Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Criminal Procedure (67)
- Constitutional Law (46)
- Law and Psychology (24)
- Courts (20)
- Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility (20)
-
- Evidence (19)
- Civil Rights and Discrimination (18)
- First Amendment (18)
- International Law (18)
- Law and Society (18)
- Jurisprudence (17)
- Law Enforcement and Corrections (17)
- Judges (16)
- Computer Law (14)
- Law and Race (14)
- Communications Law (13)
- Legal Profession (13)
- Legislation (12)
- Supreme Court of the United States (12)
- Law and Politics (11)
- Litigation (11)
- Civil Procedure (10)
- Law and Gender (10)
- Business Organizations Law (8)
- Immigration Law (8)
- State and Local Government Law (8)
- Civil Law (7)
- Conflict of Laws (7)
- Keyword
-
- Criminal law (35)
- Forgiveness (23)
- Crime (18)
- Ethics (16)
- Justice (16)
-
- Criminal law; neuroscience; neurolaw (13)
- Criminal procedure (12)
- Death penalty (12)
- Criminal law; symposium; communications law; international law; first amendment (11)
- Police (10)
- Criminal justice (9)
- Race (9)
- Criminal (8)
- Morality (8)
- Padilla (8)
- Prosecutor; criminal justice reform; criminal law (8)
- Sentencing (7)
- Criminal defense (6)
- Evidence (6)
- Punishment (6)
- Rape (6)
- Violence (6)
- Criminal Defense (5)
- Criminal Justice (5)
- Deportation (5)
- Exclusionary rule (5)
- New York (5)
- Sentencing guidelines (5)
- Capital punishment (4)
- Cirminal Defense (4)
- Publication Year
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 241 - 270 of 409
Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
To Act Or Not To Act: Will New York's Defeated Death Penalty Be Resurrected? , Diana N. Huffman
To Act Or Not To Act: Will New York's Defeated Death Penalty Be Resurrected? , Diana N. Huffman
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Capital punishment has always been a topic of controversy in the United States. The debate about the death penalty, its value as a way to permanently incapacitate society's most dangerous criminals and its effectiveness as a deterrent to violent crime, has increased. This phenomenon is particularly visible in New York State, where, in 2004, the New York Court of Appeals struck down the State's death penalty statute as invalid under the New York Constitution. This Note describes the evolution of New York's 1995 death penalty statute, analyzing the way in which the state legislature could respond to the statute's unconstitutionality, …
Punishing Family Status , Jennifer M. Collins, Ethan J. Leib, Dan Markel
Punishing Family Status , Jennifer M. Collins, Ethan J. Leib, Dan Markel
Faculty Scholarship
This Article focuses upon two basic but under-explored questions: when does, and when should, the state use the criminal justice apparatus to burden individuals on account of their familial status? We address the first question in Part I by revealing a variety of laws permeating the criminal justice system that together form a string of family ties burdens, laws that impose punishment upon individuals on account of their familial status. The seven burdens we train our attention upon are omissions liability for failure to rescue, parental responsibility laws, incest, bigamy, adultery, nonpayment of child support, and nonpayment of parental support. …
The Empirics Of Prison Growth: A Critical Review And Path Forward, John F. Pfaff
The Empirics Of Prison Growth: A Critical Review And Path Forward, John F. Pfaff
Faculty Scholarship
A growing empirical literature has sought to explain the forces behind the significant expansion of the U.S. prison population over the past thirty years. Unfortunately, the studies to date have suffered from important methodological, conceptual, and definitional problems that have significantly curtailed their ability to identify causal effects. In this Article, I examine several of the central limitations and discuss remedies. I start by reviewing the theories that investigators have sought to test. I then discuss the studies' empirical defects, such as failing to account for endogenous relationships, overlooking the risk of model dependency, ignoring complex dynamic relationships, using variables …
Voluntarism, Vulnerability, And Criminal Law: A Response To Professors Hills And O'Hear , Ethan J. Leib, Dan Markel, Jennifer M. Collins
Voluntarism, Vulnerability, And Criminal Law: A Response To Professors Hills And O'Hear , Ethan J. Leib, Dan Markel, Jennifer M. Collins
Faculty Scholarship
This Response addresses the criticisms of our project by Professors Rick Hills and Michael O'Hear. Before we address those challenges, we first want to reiterate our gratitude to the B.U. Law Review for hosting an exchange based on our article, Punishing Family Status (forthcoming BU LR, December 2008), and to Professors Hills and O'Hear for their careful and subtle analysis of that article. Additionally, it's worth recapitulating what our bottom-line conclusions are so we can better see if there are any practical disagreements with our critics. Summarizing quickly: we support decriminalization in the cases of parental responsibility laws (based on …
Restorative Justice: How Law Schools Can Help Heal Their Communities, Rachel King
Restorative Justice: How Law Schools Can Help Heal Their Communities, Rachel King
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Essay argues that the justice system should establish a parallel system, using restorative justice, designed to "heal" those individuals affected by crime, but who are not the victim, i.e. the victim's family. Additionally, the author proposes that law schools should help develop this parallel system.
Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Dan Markel, Ethan J. Leib
Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Dan Markel, Ethan J. Leib
Faculty Scholarship
This Article asks two basic questions: When does, and when should, the state use the criminal justice apparatus to accommodate family ties, responsibilities, and interests? We address these questions by first revealing a variety of laws that together form a string of family ties subsidies and benefits pervading the criminal justice system. Notwithstanding our recognition of the important role family plays in securing the conditions for human flourishing, we then explain the basis for erecting a Spartan presumption against these family ties subsidies and benefits within the criminal justice system. We delineate the scope and rationale for the presumption and …
Truth, Deterrence, And The Impeachment Exception , James L. Kainen
Truth, Deterrence, And The Impeachment Exception , James L. Kainen
Faculty Scholarship
James v. Illinois permits illegally-obtained evidence to impeach defendants, but not defense witnesses. Thus far, all courts have construed James to allow impeachment of defendants' hearsay declarations. This article argues against allowing illegally-obtained evidence to impeach defendants' hearsay declarations because doing so unduly diminishes the exclusionary rule's deterrent effect. The distinction between impeaching defendants and defense witnesses disappears when courts allow prosecutors to impeach defendants' hearsay declarations. Because defense witnesses report exculpatory conduct of a defendant who always has a substantial interest in disguising his criminality, their testimony routinely incorporates defendant hearsay. Defense witness testimony thus routinely paves the way …
Criminal Defense Lawyering At The Edge: A Look Back Lawyering At The Edge: Unpopular Clients, Difficult Cases, Zealous Advocates, Bruce A. Green
Criminal Defense Lawyering At The Edge: A Look Back Lawyering At The Edge: Unpopular Clients, Difficult Cases, Zealous Advocates, Bruce A. Green
Faculty Scholarship
This Article is an attempt to reconstruct the story of a New York City lawyer's professional death and resurrection. In particular, this is the story of John Palmieri's defense of John J. Delane in the year 1915, a time in the history of the legal profession when the bounds of zealous representation, particularly in criminal cases, were blurry and in transition. This is also the story of what followed the Delane trial: the efforts of prosecutorial, disciplinary, and judicial authorities to resolve factual and legal uncertainties about Palmieri's conduct and intentions in defending his client, their efforts to locate the …
A Lie For A Lie: False Confessions And The Case For Reconsidering The Legality Of Deceptive Interrogation Techniques, Miriam S. Gohara
A Lie For A Lie: False Confessions And The Case For Reconsidering The Legality Of Deceptive Interrogation Techniques, Miriam S. Gohara
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article reviews the law on deceptive interrogation practices, discusses empirical evidence of the role police deception plays in eliciting false confessions and argues that the law should circumscribe interrogation techniques that rely on misrepresentation to induce suspects into incriminating themselves. This Article also asserts that there are good policy reasons, in addition to the increasing exposure of wrongful convictions, which should encourage courts and legislators to proscribe the use of deception by law enforcement in a criminal justice system expressly designed to elicit the truth about a crime.
Loyalt's Reward - A Felony Conviction: Recent Prosecutions Of High-Status Female Offenders, Michelle S. Jacobs
Loyalt's Reward - A Felony Conviction: Recent Prosecutions Of High-Status Female Offenders, Michelle S. Jacobs
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article analyzes white-collar female crime and compares several high profile cases to those of regular female offenders. It uses government statistical data on female crime to paint a portrait of the female offender. It then compares the prosecution of "street-level" and white-collar female offenders. The Article discusses the prosecutions of Martha Stewart, Betty, Vinson, and Lea Fastow. The Article argues that these women often share a similar trait of committing the crime out of loyalty to a man engaged in wrong-doing.
