Criminal Law Commons^™

Introduction To Greek Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Greek Law, developed under the stewardship of Professor Konstantinos Kerameus, takes on his character, being a solid, careful work of first rate scholarship. It presents the Greek legal system, the substance of each part of its civil public and penal law and procedure, in a series of well-written and insightful chapters by many of the best Greek scholars (in the United States and in Greece) on each subject. The book is important, because Greece is in the Common Market and Council of Europe, and because the continental and even the common law systems owe their development to the Ro- man-Byzantine …

Finding Harmony Amidst Disagreement Over Extradition, Jurisdiction, The Role Of Human Rights, And Issues Of Extraterritoriality Under International Criminal Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

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This Article examines extradition and jurisdiction over extraterritorial crime, focusing on the relationship between jurisdiction and extradition in the broader context of human rights law. The authors challenge what they argue are chimerical, although strongly held beliefs in the incompatibility of European and United States criminal justice systems and extradition practices. They argue that cooperation in matters of international criminal law may be enhanced, while protection of human rights is promoted. The authors establish this possibility by breaking down the barriers to understanding that stem from the divergent European versus Anglo-American modes of analysis.

The authors first analyze the five …

International Law Principles Governing The Extraterritorial Application Of Criminal Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

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In this piece Professor Blakesley provides remarks on the differences and similarities between Germany and the United States on international principles of jurisdiction over extraterritorial crime.

International Year In Review: Developments In International Criminal Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

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In this piece Professor Blakesley provides remarks on recent developments in International Criminal Law.

The Modern Blood Feud: Thoughts On The Philosophy Of Terrorism, Christopher L. Blakesley

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Herman Melville brilliantly lets us feel, through Captain Ahab, the sensation of destructive rage, hatred and violence. Sadly, Melville's insight penetrates to the core of society, perhaps of each of us, in today's omnipresent terroristic melodrama. We have all suffered moments of vicarious terror and rage over the past few years as we watched news accounts of terrorist incidents, such as the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The melodrama of terrorism has penetrated each of our lives. We see it and feel the rage nearly on a daily basis. Innocent children, women and men aboard Pan …

Major Contemporary Issues In Extradition Law, Christopher L. Blakesley

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In this piece Professor Blakesley provides remarks on high crimes in international law, and the ability to extradite state and high government officials for committing them.

Note, Maynard V. Cartwright: Channeling Arizona's Use Of The Heinous, Cruel Or Depraved Aggravating Circumstance To Impose The Death Penalty, Terrill Pollman

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“Death is qualitatively different from other punishments that can be imposed by the state.” Recognition of this disturbing conclusion led to the heightened scrutiny demonstrated in a series of United States Supreme Court rulings beginning with Furman v. Georgia, which set forth the constitutionally acceptable range of discretion that a judge or jury may use in imposing the death penalty. States have attempted to bring their statutes within the Furman v. Georgia range by articulating aggravating circumstances that warrant the imposition of the death penalty. One controversial circumstance that many states employ permits a capital sentence where the offense …

The Crime Victim’S "Right" To A Criminal Prosecution: A Proposed Model Statute For The Governance Of Private Criminal Prosecution, Peter L. Davis

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The thesis of this article is that the public prosecutor should to have a monopoly on criminal prosecutions; some supplementary system of private criminal prosecution should be available. Two such systems, or models, currently exist in New York. The first model, available statewide, theoretically allows a complainant to initiate a non-felony criminal prosecution without any screening by a prosecutor or judge. This system is unwise, unworkable and illusory because it obscures the exercise of judicial discretion and focuses the court’s attention on the wrong issues, usually precluding the crime victim’s complaint. The second model, limited by statute to New York …

Terrorism, Law, And Our Constitutional Order, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

We have all suffered moments of vicarious terror over the past few years as we watched news accounts of terrorist incidents, such as the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. There, some institution, government, or group used innocent children, women, and men as fodder for their “war.” Some have claimed that the pusillanimous carnage was in retaliation for the slaughter of equivalent innocents aboard the Iranian Air Bus, similarly destroyed by American forces during the summer of 1988. Others suggested that it was committed by those interested in thwarting prospects of peace in the Middle East.

