Criminal Law Commons^™

Innocent Suffering: The Unavailability Of Post-Conviction Relief In Virginia Courts, Kaitlyn Potter

University of Richmond Law Review

This comment examines actual innocence in Virginia: the progress it has made, the problems it still faces, and the possibilities for reform. Part I addresses past reform to the system, spurred by the shocking tales of Thomas Haynesworth and others. Part II identifies three of the most prevalent systemic challenges marring Virginia's justice system: (1) flawed scientific evidence; (2) the premature destruction of evidence; and (3) false confessions and guilty pleas. Part III suggests ways in which Virginia can, and should, address these challenges to ensure that the justice system is actually serving justice.

Criminal Law And Procedure, Aaron J. Campbell

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Innocent Suffering: The Unavailability Of Post-Conviction Relief In Virginia Courts, Kaitlyn Potter

Law Student Publications

This comment examines actual innocence in Virginia: the progress it has made, the problems it still faces, and the possibilities for reform. Part I addresses past reform to the system, spurred by the shocking tales of Thomas Haynesworth and others. Part II identifies three of the most prevalent systemic challenges marring Virginia‘s justice system: (1) flawed scientific evidence; (2) the premature destruction of evidence; and (3) false confessions and guilty pleas. Part III suggests ways in which Virginia can, and should, address these challenges to ensure that the justice system is actually serving justice.

Crime, Morality, And Republicanism, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

One of the abiding concerns of the philosophy of law has been to establish the relationship between law and morality. Within the criminal law, this concern often takes the form of debates over legal moralism--that is, "the position that immorality is sufficient for criminalization" (Alexander 2003: 131). This paper approaches these debates from the perspective of the recently revived republican tradition in politics and law. Contrary to what is usually taken to be liberalism's hostility to legal moralism, and especially to attempts to promote virtue through the criminal law, the republican approach takes the promotion of virtue to be one …

A Call For Justice: Virginia's Need For Criminal Discovery Reform, Douglas A. Ramseur

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In order for the promise of a strong and reliable criminal justice system to work properly in Virginia, there must be strong and prepared advocates on both sides of the process. The current process of discovery for criminal cases in Virginia fosters a culture of secrecy and unpreparedness that should not be tolerated in a system that has such power over the lives of every person in this state. It is far past the time for Virginia to move forward on criminal discovery reform. The current rules for criminal discovery in Virginia were first adopted in 1972. The rules do …

America Is Slowly Awakening To The Structural Unfairness In Our Criminal Justice System, Mary Kelly Tate

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Book review of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.

Forensic Science Developments And Judicial Decision-Making In The Era Of Innocence: The Influence Of Legal Process Theory And Its Implications, Sarah Lucy Cooper

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article confirms the existence of these legal process-centric themes and considers some potential implications of these approaches. Part I briefly sets out key tenets of the legal process vision and provides some back- ground to the American Innocence Movement. Using examples from relevant case law, Part II examines the courts’ approaches thematically, demonstrating how the courts exhibit loyalty to the legal process vision. It also considers the implications of this loyalty, including that it can result in both the extraction of science from its social context and an awkward approach towards discerning between credible and incredible forensic science evidence …

2015 Symposium: Wrongful Convictions: Science, Experience & The Law Keynote Panel Discussion, Mary Kelly Tate, Shawn Armbrust, Michael N. Herring, Douglas A. Ramseur

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

2015 Symposium: Wrongful Convictions: Science, Experience & the Law Keynote Panel Discussion

2015 Symposium: Wrongful Convictions: Science, Experience & The Law Keynote Panel Discussion, Mary Kelly Tate, Shawn Armbrust, Michael N. Herring, Douglas A. Ramseur

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

2015 Symposium: Wrongful Convictions: Science, Experience & the Law Keynote Panel Discussion

Compensating The Wrongfully Convicted: A Proposal To Make Victims Of Wrongful Incarceration Whole Again, Alanna Trivelli

