Criminal Law Commons^™

Criminal Ambiguity: Redefining The Clean Water Act’S Mens Rea Requirements, Bobby Yu

Seton Hall Circuit Review

No abstract provided.

The Need For Speed And Judicial Notice: New York's Admissibility Of Lidar Technology In Law Enforcement, John D. Chillemi

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Focusing at the state level, this Note proposes to establish uniformity within New York State by means of judicial notice or legislative action. Part I provides a history, background, and the development of LIDAR, commencing with its predecessor, radar. It discusses LIDAR’s technical workings and the importance of its current usage to law enforcement. Part I also compares LIDAR to radar, which is nationally accepted. Part II explores New York’s adherence to the admissibility standard set forth in Frye v. United States, and shows how New York’s lower courts have been approaching the issue by analyzing several court …

Breaking Bad Science: Due Process As A Vehicle For Postconviction Relief When Convictions Are Based On Unreliable Scientific Evidence, Vincent P. Iannece

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that due process requires a new trial when scientific evidence necessary to the conviction becomes so unreliable as to call the validity of the jury’s verdict into question. Part I of this Note discusses how scientific evidence is admitted, the procedure for a convicted defendant’s postconviction relief once that evidence is deemed unreliable, and the constitutional protections that a convicted defendant is afforded under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part II of this Note examines the divide among appellate courts as to whether the Due Process Clause requires a new trial when a …

Blood And Privacy: Towards A "Testing-As-Search" Paradigm Under The Fourth Amendment, Andrei Nedelcu

Seattle University Law Review

A vehicle on a public thoroughfare is observed driving erratically and careening across the roadway. After the vehicle strikes another passenger car and comes to a stop, the responding officer notices in the driver the telltale symptoms of intoxication—bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and a distinct odor of intoxicants. On these facts, a lawfully-procured warrant authorizing the extraction of the driver’s blood is obtained. However, the document fails to circumscribe the manner and variety of testing that may be performed on the sample. Does this lack of particularity render the warrant constitutionally infirm as a mandate for chemical analysis of the …

Content Analysis Of Pre- And Post-Jones Federal Appellate Cases: Implications Of Jones For Fourth Amendment Search Law, James A. Purdon

Master of Science in Criminal Justice Theses & (Pre-2016) Policy Research Projects

This study examines the state of Fourth Amendment search law in relationship to the decision in the recent, landmark case of United States v. Jones. This study focused on the effects of the Jones decision, trespass doctrine, relative to the former precedent of Katz v. United States, reasonable expectation of privacy doctrine, and the rates of searches being found under these two tests (or a combination of both). This study used a qualitative content analysis of federal appellate cases which cited Jones and/or Katz to answer the following questions: Which tests were being used in federal appellate cases …

Evading Miller, Robert S. Chang, David A. Perez, Luke M. Rona, Christopher M. Schafbuch

Seattle University Law Review

Miller v. Alabama appeared to strengthen constitutional protections for juvenile sentencing that the United States Supreme Court recognized in Roper v. Simmons and Graham v. Florida. In Roper, the Court held that executing a person for a crime committed as a juvenile is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. In Graham, the Court held that sentencing a person to life without parole for a nonhomicide offense committed as a juvenile is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. In Miller, the Court held that a mandatory sentence of life without parole for a homicide offense committed by a juvenile is also unconstitutional under …

Between A Bed And A Hard Place: How Washington Can Keep Psychiatric Patients In Treatment And Off The Streets, Spencer Babbitt

Seattle University Law Review

On February 27, 2013, ten psychiatric patients were being involuntarily detained in hospital emergency departments located in Pierce County under Washington State’s Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA). Despite the name of the law that authorized their detainment, these individuals were not receiving any psychiatric treatment during their confinement. Nor were they there as the result of a criminal conviction. The only thing these ten detainees were guilty of was being mentally ill. Under what is now considered to have been a misinterpretation of the ITA, counties across Washington had for years been confining mentally ill patients in hospitals not certified to …

Alternative Courts And Drug Treatment: Finding A Rehabilitative Solution For Addicts In A Retributive System, Molly K. Webster

Fordham Law Review

    Sentencing drug crimes and treating drug-addicted defendants often stem from contradictory theories of punishment. In the late twentieth century, courts traded rehabilitation for retributive ideals to fight the “War on Drugs.” However, beginning with the Miami-Dade Drug Court, treatment and rehabilitation have returned to the forefront of sentencing policy in traditional and alternative drug courts.

