Criminal Law Commons^™

An Updated Account On The Similar Fact Rule, Siyuan Chen

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

The number of local decisions on the similar fact rule has increased quite significantly in the last few years. However, fundamental questions, ranging from the foundational (such as the existence or operation of any residual judicial discretion to exclude relevant evidence) to the discrete (such as whether the rule works differently in civil proceedings as compared to criminal proceedings, and how the rule operates vis-à-vis related rules of evidence), continue to be answered in rather different, arguably irreconcilable ways by the courts. This article analyses some of the recent key decisions in the light of established precedents and proposes that …

Can Too Much Clarity Cause Confusion? A Case Study Of Mccalop V. State, Sutton M. Eggena

Mercer Law Review

In criminal trials, few elements wield as much influence over the outcome as expert testimony. Expert testimony serves as the bridge between complex subject matter and the understanding of lay jurors, often occupying a pivotal position in the pursuit of justice. Indeed, expert testimony can be the lynchpin on which a jury’s verdict turns. Picture a courtroom filled with jurors, each presumed to lack a deep understanding of the intricate dynamics of domestic abuse and the profound effects of battered person syndrome on individuals trapped in violent relationships. In pursuit of justice, these jurors lean on a singular source—an expert …

Proprietors Beware: Recent Changes In Negligent Security Cases Involving Third-Party Criminal Acts And The State Of The Law Moving Forward After The Supreme Court Of Georgia’S Most Recent Decision In Georgia Cvs V. Carmichael, Blake Williamson

Mercer Law Review

The burgeoning surge in criminal activity within the United States has precipitated a corresponding increase in legal actions aimed at ascertaining the liability of business proprietors for crimes that transpire on their premises. Although the legal and factual questions surrounding the attribution of liability for the criminal acts of third parties often prove intricate, the crux of the matter remains consistent with that encountered in other premises liability actions—namely, did the proprietor possess superior knowledge of the danger that injured the plaintiff?

Just Me, Myself, And I: Georgia Trial Courts May Consider Pro Se Motions Filed By Represented Criminal Defendants, Mckayla A. Doss

Mercer Law Review

For decades, Georgia’s trial courts have applied the absolute rule that pro se motions filed by represented (or presumably represented) criminal defendants were a legal nullity. In essence, hybrid representation was not permitted—legal representation precluded criminal defendants from acting as “co-counsel” or filing their own pro se motions.The application of this absolute rule substantially affected the time-sensitive period that follows a criminal conviction, as defendants in Georgia have a limited period of time to file a notice of appeal or a motion for new trial before the window of direct appeal closes. Failure to file these motions results in the …

The Needless Search For A Founding-Era "Hearsay" Definition, Jeffrey Bellin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Modern Confrontation Clause doctrine permits only unconfronted “out-of-court statements that would have been admissible in a criminal case at the time of the founding.” To operationalize this concept, the Supreme Court identifies “testimonial hearsay” as the Clause’s primary concern. Its opinions regularly dive into the historical record to refine what counts as “testimonial” but ignore that record in defining “hearsay.” This omission cannot last. Cases in the lower courts, and one on the Court’s recent docket, concern testimonial but (arguably) non-hearsay statements. And while confrontation jurisprudence is supposed to be tied to founding-era evidence law, the “hearsay” definition, casually referenced …

Criminal Legal Reform In New Hampshire: One Law Professor's Activism, Albert E. Scherr

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

Criminal legal reform is a perpetual work in progress. The system itself is, at best, maddeningly imperfect. It too often fails to produce anything close to justice. Structural problems afflict the system in a way that incarcerates too many people, particularly people of color. For example, over the last thirty years, the Innocence Project has demonstrated imperfections in the system caused by faulty eyewitness identification procedures by ineffective assistance of counsel, by prosecutorial misconduct, by shoddy forensic practices and by police behavior that produced false confessions.

