Criminal Law Commons^™

Non-Traditional Church Involvement As A Life-Course Turning Point: Qualitative Interviews With Religious Offenders, William Hunter Holt

Dissertations

This research project conducted and then analyzed qualitative interviews from former and current addicts and criminal offenders who are voluntarily participating in the Christian faith at the same non-traditional, Protestant church. An abridged case study of this church is also provided for background and context. Life-course theory and grounded theory are utilized.

Both the offenders and this church were chosen in an attempt to better understand how the offenders’ involvement at this house of worship, along with their faith in general, have impacted them. Obtaining the perspectives of the offender is essential for three reasons. First, qualitative research conducted in …

Effects Of Immigration Status On The Criminal Process, Gleb Ivanov

Hofstra Law Student Works

In a landmark case, Padilla v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution required defense counsel to advise clients who plead guilty that conviction may result in deportation. The Court’s rationale was based on the premise that this information was vital to the client’s decision-making process. Even so, the Court declined to explore a more reliable ground for developing a narrower understanding of a client’s immigration status, particularly the potential effect of the status on common criminal prosecutions, for instance, assault or burglary. This paper submits that under current law, immigration status has …

Appointing An Independent Prosecutor In Cases Of Police Misconduct: Repairing Trust In The Criminal Justice System, Samantha Levitz

Hofstra Law Student Works

This Paper argues that, in order to avoid the perception of bias, an independent, special prosecutor should be appointed to handle cases of police misconduct. Part II will examine the background and history of the interaction between police officers and the district attorney’s offices. In Part III, this Paper will analyze the main ethical issue involved in the prosecution of police misconduct—conflict of interest—and the impact it has on our system. In Part IV, this Paper will propose removal of cases involving police misconduct from the district attorney’s office, focusing mainly on a solution for New York State, assess the …

The Ethics Of Guardians Ad Litem In Family Law, Taylor Imbasciani

Hofstra Law Student Works

There is an abundance of vulnerable clients within our legal world that require specialized representation for protection. Throughout history, lawyers typically represented either parental or state rights and interest, failing to provide children with a voice in disputed matters where they are often most helpless. As an awareness for the necessity of child advocacy developed, the courts began appointing guardians ad litem to protect their interests. Guardians ad litem perform vast functions as hybrid attorneys, data collectors and conclusive reporters, which has led to excessive legal and ethical confusion. The lack of guidelines and disparity in jurisdictional precedent has produced …

Mindful Meditation And Misconduct: A Proposal, Victoria Evans

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

Rehabilitation and treatment methods used in incarceration have evolved, causing punishment philosophies in the U. S. to swing from rehabilitation to “zero tolerance” and back again. As this transition occurs, it is essential to evaluate current correctional programs as there has been a trend towards evidence-based corrections. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the SAVR (stress, anger, violence reduction) program implemented by a county jail in Massachusetts. This research will examine the extent to which participating in SAVR reduces inmate misconduct. The participants will be selected through a non-probability, convenience sample of program participants. Misconduct files will be …

What Is Remembered, Alice Ristroph

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Permissible Scope Of Attorney Speech: Constitutional Challenges, The Current Standard, And The Need For Clarity, Sean Sciubba

Hofstra Law Student Works

The paper explores the history of trial publicity rules in the United States. Part II discusses the enactment of the first legal code in this country aimed at limiting attorney speech and then analyzes the influences and constitutional restrains that molded the scope of subsequent rules. Part III discusses the amendments to the Model Rules following the Supreme Court’s decision in Gentile v State Bar of Nevada, which largely resulted in the current version of Model Rules 3.6 and 3.8. Part IV examines the discernible scope of permissible attorney speech under the current Model Rules as well as certain arguments …

The Revolving Door Of Recidivism, Laura E. Bull

Classical Conversations

With the rise in the use of prisons, recidivism also grew. Recidivism, in the broadest sense, is the act of a past offender coming back into contact with the justice system. Prisons have been used as far back as the fourth century, but over time their purpose has changed. Today in the United States, the main purpose of prisons is rehabilitation. The most recent law, the First Steps Act, reflects the desire to reduce the trend of recidivism. Many programs have been used as a method of reducing recidivism. Recidivism is a cycle of pain, creating jaded prisoners and placing …

Learning Facts From Fiction In Jay-Z'S 99 Problems, Karl T. Muth

JCLC Online

No abstract provided.

Kansas V. Boettger: On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The Supreme Court Of The State Of Kansas, Paul Cassell, John Ehrett, Allyson N. Ho, Bradley Hubbard, Matthew Scorcio, Philip Axt, Thomas Molloy

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This amicus brief in support of Kansas’ petition for certiorari in Kansas v. Boettger discusses the important issue of whether the First Amendment require proof of specific intent to criminally punish violent threats. The brief argues that the First Amendment does not contain any such requirement and that creating any such requirement would interfere with effective prosecution of domestic violence.

