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Fordham Law School

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Articles 301 - 330 of 409

Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law

When Victims Seek Closure: Forgiveness, Vengeance And The Role Of Government, Susan Bandes Jan 2000

When Victims Seek Closure: Forgiveness, Vengeance And The Role Of Government, Susan Bandes

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the role of victims and their families in the sentencing of criminal defendants, including the emotional and ethical components of victims' desires to achieve justice and closure.


Forgiveness In The Criminal Justice System: If It Belongs, Then Why Is It So Hard To Find?, David M. Lerman Jan 2000

Forgiveness In The Criminal Justice System: If It Belongs, Then Why Is It So Hard To Find?, David M. Lerman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay advocates the role of forgiveness within the criminal justice system, particularly from a prosecutor's perspective, and discusses common impediments to its increased presence and the leadership needed to allow it to develop within the system.


Forgiveness In The Criminal Law, Ian S. Weinstein (Moderator) Jan 2000

Forgiveness In The Criminal Law, Ian S. Weinstein (Moderator)

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the role of forgiveness in criminal law, and the extent to which forgiveness should impact prosecutorial discretion. Includes a question and answer session with audience.


When Victims Seek Closure: Forgiveness, Vengeance And The Role Of Government, Susan Bandes Jan 2000

When Victims Seek Closure: Forgiveness, Vengeance And The Role Of Government, Susan Bandes

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the role of victims and their families in the sentencing of criminal defendants, including the emotional and ethical components of victims' desires to achieve justice and closure.


Forgiveness As A Problem-Solving Tool In The Courts: A Brief Response To The Panel On Forgiveness In Criminal Law, Derek A. Denckla Jan 2000

Forgiveness As A Problem-Solving Tool In The Courts: A Brief Response To The Panel On Forgiveness In Criminal Law, Derek A. Denckla

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article is a response to Panel on Forgiveness in Criminal Law, and attempts to answer the following questions: Is there room for forgiveness in the criminal courts? If so, how does forgiveness manifest itself there? The article explores this issue in terms of the opportunities for forgiveness provided by "problem-solving" courts.


Forgiveness And The Criminal Law: Forgiveness Through Medicinal Punishment, Dennis M. Cariello Jan 2000

Forgiveness And The Criminal Law: Forgiveness Through Medicinal Punishment, Dennis M. Cariello

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the role of forgiveness in criminal law, focusing specifically on the nature of forgiveness, how and when society should forgive wrongdoers, and the nature of punishment.


Restorative Justice And The Prosecutor, Frederick W. Gay Jan 2000

Restorative Justice And The Prosecutor, Frederick W. Gay

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of restorative justice and its relation to prosecutorial discretion. The article gives examples of the restorative alternatives to traditional criminal punishment and argues that such alternatives are an effective means of providing justice.


We Have Seen The Enemy: Scenes From A Trial, Robert E. Precht Jan 1999

We Have Seen The Enemy: Scenes From A Trial, Robert E. Precht

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines two traps that are particularly likely to undermine prosecutorial decision-making--the confirming-evidence trap and the anchoring trap. During the World Trade Center bombing trial, at which the author served as defense counsel, prosecutors stumbled into both of these traps. Part I of this Article examines the confirming-evidence trap in the context of the prosecution's failure to accept contradictory evidence regarding the material used in the bomb. Part II similarly examines the anchoring trap in light of the debacle that occurred during testimony by the prosecution's main witness. In addition to examining these episodes, the Article concludes that prosecutors …


Working Outside The Rules: The Undefined Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors, Laurie L. Levenson Jan 1999

Working Outside The Rules: The Undefined Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors, Laurie L. Levenson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the undefined responsibilities of federal prosecutors. For purposes of example, the essay focuses primarily on five situations in which federal prosecutors are often expected to operate "outside" of the rules, including: charging and investigative decisions, discovery, plea bargaining, dealing with the press, and sentencing decisions. While there are "rules" in each of these areas, they take a back seat to the discretionary powers prosecutors are expected to exercise wisely when performing their duties. In judging whether there has been an appropriate exercise of those powers, it is not the rules that will govern society's judgment. Rather, the …