Combatting …

Legal Malpractice, Professional Discipline, And Representation Of The Indigent Defendant, Richard Klein

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Preiser Puzzle: Continued Frustrating Conflict Between The Civil Rights And Habeas Corpus Remedies For State Prisoners, Martin A. Schwartz

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No abstract provided.

Introduction: International Criminal Law – Lessons From Teaching Strategies, Daniel H. Derby

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No abstract provided.

The Relationship Of The Court And Defense Counsel: The Impact On Competent Representation And Proposals For Reform, Richard Klein

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This Article examines the impact of the trial court upon the quality of legal assistance provided the indigent criminal defendant. The court, when confronted with public defenders so overburdened with cases that they have not had the time to adequately prepare, all too often exacerbates the situation by refusing to permit counsel additional time for investigation and preparation. The trial judge may be affected by administrative pressures to dispose of cases, move the calendar, and get pleas. The defender's overload is therefore compounded by the court's overload, and the situation results in the sacrifice of the indigent defendant's right to …

What Makes Rape A Crime?, Lynne Henderson

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No abstract provided.

Jurisdiction As Legal Protection Against Terrorism, Christopher L. Blakesley

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On June 14, 1985, Robert Stethem was shot to death aboard a hijacked TWA airliner. On October 7, 1985, the Italian cruise-liner, Achille Lauro, was hijacked and the next day Leon Klinghofer was killed and thrown overboard. On Julyu 2, 1986, Rodrgio Rojas was mortally wounded when he was doused with gasoline and set afire while walking with protesters in Santiago, Chile. Soviets are said to leave booby-trapped dolls for Afghan Moujahadeen children. There is evidence that the United States government directly supports the Nicaraguan contras who, in waging their guerilla war, allegedly have killed innocent citizens. It is …

Drugs And Small Arms: Can Law Stop The Traffic?, Christopher L. Blakesley

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Professor Blakesley presides over this panel discussion on laws combating the illegal importation of drugs and small arms, and their implications for international and domestic law.

The Emperor Gideon Has No Clothes: The Empty Promise Of The Constitutional Right Of Effective Assistance Of Counsel, Richard Klein

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No abstract provided.

An Essay On Executive Branch Attempts To Eviscerate The Separation Of Powers, Christopher L. Blakesley

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The Reagan Administration has been aggressively attempting to arrogate power to the Executive branch and to undermine the separation of powers in the realms of foreign affairs. To Chain the Dog of War shows that for decades the Executive branch has moved to appropriate Congress’ war powers. The Reagan Administration not only has continued that tradition, but also has attempted to erode the Judiciary’s power to decide questions of law and fact concerning human rights and liberty in international extradition cases involving political offenses. The underlying rationale for this shift has been that decisions to make war or to condemn …

The Evisceration Of The Political Offense Exception To Extradition, Christopher L. Blakesley

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The Supplementary Convention to the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of American and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was signed on June 25, 1985, and transmitted to the U.S. Senate on July 17, 1985. This article will focus on the portion of the supplementary treaty which effectively eliminates the political offense exception, and on the statement made by the Legal Adviser to the Department of State, the honorable Judge Abraham D. Sofaer, made in favor of the Supplementary Treaty, on August 1, 1985. This article suggests that approval of …

The Wrong's Of Victim's Rights, Lynne Henderson

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Great Writ: No Longer As Dear To The Tories As To The Whigs -- A Critique Of Senator Nunn's Habeas Corpus Article, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

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The days of praise for the Great Writ from all political quarters are over. Today the legal literature includes a growing body of articles lashing out at the modern federal habeas corpus remedy for state prisoners authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and advocating statutory changes to make it more difficult to obtain Section 2254 relief. In the vanguard of these articles are those by conservative political figures or law enforcement officials. In 1984 this criticism of the Section 2254 remedy in scholarly journals arguably reached its zenith, in terms of degree of harshness, when the attorney general of Alabama …

Balancing Government Efficienty And The Protection Of Individual Liberties: An Analysis Of The Conflit Between Executive Branch "Housekeeping" Regulations And Criminal Defendants' Rights To A Constitutionally Fair Trial, James F. Ponsoldt

