Criminal Procedure Commons^™

The Cultural Defense: Reflections In Light Of The Model Penal Code And The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

Much of this essay is an inquiry into just how cultural factors might figure in claims about elements of offenses, justifications, excuses, and mitigations under the Model Penal Code – still the most comprehensive and systematic code of criminal law in the United States. That exploration gives us a sense of how culture may matter for criminal liability absent a specifically labeled "cultural defense"; it also provides an idea of how much could be accomplished by expansions of the standard defenses.

In the latter part of the essay, I think about cultural practices as a potential justification or generalized exemption …

Legitmacy And Criminal Justice, Jeffrey A. Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

Surveys of public opinion over four decades consistently show that Americans have little confidence in the fairness or effectiveness of the criminal justice system and criminal law more generally. This crisis of confidence is most acute among racial minorities: surveys show that more than one in three Whites have little confidence in the police, compared to more than half of Black respondents. Both the lack of confidence and the racial breach in perceptions of the law and legal actors have persisted for nearly four decades, regardless of whether crime was rising or falling.

But we might reasonably ask whether and …

Letting Guidelines Be Guidelines (And Judges Be Judges), Gerard E. Lynch

Faculty Scholarship

In a prescient New York Times op-ed piece entitled "Let Guidelines be Guidelines," written in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Blakely v. Washington, before certiorari was granted in United States v. Booker, Bill Stuntz of Harvard and Kate Stith Cabranes of Yale urged that the best solution for the constitutional crisis facing the United States Sentencing Guidelines would be to treat the Guidelines as guidelines, and not as a straightjacket. The Supreme Court evidently took a similar view, deciding in Booker that the Guidelines were constitutional only to the extent that they were not mandatory. The recent follow-up …

Straddling The Civil-Criminal Divide: A Bifurcated Approach To Understanding The Nature Of Immigration Removal Proceedings, Peter L. Markowitz

Articles

The article challenges the traditional classification of removal proceedings as civil, arguing that expulsion, particularly for permanent residents, functions similarly to criminal punishment and should therefore be treated as criminal. It proposes a bifurcated approach distinguishing exclusion and expulsion, advocating for criminal protections in expulsion proceedings to align with historical and constitutional principles.

Congressional Oversight Of National Security Activities: Improving Information Funnels, Heidi Kitrosser

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Hidalgo V. District Court, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. 59, Barbra E. Zess

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Luis Hidalgo III and Anabel Espindola, awaiting a capital murder trial, 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). The other aggravator, murder to receive money, was successfully challenged as violating SCR 250(4)(c) requirements.

Death Penalty Law, Therese M. Day

Mercer Law Review

This Article provides a survey of death penalty case law in Georgia from June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007. The cases include those that were heard by the Georgia Supreme Court on interim appeal and direct appeal,1 and discussion is limited to claims which present new issues of law, refine existing law, or are otherwise instructive. This Article does not discuss holdings in capital cases that are common to all criminal appeals because these are discussed elsewhere in this Survey.

Be They Fish Or Not Fish: The Fishy Registration Of Nonsexual Offenders, Ofer Raban

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Statistics In The Jury Box: How Jurors Respond To Mitochondrial Dna Match Probabilities, David H. Kaye, Valerie P. Hans, B. Michael Dann, Erin J. Farley, Stephanie Albertson

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article describes parts of an unusually realistic experiment on the comprehension of expert testimony on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing in a criminal trial for robbery. Specifically, we examine how jurors who responded to summonses for jury duty evaluated portions of videotaped testimony involving probabilities and statistics. Although some jurors showed susceptibility to classic fallacies in interpreting conditional probabilities, the jurors as a whole were not overwhelmed by a 99.98% exclusion probability that the prosecution presented. Cognitive errors favoring the defense were more prevalent than ones favoring the prosecution. These findings lend scant support to the legal argument that mtDNA …

Summary Of Wilson V. State Of Nevada, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 54, Tanya Gaylord

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

No abstract provided.

What Is A Business Crime?, Richard A. Booth

Working Paper Series

Criminal prosecution has been used with increasing frequency recently in connection with a variety of business failures and other financial offenses. Indeed, it appears that there are few such offenses that cannot be prosecuted criminally even though they also give rise to civil remedies. While some such offenses seem to be quite serious frauds, others seem to be as minor as getting the accounting rules wrong. Thus, the question addressed in this essay is how to define a business crime and what should be the proper role of criminal prosecution in connection with business offenses. I start with the proposition …

Criminal Law And Procedure, Marla G. Decker, Stephen R. Mccullough Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

The authors have endeavored to select from the many appellate cases those that have the most significant precedential value. The article also outlines some of the most consequential changes tothe law enacted by the Virginia General Assembly in the areas ofcriminal law and procedure.

Implementing The Death Penalty: The Moral Implications Of Recent Advances In Neuropsychology, Peggy Sasso

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Has A New Day Dawned For Indigent Defense In Virginia?, Robert E. Shepherd Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Dui Law In Virginia, Monte Kuligowski

University of Richmond Law Review

As the demand for safer roadways needs little supporting argument, I turn to the constitutional problem of strict criminal liability law, followed with a brief analysis of criminal intent and strict liability law within the criminal system, some examples of how other states have responded to the inherent tensions, and a few specific thoughts for the legislature to consider.