The Federal Death Penalty: History And Some Thoughts About The Department Of Justice's Role, Rory K. Little Jan 1999

The Federal Death Penalty: History And Some Thoughts About The Department Of Justice's Role, Rory K. Little

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article provides a detailed exegesis and evaluation of the federal death penalty, including its 209-year history, recent developments in federal death penalty case law, and the process for national administration of the federal death penalty implemented by Attorney General Janet Reno in 1995. Part I of the article presents the history of the federal death penalty, the recent statutes and relevant case law, and the DOJ's procedures for administering federal death penalty prosecutions. It also describes the 1988 and 1994 statutory procedures for imposing the federal death penalty, and briefly reviews some of the case law leading to, and …


Thinking Strategically: How Federal Prosecutors Can Reduce Violent Crime, Elizabeth Glazer Jan 1999

Thinking Strategically: How Federal Prosecutors Can Reduce Violent Crime, Elizabeth Glazer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Part I of this Article discusses how, in their traditional role, fed- eral prosecutors have limited their function to case-processing and accordingly reduced their natural ability to fashion effective crime- fighting techniques. Part II explores how certain features of the prosecutor's function make him well-placed to act as the federal agencies' strategic thinker. Finally, the Article suggests how the strategic potential of the prosecutor's role could be realized.


Why Should Prosecutors "Seek Justice"?, Bruce A. Green Jan 1999

Why Should Prosecutors "Seek Justice"?, Bruce A. Green

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses how prosecutors should conduct themselves in light of the principle that has traditionally ben thought to define the prosecutor's professional ethos: "the duty to seek justice." Part I sketches the outlines of this concept, both historically and in its contemporary incarnation. Part II offers two reasons for asking why prosecutors should seek justice. Part III examines alternative justifications for the duty--first, that the duty derives from prosecutors' extraordinary power, and second, that the duty derives from their role on behalf of a sovereign whose own interest is in achieving justice--and explains why the second provides the more …


Panel Discussion: The Expanding Prosecutorial Role From Trial Counsel To Investigator And Administrator Jan 1999

Panel Discussion: The Expanding Prosecutorial Role From Trial Counsel To Investigator And Administrator

Fordham Urban Law Journal

MODERATOR: Daniel C. Richman PANELISTS: Laurie L. Levenson, GerardE. Lynch, Honorable John S. Martin, Jr., Julie R. O'Sullivan, Mary Lee Warren, Mary Jo White


Panel Discussion: The Federal Prosecutor's Role In The Regulatory Process Jan 1999

Panel Discussion: The Federal Prosecutor's Role In The Regulatory Process

Fordham Urban Law Journal

MODERATOR: CharlesM. Carberry PANELISTS: Honorable John S. Martin, Jr., Robert B. Fiske, Jr., Mary Ellen Krist, Ronald K. Noble, Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, Mary Spearing


Panel Discussion: The Regulation And Ethical Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors Jan 1999

Panel Discussion: The Regulation And Ethical Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors

Fordham Urban Law Journal

MODERATOR: Bruce A. Green PANELISTS: John Q. Barrett, Michael R. Bromwich, Rory K. Little, Mark F. Pomerantz, Robert E. Precht


Evolutionary Biology And Rape, Deborah W. Denno Jan 1999

Evolutionary Biology And Rape, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This article queries whether an evolutionary analysis of rape may be more compelling in explaining a rape victim's fear than a defendant's sexual aggression. Such a victim-oriented approach could help legal decisionmakers assess the reasonableness of the victim's fear when determining whether sex was forced or threatened. These ideas are explored in the context of two well-known rape trials, State v. Rusk and State v. Smith. This article concludes that evolutionary biology can contribute to an understanding of rape. However, the supposed evolutionary underpinnings of male sexual aggression should not justify such behavior or render it acceptable as a criminal …


