Criminal Law Commons^™

Behavioral Genetics And Crime, In Context, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article provides an introduction to some of the key issues at the intersection of behavioral genetics and crime.

It provides, among other things, an overview of the emerging points of consensus, scientifically, on what behavioral genetics can and cannot tell us about criminal behavior. It also discusses a variety of important implications (as well as complexities) of attempting to use insights of behavioral genetics in legal contexts.

On The Potential Of Neuroscience: A Comment On Greene And Cohen’S "For The Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing And Everything", Theodore Y. Blumoff

ExpressO

In a recent article, Joshua Greene and Jonathan Cohen add their voices to an emerging discussion about the place of neuroscience in law and social policy. They argue convincingly that new data from the developing field of neuroscience will dramatically and positively change our legal system. I agree with their conclusions, but I believe that their commitment to a kind of neuroscientific determinism or essentialism is wrong, unnecessary, and even dangerous; it would move law in a direction that eliminates ongoing, normative decision-making. In the essay I have attached, I first set the stage by discussing the commitment of our …

Therapeutic Jurisprudence And The Rehabilitative Role Of The Criminal Defense Lawyer, David B. Wexler

St. Thomas Law Review

In the present article, I will identify the potential rehabilitative role of the attorney from the beginning stages-possible diversion, for example through sentencing and even beyond-through conditional or unconditional release, and possible efforts to expunge the criminal record. This article has two principal purposes; first, to call for the explicit recognition of a TJ criminal lawyer, and to provide, in a very sketchy manner, an overview of that role; second, to propose an agenda of research and teaching to foster the development of the rehabilitative role of the criminal lawyer. While much of the proposed research would discuss the rehabilitative …

Citizen Standing To Enforce Anti-Cruelty Laws By Obtaining Injunctions: The North Carolina Experience, William A. Reppy Jr.

Animal Law Review

North Carolina law authorizes citizen standing for the enforcement of anti-cruelty laws, thus supplementing criminal prosecution by means not used in any other state. Citizens, cities, counties, and animal welfare organizations can enforce animal cruelty laws through a civil injunction. This article explores the various amendments to North Carolina’s civil enforcement legislation and the present law’s strengths and weaknesses. The Author suggests an ideal model anti-cruelty civil remedies statute.

Long-Term Outcomes In Animal Hoarding Cases, Colin Berry, Gary Patronek, Randall Lockwood

Animal Law Review

Animal hoarding is a form of abuse that affects thousands of animals each year, yet little is known about how cases are best resolved, the effectiveness of prosecution, and how sentences relate to the severity of the offense. This lack of information has hampered effective resolution and the prevention of recidivism. This study obtained information about the hoarder, animals, charges, prosecution, sentencing, and recidivism for fifty-six cases identified through media reports.

The Challenge Of Motive In The Criminal Law, Elaine M. Chiu

Faculty Publications

The purchase of illegal drugs by an undercover police officer is commonly known as a “buy and bust” operation. In the twenty-first century, the stakes in the longstanding war on drugs are high as law enforcement and national security agencies join forces to confront the disturbing ties between terrorism and illegal narcotics. In addition to being a weapon in the arsenal of law enforcement, the buy and bust operation also tells an interesting story about motive in the criminal law. This article uses the simple street sale to demonstrate how the criminal law suffers from its ambivalent attitude towards the …

Blurring The Boundaries Between Immigration And Crime Control After Sept. 11th, Teresa A. Miller

Journal Articles

Although the escalating criminalization of immigration law has been examined at length, the social control dimension of this phenomenon has gone relatively understudied. This Article attempts to remedy this deficiency by tracing the relationship between criminal punishment and immigration law, demonstrating that the War on Terror has further blurred these distinctions and exposing the social control function that pervades immigration law enforcement after September 11th prioritized counterterrorism. In doing so, the author draws upon the work of Daniel Kanstroom, Michael Welch, Jonathan Simon and Malcolm Feeley.

Blackfeet Tribe V. Marcus Spotted Bear, 04-Ap-17 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., April 17, 2004), Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

• Appeal from Tribal Court involving defendant being arrested and charged with Assault and Trespass as to Section III, II of Chapter Five of the Blackfeet Tribal Law and Order Code. 

• Defendant had entered not guilty plea, trial was set with cash bond of $500, and a bench restraining order imposed on defendant. 

• Defendant changed plea to guilty, Judge Carl Pepion ordered a pre-sentence investigation, and defendant was ordered to complete a psychological evaluation prior to sentencing. Defendant was sentenced to 24 months with credit of (90) days served and a $2000 fine. 