Pro Se Litigation: Best Practices From A Judge's Perspective, Hon. Beverly W. Snukals, Glen H. Sturtevant Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Price Of Misdemeanor Representation, Erica J. Hashimoto

William & Mary Law Review

Nobody disputes either the reality of excessive caseloads in indigent defense systems or their negative effects. More than forty years after Gideon v. Wainwright, however, few seem willing to accept that additional resources will not magically appear to solve the problem. Rather, concerned observers demand more funds while state and local legislators resist those entreaties in the face of political resistance and pressures to balance government budgets. Recognizing that indigent defense systems must operate in a world of limited resources, states should reduce the number of cases streaming into those systems by significantly curtailing the appointment of counsel in low-level …

Raise The Proof: A Default Rule For Indigent Defense, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

Almost everyone agrees that indigent defense in America is underfunded, but workable solutions have been hard to come by. For the most part, courts have been unwilling to inject themselves into legislative budget decisions. And, when courts have become involved and issued favorable decisions, the benefits have been only temporary because once the pressure of litigation disappears so does a legislature's desire to appropriate more funding. This Article proposes that if an indigent defense system is under-funded, the state supreme court should impose a default rule raising the standard of proof to "beyond all doubt" to convict indigent defendants. The …

"You Fall Into Scylla In Seeking To Avoid Charybdis": The Second Circuit's Pragmatic Approach To Supervised Release For Sex Offenders, Frank E. Correll Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Dewey V. State, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 47, Nevada Law Journal

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

No abstract provided.

Decency, Dignity, And Desert: Restoring Ideals Of Humane Punishment To Constitutional Discourse, Eva Nilsen

Faculty Scholarship

American punishment today is degrading, indecent, and harsher than deserved despite a Constitution designed to protect people from cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court’s response to the increasing inhumanity of contemporary punishment has been to reduce its Eighth Amendment jurisprudence to tidy categories, legal fictions, and hollow phrases. Absent from the discourse is any acknowledgement of the actual day-to-day experience facing the convicted person, or any suggestion that, although punishments can be degrading, they need not be. The case for treating a convicted person with respect for his human dignity, and for constitutional scrutiny of punishment as …

It's Just Not Cricket: Is The Principle Of Reciprocity Being Honored In The U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty?, Richard Goldberger

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Ryan V. Dist. Ct., 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 42, Katie Maw

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Petition for a writ of mandamus challenging a district court’s order denying petitioner’s motion to substitute counsel.

Search And Seizure On Steroids: United States V. Comprehensive Drug Testing And Its Consequences For Private Information Stored On Commercial Electronic Databases, Aaron Seiji Lowenstein

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The Ninth Circuit's decision in United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing erodes Fourth Amendment protections by allowing government agents to search and seize private information from commercial electronic databases without a warrant or particularized suspicion, raising significant concerns about privacy rights in the digital age. The ruling permits the government to retain and use evidence beyond the scope of the original warrant, undermining constitutional safeguards and disproportionately impacting industries like healthcare. The decision highlights the tension between law enforcement needs and individual privacy, with the dissent warning of far-reaching consequences for personal data security.

A Philosopher Looks At Contemporary Terrorism, Igor Primoratz

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

More Stories Of Jurisdiction-Stripping And Executive Power: Interpreting The Prison Litigation Reform Act (Plra), Giovanna Shay, Johanna Kalb

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Race And Recalcitrance: The Miller-El Remands, Sheri Johnson

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In Batson v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court held that a prosecutor may not peremptorily challenge a juror based upon his or her race. Although Baston was decided more than twenty years ago, some lower courts still resist its command. Three recent cases provide particularly egregious examples of that resistance. The Fifth Circuit refused the Supreme Court's instruction in Miller-El v. Cockrell, necessitating a second grant of certiorari in Miller-El v. Dretke. The court then reversed and remanded four lower court cases for reconsideration in light of Miller-El, but in two cases the lower courts have thus …

The Practicability Of Amnesty As A Non-Prosecutory Alternative In Post-Conflict Uganda, Kathleen Ellen Macmillan

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note argues that amnesty can be a necessary and effective tool for achieving peace in conflict-ridden regions, even when the International Criminal Court (ICC) is involved. It focuses on Uganda's situation, where the government's amnesty offer to the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) was crucial for a ceasefire. The analysis suggests that the ICC should consider deferring to national processes, such as Uganda's Amnesty Act of 2000, to support transitional justice and reconciliation, rather than prioritizing prosecution. The note concludes that amnesty, integrated with traditional justice mechanisms, can be both legally permissible and morally justifiable in certain contexts.

Sentencing Acquitted Conduct To The Post-Booker Dustbin, James J. Bilsborrow

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Waterloo For The So-Called Church Autonomy Theory: Widespread Clergy Abuse And Institutional Cover-Up, Marci A. Hamilton

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.