The Scientific Shortcomings Of Roper V. Simmons, Deborah W. Denno
The Scientific Shortcomings Of Roper V. Simmons, Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
This Article contends that some of the case law and social science research that form the basis for the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roper v. Simmons are insufficient and outdated. The Court also relies heavily upon briefs submitted by the respondent and his amici, in lieu of providing more pertinent citations and analysis that could have enhanced and modernized the Court's arguments. The sparse and sometimes archaic sources for Roper potentially limit the opinion's precedential value. For example, the Court cites Erik Erikson's 1968 book, Identity: Youth and Crisis, to support the view that, relative to adults, juveniles …
Vitality Of Voluntary Guidelines In The Wake Of Blakely V. Washington: An Empirical Assessment, The Articles On Guideline Operation Issues, John F. Pfaff
Faculty Scholarship
This Article explores the extent to which voluntary, non-binding criminal sentencing guidelines influence the sentencing behavior of state trial judges. In particular, it focuses on the ability of such guidelines to encourage judges to sentence consistently and to avoid improperly taking into account a defendant's race or sex. It also compares such guidelines to more-binding presumptive guidelines, which were recently found constitutionally impermissible in Blakely v. Washington. In general, the results indicate that voluntary guidelines are able to accomplish much, though not all, that presumptive guidelines were able to, especially with respect to sentence variation. For example, voluntary guidelines appear …
Teaching Reflective Lawyering In A Small Case Litigation Clinic: A Love Letter To My Clinic Papers Presented At The Ucla/Ials Conference On Enriching Clinical Education, Ian Weinstein
Faculty Scholarship
This article describes a live client, small case, teaching and learning centered, criminal defense clinic set in a high volume urban court. It offers concrete suggestions about how clinical educators can help students develop analytic and technical skills. The clinic model is conceived in three phases: giving students the opportunity to develop a contextualized understanding of the client; guiding students through strategic analysis and planning; and focusing students' litigation strategies on executing their tactical vision for their client. The article argues that this clinical setting structures the students' experiences so that they develop a complex and deeply moral lawyerly problem …
Continued Vitality Of Structured Sentencing Following Blakely: The Effectiveness Of Voluntary Guidelines, The , John F. Pfaff
Continued Vitality Of Structured Sentencing Following Blakely: The Effectiveness Of Voluntary Guidelines, The , John F. Pfaff
Faculty Scholarship
In two recent opinions, Blakely v. Washington and United States v. Booker, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively invalidated the binding nature of sentencing guidelines used by many states and the federal government over the past thirty years. Not surprisingly, numerous commentators have asserted that Blakely and Booker profoundly altered the nature of sentencing in the United States. But these claims have been made without any meaningful empirical consideration of whether viable alternatives exist. This Article fills that gap. It explores the extent to which voluntary, nonbinding criminal sentencing guidelines influence the sentencing behavior of state trial judges. In particular, it …
Policing The Police: The Role Of The Courts And The Prosecution, Steven Zeidman
Policing The Police: The Role Of The Courts And The Prosecution, Steven Zeidman
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article focuses on how, and whether, the component parts of the courts - judges, court administrators, and prosecutors - promote justice by actively and critically monitoring or overseeing the police. The author focuses on one of the most common forms of police corruption facing the criminal justice system - what has been termed "falsifications" which includes testimonial perjury, documentary perjury and falsification of police records. The author reflects on what judges and prosecutors have done to combat this form of police corruption and offers ways in which the actors within the criminal justice system can be more effective.
Historical Roots Of Regional Sentencing Variation, The Symposium, Ian Weinstein
Historical Roots Of Regional Sentencing Variation, The Symposium, Ian Weinstein
Faculty Scholarship
I am a law professor and a criminal defense lawyer, not a historian. It is with some trepidation that I stand before you to suggest that our very persistent regional sentencing variations have roots in the political struggles of Reformation England and the cultures of the subgroups that populated the first American colonies. I rely upon others for the historical proof, as you will see, but I think I do have standing to argue to you that we should consider whether or not there is room, even in federal sentencing, to account for deeply embedded regional variations in our basic …
Sexual Minorities, Criminal Justice, And The Death Penalty, Michael B. Shortnacy
Sexual Minorities, Criminal Justice, And The Death Penalty, Michael B. Shortnacy
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article addresses the biases confronting sexual minorities in the legal system. The author calls upon the legal community including bar associations, judicial councils and conferences, and law schools to recognize that bias against sexual minorities exists and they should devote sufficient resources to allow for comprehensive study of this problem and for the education of the bar and the public. Furthermore, the Article points out that this bias against sexual minorities among key players in the legal system may actually be a factor in the imposition of the death penalty. The author points out the inattention this bias against …