• The issue here was whether the sentence and …

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Proportionality Between Crimes, Offenses, And Punishments, James Headley

St. Thomas Law Review

Blackstone said of the Roman Empire, after it embraced unjust laws, "and then the Empire Fell. The United States Supreme Court embraces unjust laws and is inconsistent regarding substantive due process and proportionality in criminal cases, and substantive due process and proportionality in civil cases. The Due Process Clause and the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment require proportionality and fairness, meaning that the punishment must fit the crime, and that the penalty must be appropriate to the offense. Throughout a long history of jurisprudence, the Supreme Court has developed or embraced two varying theories of due process …

Combatting Money Laundering And International Terrorism: Does The Usa Patriot Act Require The Judicial System To Abandon Fundamental Due Process In The Name Of Homeland Security?, Joan M. O'Sullivan-Butler

St. Thomas Law Review

The main question, therefore, in light of the terrorist attacks of September 11 th and the U.S. government's attempt to combat money laundering as a source of potential terrorist funding, is whether the government's use of secret evidence to justify a challenged blocking order represents a violation of the fundamental due process rights of the aggrieved party. In an attempt to evaluate this issue, the remainder of this essay is divided into four Parts. Part I provides an overview of the connection between money laundering and terrorism. Part II describes the statutory history and legislative background to the money laundering …

Preface, Tanina Rostain, Donald H. Zeigler

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Battered Women Syndrome In Florida: Junk Science Or Admissible, Jay B. Rosman

St. Thomas Law Review

In this paper I will examine the admissibility of the battered woman syndrome in Florida as scientific evidence. At the outset I recognize many differing audiences title the syndrome in different ways. My focus is not on the correctness of its title but upon its admissibility in courts in Florida. My overall perspective is based on standards set forth by the Frye' and Dauber? cases. In order to understand the syndrome, it will be necessary to first look at the concept of domestic violence. It will also be important to consider what the term battered woman syndrome means. After discussing …

Tracking The Circulatory Of Confession Jurisprudence After Massiah & (And) Miranda: Can A Superficial Application Of Property Law Make Sense Out Of Nonsense?, Rory Bahadur

St. Thomas Law Review

After Miranda v. Arizona and Massiah v. United States, there were arguably three doctrinally separate methodologies for determining the admissibility of confessions in criminal proceedings. The interaction of these three doctrines has generated a complex, contradictory, somewhat inexplicable, and chaotic jurisprudence. This paper re-examines the post- Miranda interaction of the three doctrines, and argues that basic property law provides a conceptual framework for reconciling what appears to be an otherwise arbitrary and unpalatable collection of Supreme Court decisions. Section one briefly examines the totality of the circumstances test and the Miranda and Massiah decisions themselves, not from the standpoint of …

Trends. Implications Of War And Peace For The Morality, Ethics, And Legality Of Killing And Incarceration, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides a perspective for the controversy surrounding the appropriateness of killing and incarceration during a war on terrorism with global reach.

Enron's Legislative Aftermath: Some Reflections On The Deterrence Aspects Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002, Michael A. Perino

Faculty Publications

Since Enron's implosion, an astounding string of accounting scandals have stunned the securities markets. Global Crossing, WorldCom, Adelphia, and a host of other companies have seen plummeting share prices and SEC and criminal investigations. Congress's reaction has been equally stunning and surprisingly swift. It passed with near unanimity the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the "SOA" or the "Act"), and President Bush quickly signed it into law. The President billed the Act as one of the "the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt." While the SOA is certainly lengthy, with eleven titles and …

Past Violence, Future Danger?: Rethinking Diminished Capacity Departures Under Federal Sentencing Guidelines Section 5k2.13, Eva E. Subotnik

Faculty Publications

Under section 5K2.13 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, a judge is permitted to reduce a defendant's sentence on the grounds of diminished capacity. Most courts construing this provision have ruled that defendants whose offenses involved violence or the threat of violence are ineligible for a reduction in sentence. This Note argues that such an interpretation, which makes past violence a proxy for predicting future dangerousness, is problematic. Medically or psychologically treated, defendants may no longer pose a danger to society. This Note urges that, in accordance with section 5K2.13's language and history, courts should focus more broadly on whether the …

Policing Guns And Youth Violence, Jeffrey A. Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

To combat the epidemic of youth gun violence in the 1980s and 1990s, law enforcement agencies across the United States adopted a variety of innovative strategies. This article presents case studies of eight cities' efforts to police gun crime. Some cities emphasized police-citizen partnerships to address youth violence, whereas others focused on aggressive enforcement against youth suspected of even minor criminal activity. Still others attempted to change youth behavior through "soft" strategies built on alternatives to arrest. Finally, some cities used a combination of approaches. Key findings discussed in this article include:

• Law enforcement agencies that emphasized police-citizen cooperation benefited …

Voluntary Intoxication In Florida: Public Policy Versus Due Process And Why Florida's Intoxication Statute Cannot Withstand A Constitutional Challenge, Michael L. Elkins

St. Thomas Law Review

This comment examines the substance of the opinions in Egelhoff and juxtaposes the Florida statutory scheme against the proper constitutional analysis. The Egelhoff majority has done little to provide a workable constitutional backdrop from which other state statutes banning evidence of voluntary intoxication may be categorized. Part II of this comment provides the historical background for the voluntary intoxication defense. Part I initially examines the factual and legal background of the Egelhoff case as set forth by the Montana Supreme Court. Part IV then provides an analysis of the opinions authored by the United States Supreme Court. This section will …