That the United States has well over fifty-one independent criminal legal systems frustrates efforts …

Principles Of Prosecutor Lenience, Jeffrey Bellin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Once "the Darth Vader of academic writing,"' American prosecutors are making a comeback. In recent years, "progressive prosecutors" have leveraged prosecutors' one true superpower-lenience-to "reform the criminal justice system from the inside." There is so much scholarly enthusiasm for this project that the existing commentary can be summarized as offering a one-word principle to govern considerations of prosecutorial lenience: yes. But there is surely more to say. American criminal law covers a broad array of offenses with vast differences in punitiveness across jurisdictions and courts. And even harsh critics of the system's severity tend to pivot when it comes to …

Confronting Algorithms: Conscience Catching In The Criminal Trial And Beyond, Sherman J. Clark

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Using the question of how to treat algorithmic evidence under the Confrontation Clause as an entry point, I argue that the use of AI in ethically salient situations presents a risk. It may cause us to avoid confronting our own responsibility. This matters because facing up to what we do, including what we delegate, can help us grow and thrive. Bearing responsibility can help us nurture vital capacities, including forms of empathy, honesty, and dignity. In the language of ethics, these are eudaimonist virtues—traits and capacities that can help us live well and fully. We should thus find ways of …

Redistributing Justice, Benjamin Levin, Kate Levine

Articles

This Essay surfaces an obstacle to decarceration hiding in plain sight: progressives’ continued support for the carceral system. Despite progressives’ increasingly prevalent critiques of criminal law, there is hardly a consensus on the left in opposition to the carceral state. Many left-leaning academics and activists who may critique the criminal system writ large remain enthusiastic about criminal law in certain areas— often areas in which defendants are imagined as powerful and victims as particularly vulnerable.

In this Essay, we offer a novel theory for what animates the seemingly conflicted attitude among progressives toward criminal punishment—the hope that the criminal system …

The Criminalization Of Care: Health And The Home, Teneille R. Brown

Utah Law Review

In this issue of the Utah Law Review, our readers will hear from a variety of perspectives on how the criminalization of care is impacting our communities. Noa Ben-Asher and Margot Pollans describe how “regret” has been exploited by conservative groups in campaigns to paternalistically ban abortion and genderaffirming care. They lay out how the parallel legal strategies between bans on abortion and gender-affirming care are hardly coincidental. Rather, there is a coordination effort to pervert informed consent doctrine to promote “traditional family values,” and to police reductive heteronormative visions of identity.

Caught In The Middle: Providing Obstetric Care When Pregnant Women Have Complications, Ellen Clayton, Luke Gatta

Utah Law Review

Physicians in abortion-restrictive states who care for pregnant women who become ill are facing new challenges as they try to meet their patients’ needs while avoiding criminal prosecution on the one hand or civil litigation if there is a bad outcome, especially when care is affected by the threat of vague statutes, on the other. All these legal actions will occur in the public eye. Unfortunately, the proposed changes to HIPAA do not protect against criminal prosecution when the medical exception for the woman’s health is at issue.

Two changes are needed. The first is amending the state statutes to …

The Myth Of Slavery Abolition, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Articles

In many countries today, slavery and the slave trade continue with impunity. International human rights law prohibits both abuses, but states are rarely held accountable and people who are enslaved or slave traded rarely receive redress. This Article offers a novel account of why international human rights law advocacy neglects slavery and the slave trade. Specifically, this Article demonstrates that the abolition of the Transatlantic and East African slave trades was achieved through a legal framework that marginalized the human rights of enslaved persons while consolidating empire. In the wake of World War II, prohibitions on slavery and the slave …

Abortion Access: A Strain On The Most Vulnerable Women In Texas Post-Dobbs, Aleea Costilla

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The (Not So) United States Of Parole: A State-Of-The-Art Review Of Discretionary Release For Individuals Serving Life, Stuti S. Kokkalera, Angelica M. Allison

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

About one in seven individuals are currently in prison serving a life sentence. A substantial proportion of this incarcerated population have the opportunity for early release through parole. Given the complexity and variety of parole board systems, capturing a comprehensive understanding of parole decision-making is imperative. This article provides a state of the art review of statutory and administrative provisions describing parole practices for individuals serving life sentences were collected and evaluated by employing content analytical techniques. We find that the formalization of discretionary release procedures in statutes, administrative rules, and policy manuals reflects a confluence of perspectives ranging from …

