Criminal Law Commons^™

State V. Pinkham: Erosion Of Meaningful Forth Amendment Protection For Vehicle Stops In Maine?, Roger M. Clement Jr.

Maine Law Review

In State v. Pinkham, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, held that a police officer's stop of a motorist to inquire and advise about the motorist's improper-but not illegal-lane usage did not necessarily violate the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unreasonable seizures. The Pinkham decision is the first time that the Law Court has validated the stop of a moving vehicle in the absence of either a suspected violation of law or an imminent, ongoing threat to highway safety.
This Note considers whether the Law Court was correct in sustaining the police officer's stop of Ronald Pinkham. …

Wellman V. State: Confusing The Standard Of Excusable Neglect, Andrew L. Black

Maine Law Review

In Maine, as in most other states, a person convicted of a criminal offense is entitled to state post-conviction review upon proper filing of a petition. The Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure establish deadlines for such a filing and for the responsive answer by the State. Application for an enlargement of time in which to respond requires the State to show cause. If, however, the State makes this application after the initial period for response, the Rules impose a much stricter standard—a showing of “excusable neglect.” In Wellman v. State the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, …

Please Stop: The Law Court's Recent Roadblock Decisions, Jonathan A. Block

Maine Law Review

Police checkpoints or “roadblocks” have become an increasingly utilized law enforcement tool. At best, these checkpoints result in only a minor inconvenience to motorists. When abused, however, roadblocks have the potential for invidious invasions of privacy and personal freedom. Roadblocks are designed to deter, and to a lesser extent detect, criminal activity by stopping everyone—both the guilty and the law-abiding—for a brief inspection, thereby impinging to some degree on one's freedom of travel, privacy, and “right to be let alone.” Such “seizures” must be “reasonable” under the Fourth Amendment in order to survive constitutional challenge. The major difference between roadblocks …

One Step Forward, One Step Back: Emergency Reform And Appellate Sentence Review In Maine, Amy K. Tchao

Maine Law Review

Perhaps in no other area of the law is a trial court's power greater than when it is given the task of criminal sentencing. Historically and traditionally, the trial court judge has been given the widest latitude of discretion in determining a proper sentence once a criminal defendant has been found guilty. Indeed, the task of sentencing has been deemed a matter of discretion rather than a question of law. As a result, trial judges historically have not articulated reasons for the sentences that they impose. However, with very few standards or criteria to measure the appropriateness of their decisions, …

First Amendment “Harms”, Stephanie H. Barclay

Indiana Law Journal

What role should harm to third parties play in the government’s ability to protect religious rights? The intuitively appealing “harm” principle has animated new theories advanced by scholars who argue that religious exemptions are indefensible whenever they result in cognizable harm to third parties. This third-party harm theory is gaining traction in some circles, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s pending cases in Little Sisters of the Poor and Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. While focusing on harm appears at first to provide an appealing, simple, and neutral principle for avoiding other difficult moral questions, the definition of harm …

A Case For Reforming The Anti-Money Laundering Regulatory Regime: How Financial Institutions’ Criminal Reporting Duties Have Created An Unfunded Private Police Force, Christopher Wilkes

Indiana Law Journal

Part I of this Note provides background information outlining the relevant BSA/AML laws that establish financial institutions’ affirmative duties to report financial crimes. Part II analyzes the contours of other laws that create mandatory criminal reporting obligations, including their extent, their underlying justifications, and how stringently government agencies enforce them. Part III demonstrates how financial institutions’ reporting duties are uniquely stringent and punitive compared to those imposed elsewhere in the law, and it questions the justifications of this policy. Lastly, Part IV of this Note argues that the BSA/AML regulatory regime could be reformed to reduce the costs and duties …

The African Union-Icc Controversy Before The Icj: A Way Forward To Strengthen International Criminal Justice?, Sascha-Dominick Dov Bachmann, Naa A. Sowatey-Adjei

Washington International Law Journal

The International Criminal Court was set up as a court of last resort to prosecute the most serious crimes under international law when its member states are either unable or unwilling to act. The African Union initially welcomed the court due to the continent’s history of violence and war. However, their soured when the ICC began indicting African heads of state and government officials. Since then, there has been a constant “battle” over whether such defendants could invoke immunity under customary international law. General criticism of the ICC by the African Union and other observers for its lack of focus …

Digital Evidence In Criminal Cases Before The U.S. Courts Of Appeal: Trends And Issues For Consideration, Martin Novak

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Though the use of computer forensics in criminal investigations has expanded in recent years, there is little empirical evidence about the prevalence of the use of digital evidence in the court system and its impact on prosecution outcomes. This paper was an examination of criminal cases before the United States Courts of Appeal in which legal issues were related to digital evidence. The purpose of this research was to determine the most common legal basis for appeals relating to the introduction or exclusion of digital evidence, the frequency with which cases involving an appeal regarding digital evidence affirmed or reversed …

Modern-Day Witch Hunts: How The Mental Health Industry Abuses Patients And The Judiciary While Committing Fraud, Joan L. Roberts Mrs.