The Kansas Supreme Court’s decision over which review is being sought required the state to prove that an abuser had a specific intent to cause fear. If allowed to stand, the decision will make prosecuting and preventing domestic violence even …

Valdez-Jimenez V. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct.,136 Nev. Adv. Op. 20 (April 9, 2020), Katrina Weil

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined what process is constitutionally required when a district court sets bail in an amount that the defendant cannot afford, resulting in pretrial detention. The Court found that bail may only be imposed where it is necessary to reasonably ensure the defendant’s appearance at court proceedings or to reasonably protect the community. If a defendant remains in custody after arrest they are (1) entitled to an individualized hearing, where (2) the State must prove by clear and convincing evidence that bail, rather than less restrictive conditions, is necessary to ensure the defendant’s appearance at future court proceedings or …

Supreme Court Clerks And The Death Penalty, Matthew Tokson

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This Essay is part of GW's Supreme Court Clerks at 100 symposium.

The Supreme Court is involved, directly or otherwise, with virtually every execution carried out in the United States. Most executions are appealed to the Court, and inmates commonly request a stay of execution a few days or hours before their scheduled death. The clerks review these requests and recommend a ruling.

A few days after I arrived at the Court, I got my first death penalty assignment. As the date drew near, the defendant asked the Court to stay his execution. I opened his file and began to …

How Effective Are Police? The Problem Of Clearance Rates And Criminal Accountability, Shima Baughman

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, the national conversation in criminal justice has centered on police. Are police using excessive force? Should they be monitored more closely? Do technology and artificial intelligence improve policing? The implied core question across these national debates is whether police are effective at their jobs. Yet we have not explored how effective police are or determined how best to measure police effectiveness.

This Article endeavors to measure how effective police are at their principal function—solving crime. The metric most commonly used to measure police effectiveness at crime-solving is a “clearance rate:” the proportion of reported crimes for which …

Protecting Crime Victims In State Constitutions: The Example Of The New Marsy's Law For Florida, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

A majority of states have adopted state constitutional amendments protecting crime victims’ rights. Most of those amendments were adopted long ago and many fail to comprehensively address crime victims’ interests. In response to these shortcomings, the nation is seeing a new wave of state constitutional amendments protecting crime victims’ rights. Among these states is Florida, where in November 2018 Florida voters approved significantly expanded protections for crime victims in Florida’s Constitution—“Marsy’s Law for Florida.”

This Article explains in detail how Marsy’s Law for Florida provides important new protections for crime victims in the Florida criminal justice process. The Article begins …

#Metoo And The Myth Of The Juvenile Sex Offender, Cynthia Godsoe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Valuing Black Lives: A Case For Ending The Death Penalty, Alexis Hoag

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Evolving Standards Of Decency: A View Of 8th Amendment Jurisprudence And The Death Penalty, Jared Lockhart, Madeline Hill

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In July 1997, Kenneth Foster was indicted on capital murder charges

and sentenced to death even though he had only committed robbery.

3 On August 14, 1996, Kenneth Foster and his friends, Mauriceo

Brown, DeWayne Dillard, and Julius Steen, rented a car and

drove to downtown San Antonio, Texas. Later that night, Brown

suggested that the men rob a few people in order to make up for the

money they had lost while partying. After their second robbery that

evening, Foster did not want to continue breaking the law, according

to Dillard’s courtroom testimony four years later. Dismissing

his request, …

Disappearing Act: Arkansas’S Circularly-Defined Default, Judge Victor A. Fleming

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Debt Bondage: How Private Collection Agencies Keep The Formerly Incarcerated Tethered To The Criminal Justice System, Bryan L. Adamson

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Article examines the constitutionality of statutes which allow courts to transfer outstanding legal financial obligations to private debt collection agencies. In Washington State, the clerk of courts can transfer the legal financial obligation of a formerly incarcerated person if he or she is only thirty days late making a payment. Upon transfer, the debt collection agencies can assess a “collection fee” of up to 50% of the first $100.000 of the unpaid legal financial obligation, and up to 35% of the unpaid debt over $100,000. This fee becomes part of the LFO debt imposed at sentencing, and like that …

Cybercrime And Cyber Security Techniques, Amy J. Ramson

Open Educational Resources

This lecture presents information about cybercrime, which has become the most ubiquitous crime world-wide and affects individuals, companies and government. The lecture indicates that 95% of all cybercrime is preventable and describes a myriad of cyber security techniques that are available to prevent hacking. Legislation to combat cybercrime is presented as well as the places where cybercrime should be reported.