Law Commons^™

Shots Across No Man's Land: A Response To Handgun Control, Inc.'S, Richard Aborn, Nicholas J. Johnson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In response to Richard Aborn's article "The Battle Over the Brady Bill and the Future of Gun Control Advocacy, Johnson argues that Aborn's "bad gun formula" trivializes the Second Amendment, ignores issues vital to the gun control debate, and obfuscates what should ultimately need to be a choice between an armed citizenry or a disarmed one. Aborn's article suggests no real changes and does not effectively advance the debate.

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

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Federal Rules Of Evidence And The Political Process, David P. Leonard

Fordham Urban Law Journal

An important tenet of American evidence law is the strict regulation on the introduction of character evidence. This principal has begun to be chipped away at through the adoption of amendments that allow character evidence to be introduced in certain types of cases. The Federal Rules of Evidence were subject to very little amendment during their first 20 years of use, and have always represented a blend of conservatism about evidence law and political compromise. This tension has been kept in check until the proposal of Rules 413-415, which represents a concession to the politicization of the rules. Before imposing …

American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Report To The House Of Delegates, Myrna S. Raeder

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence, Rules 413-15 regarding the admission of character testimony in cases of sexual abuse and child molestation, have been roundly criticized by the legal community on both substantive and procedural grounds. The ABA has resolved to oppose the substance of these rules, and fear that in addition to the direct concerns regarding the result of the rules, they raise troubling policy issues going forward.

Some Thoughts On The Sexual Misconduct Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Norman M. Garland

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Although the adoption of the Federal Rules of Evidence 413-15 may have a positive result, Congress rushed their drafting which has led to several problems and ambiguities in the proposed rules. One of these major ambiguities is the issue of what standard of proof might be applied to decide the admissibility of such other, uncharged sex crimes offered against the accused.

The Battle Over The Brady Bill And The Future Of Gun Control Advocacy, Richard M. Aborn

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No matter how effective a legislative scheme is, legislation alone will not eradicate the deeply rooted culture of gun violence that exists in this country. Accordingly, Handgun Control divides its efforts between legislative and non-legislative efforts. In this regard, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence carries out the non-legislative interventions of Handgun Control. These efforts include working with elementary, secondary and high schools to promote a gun violence reduction curriculum; litigating on behalf of gun victims; defending gun control legislation in the courts; working with the entertainment industry concerning the messages in popular entertainment about gun violence; and working with …

Trying To Make Ends Meet: Reconciling The Law And Practice Of Human Rights Amnesties Symposium - Human Rights In The Americas - Commentary., Robert O. Weiner

St. Mary's Law Journal

The problem of amnesty for widespread human rights violations in the Americas illustrates the credibility gap in public international law. This Commentary reviews applicable standards and attempts to identify a minimum state response to past human rights violations. It also examines the question of amnesties, offers certain legal interpretations, and presents some criteria for an amnesty framework which might be reconcilable with the state’s international obligations. This Commentary’s aim is not to suggest amnesties are a proper response to the problem of past human rights abuses, however, it does acknowledge amnesties have so far been the most common response. It …

The Age Of Criminal Responsibility In An Era Of Violence: Has Great Britain Set A New International Standard?, Stephanie J. Millet

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With the alarming rise of juvenile crime and violence during the past decade, policymakers across the international community have struggled to develop effective juvenile criminal justice systems apart from the existing systems tailored to adults. The wide variations in methods and philosophies utilized in different states indicate that there is no consensus on the proper treatment of young offenders. Using the recent Bulger case as a focus, this Note examines two competing paradigms of juvenile justice found within the British juvenile justice system, with particular emphasis on the age of criminal responsibility. After discussing recent developments in Great Britain's juvenile …

Is A Ban On Plea Bargaining An Ethical Abuse Of Discretion? A Bronx County, New York Case Study, Roland Acevedo

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Use Of A Pen Register May Be A Search Within The Purview Of Article I, Section 9 Of The Texas Constitution., Angie Patrick

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Richardson v. State, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Richardson’s second petition for discretionary review to determine whether law enforcement’s use of a pen register constitutes a search. The use of a pen register may be a search within the purview of Article I, Section 9 of the Texas Constitution. Courts use the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test, from Katz v. United States, to determine whether a search has occurred under the Fourth Amendment. In Richardson, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reviewed whether the use of a pen register equates to a search despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s determination in …

Proportionality In Non-Capital Sentencing: The Supreme Court's Tortured Approach To Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Steven P. Grossman

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the Supreme Court's treatment of the Eighth Amendment with respect to claims of excessive prison sentences. Specifically, it addresses the issue of whether and to what degree the Eighth Amendment requires that a punishment not be disproportionate to the crime. In analyzing all of the modern holdings of the Court in this area, this Article finds significant fault with each. The result of this series of flawed opinions from the Supreme Court is that the state of the law with respect to proportionality in sentencing is confused, and what law can be discerned rests on weak foundations. …

Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Equality is the thread running through the fundamental liberties enshrined in our Constitution. ... Equality, expressed in Art 12 of the [Singapore] Constitution, is also a specific right enforceable by the court. The difficulty comes in applying this deceptively simple concept to real-life situations. ... In considering the validity of legislation, Singapore and Malaysian courts have generally favored rational review, a modest conception of equal protection, unlike their American counterparts which have adopted a more expansive reading in the form of strict and intermediate review. This article examines how these three levels of equal protection review operate, and argues that …

The O.J. Inquisition: A United States Encounter With Continental Criminal Justice, Myron Moskovitz

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

October 3, 1995 marked the end of the O.J. Simpson double murder trial, which lasted 474 days and was billed "the trial of the century." After less than four hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Mr. Simpson of all charges. The following article is a dramatization of how a case similar to the Simpson trial might be handled by a civil-law European criminal justice system.

Utilizing an unusual format, Professor Myron Moskovitz examines and illustrates the differences between the United States and civil-law European criminal justice systems. The author uses a play script inspired by the events in the trial …

Imagery And Adjudication In The Criminal Law: The Relationship Between Images Of Criminal Defendants And Ideologies Of Criminal Law In Southern Antebellum And Modern Appellate Decisions, Bernard Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

Criminal law opinions often project a distinct image of the accused. Sometimes, she is cast in a sympathetic light and may appear vulnerable or impressionable: a single mother, whose husband has died, struggling to raise her two, loving children; an impoverished, nineteen-year-old African-American with a fifth-grade education, "mentally dull and 'slow to learn;'" or a defenseless "obedient servant," protecting himself from an "adversary armed with a deadly weapon." On other occasions, the defendant may appear threatening, savage or even diabolical: a cold-blooded recidivist that escapes from a prison workcrew, brutally stabs, rapes and murders a woman, and returns for a …

Sedition In Nova Scotia: R. V. Wilkie (1820) And The Incontestable Illegality Of Seditious Libel Before R. V. Howe (1835), Barry Cahill

Dalhousie Law Journal

Given its primacy and exceptionality in the Nova Scotian context, Wilkie both exemplifies the judiciary's role in official repression, and instantiates the importance of what Wright calls "the ideological mechanisms of the criminal law" in prescribing the outer limits of legitimate political discourse. This paper examines the first known use by the government of Nova Scotia of the eighteenth-century, judicially-invented misdemeanour of seditious libel in order to silence and punish criticism of the ruling eite. As Nova Scotia had neither indigenous caselaw, nor statutory legislation to supplement and reinforce the common law offence-Upper Canada's SeditionAct (1804) was still in full …

Proportionality As A Guiding Principle In Young Offender Dispositions, Paul Riley

Dalhousie Law Journal

Sentencing is traditionally regarded as one of the most difficult and challenging functions of the criminal justice system. In arriving at the appropriate sanction to be imposed upon an offender, a court must reconcile the principles and objectives of the criminal law with the criminal act committed, the circumstances surrounding its commission, and the character of the offender who committed it. The court must, with the guidance of a few abstract, broadly philosophical, and often contradictory principles of sentencing, decide upon a sanction which is appropriate in the very concrete and factually specific case within which it is presented. This …

The Criminal Defense Lawyer's Reliance On Bias And Prejudice, Eva Nilsen

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is divided into three parts. Part I examines both the many contexts in which criminal defense lawyers and clinical students encounter bias and prejudice,¹² and the commonly-raised objections to its exploitation. Part II looks at the way the tactical use of bias relates to a lawyer's duty of zealous advocacy. Here, the Article focuses on whether existing ethics rules provide guidance for a lawyer's use of bias and whether proposed rules aimed at eliminating such advocacy would improve or diminish justice. This article argues against such efforts because they impinge on legitimate lawyering, and they may distract …

Sports Officials Should Only Be Liable For Acts Of Gross Negligence: Is That The Right Call?, Kenneth W. Biedzynski Esq.

University of Miami Entertainment & Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Continuing Evolution Of Criminal Constitutional Law In State Courts, S. Carran Daughtrey

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although early state constitutions were important and ambitious documents for their time, the development of state constitutional law stagnated after the drafting and adoption of the federal constitution., As the doctrine of federalism has resurfaced, however, states have begun to turn to their constitutions to grant more protection for their citizens. The states' criminal constitutional laws have changed significantly and continue to evolve today.