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Part I of this comment presents a brief overview of the current state compensation systems for those who are wrongly imprisoned, including model legislation proposed by the Innocence Project and the current short- comings of compensation statutes across the United States. Part II discusses the principles behind compensatory damages in tort law, and the foundation and reasoning for making a victim whole again. Varying forms of relief are also discussed. Part III applies these principles of tort law to the arena of wrongful convictions to show states have a responsibility to make victims of wrongful convictions whole again. Potential problems …

Forensic Science Developments And Judicial Decision-Making In The Era Of Innocence: The Influence Of Legal Process Theory And Its Implications, Sarah Lucy Cooper

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article confirms the existence of these legal process-centric themes and considers some potential implications of these approaches. Part I briefly sets out key tenets of the legal process vision and provides some back- ground to the American Innocence Movement. Using examples from relevant case law, Part II examines the courts’ approaches thematically, demonstrating how the courts exhibit loyalty to the legal process vision. It also considers the implications of this loyalty, including that it can result in both the extraction of science from its social context and an awkward approach towards discerning between credible and incredible forensic science evidence …

America Is Slowly Awakening To The Structural Unfairness In Our Criminal Justice System, Mary Kelly Tate

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Book review of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.

A Call For Justice: Virginia's Need For Criminal Discovery Reform, Douglas A. Ramseur

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In order for the promise of a strong and reliable criminal justice system to work properly in Virginia, there must be strong and prepared advocates on both sides of the process. The current process of discovery for criminal cases in Virginia fosters a culture of secrecy and unpreparedness that should not be tolerated in a system that has such power over the lives of every person in this state. It is far past the time for Virginia to move forward on criminal discovery reform. The current rules for criminal discovery in Virginia were first adopted in 1972. The rules do …

Compensating The Wrongfully Convicted: A Proposal To Make Victims Of Wrongful Incarceration Whole Again, Alanna Trivelli

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Part I of this comment presents a brief overview of the current state compensation systems for those who are wrongly imprisoned, including model legislation proposed by the Innocence Project and the current short- comings of compensation statutes across the United States. Part II discusses the principles behind compensatory damages in tort law, and the foundation and reasoning for making a victim whole again. Varying forms of relief are also discussed. Part III applies these principles of tort law to the arena of wrongful convictions to show states have a responsibility to make victims of wrongful convictions whole again. Potential problems …

Humane Proposals For Swift And Painless Death, Bryce Buchmann

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This comment will provide reasons why lethal injection is not the appropriate method of execution in the United States, discuss factors that should be considered in selecting a method of execution and conclude that several alternative methods of punishment are preferable to lethal injection. Part I of this comment will detail the history of lethal injection in the United States and the issues associated with the practice. Part II examines how the government determines which method of execution is appropriate. Finally, Part III provides proposals for more humane punishment and concludes the comment.

“One Of The Worst:” The School-To-Prison Pipeline In Richmond, Virginia, Cassie Powell

Law Student Publications

Virginia tops the nation in the rate of referrals of students to law enforcement, at three times the national average. Students with disabilities and children of color are far more likely to be referred. Some Richmond area school districts and local government leaders are taking steps to counteract this trend.

Humane Proposals For Swift And Painless Death, Bryce Buchmann

Law Student Publications

This comment will provide reasons why lethal injection is not the appropriate method of execution in the United States, discuss factors that should be considered in selecting a method of execution and conclude that several alternative methods of punishment are preferable to lethal injection. Part I of this comment will detail the history of lethal injection in the United States and the issues associated with the practice. Part II examines how the government determines which method of execution is appropriate. Finally, Part III provides proposals for more humane punishment and concludes the comment.

Humane Proposals For Swift And Painless Death, Bryce Buchmann

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This comment will provide reasons why lethal injection is not the appropriate method of execution in the United States, discuss factors that should be considered in selecting a method of execution and conclude that several alternative methods of punishment are preferable to lethal injection. Part I of this comment will detail the history of lethal injection in the United States and the issues associated with the practice. Part II examines how the government determines which method of execution is appropriate. Finally, Part III provides proposals for more humane punishment and concludes the comment.

