Criminal Law Commons^™

New Rights And Remedies: The Federal Crime Victims' Rights Act Of 2004, David E. Aaronson

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of Persons And The Criminal Law: (Second Tier) Personhood As A Prerequisite For Victimhood, Luis E. Chiesa

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Victims And Self-Liability In Criminal Law: Beyond Contributive Negligence And Foreseeability (Without Blaming The Victim), Maniel Cancio Melia

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Old Wine In New Wineskins? Appraising Professor Bergelson's Plea For Comparative Criminal Liability, Inigo Ortiz De Urbina Gimeno

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child Pornography's Forgotten Victims, Audrey Rogers

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Legal Aid Systems: Benefiting From The Burden, Anthony George Leone

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Global Terror And Organised Crime: Symbiotic Or Synonymous, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper is not a detailed denial of the difference between organised crime as the aggregation of illicit wealth, and terrorism which may not be concerned with economic profit. It takes as given the primary political context for terrorism and the enterprise environment of organised crime.

Summary Of Hidalgo V. District Court, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. 33, Barbra E. Zess

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Petitioner Luis Hidalgo III, awaiting a capital murder trial, successfully made a petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition challenging the alleged aggravating circumstances (solicitation to commit murder) as not being “a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person of another” as required by NRS 200.033(2)(b). Although the court found the other aggravating circumstance, murder to receive money, to be in violation of SCR 250(4)(c) requirements, the court decided to allow the State amend its notice of intent to seek the death penalty to cure the deficiency.

An Evaluation Of The Need For And Functioning Of The Federal Sentencing Guidelines In The United States And Nigeria, Victoria T. Kajo

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines, in use since 1987, was set up to reduce disparity in sentencing and its application was made mandatory. Though there are a few who are in favor of the guidelines, the guidelines as mandatory have been severely criticized and many have called for their abolition. Consequently, in the twin cases of United States v. Booker and United States v. Fanfan (2005) 125 S.Ct. 738, the US Supreme Court delivered judgment that had the effect of making the guidelines discretionary.

While the Nigerian legal system shares a Common Law background with the United States, Nigeria …

Detecting Lies Using Demeanor, Bias, And Context, Max Minzner

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The $62 Million Question: Is Virginia's New Center To House Sexually Violent Prisoners Money Well Spent?, Molly T. Geissenhainer

University of Richmond Law Review

This comment examines Virginia's current civil commitment statute for sexual predators and attempts to identify areas where Virginia should concentrate its limited resources in order to address more adequately the ever-increasing problem of what to do with sex offenders. Part II briefly describes why sex offenders present law enforcement with unique problems in prevention and deterrence. Part III details the history of civil commitment legislation. Part IV examines Supreme Court of the United States jurisprudence regarding the constitutionality of sex offender civil commitment statutes. Part V examines the Virginia Sexually Violent Predator Act. Part VI briefly considers current violent sexual …

Truth And Innocence Procedures To Free Innocent Persons: Beyond The Adversarial System, Tim Bakken

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Through innocent pleas and innocence procedures, this Article urges a fundamental change to the adversarial system to minimize the risk that factually innocent persons will be convicted of crimes. The current system, based on determining whether the prosecution can prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, results in acquittals of guilty persons when evidence is sparse and convictions of innocent persons when evidence is abundant. It might be easier philosophically to accept that guilty persons will go free than to know that some innocent persons will be convicted and imprisoned, especially in the American justice system where erroneous jury verdicts based …

Duress, Demanding Heroism And Proportionality, Luis E. Chiesa

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Culpability Of Felony Murder, Guyora Binder

Journal Articles

Legal scholars are almost unanimous in condemning felony murder as a morally indefensible form of strict liability. This Article provides the long-missing principled defense of the felony murder doctrine. It argues that felony murder liability is deserved for killing negligently by means of a violent or apparently dangerous felony involving an additional malign purpose independent of physical injury to the victim killed. This claim follows from the simple idea that the guilt incurred in attacking or endangering others depends on one’s reasons for doing so. The article develops this idea into an expressive theory of culpability that assesses blame for …

The Bounds Of Necessity, Jens David Ohlin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The current controversy surrounding the legality of torture can only be understood through an analysis of the distinction between justified necessity and excused necessity. Although there may be strong prudential reasons for international criminal courts to declare torture unlawful under any circumstance, this would not necessarily prevent a court from recognizing that an excuse may apply. However, the hallmark of the necessity excuse should not be understood, as it is in German law, as an exception that only applies when a defendant breaks the law to save someone close to him. Rather, the basic principle of the excuse ought to …

Retrying The Acquitted In England Part Ii: The Exception To The Rule Against Double Jeopardy For Tainted Acquittals, David S. Rudstein

San Diego International Law Journal

Parliament enacted a statute in 1996 intended to limit the double jeopardy bar in some situations in which the defendant obtained an acquittal through improper means, thereby permitting the government to retry the person for the same offense of which he previously was tried and acquitted. The statute, part of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, allows a retrial when an individual's acquittal was tainted, which, under the statute, means an acquittal resulting from interference with, or intimidation of, a juror, witness, or potential witness. In allowing a retrial in such circumstances, the statute creates an exception to the …

Victims And Promise Of Remedies: International Law Fairytale Gone Bad, Sanja Djajic

San Diego International Law Journal

The aim of this Article is to examine such developments and the current availability of remedies for human rights violations in general. The Author will also examine the appropriateness of such remedies and opportunities to pursue them. The Article starts by identifying remedies in international law. This is followed by a case study and analysis of attempts by several national judiciaries to grapple with remedies prescribed by international law, against the background of international and national remedies. In the course of examining the reasons for an inadequate remedial structure, the Article will focus on several national cases. They will illustrate …

Summary Of Mclellan V. State, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 25, Tyler Ure

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appellant appeals conviction on 22 counts of sexual assault of a minor under 14 years of age and 20 counts of lewdness with a child under 14 years of age. Appellant argues the district court should not have entered telephone conversation recorded in California into evidence. Appellant also argues that evidence regarding uncharged acts should not have been admitted.