Criminal Law In A Post-Freudian World, Deborah W. Denno
Criminal Law In A Post-Freudian World, Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
Freudian psychoanalytic theory has greatly influenced the modern definition of criminal culpability. Indeed, much of the language of key criminal statutes, cases, and psychiatric testimony is framed by psychoanalytic concepts. This impact is particularly evident in the Model Penal Code's mens rea provisions and defenses, which were developed in the 1950s and 1960s, a time of Freudian reign in the United States. For contemporary criminal law, however, this degree of psychoanalytic presence is troublesome. Freudian theory is difficult to apply to group conflicts and legal situations, and the theory emphasizes unconscious (rather than conscious) thoughts. The rising new science of …
Revenge Of Mullaney V. Wilbur: United States V. Booker And The Reassertion Of Judicial Limits On Legislative Power To Define Crimes, The, Ian Weinstein
Faculty Scholarship
This article offers a historically grounded account of the twists and turns in the Supreme Court's sentencing jurisprudence from the end of World War II to the Court's stunning rejection of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The doctrinal shifts that have roiled this area of the law can best be understood as the Court's effort to respond to the changing political and social landscape of crime in America. In the mid 1970's, legislative activity in the criminal law was largely focused on Model Penal Code influenced recodification. In that era, the Supreme Court took power from an ascendant judiciary and gave …
Conference Report: New York City's Criminal Courts Are We Achieving Justice?, Martha Rayner
Conference Report: New York City's Criminal Courts Are We Achieving Justice?, Martha Rayner
Fordham Urban Law Journal
On October 18, 2003, more than one hundred professionals from the five boroughs of New York City came together to identify, evaluate, and begin to solve some of the complex problems embedded in the culture, operations, and practice in New York City's Criminal Courts. The conference planners focused on five problems that have undermined the pursuit of justice in New York City’s Criminal Court system for decades. The first group, Arraignment Norms, Practices and Culture, targeted professionalism and justice at the first and often last court appearance for people arrested and charged with misdemeanor crimes in New York City. The …
Broadening The Holistic Mindset: Incorporating Collateral Consequences And Reenty Into Criminal Defense Lawyering, Michael Pinard
Broadening The Holistic Mindset: Incorporating Collateral Consequences And Reenty Into Criminal Defense Lawyering, Michael Pinard
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Over the past two decades, public defender offices across the country have broadened the range of defense services provided to indigent clients. These expanded services, some of which involve representing clients on related non-criminal matters such as housing and public benefits, are included in what is now commonly referred to as "holistic representation."' This form of representation strives to encompass the various underlying issues that often lead to clients’ experiences with the criminal justice system, with the aim of addressing those circumstances and preventing future criminal involvement. Holistic representation signals a paradigmatic shift in defense philosophy and ideology and has …
Too Little, Too Late: Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel, The Duty To Investigate, And Pretrial Discovery In Criminal Cases, Jenny Roberts
Too Little, Too Late: Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel, The Duty To Investigate, And Pretrial Discovery In Criminal Cases, Jenny Roberts
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Unlike rules governing discovery in civil cases, which require that the two sides exchange most information about their respective cases, criminal discovery result in a much more limited flow of information. Many commentators, for many years, have called for the liberalization of criminal discovery statutes and rules. Indeed, some states have heeded the call. But about a dozen states follow the highly restrictive federal rule, which is premised in part on the idea that a defendant should not be entitled to witness names or statements for pretrial investigation, but rather only for cross-examination purposes should the case ever get to …
The Adjudication Of Minor Offenses In New York City, Ian Weinstein
The Adjudication Of Minor Offenses In New York City, Ian Weinstein
Fordham Urban Law Journal
American criminal justice is founded on overcriminalization and discretion. Our legislatures have long criminalized much more conduct than can be effectively sanctioned. American police and prosecutors have been granted virtually unreviewable authority (discretion) to allocate investigative and prosecutorial resources. Minor crimes absorb the bulk of our ordinary, local enforcement efforts and there is an endless supply of minor crime, which may be pursued. With minor offenses, discretion is critical at all phases. This article argues that criminal courts, where ninety percent of all cases are heard, could benefit from reform. The author argues for the development of the record so …
Should Public Relations Experts Ever Be Privileged Persons?, Deniza Gertsberg
Should Public Relations Experts Ever Be Privileged Persons?, Deniza Gertsberg
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Comment addresses the issue of whether, and under what circumstances, a lawyer’s communications with a public relations expert, whose advice is only valuable to the extent that it is communicated fully and freely with the attorney, will be protected by the attorney-client privilege. This Comment focuses on the role of public relations firms in the criminal law context, where constitutional concerns often arise. The author begins by laying out the history and background of the attorney-client privilege, and how the defense lawyer’s role has changed as a result of the rise of mass media. The Comment then goes on …