Playing Fair With Imprisonment, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

This chapter rests on two assumptions, at least one of which is controversial. The first is that something is wrong when a society imprisons as many people as the United States now does. According to a widely published columnist, George Will, the rate of imprisonment was about 100 per 100,000 Americans until the 1970s. Since then the rate has shot up, to the point where "700 per 100,000" are now in prison; "America," Will reported in 2013, "has nearly 5 percent of the world's population but almost 25 percent of its prisoners." It is possible, of course, that these figures …

Charging On The Margin, Paul T. Crane

Law Faculty Publications

The American criminal justice system has experienced a significant expansion in the number and severity of penalties triggered by misdemeanor convictions. In particular, legislatures have increasingly attached severe collateral consequences to misdemeanor offenses- penalties such as requirements to register as a sex offender, prohibitions on owning or possessing a firearm, and deportation. Although there is a wealth of scholarship studying the effect this development has on defendants and their attorneys, little attention has been paid to the impact collateral consequences have on prosecutorial incentives. This Article starts to remedy that gap by exploring the influence that collateral consequences exert on …

The Criminalization Of Title Ix, Erin R. Collins

Law Faculty Publications

This essay proceeds in three parts. Part I provides a brief overview of the history of feminist-influenced criminal rape law reform and the rise of carceral feminism. Part II demonstrates how key tenets of the criminal law approach have been imported into emerging Title IX policies. Part III engages in a brief distributional analysis to identify who benefits and who loses from this approach. Then, drawing on insights from critical feminist critiques of rape law reform, begins to identify ways to use the opportunity Title IX presents to craft a very different kind of response to sexual assault--one that focuses …

Death Row, Calls For Indifference, And Redemption Of The Soul, Corinna Barrett Lain

Law Faculty Publications

In this Response, I first engage with McLeod’s article, summarizing its key claims and endorsing its call for legislative action, while disagreeing at times with the analytical moves it makes along the way. I then turn to two questions that the article inspired. One stems from comments in the constitutional, academic, and public discourse calling for indifference to the way we treat the condemned in light of the way they treated their victims. Given the depravity of the crimes the condemned have committed, why should we care about the conditions under which they are housed on death row? The other …

Making Juvenile Justice More Humane And Effective, Julie Ellen Mcconnell

Law Faculty Publications

Long commutes, high costs and too much time away from family are among the most common frustration for workers in Virginia. But while those annoyances may be tolerable when it comes to our daily commutes, they have become an unfortunate feature of Virginia’s youth justice system, which confines hundreds of youth in large institutions far from their homes.

When young people have regular visits with their family and other members of the community, they have a much higher chance of being rehabilitated and successfully returning to those communities. Currently, many incarcerated youth in Virginia are held far from their families, …

2015 Symposium: Wrongful Convictions: Science, Experience & The Law Keynote Panel Discussion, Mary Kelly Tate

Law Faculty Publications

The following is a minimally-edited transcript of the panel speakers from the 2015 Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest Symposium, Wrongful Convictions: Science, Experience and the Law held on October 29, 2015. Biographies of the speakers are included in the Introductory Remarks. None of the opinions of these persons are necessarily the opinion of their respective agencies or employers. They are not to be used nor will they be able to be used for any legally binding purpose regarding the speaker or any agency.

Moderator: Professor Mary Kelly Tate, Director, Richmond Institute for Actual Innocence

Panelists: Shawn Armbrust …

America Is Slowly Awakening To The Structural Unfairness In Our Criminal Justice System, Mary Kelly Tate

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Bryan Stevenson's book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, published by Spiegal & Grau in 2014.

"During War, The Law Is Silent," Or Is It?: Examining The Legal Status Of Guantanamo Bay, Kate Frisch

Law Student Publications

The use of Guantanamo Bay as an extraterritorial detention center intended to house what the United States deems as "unlawful enemy combatants" has been problematic for several reasons. First, the United States government has argued that Guantanamo exists outside of its immediate territorial sovereignty, and therefore the detainees do not have to be afforded any significant procedural and substantive legal protections under the Constitution. Second, it is unclear how and to what extent United States activities in Guantanamo Bay conform to international human rights standards. Significantly, it has been questioned whether or to what extent public international and human rights …