Starr, Singleton, And The Prosecutor's Role, David A. Sklansky Jan 1999

Starr, Singleton, And The Prosecutor's Role, David A. Sklansky

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the lessons contained in States v. Singleton and the system that has been adopted for investigating and prosecuting high executive officers. After describing Singleton and the tumult it triggered in Part I of this Article, Part II returns to the Starr Referral and poses a question that may at first seem idle: what distinguishes Starr's promises to Lewinsky in exchange for her testimony from the efforts he charges the President made to help find her a job? Part III of the Article broadens the focus. It argues there has been a general failure to think rigorously about …


A District Attorney's Decision Whether To Seek The Death Penalty: Toward An Improved Process, Jonathan Demay Jan 1999

A District Attorney's Decision Whether To Seek The Death Penalty: Toward An Improved Process, Jonathan Demay

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The most important variable affecting whether a defendant will be subject to the death penalty is often the particular ideology of the district attorney of a respective county. More subtle forms of arbitrariness, such as bias based upon race, gender and class, also pervade the process. Arguing that the dangers inherent in the present situation justify the imposition of controls over the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in the decision whether to seek the death penalty, Part I presents the nature and scope of prosecutorial discretion judicial review of that discretion and the influence that individual prosecutors can have in the …


Keynote Address, Louis Freeh Jan 1999

Keynote Address, Louis Freeh

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Keynote address given by Louis Freeh.


Regulating The Market For Snitches , Ian Weinstein Jan 1999

Regulating The Market For Snitches , Ian Weinstein

Faculty Scholarship

These are boom times for the sellers and buyers of cooperation in the federal criminal justice system. While prosecutors have always welcomed the assistance of snitches, tougher federal sentencing laws have led to a significant increase in cooperation as more defendants try to provide "substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person," to have some chance of receiving a significant sentence reduction. In 1996 one of every five defendants sentenced in the federal courts won mitigation by providing substantial assistance. Many more defendants tried but failed to close the deal. The overheated cooperation market is creating serious problems …


When Bad Things Happen To Good Intentions: The Development And Demise Of A Task Force Examining The Drugs-Violence Interrelationship Symposium On Drug Crimes, Deborah W. Denno Jan 1999

When Bad Things Happen To Good Intentions: The Development And Demise Of A Task Force Examining The Drugs-Violence Interrelationship Symposium On Drug Crimes, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

Between 1994-1996, I was one of twenty-eight members of a Drugs-Violence Task Force, created to report to the United States Sentencing Commission specific findings, conclusions, and recommendations concerning the interrelationship (if any) between drugs and violence. Much of the controversy concerning how to approach the drugs-violence problem reflects two conflicting and long-held views of drugs and crime: the criminal justice view, which emphasizes detecting and punishing drug offenders, and the public health view, which advocates treating the drug addiction that leads some individuals to commit crime. Traditionally, the criminal justice view is associated with a “tough on crime” attitude that …


The Uniqueness Of Federal Prosecutors, Fred C. Zacharias, Bruce A. Green Jan 1999

The Uniqueness Of Federal Prosecutors, Fred C. Zacharias, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


A Rational Discussion Of Current Drug Laws, Nicholas Deb. Katzenbach Jan 1998

A Rational Discussion Of Current Drug Laws, Nicholas Deb. Katzenbach

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article that declaring a "war" on drugs was bad policy. It argues that the bad effects of the laws against drugs outweigh its benefits and argues for a new approach to legislation on drug use.


Closing The Courts To Felonious Plaintiffs Who Are Injured By Their Own Conduct: A Case For Codifying Common Sense, Michael A. L. Balboni Jan 1998

Closing The Courts To Felonious Plaintiffs Who Are Injured By Their Own Conduct: A Case For Codifying Common Sense, Michael A. L. Balboni

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article argues that criminals should not be allowed to bring civil tort suits against the victims of their crimes. It analyzes cases that allow and do not allow recovery by criminal for injuries occurring during the commission of a crime. The article closes with a plea for legislative reform to disallow criminal the protections of law while in the act of committing a crime.