    Jurisdictions have implemented a variety of policies designed to treat addiction as opposed to punishing it. Community courts, such as the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York, community-panel drug courts, such as the Woodbury County Community Drug Court in Iowa, and Hawaii’s …

Criminal Law And Procedure, Aaron J. Campbell

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Police Body Cameras: Implementation With Caution, Forethought, And Policy, Dru S. Letourneau

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Consequences Of Reform: Penny Pether On Rape Law In Illinois And Australia, Mark Sanders

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Legal Beagle's Blog Archive For November 2015, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Abandoned Criminal Attempts: An Economic Analysis, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

An attempt is 'abandoned' if the criminal, despite having a chance to continue with his criminal plan, forgoes the opportunity to do so. A regime that makes abandonment a defense to criminal attempts provides an incentive to the offender to withdraw from his criminal conduct prior to completing the previously intended offense. However, the same regime may induce offenders to initiate criminal plans more often by reducing the expected costs associated with such plans. The former effect is called the marginal deterrence effect and the latter is called the ex-ante deterrence effect of the abandonment defense. This Article formalizes a …

How To Incite Crime With Words: Clarifying Brandenburg’S Incitement Test With Speech Act Theory, Bradley J. Pew

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Willful Ignorance, Culpability, And The Criminal Law, Alexander F. Sarch

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The overriding aim of this Article is to shore up the normative basis for the willful ignorance doctrine and to clarify what is needed to arrive at a version of this doctrine that adequately respects its normative foundations.

The Constitutionality Of Lengthy Term-Of-Years Sentences For Juvenile Non-Homicide Offenders, Rebecca Lowry

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I discusses the development of the Court's ' kids are different" decisions. Part II argues that the rationale behind Graham applies not only to life-without-parole sentences but also to lengthy term-of-years sentences for juvenile non-homicide offenders. Part III suggests a constitutional mandate as to when states must provide a meaningful opportunity for release and explores other legislative action states can employ to comply with Graham.

A Picture Says A Thousand Words: Applying Foia's Exemption 7(C) To Mug Shots, Rebecca Rosedale

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that Exemption 7(C) of the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), which exempts from disclosure information compiled for law enforcement purposes that "could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," should be categorically applied to mug shots. Part I of this Note explores the recognition of a privacy right and the regulation of public records in the United States, with a focus on FOIA. Part II discusses the conflicting viewpoints held by the circuit courts that have decided whether or not Exemption 7(C) applies to mug shots. Each court analyzed whether a personal …

Ensuring Protection Of Juveniles' Rights: A Better Way Of Obtaining A Voluntary Miranda Waiver, Yekaterina Berkovich

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I provides background information about the evolution of judicial treatment of juveniles and the admissibility of confessions. Part II analyzes the different approaches applied by federal and state courts to determine whether a juvenile's waiver of rights was voluntary and examines the flaws in those approaches. Part III proposes a new approach to remedy the problems courts have faced with the existing approaches and to provide consistent outcomes at the federal level.

Autism And The Criminal Defendant, Christine N. Cea

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I discusses autism spectrum disorders, including the diagnosis and characteristics of autism, and whether autism is linked to criminal behavior. Part II examines whether autism should be an affirmative defense to a crime, and concludes that it should not. However, Part II does propose that autism should be an affirmative defense to specific minor crimes. Part III analyzes potential prejudicial demeanor evidence that might occur when autistic defendants testify in their own defense at a trial. This Part argues that evidence of autism should be admitted in a trial to explain to the jury why an autistic individual …

Reconciling The Sex Offender Registration Act And The Family Court Act: Why The New York Legislature Should Allow Consideration Of Prior Juvenile Delinquency Adjudications In Sora Risk Level Determinations, Samuel J. Bazian

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that advisory boards should not be prevented from considering juvenile delinquency proceedings in determining an adult offender's risk level. While one of the FCA's goals is to protect children from the stigma associated with a criminal conviction, the harm caused by the blanket prohibition against disclosing an offender's juvenile delinquency history outweighs its benefits. That is, despite the legislature's mandate that a juvenile's records be kept confidential, it is nonetheless time to revisit that decision. As currently constituted, the FCA adversely affects the ability of officials to make appropriate recommendations for the safety of the community. …

Defending The Black Sheep Of The Forensic Dna Family: The Case For Implementing Familial Dna Searches In Minnesota, Amy Liberty

