Criminal Law Commons^™

Principled Consequentialism, Hamish C. Stewart

ExpressO

This Article characterizes and seeks to reconcile two competing approaches to legal reasoning, through the lens of the problem of the determinacy of legal doctrine. On the “neo-formalist” approach, characteristic of many modern liberal scholars, the appropriate doctrinal answer to any legal problem can be determined by working out, in a quasi-deductive way and in isolation from consequentialist considerations, the implications of a small and stable set of legal principles. On the “neo-realist” approach, characteristic of many economic analysts of law but also of certain leftist critics of liberalism, principles provide no determinate answer to legal problems; the only way …

Yukos Risk: The Double Edged Sword, Joseph Tanega, Dmitry Gololobov

ExpressO

Abstract The article focuses on elucidating the meaning of Yukos risk mainly in terms of corporate bankruptcy litigation in multiple jurisdictions, including, the U.S., U.K., The Netherlands, and Russia. The emphasis is on understanding the various legal theories and the court decisions reached so far in this continuing legal saga.

Dialogic Allocution, Felix Valenzuela

ExpressO

This Article argues in favor of increasing the scope of the national sentencing dialogue in order to remedy the current sentencing defects. The increase in scope hinges on expanding the role of allocution within criminal sentencing. By treating allocution as seriously as the Federal Rules do, new discussants will contribute creative solutions for the defects, while at the same time enhancing institutional and ontological legitimacy. To achieve that end, the Article proposes a modified view of allocution. This dialogic allocution unifies the judge and defendant as co-discussants in the national debate, rather than pitting them against each other. The Article …

Cyber-Extortion: Duties And Liabilities Related To The Elephant In The Server Room, Adam J. Sulkowski

ExpressO

This is a comprehensive analysis of the legal frameworks related to cyber-extortion – the practice of demanding money in exchange for not carrying out threats to commit harm that would involve a victim's information systems. The author hopes it will catalyze an urgently needed discussion of relevant public policy concerns.

Cyber-extortion has, by all accounts, become a common, professionalized and profit-driven criminal pursuit targeting businesses. 17% of businesses in a recent survey indicated having received a cyber-extortion demand. An additional 13% of respondents were not sure if their business had received such a demand.

Awareness of the risks of cybercrime …

Prosecutors: Factors To Aid Your Filing Decisions With Respect To Fatal Traffic Collisions, Kimberly Rebecca Bird

ExpressO

As you may know, on a fairly regular basis, prosecutors are faced with filing decisions with respect to fatal traffic collisions. Many of them, of course, do not involve criminal negligence and are not prosecuted as crimes. Sometimes, on the other hand, the circumstances are egregious and the decision to be made is whether to file a case as a vehicular manslaughter or as a murder, on an implied malice theory. There are a finite number of California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal cases (beginning with People v. Watson (1981) 30 Cal.3d 290) that have addressed the sufficiency of …

No-Drop Civil Protection Orders: Exploring The Bounds Of Judicial Intervention In The Lives Of Domestic Violence Victims, Tamara L. Kuennen

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Whatever approach a judge takes to a victim's motion to vacate, there will be a risk. Women who are victims of domestic violence will be threatened or hurt or even killed, and the danger of this happening may increase or decrease based in part on the judge's decision. In the face of such risk, this article argues that on balance, the cost of sacrificing victim autonomy in these cases is too great, and that courts should defer to the victim's decision to vacate, except in the limited circumstance in which doing so is detrimental to an identifiable third party - …

Extraordinary Crimes At Ordinary Times: International Justice Beyond Crisis Situations, Sonja Starr

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Punishment Of Dixie Shanahan: Is There Justice For Battered Women Who Kill?, Leigh S. Goodmark

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Global Issues In Criminal Law, Linda Carter, Christopher L. Blakesley, Peter J. Henning

McGeorge School of Law Teaching Materials

This book provides an introduction to issues arising in international and transnational crimes, giving students a broader perspective on a developing area of the law. Faculty and students have access to material from domestic and international sources. The book builds on a number of subjects treated in the traditional criminal law class, such as mens rea, actus reus, accomplice and conspiratorial liability, and defenses, by analyzing three subjects of current interest: transnational crimes, terrorism, and genocide.

