Criminal Law Commons^™

Newson V. State, 135 Nev. Adv. Op. 50 (Oct. 10, 2019), Richard Young

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined although the district court has broad discretion to settle jury instructions, the failure to instruct the jury on a defendant’s theory of a case that is supported by any evidence warrants reversal unless the error was harmless.

Gender Disparities In Plea Bargaining, Carlos Berdejo

Indiana Law Journal

Across wide-ranging contexts, academic literature and the popular press have identified pervasive gender disparities favoring men over women in society. One area in which gender disparities have conversely favored women is the criminal justice system. Most of the empirical research examining gender disparities in criminal case outcomes has focused on judges’ sentencing decisions. Few studies have assessed disparities in the steps leading up to a defendant’s conviction, where various actors make choices that constrain judges’ ultimate sentencing discretion. This Article addresses this gap by examining gender disparities in the plea-bargaining process. The results presented in this Article reveal significant gender …

Cybersecurity-Beyond Data Protection, Amy J. Ramson, Ez Tech Assist

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Texas, The Death Penalty, And Intellectual Disability, Megan Green

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Global Justice Vs. U.S. Global Hegemony: Rejecting Bolton’S Opposition To The Icc, Norman Swazo

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

Former U.S. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton has announced that as an official Trump Administration national security policy, the USA will not support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and instead will work for its demise. At issue here is a concept of global justice versus insistence on US global hegemony and a Pax Americana. Here, the author argues against Bolton's position rejecting the legitimacy of international law and the ICC. Bolton 's appeal to a principle of consent must yield to a principle of salience, as defended by Ronald Dworkin; a concept ofjustice, as advocated by Amartya Sen; and …

The State Of Juvenile Diversion In Kosovo, Jason R. Tashea

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

Through original, in-country interviews and research, this Article will introduce Kosovo's current juvenile diversion system and the need for its continued improvement. Kosovo-Europe 's youngest country-has instituted juvenile diversion, mediation, and educational alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system. This is positive progress, since research shows that children are developmentally more susceptible to reform and reeducation than adults. Thus, rehabilitating a child instead ofpunishing him lessens the chance the child will recommit a crime. However, there is evidence-informed by interviews with national and local stakeholders-that there is still room for procedural and statutory changes to expand the adoption, use, and …

An Intellectual History Of Mass Incarceration, Alice Ristroph

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Misdemeanor Appeals, Nancy J. King, Michael Heise

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

We provide the first estimate of the rate of appellate review for misdemeanors, concluding that appellate courts review no more than eight in ten thousand misdemeanor convictions and disturb only one conviction or sentence out of every ten thousand misdemeanor judgments. This level of oversight is much lower than that for felony cases, for reasons we explain. To develop law and regulate error in misdemeanor cases, particularly in prosecutions for the lowest-level offenses, courts may need to provide mechanisms for judicial scrutiny outside the direct appeal process.

Additional findings include new information about the rate of felony trial court review …

Dangerousness, Disability, And Dna, Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article honors three of Professor Arnold Loewy's articles. The first, published over thirty years ago, is entitled Culpability, Dangerousness, and Harm: Balancing the Factors on Which Our Criminal Law is Predicated,' and the second is his 2009 article, The Two Faces of Insanity. In addition to commenting on these two articles about substantive criminal law, I can't resist also saying something about one of Professor Loewy's procedural pieces, A Proposal for the Universal Collection of DNA, published in 2015.

A theme that unites all three of these articles is that they appear to be quite radical, at least on …

Misdemeanor Appeals, Nancy J. King, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Misdemeanor cases affect far more people than felony cases, outnumbering felony cases by more than three to one. Yet little empirical information exists on many aspects of misdemeanor prosecutions. This Article provides the first quantitative look at appellate review in misdemeanor cases nationwide. It uses data drawn from a random sample of direct criminal appeals decided by every state appellate court in the nation, unpublished aggregate data on misdemeanor trial court cases provided by the Court Statistics Project, and published state court statistics.