Addressing White Collar And Corporate Crime: Prosecution, Nonprosecution, Or Deferred Prosecution?, Kristine Artello, Jay S. Albanese

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

Trends in white-collar and corporate crime prosecutions have been examined over two decades. It is found that prosecutions have dropped substantially over the last 10 years. Reasons for this trend are explored. A recent trend to use deferred and nonprosecution agreements (DNPAs) as an alternative to criminal prosecution helps explain some of this decline. The frequency and nature of their use against organizations are examined based on the charges involved and the type of corporate defendant. Interviews with former federal investigators and prosecutors shed light on prosecution decisions against organizations and potential changes that might deter corporate misconduct more effectively.

Juvenile Life Without Parole In Pennsylvania: Age, Cognitive Immaturity, And Culpability, Margaret E. Leigey, Marco Granston

Journal of Criminal Justice and Law

While there has been momentum at both the federal and state levels to curtail extreme punishments for justice-involved juveniles (The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, 2023), 22 states continue to permit the sentence of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP). Pennsylvania is among them. This essay focuses on judicial rationale in five JLWOP re-sentencing cases in the state, and more specifically, how the appellant’s age and implied adult-level culpability were used by the judge to justify permanent incarceration. In the re-sentencing documents, judges neglected the ample research in the areas of neuroscience and developmental psychology that indicates reduced legal …

Why We Should Stop Talking About Violent Offenders: Storytelling And Decarceration, Mira Edmonds

Articles

The movement to decarcerate risks foundering because of its failure to grapple with so-called violent offenders, who make up nearly half of U.S. prisoners. The treatment of people serving sentences for offenses categorized as violent is a primary reason for the continued problem of mass incarceration, despite widespread awareness of the phenomenon and significant bipartisan interest in its reduction. People convicted of “violent offenses” are serving historically anomalous and excessively long sentences, are generally denied clemency and compassionate release, and are excluded from a wide array of legal reform and policy changes with decarceral aims. Keeping these people in prison …

The Georgian Case For Harmless Constitutional Error Reform, John Evan Laughter

Georgia State University Law Review

This Note examines Georgia’s application of harmless error review to constitutional errors and proposes a new standard to remedy deficiencies.

Standing And Criminal Law, F. Andrew Hessick, Sarah A. Benecky

BYU Law Review

According to the Supreme Court, the “irreducible constitutional minimum of Article III standing” is a concrete, particularized injury in fact that is traceable to the defendant and redressable by a favorable judgment. But this set of requirements does not apply in criminal cases. The federal government has authority to bring prosecutions for any violation of federal criminal law, regardless of whether the crime caused concrete harm to the United States or anyone else, and even though the punishment for the crime does not redress an injury in any conventional sense.

This Article argues that the difference in standing requirements between …

Sexual Abuse: A Multi-Faceted Problem, Marcus Venable

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

On average, US citizens have experienced approximately 400,000 sexual assaults per year, which results in enormous immediate and long-term consequences for individuals, as well as society in general.

In the U.S., the principal method of combatting this crime has been the creation of Sex Offender Registries used to notify the public of the identity and location of convicted sex offenders who may be living in proximity to their residence. In addition to the Registry, laws have been passed forbidding convicted sex offenders from residing within buffer zones around areas of high child concentration [schools/parks/etc.].

The efficacy and consequences of these …

6ppd-Q, Tires, And Salmon, Oh My: Policies And Remedies For Tribes In The Acute Mortality Of Coho Salmon In The Puget Sound Region., Meralina Morales

American Indian Law Journal

The pervasive reliance on automobiles within society exacerbates environmental degradation in low-income and communities of color, notably in Native and tribal communities. The leaching of Tread Wear Particles (TWP), including the detrimental 6PPD-quinone (“6PPD-q”), into waterways, significantly impacts aquatic ecosystems. This issue is especially impactful for endangered species, like the coho salmon, that hold profound cultural significance for indigenous tribes in the Pacific Northwest, for example, the Nez Perce Tribe believes that the fate of the salmon and people are linked.[1]