In the 1960s, the Warren Court expanded basic protections for criminal defendants by finding that the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. The Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual …

From The Battlefront To The Homefront: Infrared Surveillance And The War On Drugs Place Privacy Under Siege, Lynne M. Pochurek

St. Thomas Law Review

While George Orwell contemplated the realities of modem technology racing ahead with ever increasing speed and thwarting our individual privacy, it is clear that the Framers of the Constitution did not. This technological advancement, coupled with America's overriding concern with fighting the "war on drugs," has immensely compromised the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Once commanding great respect, this Amendment was "sanctified by a Supreme Court that felt compelled to protect all of us, the innocent and guilty alike, from arbitrary and unlawful government intrusions." Unfortunately, the modem courts have not been faithful in adhering to the Framers' …

Separating The Victim From The Abuser: Chapter 94-135 And The Florida Legislature's Most Recent Attempts To Control Domestic Violence, Diane F. Medley

St. Thomas Law Review

This comment will look at Chapter 94-135 of the laws of Florida and the statutes it altered as compared to the recommendations from The First Report of the Governor's Task Force on Domestic Violence5 as well as methods effectively being used by other states. It will show that Florida's new Act is a curious mixture of strength and weakness within the statutes, taking some new actions, yet not moving forward and sometimes even regressing in areas where decisive steps could have been taken, notably in such aspects as police intervention and reporting, pro-prosecution policies, and injunctions.

The Use Of Genetic Information For Nonmedical Purposes, Mark A. Rothstein

Journal of Law and Health

When one thinks about the use of genetic information by third parties for nonmedical purposes, one of the first things that comes to mind is the question of how the third party can gain access to the information. There are three main ways. First, and most importantly, the third party may obtain records developed in the clinical setting. In other words, if someone wants a job or insurance, that person may be required to sign a release authorizing the third party to access those records. Second, the genetic records might be obtained through a genetic data bank. Third, the third …

When Terry Met Miranda: Two Constitutional Doctrines Collide, Mark A. Godsey

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Case Of Clothing And Smell Obsession In A Bisexual Adult Woman, Marianne Wesson

Publications

No abstract provided.

What Is Punishment Imposed For?, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

The institution of punishment invites a number of philosophical queries. Sometimes the question is: How do we know that inflicting discomfort and disadvantage is indeed punishment? This is a critical question, for example, in cases of deportation or disbarment proceedings. Classifying the sanction as punishment triggers application of the Sixth Amendment and its procedural guarantees. In other situations the question might be: Why do we punish? What is the purpose of making people suffer? In this context, we encounter the familiar debates about the conflicting appeal of retribution, general deterrence, special deterrence, and rehabilitation.

In this article I wish to …

The Sentencing Guidelines As A Not-So-Model Penal Code, Gerard E. Lynch

Faculty Scholarship

We are accustomed to thinking about the criminal law, and the procedures for enforcing it, as divided into two separate stages. The first stage – the subject of penal codes and jury trials – concerns the definition of culpable conduct and the adjudication of guilt. The second stage – sentencing – concerns the consequences of conviction for the offender. Only rarely do we acknowledge that the conventional separation of these stages into compartments is highly misleading.

The articles in this Issue of FSR address, in one way or another, the extent to which the concerns of the substantive criminal law …

White Collar Crime From Scratch: Some Observations On The East European Experience, Sarah N. Welling

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Essay recounts the Author’s experiences with an American Bar Association program called the Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI). The Author traveled in Eastern Europe and focused on white collar crime issues in Poland. The Author was exposed to Eastern Europe's conversion to democracy and a market economy and the role of white collar crime in this conversion. Poland is drafting white collar crime statutes from scratch. There is also the opportunity that Poland’s effort can help us examine our attitudes toward white collar crime.

Reforming The Criminal Trial, Craig M. Bradley

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Truth And Consequences: The Force Of Blackmail's Central Case, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Blackmail commentary continues to proliferate. One purpose of this paper is to show what we agree on. Its primary tool will be to define what I call the "central case" of blackmail literature, and to supply the connecting links that will allow us to see how various normative theories converge in condemning central case blackmail. Admittedly, the law criminalizes more than my central case. But once we recognize that the central case is neither puzzling nor paradoxical, it may be easier to handle the border cases that arise.

Family Violence-Investigating Child Abuse And Learning From British Mistakes, Alastair Bissett-Johnson

Dalhousie Law Journal

It seems appropriate at the onset to set out something of what the disciplines of law, medicine and social work know about family violence and when, during recent years, this knowledge came to the attention of professionals, the public and legislature. We can then, perhaps, judge whether our existing laws, rules of evidence and procedure take this information adequately into account in dealing with cases of violence within the family. Whilst solving these problems takes time, and law often lags behind the behavioural sciences, the question arises whether the lag is too long and whether differences between experts in the …