Criminal Law

Top-Ten Recent SSRN Downloads

Posted on September 13, 2009
for manuscripts announced in the last 60 days in the criminal law and procedure journals are here. CrimProf previously noted that these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. Here's another grain. Though the ranking only includes manuscripts....

Bersin on Drug Legalization (Against It)

Posted on September 13, 2009
The daily blog of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) has a link to a recent video interview by The New Republic's Ben Eisler with border czar Alan Bersin in which this issue is explored.

Terrorism Trials

Posted on September 13, 2009
The New York Times editorializes today in Justice Delayed against the system of military commissions. ScotusBlog notes that the D.C. Circuit Court has requested a prompt response by the Obama administration to a "sweeping new challenge to military commission trials...

Stone-Manista on Child Abuse Prosecutions of Pregnant Drug Addicts

Posted on September 12, 2009
Krista Stone-Manista has posted Protecting Pregnant Women: A Guide to Successfully Challenging Criminal Child Abuse Prosecutions of Pregnant Drug Addicts (Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 99, No. 3, 2009) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Comment is...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

"Should Minors Ever Face Life Without Parole?"

Posted on September 12, 2009
That's the title of a useful story by Lewis Beale here on the pending U.S. Supreme Court cases and legislative consideration of this issue.

"DOJ investigation into terror suspect interrogations harms US national security"

Posted on September 12, 2009
That's the title of the piece at Jurist by Steven Emerson, founder of The Investigative Project on Terrorism. The conclusion in a nutshell: "The Attorney General should have followed his own directive in his department?s April 16 press release: 'It...

Supreme Court Declines to Delay California Prisoner Release Plan

Posted on September 12, 2009
ScotusBlog has the update here. The Court noted that, under the three-judge district court's order, the Supreme Court would have the opportunity to review the district court's decree before implementation. In other words, the Court declined to stay the requirement...

"For a Bounced Check in Dubai, the Penalty Can Be Years Behind Bars"

Posted on September 12, 2009
This article, from today's New York Times, is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it starts by discussing the use of harsh criminal penalties to change a culture of business corruption, with the usual consequences--many prosecutions needed to dislodge...

Inazu on Forgiveness in Transitional Justice

Posted on September 11, 2009
John D. Inazu (Public Law Fellow, Duke University School of Law) has posted No Future Without (Personal) Forgiveness: Re-Examining the Role of Forgiveness in Transitional Justice (Human Rights Review, Vol. 10, 2009) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The role...

Conference on the Fourth Amendment at Texas Tech

Posted on September 11, 2009
Arnold Loewy reports that the Fourth Annual Texas Tech Symposium on Criminal Law/Procedure will be held on April 8-9, 2010. This year?s theme is ?The Fourth Amendment.? There is no charge for law professors; the first ten law professors that...

Loughnan on Criminal Organisations Control Act

Posted on September 11, 2009
Arlie Loughnan (University of Sydney - Faculty of Law) has posted The Legislation We Had to Have?: The Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Act 2009 (NSW) (Current Issues in Criminal Justice, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 457-465, 2009) on SSRN. Here...

Drug-Sniffing Dogs and You

Posted on September 11, 2009
Pete Guither has an interesting critique of Illinois v. Caballes, including examples of less-than-stellar records for some drug-sniffing dogs, over at DrugWarRant.com.

Ninth Circuit Holds Retroactive Application of SORNA to Juveniles Unconstitutional

Posted on September 11, 2009
Douglas Berman posts on yesterday's decision regarding the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act at Sentencing Law and Policy. The court emphasized the historical confidentiality of juvenile proceedings. The opinion is here.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Some Thoughts on Sexually Violent Predator Laws

Posted on September 10, 2009
I spent about two weeks this past summer serving on a jury, and another four weeks explaining how I ended up getting chosen. (One answer is that, when the trial judge is a member of your school's Board of Visitors,...

Supreme Court Cases, Past and Present

Posted on September 10, 2009
CrimProf has now summarized the criminal law and procedure cases from last term and previewed those for which cert has been granted for the coming term. In addition, we will summarize new cases on which review is granted throughout the...

Grosso on the Domestic Discount

Posted on September 10, 2009
Catherine M. Grosso (Michigan State University - College of Law), David C. Baldus, (University of Iowa - College of Law), and George G. Woodworth, (University of Iowa - Department of Statistics & Actuarial Science) have posted Role of Intimacy in...