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This Article addresses the issue of whether an accused person should be entitled to obtain and use at trial relevant government information or the testimony of government employees to prove his innocence, regardless of whether he has revealed in advance to his adversary his intended use of that information or the specific content of that testimony. Part I describes the federal "housekeeping" statute and the Justice Department's housekeeping regulations, which require that subpoenaed government employees not disclose evidence unless the person seeking that evidence has first summarized the requested evidence in advance, explained its intended use, and obtained permission from …

A Conceptual Framework For Extradition And Jurisdiction Over Extraterritorial Crime, Christopher L. Blakesley

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International law is the language by which nations assert and attempt to resolve competing legal interests. As with any other language, if the definitions of essential concepts become muddled, it is difficult to communicate. The traditional bases of jurisdiction over extraterritorial crime are essential concepts in the language of international law. The decision to grant or deny extradition, for example, often depends on whether the interested nation recognizes the basis of jurisdiction asserted by another. Confusion over the traditional bases of jurisdiction therefore risks disagreement over and denial of extradition.

United States courts have recently expanded the traditional bases of …

When Guilt Should Be Irrelevant: Government Overreaching As A Bar To Reprosecution Under The Double Jeopardy Clause After Oregon V. Kennedy, James F. Ponsoldt

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This article examines the effect of Oregon v. Kennedy on the Burger Court's double jeopardy jurisprudence in cases where government misconduct has interfered with the integrity of a first trial. The article proposes the complete elimination of current distinctions between mistrial and appellate reversal cases for double jeopardy analysis, on the ground that those distinctions no longer have intellectual or practical support. Moreover, against the contention of the Court in Oregon v. Kennedy that any test for overreaching necessarily would be standardless, this article proposes the adoption of a "plain error" standard. Under this test, "plain" government error, engaged in …

A Due Process Of Judicially-Authorized Presumptions In Federal Aggravated Bank Robbery Cases, James F. Ponsoldt

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Within the past fifteen years several broadly-focused articles have identified general constitutional limits, under the due process clause, on presumptions and inferences created by statute or applied by courts in trying criminal cases. Recently, in County Court of Ulster County, New York v. Allen , the Supreme Court affirmed the validity of the evidentiary devices of inference and presumptions and labeled them "a staple of our adversary system of factfinding." This suggest that to unreasonably curtail the use of circumstantial evidence in the factfinding process would place an intolerable burden on prosecutors in their efforts to prove guilt beyond a …

Medical Dependency In Arizona, Mary E. Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

Analysis of In re Cochise County Juvenile Action No. 5666-J, 650 P.2d 459 (Ariz. 1982).

United States Jurisdiction Over Extraterritorial Crime, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

The term jurisdiction may be defined as the authority to affect legal interests -- to prescribe rules of law (legislative jurisdiction), to adjudicate legal questions (judicial jurisdiction) and to enforce judgments the judiciary made (enforcement jurisdiction). The definition, nature and scope of jurisdiction vary depending on the context in which it is to be applied. United States domestic law, for example, defines and applies notions of jurisdiction pursuant to the United States constitutional provisions relating to the separation of powers. Within the United States, jurisdiction is defined and applied in a variegated fashion depending on whether a legal problem is …

Final Report On The Establishment Of An International Criminal Court For The Implementation Of The Apartheid Convention And Other Relevant International Instruments, Daniel H. Derby, M. Cherif Bassiouni

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No abstract provided.

The Practice Of Extradition From Antiquity To Modern France And The United States: A Brief History, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

In order to understand the perceptions of extradition’s function and purpose in modern France and the United States, it is important to consider the evolution of thought regarding extradition. This article will focus on the history of extradition law as it has influenced contemporary law in the United States and France. The purpose of the article is to provide insight into the development of the “modern” extradition. Although the process has not always been executed by use of a treaty agreement, treaty authorized extraditions have existed since antiquity. Moreover, a treaty authorized extradition for common crimes, as opposed to political …

An Inventory Of The Criminal Justice Curriculum Of American Law Schools, Paul M. Kurtz

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The purpose of this study is to examine the structure of the criminal justice curriculum in the American law school. This entails an analysis of what courses are being offered, how many hours of classroom instruction (both required and elective) are available, and when during the educational process the student is exposed to criminal law courses. The reason for undertaking the study is to provide at least a gross picture of what the present situation is as a guide to what we as a profession or as individual schools might like to do by way of improving the structure. Hopefully, …