We provide the first estimate of the rate of appellate review for misdemeanors, concluding that appellate courts …

State Bd. Of Parole Comm’Rs V. Second Judicial Dist. Court, 135 Nev. Adv. Op. 53 (Oct. 24, 2019) (En Banc), Dallas Anselmo

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court confronted several issues in this methodical decision. The Court addressed standing and discretionary review in the context of writ petitions. It next analyzes and determines the applicable version of a particular NRS section. Finally, the Court interprets the applicable version of the statute. The opinion culminates in the granting of a writ of mandamus petition for the Parole Board to correct an inaccurate application of law at the district court level.

Handcuffing The Vote: Diluting Minority Voting Power Through Prison Gerrymandering And Felon Disenfranchisement, Rebecca Harrison Stevens, Meagan Taylor Harding, Joaquin Gonzalez, Emily Eby

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

For the purposes of legislative redistricting, Texas counts prison populations at the address of the prison in which they are incarcerated at the time of the census, rather than their home prior to incarceration—regardless of whether the prisoners themselves maintain a residence in their home communities and intend to return home after incarceration. This deprives those home communities of full representation in the redistricting process. Combined with Texas’s felon disenfranchisement laws, this also results in arbitrarily bolstering the representational power of some Texans on the backs of other Texans who themselves are unable to vote. All of this takes place …

Climate Of Fear: Admission Of Prior Bad Acts To Establish Coercion In Human Trafficking Cases, Masha Simonova

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that evidence of a defendant's prior bad acts, such as gang membership or violent behavior, should be admissible in human trafficking cases to establish coercion. This evidence is crucial for demonstrating the "climate of fear" created by traffickers, which is central to proving coercion under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The author contends that such evidence is not only intrinsic to the crime but also admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) for permissible purposes, such as proving intent, knowledge, or modus operandi.

A Second Step Act For The States (And Counties, And Cities), John F. Pfaff

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The First Step Is Actually The ‘Next Step’ After Fifteen Years Of Successful Reforms To The Federal Criminal Justice System, Jesselyn Mccurdy

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Right To Appointed Counsel: The Case For Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Amanda Kavita Sewanan

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Criminal Risk Assessment, Brandon L. Garrett

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reestablishing A Knowledge Mens Rea Requirement For Armed Career Criminal Act "Violent Felonies" Post-Voisine, Jeffrey A. Turner

Vanderbilt Law Review

Until 2016, federal courts unanimously concluded that predicate offenses for the Armed Career Criminal Act ('ACCA") required a knowledge mens rea. Therefore, any state law crimes that could be com- mitted with a reckless mens rea were not "violent felonies" and could not serve as ACCA predicates. In 2016, however, the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Voisine v. United States disrupted that lower court consensus. The Court stated that a reckless mens rea was sufficient to violate 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), which bars individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses from possessing firearms.

The ACCA's language is similar to § …

Initiating The Utilization Of Restorative Justice In Completing Of The Environmental Crime Cases, Ufran Frans Trisa, Armindo D' Amaral

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Restorative justice is a way to deal with crime by balancing the needs of the community, victims and perpetrators. This is a more holistic solution for trying to understand crime and overcome the dynamics of criminal behavior, its causes and consequences. The focus of restorative justice is empowerment, participation and healing of victims of crime. This paper discusses the possibility of utilizing the concept of restorative justice towards solving environmental crime. Identifying victims of environmental crimes and how they are able to participate in the restorative process. In particular, pay attention to the ideas of the wider community, the sustainability …

Redressing The Online Transaction Fraud Victim Treatment And Interest Fulfillment In Criminal Justice System, Anton Hendrik Samudra

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

This article gives idea on how to redress online transaction fraud victim in criminal justice system. The method applied is by looking scholars’ studies, statutes, observation of victimization process and interviewing law enforcement and victim. In several occasions, investigators turned to blame the victim when they report the crime. For several unsolved cases, the victim asked to revoke their report. This caused by investigator’s view that victim recklessness and failure to think what is deservedly suppose is the main cause of the crime. Treatment and interest fulfillment of online transaction fraud victim in criminal justice system should be redressed, such …