Closing The Loophole In California's Sexually Violent Predatory Act: Jessica's Law's Band-Aid Will Not Result In Treatment For Sexual Predators, Melissa M. Matthews

McGeorge Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Balancing Act: The Introduction Of Restorative Justice In The International Criminal Court's Case Of The Prosecutor V. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Mary Will

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

United States Implementation Of The International Criminal Court: Toward The Federalism Of Free Nations, Lauren Fielder Redman

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Analyzing The Impact Of Coercion On Domestic Violence Victims: How Much Is Too Much?, Tamara L. Kuennen

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Part I of the essay reviews the work of activists and scholars who make the case that coercion is central to domestic violence, but notes that these scholars' conceptions of coercion are diverse. Part II describes the justice system's current responses to the impact of coercion on a victim's decision to drop a criminal or civil case. Part III exposes a number of challenges inherent in measuring the impact of a batterer's influence on a domestic violence victim's decision. Part IV describes the conceptual limitations of current judicial guidelines, and argues for a more nuanced conceptualization of coercion that accounts …

Death Is Not Different: The Transfer Of Juvenile Offenders To Adult Criminal Courts, Christopher A. Mallett

Social Work Faculty Publications

The US Supreme Court first reviewed a state's statutory procedure for juvenile transfer to adult criminal courts in Kent v. US 1 Morris Kent was a fourteen-year-old first convicted for purse snatching and house-breaking, placed on probation, and later charged at the age of sixteen with robbery and rape. 2 Kent was arrested, presumably admitted to involvement in these crimes after seven hours of interrogation, and placed in a receiving home for one week.

The Expressive Value Of Prosecuting And Punishing Terrorists: Hamdan, The Geneva Conventions, And International Criminal Law, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions that had been proposed by the Executive to prosecute a small number of detainees captured in the 'war on terror' could not proceed. In response to the Hamdan decision, Congress enacted a new military commission structure in the 2006 Military Commissions Act (MCA), which President Bush signed on October 17, 2006. The MCA establishes military commissions for aliens classified as unlawful enemy combatants. It lists the crimes chargeable by such commissions. The MCA also amends domestic legislation - for example, the War Crimes Act - initially …

Prosecutor V. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Décision Sur La Confirmation Des Charges. Case No. Icc-01/04-01/06, Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

On January 29, 2007, in Prosecutor v. Lubanga Dyilo, Pre-trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed war crimes charges against Lubanga for conscripting, enlisting, and using children under the age of fifteen in a rebel force under his command.

In sum, Pre-trial Chamber I held that there was sufficient evidence to support the charges on the theory of Lubanga's individual criminal responsibility. On March 6, 2007, in accordance with Rome Statute Article 67(11),the presidency constituted Trial Chamber I, which will try Lubangaand pronounce on his guilt or innocence, which must be established beyond reasonable doubt.On June …

Wiretapping And Eavesdropping: Surveillance In The Internet Age, 3rd Ed., Anne T. Mckenna, Clifford S. Fishman

Books

The third edition of the seminal “Fishman & McKenna” Wiretapping treatise analyzes federal and state law and the rapidly evolving civil and criminal legal issues and privacy issues surrounding the Internet, computers, cellular devices, electronic location tracking, drones, and biometrics. Since its publication, this treatise has been cited in multiple published federal and state judicial opinions, including by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in August 2010 and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in August 2014. The third edition is a well-known resource for attorneys working in private practice and in …

Juries And Children’S Testimony, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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.

Chimeras: Double The Dna - Double The Fun For Crime Scene Investigators, Prosecutors, And Defense Attorneys?, Catherine Arcabascio

Faculty Scholarship

This article first explores the mythological origins of the term "chimera." It then explores the causes and scientific explanations of chimerism and the various conditions covered by the term chimera in the area of genetics. Although this article will discuss the various chimeric conditions that are thought to exist, its primary focus is on chimerism that is the result of the fusing of embryos in utero. Next, the article will discuss recent cases of chimerism - and of alleged chimerism - and how the genetic differences between chimeras and the general population came to light. It also will discuss …

Updates From The International Criminal Courts, Elizabeth J. Rushing, Rebecca Musarra, Anne Heindel, Angela Edman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Updates From The International Criminal Courts, Anna Katherine Drake, Kaegan-Marie Williams, Debra B. Lefing, Emily Pasternak, Rachel Katzman, Katherine Mccleary, Solomon Shinerock, Howard Shneider

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Laurita M. Denny

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Editorial:The Death Penalty: An Endangered Species Worthy Of Extinction, Rita Montoya

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Have We Abandoned The Innocent?Society’S Debt To The Wrongly Convicted, Meggan Smith

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Bruno Or Richard Hauptmann: Representations Of Aconviction In The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, Rita Mitchell

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Executive Clemency: The Lethal Absence Of Hope, Jonathan Harris, Lothlórien Redmond

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

The Immigration Consequences Of Criminal Conduct, Nelson A. Vargas-Padilla

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Book Review: If I Did It By Oj Simpsonif He Did It, Would It Matter?, Kimberly Nguyen

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Watch: Recent Decisions And Upcoming Criminalcases For The 2007-2008 Docket, Jedidiah Sorokin-Altmann

American University Criminal Law Brief

No abstract provided.