Federal Sentencing During The Interregnum: Defense Practice As The Blakely Dust Settles , Ian Weinstein, Nathaniel Z. Marmur
Federal Sentencing During The Interregnum: Defense Practice As The Blakely Dust Settles , Ian Weinstein, Nathaniel Z. Marmur
Faculty Scholarship
Although the long term impact of Blakely v. Washington is not yet clear, no one can doubt that the case raises a host of immediate, significant and perplexing practical questions for federal criminal defense attorneys. The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in a pair of cases raising Blakely issues and oral argument is scheduled for October 4, 2004. It seems likely that the Supreme Court will offer some guidance by Thanksgiving. Until the Court rules, uncertainty will continue as the lower courts interpret Blakely in disparate ways. Once the Court does rule, many hard questions may remain unanswered. This article …
When Two Become One: Views On Fletcher's "Two Patterns Of Criminality", Deborah W. Denno
When Two Become One: Views On Fletcher's "Two Patterns Of Criminality", Deborah W. Denno
Faculty Scholarship
George Fletcher's Rethinking Criminal Law (“Rethinking”) is the ultimate cut-to-the-chase treatise. The book does not belabor the frailties of existing criminal law, but rather predicts an overhaul of much of its doctrine. This essay marks a tribute to Rethinking's influence by examining two of the book's well known “patterns of criminality”: (1) “manifest criminality,” which proposes that crimes are acts that any “objective” observer would clearly recognize as illegal without knowing anything about the mental state of the person committing those acts, and, in stark contrast, (2) “subjective criminality,” which suggests that crimes are consciously intended and experienced only by …
Snapshots: Holistice Images Of Female Offenders In The Criminal Justice System, Jennifer Ward
Snapshots: Holistice Images Of Female Offenders In The Criminal Justice System, Jennifer Ward
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Essay attempts to pull together the various threads of thought regarding the relationships between gender, race, and class within the justice system, and suggests possible patterns that could be used to create holistic images of female offenders. Part I provides a brief overview of the various explanations used over time to account for criminal behavior by women. Part II details the ways in which gender can affect the processes of the criminal justice system. Part III discusses the impact that race can have on the female offender's experience in the system. Part IV briefly overviews the types of influences …
The Failure Of Local And Federal Prosecutors To Curb Police Brutality, Asit S. Panwala
The Failure Of Local And Federal Prosecutors To Curb Police Brutality, Asit S. Panwala
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Although police departments across the country have attempted to ameliorate the hostility between police officers and the cumminity, through careful screening of applicants, minority recruitment, and community policing, police brutality remains a problem within our urban cities. This Essay will first argue that police brutality is largely ignored. Second, it will examine the obstacles facing local and federal prosecutors in obtaining convictions. Then it will compare the advantages and disadvantages of delegating primary responsibility for these cases to the state versus the federal level. Finally, it will argue that, although there are obstacles and advantages for both local and federal …
Arrested Adults Awaiting Arraignment: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, And Criminal Justice Characteristics And Needs, Nahama Broner, Stacy S. Lamon, Damon W. Mayrl, Martin G. Karopkin
Arrested Adults Awaiting Arraignment: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, And Criminal Justice Characteristics And Needs, Nahama Broner, Stacy S. Lamon, Damon W. Mayrl, Martin G. Karopkin
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Study is one of the first to look at the mentally ill during the pre-arraignment process. The pre-arraignment process is an excellent place to identify individuals with mental health and substance abuse problems, to examine those problems, to consider legal interventions, such as diversion or routing to specialized courts, for instance, drug and mental health courts, and to plan for community mental health, substance abuse, health, and social service interventions. Following a brief review of the literature on rates of substance abuse and mental health problems for ciminal justice populations, the process from arrest to arraignment in Kings County …
No Guns Or Butter For Thomas Bean: Firearms Disabilities And Their Occupational Consequences, Mark M. Stavsky
No Guns Or Butter For Thomas Bean: Firearms Disabilities And Their Occupational Consequences, Mark M. Stavsky
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Through the case of Thomas Bean, a firearms dealer convicted of a felony and subsequently denied his firearms license and right to possess firearms, this Article discusses the injustice that occurs when the law arbitrarily denies an individual his occupation merely because he is a felon. The Article argues that 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) gives the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms the power to review a petition to restore those rights but that Congress has rendered the statute useless by depriving the Bureau of funding to investigate such petitions. Because this denies individuals, like Bean, the ability to reenter …