Mosteller & Broun on Evidentiary Privileges and the Fourth Amendment

Posted on September 10, 2009
Robert P. Mosteller and Kenneth S. Broun (pictured at right)(both of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - School of Law) have posted The Danger to Confidential Communications in the Mismatch between the Fourth Amendment?s 'Reasonable Expectation of Privacy'...

"Unproven Forensic Evidence: What to Do Next?"

Posted on September 10, 2009
That's the title of a story by Caleb Groos at FindLaw discussing hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee on how to improve forensics. The hearings follow last February's release of a report by the National Academy of Sciences addressing problems...

Featured Download: Podgor on Corporate Criminality and Compliance

Posted on September 09, 2009
Ellen S. Podgor (Stetson University College of Law) has posted an intriguing manuscript, Educating Compliance (American Criminal Law Review, Forthcoming), on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The most effective way to achieve corporate compliance is to have individuals comply with...

Van Harten on Adjudication and Secret Evidence

Posted on September 09, 2009
Gus Van Harten (Osgoode Hall Law School) has posted Weaknesses of Adjudication in the Face of Secret Evidence (International Journal of Evidence and Proof, Vol. 13, 2009) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Since 2001, governments in Canada and the...

California Seeks USSC Delay of Prisoner Release

Posted on September 09, 2009
ScotusBlog reports on the state's application to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the order to release 46,000 prisoners from state prisons over the next two years to relieve overcrowding. The link to the stay application is here.

China's Approach to Drunk Driving

Posted on September 09, 2009
Douglas Berman has a helpful post over at Sentencing Law and Policy. It is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol level of .02 or above--the usual U.S. level is .08--but enforcement is typically lax. Now, high-profile cases with deaths resulting...

"Mexican attorney general's resignation shows failure of prohibition strategy to stop drug trafficking"

Posted on September 09, 2009
That the title of a commentary by David Borden, executive director of StoptheDrugWar.org, at Jurist. Mr. Borden attributes the increase in drug violence in Mexico in part to President Calderon's effort to crack down on traffickers.

Featured Download: Bray on Power Rules

Posted on September 08, 2009
Teachers of criminal procedure are familiar with "prophylactic rules," and teachers of substantive criminal law are familiar with what are sometimes called "nonconsummate offenses" (like possession offenses). Samuel Bray (Associate-in-Law, Columbia Law School) argues that these rules are part of...

Posts You May Have Missed over the Holiday Weekend

Posted on September 08, 2009
Friday: Previewing the Coming Term (Part 14): Briscoe v. Virginia Featured Download: Logan on Criminal Registration and Community Notification Laws Howe on Race, Death and Disproportionality Saturday: Sarma on Kennedy v. Louisiana "Cheney Is Wrong: There Is Precedent for the...

Johnston on Drugs, Dogs, and the Fourth Amendment

Posted on September 08, 2009
James B. Johnston (Seton Hall University - School of Law) has posted Drugs, Dogs, and the Fourth Amendment: An Analysis of Justice Stevens' Opinion in Illinois V. Caballes on SSRN. Here is the abstract: When a drug dealer delivers illegal...

"al-Kidd v. Ashcroft: Is Pretextual Use of the Material Witness Statute Unconstitutional?"

Posted on September 08, 2009
That's the title of Orin Kerr's helpful post over at The Volokh Conspiracy. The bottom line(s) (after substantial analysis): First, the rejection of absolute immunity seems right. Second, the Fourth Amendment holding seems possible but rather unlikely, and in general...

Normative Theory and Legal Reform: Indoor Prostitution in Rhode Island

Posted on September 08, 2009
The connection is illustrated in a recent Wall Street Journal article, Legal Prostitution under Pressure in Rhode Island: All forms of prostitution were illegal in the state until 1980, when legislators -- while amending the existing law to speed up....

McDaniel v. Brown Taken off Court's Argument Calendar

Posted on September 08, 2009
The Court's unusual action in this regard is noted at Crime and Consequences. The case involves a sufficiency of the evidence claim in a habeas case involving an underlying sexual assault conviction. CrimProf summarized the issues and arguments of the...

Johnston on Death Penalty Abolition

Posted on September 07, 2009
James B. Johnston ( Seton Hall University - School of Law) has posted Executing Capital Punishment Via Case Study: A Socratic Chat About New Jersey's Abolition of the Death Penalty and Convincing Other States to Follow Suit (Notre Dame Journal...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.