Hamline Law Review

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Criminal Justice And The 2013-2014 United States Supreme Court Term, Madhavi M. Mccall, Michael A. Mccall, Christopher E. Smith

Hamline Law Review

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Holding On To Clarity: Reconciling The Federal Kidnapping Statute With The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, Benjamin Reese

Michigan Law Review

In recent decades, the international community has come to recognize human trafficking as a problem of epidemic proportions. Congress responded to this global crisis in 2000 by passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and has since supplemented that comprehensive enactment. But, in light of the widespread use of psychological rather than physical coercion in trafficking cases, a long-standing split among federal courts regarding the scope of the federal kidnapping statute raises significant concerns about the United States’ efforts to combat traffickers. In particular, the broad interpretation adopted by several circuits threatens effective enforcement of statutes designed to prosecute traffickers, …

Cybersecurity And Law Enforcement: The Cutting Edge : Symposium, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Adam Calverly, Cultures Of Desistance: Rehabilitation, Reintegration, And Ethnic Minorities, Whitney Threadcraft-Walker

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Third in an international series investigating desistance and rehabilitation, Adam Calverly’s Cultures of Desistance builds on the extant desistance literature through a comparative analysis of the impact of micro-, meso-, and macro- level factors on the processes associated with criminal disengagement on Indian, Bangladeshi and Black/Dual Heritage offenders in the Brixton neighborhood of London. The author has previously established expertise in the area of ethnicity and desistance through such as Understanding Desistance from Crime: Emerging Theoretical Directions in Resettlement and Rehabilitation (2005) co-authored with Steve Farrell and Black and Asian Offenders on Probationers (2004). Much of the data presented in …

Variations In Patrol Officers’ Concerns About Racial Profiling Across Communal Contexts, Paul Reck

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Numerous studies have explored the issue of racial profiling, but only a few studies have examined how officers view racial profiling and whether such views affect officers’ patrolling of racial minorities. These latter studies generally have found that officers rationalize and dismiss the issue of profiling. However, studies pertaining to citizens’ perceptions of the police and studies identifying policing imperatives that officers associate with particular spaces suggest that there are characteristics of communities that may play an important role in shaping officers’ perceptions of profiling and patrolling of racial minorities. The current study, which is based on ethnographic ride-along interviews …

Editorial, Will Oliver

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Welcome to the second issue of the third volume of the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, and also my last issue as editor. Four years ago, I was given the opportunity by the president and board of the Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice to start up a new association journal and they liked my idea of a qualitative methods journal that would appeal to not only criminal justice, but to criminology as well. I began putting together an editorial board and was overwhelmed by the positive support I received regarding my ideas for the journal. That made …

Michael Welch, Escape To Prison: Penal Tourism And The Pull Of Punishment, Lindsey L. Upton

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Prisons and asylums are unique institutions of confinement that attract our gaze long after they are abandoned. In Escape to Prison, Michael Welch draws attention to ten prison museums across the world where the histories of punishment and control found in each respective culture are presented for our consumption. Welch analyzes prison museums as sites of power and authority. Escape to Prison is an invaluable contribution to cultural criminology because it studies each prison museum in the context of their respective cultures and provides connections between dark tourism and the history of punishment across the globe."

Shaw, Clifford, The Jack Roller, Richard Tewksbury

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Learn from the classics. Understand where you came from. Know the past so you won’t repeat it. Be informed about those that have preceded you. Find the foundation your own work is based upon. All of these are viable, valuable, and unfortunately, often unheeded pearls of wisdom. I, for one, can admit that while I’ve espoused these lessons many times, I have not adhered to my own advice. Although we all are well versed (at least for an undergraduate level lecture or two) on the history of our field and the influential scholars and works of the field, unfortunately far …

“Age Is Just A Number In Here”: A Qualitative Study Of Adulthood In A Women’S Prison, Janani Umamaheswar

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Desistance from crime is a significant marker of adulthood, while persistence in criminal behavior is inconsistent with a subjective sense of adulthood (Massoglia & Uggen, 2010). To understand the relationship between crime and adulthood in greater detail, however, it is important to understand how offenders interpret and conceptualize the notion of adulthood in the first place. Based on interviews and mail correspondence with 35 incarcerated women, I explore this question through an examination of how incarcerated women construct definitions of adulthood while in prison. The findings indicate that in a restrictive environment marked by a lack of independence, women in …