Voluntariness With A Vengeance: Miranda And A Modern Alternative, Jonathan B. Zeitlin

St. Thomas Law Review

One of the most famous opinions in American jurisprudence is that of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Miranda v. Arizona. The Court's prophylactic rule in Miranda has been followed in both state and federal courts with little derogation for over thirty years. On February 8, 1999, in Dickerson v. United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ignored Miranda, turning instead to 18 U.S.C. § 3501, a relatively obscure federal statute enacted in 1968 in response to the Court's decision in Miranda. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and heard oral …

Crime Victims' Rights: Critical Concepts For Animal Rights, Douglas E. Beloof

Animal Law Review

It is simultaneously intimidating and presumptuous to make observations about a movement that one is not intimately involued in. I am not an animal rights scholar. However, I am in the dignity recognition business. As a legal advocate and academic, I work to promote the dignity of human victims of crime. I have written the only casebook for law students about crime victims law, consult with Congress about crime victim law, and advise attorneys and victim organizations around the country. I also lwt·e considerable expe­rience in taking movements and moving them into practical operations within prosecutors' offices; for example, in …

Allocution For Victims Of Economic Crimes, Jayne W. Barnard

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Strategy For Mercy, Robert L. Misner

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enacting And Enforcing Felony Animal Cruelty Laws To Prevent Violence Against Humans, Joseph G. Sauder

Animal Law Review

Felony animal anti-cruelty laws should be enacted and strictly enforced to protect animals and humans. Studies show that violence in the home, of any type, is self-perpetuating, creating generations of abusers and victims. Children who witness abuse are more likely to abuse animals and eventually humans; even minor acts of animal abuse are signs of a disturbed individual and should be taken seriously. Current animal anti-cruelty laws fail to prevent this violence. This article proposes that stronger anti-cruelty laws must be enacted and properly enforced to prevent this cycle of violence.

Asset Forfeiture And Animal Cruelty: Making One Of The Most Powerful Tools In The Law Work For The Most Powerless Members Of Society, Amy A. Breyer

Animal Law Review

Animals have historically been one of the most vulnerable segments of society to crime due both to their status as property and their inability to aduocate for themselves. While this has long worked to their disadvantage, developments in an area ofjurisprudence where criminal and property law merge now offer an unprecedented possibility. Forfeiture laws have become one of the most powerful and effective tools in the war against crime. The principles and precedents that have emerged from asset forfeiture are aptly suited to application in the animal cruelty context as well. This article discusses asset forfeiture and animal cruelty, offering …

Crimes Against Autonomy: Gerald Dworkin On The Enforcement Of Morality, Lawrence C. Becker

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Most Aggravated And Least Mitigated Murders: Capital Proportionality Review In Florida, Ken Driggs

St. Thomas Law Review

In this article I will briefly discuss the evolution of death penalty law after Furman v. Georgia, including the three statutory models that nearly every death penalty state has adopted. Part of this evolution was the development of proportionality review. I will then discuss Florida's "weighing" statute and how proportionality fits into that. Then I will discuss the specifics of the Florida Supreme Court's approach to proportionality review in death penalty direct appeals. I will elaborate on how the Supreme Court has considered commonly encountered, broad factual situations in death sentences. I will briefly discuss a recent amendment to Article …

Animal Cruelty And Violence Against Humans: Making The Connection, Randall Lockwood

Animal Law Review

The idea that there is a connection between the way individuals treat animals and human beings has a long history in Western popular culture, but a shorter history as the subject of scientific research. Recently, a growing body of evidence has confirmed an association between repeated, intentional abuse of animals and a variety of violent antisocial behaviors including child abuse, domestic violence, and violent criminal activities. The public made this connection before most law-enforcement or menial health officials. Public sentiment for tougher and better-enforced animal cruelty laws is strong, and there has been a dramatic response to recent high-profile animal …

The Leak And The Craft: A Hard Line Proposal To Stop Unaccountable Disclosures Of Law Enforcement Information, John Q. Barrett

Faculty Publications

The critics of Kenneth W. Starr accused him, in the five-plus years that he served as the multi-tasked Independent Counsel, of many failings, mistakes, and improprieties. One of the most prevalent charges was one that has significance to lawyers and resonates with the general public's sense of bad behavior by prosecutors: the allegation that Starr and/or members of his staff "leaked" information. This general accusation was, of course, imprecise. It also might have been overbroad. Prosecutorial "leaks" include such plain illegalities as disclosing grand jury information to the media or other unauthorized persons, and also the much less regulated practice …

The Political Psychology Of Child Molestation: Import For The Rule Of Law, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes the problematic nature of child molestation for the rule of law.

Introduction, Anthony C. Musto

St. Thomas Law Review

No abstract provided.