was hung or there was a mistrial, does not frustrate justice but instead greatly increases the opportunities for justice. In addition, the accused is …

Where We Have Been, And Where We Might Be Going: Some Cautionary Reflections On Rape Law Reform, The Sixty-Eighth Cleveland-Marshall Fund Lecture , Joshua Dressler

Cleveland State Law Review

We should always be looking to see where we are, how we got there, and where we appear to be going. My purpose in this article has been to ask those questions in the context of rape law. In evaluating rape reform, I have tried to be fair-minded and balanced in my observations. I have suggested areas in which the law should go further to protect against sexual misconduct, but I have also expressed my belief that rape law reform threatens to move in undesirable directions. In particular, I have argued that there is a risk that courts will follow …

Commentary - Co-Opting Compassion: The Federal Victim's Rights Amendment, Lynne Henderson

St. Thomas Law Review

This Commentary will explore some of the jurisprudential and practical issues by examining the nature of victims' rights and victimization. After a brief introduction to the history of victim's rights amendments in the United States, this Commentary will explore the images in the rhetoric that lead to unreflective support for victims' rights, then turn to images of justice and arguments for a particular kind of victims' rights, together with a critique of that vision. Finally, this Commentary suggests some alternative approaches and programs that promise to be more helpful to victims of crime than any constitutional amendment would be.

Practicing Criminal Law: A Jewish Law Analysis Of Being A Prosecutor Or Defense Attorney, Michael J. Broyde

Faculty Articles

Our secular society cycles as to whether it glorifies defense attor­neys or prosecutors. Sometimes, we adore defense attorneys­ -- they are the lawyers who ensure that innocents are not punished, "L.A. Law" is the show to watch, and the attorneys to imitate. Other times, we revere prosecutors -- they are the lawyers who punish evil­doers, "Law and Order" is the show to watch, and the attorneys to imitate. Jewish tradition recognizes the inherent ethical difficulties with the conduct of both types of attorneys.

Jewish law recognizes that the societal imposition of the criminal justice system on citizens, who otherwise function …

La Preuve Pénale Et Des Tests Génétiques: United States Report, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

A major problem for those analyzing U.S. criminal law and procedure is that it does not fit the Continental or British mold. There is no one single system, but parallel federal and 50 state systems each with its own legislature, laws, courts (including trial, appellate, and supreme courts), police, prosecutors and prisons. The authorities who enact and implement these laws are sovereign within their respective jurisdictions. Each state has police power over its people. The 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution controls allocation of federal and state authority. It provides that whatever the Constitution has not designated as being within …

Retribution Revisited: A Reconsideration Of Feminist Criminal Law Reform Strategies, Dianne L. Martin

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Were the last 30 years of feminist law reform activity around criminal justice misdirected? Or, if not misdirected, have the efforts been appropriated and manipulated by the New Right? This commentary reflects on this history, and on the failures of the retributive justice project generally, and argues for a reexamination of both. The discussion focuses on the tactics of the New Right and on the retributive goals of some victims' rights organizations as a means of highlighting the unintended consequences of key feminist initiatives around violence against women. Finally, the commentary identifies alternatives to retribution and a need for careful …

Reallocating Interpretive Criminal-Lawmaking Power Within The Executive Branch, Dan M. Kahan

Law and Contemporary Problems

A strategy for regaining control of federal criminal law, the reallocation of interpretive criminal law-making power within the Executive Branch, is discussed.

The Criminal Regulation Of Lawyers, Bruce A. Green

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Relevance Of "Execution Impact" Testimony As Evidence Of Capital Defendants' Character, Darcy F. Katzin

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecution And Race: The Power And Privilege Of Discretion, Angela J. Davis

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Newly Found "Compassion" For Sexually Violent Predators: Civil Commitment And The Right To Treatment In The Wake Of Kansas V. Hendricks, Elizabeth Weeks

Scholarly Works

In light of heart-wrenching stories of sexual abuse and public demands for safety, the Kansas v. Hendricks case presented the Supreme Court with compelling facts on which to uphold the Kansas commitment strategy. After all, the statute prevented the release of a man whose history of sex crimes, incarceration, and institutionalization spanned nearly two decades, and who admitted he still had sexual desires for children but could not control his urges. Faced with that evidence, the Court would have been hard-pressed to strike down the Kansas statute by finding that such a predator received inadequate treatment for his disorder, or …

Legal Images Of Motherhood: Conflicting Definitions From Welfare "Reform," Family And Criminal Law, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this Article explores the traditional idealized view of motherhood that child placement statutes and court decisions reflect. These laws include statutes and case law in custody disputes between parents and in child protection proceedings under civil and criminal laws where the dispute is between the parent and the state. Part II contrasts the legal construct of motherhood that child placement laws embody with the legal image of mothers in child support and welfare law.

Part III examines the impact of these conflicting images of motherhood on a particular group of mothers -- battered women. Battered women illuminate …

Exiling The New Felons: The Consequences Of The Retroactive Application Of Aggravated Felony Convictions To Lawful Permanent Residents

San Diego Law Review

Aliens who commit serious crimes must undoubtedly be deported. American citizens need neither endure the atrocities committed by alien terrorists nor continue to subsidize the unstoppable river of illegal aliens flowing across the borders. Today, over four million illegal aliens live in the United States; at least a quarter of a million more undocumented aliens enter this country each year,' contributing to the serious immigration problems suffered by the United States. Though the concerns raised by immigration policies have periodically surfaced during the last few decades, both legal immigrants and illegal aliens were largely ignored or tolerated during much of …

Criminal Law And Criminology: Survey Of Recent Books, Juliet Casper Smith

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Wielding The Double-Edge Sword: Charles Hamilton Houston And Judicial Activism In The Age Of Legal Realism, Roger Fairfax

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

A new progressive movement in the law profoundly affected the American judicial climate of the 1930s and 1940s. The jurisprudence of American Legal Realism, which sprang from the progressive American sociological jurisprudence, boasted the adherence of some of America's most influential legal minds. Legal Realism, which complemented the New Deal reform legislation emerging in the 1930s, advocated judicial deference to legislative and administrative channels on matters of social and economic policy. Judicial activism, which had been used as a tool for the protection of economic rights since the late nineteenth century, was seen as inimical to progressive social reform and, …

Towards A Model Penal Code, Second (Federal?): The Challenge Of The Special Part, Gerard E. Lynch

Faculty Scholarship

The Model Penal Code is among the most successful academic law reform projects ever attempted. In the first two decades after its completion in 1962, more than two-thirds of the states undertook to enact new codifications of their criminal law, and virtually all of those used the Model Penal Code as a starting point. The Model Penal Code was influential in a variety of different ways. First, the very notion of a systematic codification of criminal law received a dramatic boost from the Model Penal Code. Apart from the degree to which any particular state recodification resembled the Model Penal …