The scientific foundations of 6PPD-q's impact on salmon through bioaccumulation and biomagnification highlights its environmental justice implications. This …

Participation In Paradise?: Indigenous Participation And Environmental Decisionmaking In HawaiʻI, Lindsay Peterson

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Digital Allotment And Vanishing Indians: Idsov And Llms, Sam Mcveety

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

How Redistricting Affects Native Representation: The Turtle Mountain Band Of Chippewa, Ryland Mahre

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Awareness Of Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls (Mmiwg): Policy Steps Toward Addressing The Crisis, Meenakshi P. Richardson, Kimberly Klein, Stephany Runninghawk Johnson

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Locke’S “Wild Indian” In United States Supreme Court Jurisprudence, Anthony W. Hobert Phd

American Indian Law Journal

This article explores the impact of John Locke’s Two Treatises on United States Indigenous property rights jurisprudence. After discussing Locke’s arguments, the article turns to the rationales of the first and last cases of the Marshall Trilogy—Johnson v. McIntosh (1823) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832)—arguing that, contrary to prevailing political theory, Marshall’s opinion for the Court in Johnson puts forth a fundamentally Lockean justification for the dispossession of Indigenous property. This article also provides a brief analysis of Marshall’s explicit Vattelian rationale in Worcester, commentary on recent developments regarding the precedents, and recommendations for reconciling them within contemporary …

The Legal Nature Of Cyberbullying: A Comparative Study Between The American And The Jordanian Laws, Alaeldin Mansour Maghaireh Dr.

UAEU Law Journal

The research is aimed to highlight the emerging phenomenon of cyberbullying in Jordan by analysing some of the main legal aspects of cyberbullying and relevant laws. It analysed whether the nature of the phenomenon constitutes a crime, and therefore, must be explicitly stated in the relevant laws, or it is only a bad social phenomenon that can be addressed within the school environment, and therefore no need for legislative provisions to prohibit it. The research showed the gravity of the psychological and physical effects of cyberbullying and its diversity forms and methods. Also, it underscored the paucity of the legal …

International Judicial Cooperation To Combat Money Laundering According To The Palestinian And The Uae Legislation: A Comparative Study, Abrar Ibrahim Assi Mss., Mustafa Abdelbaqi Dr

UAEU Law Journal

This study sheds light on the mechanisms of international judicial cooperation, and the most prominent challenges that impede international action in combating the crime of money laundering, which prevent the effective realization of combating this crime in Palestine and the United Arab Emirates as required. The study was divided into two sections, the first deals with the nature of international judicial cooperation, and the second deals with the mechanisms of international judicial cooperation and the most prominent obstacles in Palestine and the United Arab Emirates.

The study reached a number of results, the most important of which is the absence …

The Fine For The Crime Of Issuing A Cheque Without A Balance Between The Ordinary And The Relative In The Algerian Legislation, Bassim Chihab Prof.

UAEU Law Journal

The fine stipulated in Article 374 of the Algerian Penal Code took a special place in both the judiciary and legal jurisprudence, as the legislator made it specific to the value of the cheque or the decrease in the balance. The judiciary described it as a mandatory complementary punishment, and this resulted in important consequences, as it is not valid to rule on it alone, reprieve or reduce it. In view of the developments in the punitive policy, the Algerian judiciary, represented by the Supreme Court, considered this fine as an original penalty, and everything related to this description was …

Rethinking Culpability And Wrongdoing (In The Criminal Law—And Everyday Life), T. Markus Funk

University of Cincinnati Law Review

Determining an offender’s “culpability” is fundamental to justice systems worldwide. However, this crucial concept, built on a blending of moral responsibility with legal guilt, remains significantly diluted. For instance, the U.S. Model Penal Code uses an offender’s moral culpability merely to “grade” offenses and determine sentences. This prevailing perpetrator-centric approach, mirrored in U.S. state and federal laws and academic discourse, affects individual cases and has far-reaching societal implications.

Viewed this way, “harm” narrowly refers to the concrete damage (or the “injury”), such as physical pain and damage or loss of property, the perpetrator caused. “Culpability,” on the other hand, is …