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

The Concepts Of Criminal Staging, Its Elements, Methods Of Detection And Investigation N, A. Khakberdiev

Review of law sciences

In the conditions of modernization and reforming of the country, the law- enforcement and judicial-legal reforms are primarily aimed at comprehensive protection of human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests. This is to give the state the role of a chief reformer, to ensure the rule of law, to implement strong social policies, and gradually and gradually. There are also problems with the involvement of preliminary investigations and inquiries. This article analyzes the concept and importance of the investigation, the elements of criminal instances and instances, the investigative activity, the theory of evidence, as well as the methods of detecting and …

Aggravating Circumstances Of Illegal Travel Abroad Or Illegal Entry Into The Republic Of Uzbekistan, A. Allanova

Review of law sciences

This article analyzes the aggravating circumstances provided for in the second part of Article of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan and offers to improve legislation are developed.

Criminal Liability For Murder In The Avesta, K. Abzalova

Review of law sciences

In this article, the author analyzes the features of criminal liability for premeditated murder according to Avesta. The author notes that premeditated murder was considered a grave sin. At the end of the article, the corresponding conclusions were drawn.

Concluding Agreements Contrary To The Interests Of The Republic Of Uzbekistan As A Crime In The Field Of Public Procurement, B. Bobojonov

Review of law sciences

This article describes the threat to the financial and economic stability of the state by the crime of concluding agreements contrary to the interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan as one of the socially dangerous acts in the field of public procurement. Proposals were also made to differentiate and improve the liability for concluding agreements contrary to the interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Paradigm Of Forming A Liberal Penitentiary System – Origins, Trends And Prospects, N. Salaev

Review of law sciences

The article illustrates some problematic aspects of the development and improvement of the penitentiary system of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In the course of the study, the problematic aspects of the evolution of liberal prison policy, and promising areas for improving the criminal-executive policy were identified. In particular, the author has studied the current situation in the field of prison policy in the world, modern challenges and threats in the form of the danger of an increase in the criminal population due to the decrease in the repressive nature of criminal punishments and the not always justified improvement in the …

Some Judgments About The Problems Of Qualification Of Larceny Of Other People’S Property Using Computer Tools In The Current Judicial Reforms, K. Ochilov

Review of law sciences

This article analyzes the issues of qualification of larceny of other people’s property using computer tools by appropriation, embezzlement, fraud and theft.

Aspects Of Criminalistic Search Of Material Situation In The Place Of Occurence, Y. Pulatov, M. Utanov

Review of law sciences

In this article envisaged different aspects of criminalistics research of material situation in the place of occurrence which based on criminal procedure legislation statute.

The Procedural Status Of The Prosecutor In Criminal Proceedings In The Courts Of First Instance And Issues Of Its Improvement, D. Dovudova

Review of law sciences

This article is devoted to the importance of improvement of the prosecutor’s powers in court proceedings at the time of ongoing judicial and legal reforms, prosecutor’s participation in court proceedings as a state representative generally supporting public accusation, as well as the impact of his knowledge, behavior, readiness for the trial, involvement in the examination of evidence and perceptions on the decision making stage, regarding the case. In addition, based on the observations on the functions, tasks and powers of the prosecutor attending the court proceedings as a public accuser, pragmatic recommendations and proposals are made for the improvement of …

Locked Up And Locked Out: True Stories Of Individuals Who Experienced The Intersection Between Homelessness And The Criminal Justice System, Jean Johnson

Senior Honors Projects

JEAN JOHNSON (Criminology & Criminal Justice)

Locked Up and Locked Out: True Stories of the Interlocking Cycle of

Homelessness and the Criminal Justice System

Sponsor: Jill Doerner (Criminology & Criminal Justice, Sociology & Anthropology), Heather Johnson (Writing & Rhetoric)

Key locks work when a key made with teeth is placed into a cylinder with a series of pins and tumblers. If you don’t insert the right key one or more of the pins will remain in the way, preventing the key from turning and the lock will remain closed. According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, tens of …

State Prosecutors At The Center Of Mass Imprisonment And Criminal Justice Reform, Nora V. Demleitner

Scholarly Articles

State prosecutors around the country have played a crucial role in mass imprisonment. Little supervision and virtually unsurpassed decision making power have provided them with unrivaled influence over the size, growth, and composition of our criminal justice system. They decide which cases to prosecute, whether to divert a case, whether to offer a plea, and what sentence to recommend. Their impact does not stop at sentencing. They weigh in on alternative dockets, supervision violations, parole release, and even clemency requests. But they are also part of a larger system that constrains them. Funding, judicial limits on their power, and legislative …

Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag: How New York's Discovery Reform Removes The Secrecy From The Grand Jury, Amber Kempermann

Hofstra Law Student Works

The grand jury is a historical institution in New York’s criminal justice system, and the discovery reform is long-needed change to that same system. But that change has already affected the system in a way that was not intended. So, what can we do to help? This paper proposes that the answer to that question is to amend the provision that mandates identification and contact information for witnesses that testify in the grand jury. Part II.A of this paper discusses the history of the grand jury system in New York. Part II.B discusses the changes to discovery laws made by …