The Emerging Role Of Dna Analysis In The Criminal Justice System, Sandra Sherman

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Forensic science has evolved into the most advanced investigative tool used in the criminal justice field. DNA evidence is a strong component of forensic science and with constant advancements of DNA testing so that its evidence is more reliable and accepted in the criminal justice system will help provide justice for the quily and innocent alike.

Summary Of Brooks V. State Of Nevada, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. Citation 19, Nevada Law Journal

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery with the use of a deadly weapon

A Return To The Grand Jury To Promote A Zen Zeal In Prosecutors, Melanie D. Wilson

Scholarly Articles

DNA evidence has freed at least 209 convicted people. Sometimes DNA evidence exonerates a person. Other times, it does not. When it does not exonerate, a prosecutor must decide whether to persist in further prosecution of the defendant. I propose a fresh, but simple, solution for prosecutors who face such choices. To protect the interests of defendants and victims, and to assuage society’s need for fair and accurate outcomes, prosecutors should represent these cases to a grand jury. The grand jury is an easily convened neutral party that can dispassionately evaluate the evidence, old and new, and determine whether a …

The Right Ones For The Job: Divining The Correct Standard Of Review For Curtilage Determinations In The Aftermath Of Ornelas V. United States, Jake Linford

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Doubting Demaree: The Application Of Ex Post Facto Principles To The United States Sentencing Guidelines After United States V. Booker, James R. Dillon

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Battered By Men, Bruised By Injustice: The Plight Of Women Who Fight Back And The Need For The Battered Women Defense In West Virginia, Jeffrey M. Shawver

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Is So "Grand" About The West Virginia Grand Jury System? A Desperate Need For Reform After The Duek Lacrosse Rape Scandal, Nicholas James

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corrections, Margo Schlanger

Book Chapters

Over the past six years, the number of people in custody in the United States has continued to grow. By the middle of 2006, the nation's prison and jail population, including federal prisons, totaled 2,245,189 persons. The number of people under correctional supervision, including those incarcerated and on probation and parole, reached more than 7 million persons in 2006. For several years, corrections has been the fastest growing component of many states' budgets. The growing number of people in prison has begun to affect the apportionment of political power between urban and rural communities.

Rethinking Child Advocacy After Roper V. Simmons: "Kids Are Just Different" And "Kids Are Like Adults" Advocacy Strategies, Elisa Poncz

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article examines the tension between two competing arguments in juvenile law: "kids are just different" and "kids are like adults." It critiques the binary approach often used in child advocacy and proposes a more nuanced, patchwork strategy that combines both perspectives to better serve the diverse needs of juveniles. The analysis focuses on key legal contexts, including the death penalty, life without parole, and minors' rights in medical decision-making, education, and internet access. The author argues that a balanced approach is essential to address the complexities of juvenile rights and responsibilities.

The Politicization Of The Designation Of Foreign Terrorist Organizations: The Effect On The Separation Of Powers, Julie B. Shapiro

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article critiques the U.S. process for designating foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) and subsequent amendments, arguing that the concentration of power in the Executive Branch undermines the separation of powers and risks politicization. The process, while intended to deter terrorism, often lacks transparency, adequate oversight, and judicial scrutiny, leading to potential misuse and unintended consequences, such as radicalizing targeted groups. The author advocates for reforms to restore constitutional principles and ensure the process remains effective and legitimate.

Bringing Down The Bedroom Walls: Emphasizing Substance Over Form In Personalized Abuse, Orly Rachmilovitz

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This article explores what makes domestic violence special and whether privileging certain abusive relationships, and thus certain victims, over others is justified. It argues that abuse in familial, romantic, or cohabitating relationships is not necessarily any more harmful than abuse in other personal relationships; that harm from abuse should be identified through substantive criteria, for which marriage or cohabitation should not be proxies; and that heightened protections should be extended accordingly. The article pinpoints the criteria that justify distinguishing domestic violence from other forms of violence and examines how federal and state domestic violence laws define protected victims and relationships. …

Retribution, Restoration, And White-Collar Crime, Katherine Beaty Chiste

Dalhousie Law Journal

A "restorative" approach to criminality and conflict has been proposed in a number of common law jurisdictions in a variety of legal contexts, both civil and criminal, with an interesting exception: white-collar crime, which is discussedin an almost exclusively retributive vocabulary. This paper explores what a specifically restorative response to white-collar crime might look like, a response which above all else would seek to heal the harm the crime has done. In particular,the author looks at the possibilities for voluntary participation of victims and offenders; broad stakeholder inclusion and a focus on future relations rather than past offences-all necessaryparts of …