Harnessing Payne: Controlling The Admission Of Victim Impact Statements To Safeguard Capital Sentencing Hearings From Passion And Prejudice, Beth E. Sullivan Jan 1998

Harnessing Payne: Controlling The Admission Of Victim Impact Statements To Safeguard Capital Sentencing Hearings From Passion And Prejudice, Beth E. Sullivan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article begins by tracing the historical development of victim impact evidence through Supreme Court jurisprudence and state legislation and analyzes their use in the sentencing of phase capital punishment trials. It argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Payne V Tennessee allowing a jury to consider victim impact evidence in capital punishment sentencing is troublesome in light of a capital punishment defendant's constitutional rights, the history of the death penalty and traditional sentencing procedures. It concludes with a proposal for guidelines to regulates the use of such evidence in capital punishment sentencing,


Life Before The Modern Sex Offender Statutes , Deborah W. Denno Jan 1998

Life Before The Modern Sex Offender Statutes , Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the social and legal developments that fueled the origins and recurring problems of sex offender laws. Part I of this Article discusses the primary precursors of the sexual psychopath statutes that encouraged the public's and politicians' acceptance of the concept of sexual psychopathy: the increasing sexualization of American society, changes in gender roles and relations, the valuation of children and the family unit, and the influx of psychiatry. Part II describes how the diagnosis of sexual psychopathy slowly developed as a result of the criminal justice system's growing tendency to explain criminal behavior in psychoanalytic terms. Part …


Substantial Assistance And Sentence Severity: Is There A Correlation Substantial Assistance, Ian Weinstein Jan 1998

Substantial Assistance And Sentence Severity: Is There A Correlation Substantial Assistance, Ian Weinstein

Faculty Scholarship

How much more severe are sentences imposed in districts with low substantial assistance rates than those in which the rate is very high? In the aggregate, not at all. At first blush this may puzzle readers because substantial assistance (SA) departures are very unevenly distributed across districts and SA accounts for nearly two-thirds of all downward departures, almost 7,900 of the 12,000 in fiscal 1996. Although this pattern could result in gross disparities among districts, my analysis of inter-district sentencing patterns reveals no statistically significant correlation between the rate of SA departures and the average length of sentences imposed in …


Gender Differences In Biological And Sociological Predictors Of Crime, Deborah W. Denno Jan 1997

Gender Differences In Biological And Sociological Predictors Of Crime, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

One of the many goals of the Biosocial Study that I directed was determining whether there were gender differences among the numerous possible correlates of crime that the study examined. The purpose of my presentation today is to describe the Biological Study and its results, particularly as they relate to gender differences in crime. Another aim is to respond briefly to some of the potential political reactions to the study, despite its results. I will begin with a quick account of historical attitudes toward gender differences in crime. I will then discuss the Biosocial Study and its major findings relevant …


Sexuality, Rape, And Mental Retardation, Deborah W. Denno Jan 1997

Sexuality, Rape, And Mental Retardation, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, Professor Denno addresses the question of when sexual relations with a mentally retarded individual should be considered nonconsensual and therefore criminal. The article first explores the early treatment of mental retardation. It next demonstrates how old stereotypes influence the moralism inherent in modern conceptions of consent in rape determinations. Illustrating the point with reference to the Glen Ridge rape case, the article shows how courts applying contemporary rape statutes typically hold mentally retarded individuals to a higher standard of consent than nonretarded individuals. As a result, courts are hurting the very people they are supposed to protect …


'Just Take Away Their Guns': The Hidden Racism Of Terry V. Ohio, Adina Schwartz Jan 1996

'Just Take Away Their Guns': The Hidden Racism Of Terry V. Ohio, Adina Schwartz

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article argues that in formulating standards for stops and frisks, courts, police department and other policy makers should consider: whether and to what extent blacks are more frequently stopped and frisked than whites, whether and to what extent this disparity reflects police racial bias, and the nature and extent of the results negative effects. The Article provides an overview of the decision in US v. Terry and its impact on subsequent case law. It focuses on Terry's ambivalent position on race relations, and posits that its empirical contention about the law's inevitable inefficacy against racist abuse of the stop …