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Criminal Law

CrimProf Blog

Criminal law resources, information, and news for the academic community.

Post Frequency: 25.9/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 16:40:00

Fatal Police Shooting of Mentally Ill Hostage-Taker Did Not Violate ADA

Posted on February 24, 2009
Police officers did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act when they fatally shot a mentally ill hostage-taker, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held Feb. 12 (Waller v. Danville, Va., 4th Cir., No. 07-2099, 2/12/09). The...

Study Shows Immigration Offenses Increasing the Number of Latino Federal Convicts

Posted on February 18, 2009
The sharp growth in illegal immigration and increased enforcement of immigration laws have dramatically altered the ethnic composition of offenders sentenced in federal courts. In 2007, Latinos accounted for 40 percent of all those convicted of federal crimes and one...

Preserving DNA Evidence to Prove the Potential Innocence of a Man Scheduled for Death Today

Posted on February 11, 2009
Today the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF) is filing a motion to preserve evidence in the case of Wayne Tompkins, who is scheduled to be executed at 6 PM EST by lethal injection. Tompkins was convicted of murdering Lisa DeCarr...

DOJ Maintains State Secrets Position from Bush Administration

Posted on February 10, 2009
In the first major national security case of the Obama administration, lawyers representing the government took the exact same position as the Bush administration. Government attorneys asked a judge to throw out a torture case, citing the need to preserve...

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Second Circuit Holds Second Amendment Not Applicable to States

Posted on February 10, 2009
The Second Amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms does not apply to override state firearms bans, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declared Jan. 28. Under the incorporation doctrine, only certain provisions of the Bill...

Federal Sex Offender Law Faces State Resistance

Posted on February 08, 2009
An aggressive federal effort to keep track of sexual offenders is at risk of collapse because of objections from states and legal challenges from sex offenders and others. The effort, approved by Congress three years ago, requires all states to...

Seventh Circuit Affirms Iraqi Spy's Conviction

Posted on February 06, 2009
The 7th Circuit refused to overturn the conviction of a former spy for Saddam Hussein who came to the United States as an unwitting "sleeper agent" for the Iraqi Intelligence Service and obtained U.S. citizenship by lying on his application....

Judge Permits Flag-Desecration Prosecution in Nebraska

Posted on February 04, 2009
A Sarpy County judge has denied a challenge to Nebraska?s flag desecration statute raised by a Kansas woman who argued it violates her right to free speech. Judge Todd Hutton ruled Tuesday that prosecutors can proceed with their case against...

"Defining `Cruel and Unusual' When Offender is 13"

Posted on February 02, 2009
From today's New York Times: "In 1989, someone raped a 72-year-old woman in Pensacola, Fla. Joe Sullivan was 13 at the time, and he admitted that he and two older friends had burglarized the woman?s home earlier that day. But...

New Article Spotlight: Challenging the Practical Importance of the Justification/Excuse Distinction

Posted on February 02, 2009
Arizona CrimProf Jack Chin has posted The Justification/Excuse Distinction: An Argument for its Practical Irrelevance on SSRN. The abstract: "For decades, Joshua Dressler, Paul Robinson, Reid Fontaine and others have debated the distinction between justification and excuse defenses...

Liptak Considers the Future of the Exclusionary Rule

Posted on January 31, 2009
In 1983, a young lawyer in the Reagan White House was hard at work on what he called in a memorandum ?the campaign to amend or abolish the exclusionary rule? ? the principle that evidence obtained by police misconduct cannot...

Death Row Inmate Offers Help to Victim's Family

Posted on January 30, 2009
From MSNBC.com: "COLUMBIA, S.C. - Monica Caison figured it was worth a shot, so she fired off a letter, a single paragraph, to the man on death row for kidnapping and killing Alice Donovan during a two-week, 2,300-mile crime spree....

Federal Judge Orders All Plea Agreements Posted Online

Posted on January 30, 2009
From the National Law Journal, NLJ.com: MIAMI ? Chief Judge Federico Moreno of the Southern District of Florida, bucking the wishes of the U.S. Department of Justice, has ordered all plea agreements to be posted online. In an order issued...

Judge Rejects Obama's Request for Stay in Guantanamo Trial

Posted on January 30, 2009
From Law.com: "A military judge at Guantanamo on Thursday rejected a White House request to suspend a hearing for the alleged mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, creating an unexpected challenge for the administration as it reviews how America puts...

Two Judges Agree to Plead Guilty to Kickback Scheme Involving Juvenile Offenders

Posted on January 27, 2009
Two Pennsylvania judges agreed Monday to plead guilty to fraud charges accusing them of taking $2.6 million in kickbacks in return for placing juvenile offenders into certain detention facilities. The plea agreements for Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella and...

Defendant Invokes Morning Constitutional to Obtain New Trial Lawyer

Posted on January 27, 2009
A mistrial was declared Monday when a home-invasion robbery suspect smeared human feces on his attorney's face then threw more at the jury. Weusi McGowan, 37, was upset because San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser refused to remove Deputy...

Governor Blagojevich's Criminal Defense Lawyer to Resign

Posted on January 26, 2009
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's chief defense attorney announced Friday that he is bailing out of the fraud and bribery case against the governor, strongly hinting that his embattled client refused to listen to his advice. "I never require a client to...

SCOTUS Holds Pat Down of Car Passenger After Stop Justified if Based on Reasonable Suspicion

Posted on January 26, 2009
In Arizona v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held today that, after a car is lawfully stopped for a traffic violation, the police may search a passenger as long as they have reasonable suspicion to believe the suspect is...

Federal Judicial Vacancies for Appointment by Obama Administration

Posted on January 22, 2009
Courtesy of uscourts.gov, here is a list of the 55 federal judicial vacancies the Obama Administration will have the opportunity to fill by appointment. 18 of the vacancies are considered "judicial emergencies." [Michele Berry]

NPR: "Obama Orders Guantanamo Bay Prison Closure"

Posted on January 22, 2009
NPR.org: On Day 2 of his presidency, Barack Obama signed executive orders "designed to close Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, prohibit extreme interrogation practices and revisit military tribunals for suspected terrorists. 'Shutting the detention facility is intended to show...

'The Disconnect Between the Streets and the Business Suites'

Posted on January 22, 2009
(Baltimore, MD) Juvenile offenders brought from Baltimore detention centers, along with Baltimore PD representatives, school officials, social workers, and leaders from grass-roots organizations, participated in a panel discussion regarding street crime...

ABA Releases New Criminal Mental Health Reference Manual

Posted on January 22, 2009
New: Criminal Mental Health and Disability Law, Evidence and Testimony: A Comprehensive Reference Manual for Lawyer, Judges and Criminal Justice Professionals Pre-order now with a 15% discount (January 2009) This Comprehensive Reference Manual examines both criminal mental health and disability...

CrimProf Richard Leo Comes Out With New Book

Posted on January 21, 2009
CrimProf Richard Leo (University of San Francisco Law School), with co-author Tom Wells, has just published THE WRONG GUYS: MURDER, FALSE CONFESSIONS, AND THE NORFOLK FOUR (The New Press). On July 8, 1997, nineteen-year-old sailor Billy Bosko returned from a...

Obama's First Move as President

Posted on January 21, 2009
Even before his adorable dance moves with First Lady Michelle (video here), President Obama's first move came in the criminal law arena-- an order via Defense Secretary Robert Gates to military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to request...

LawProfs Comment on Guantanamo

Posted on January 21, 2009
Seton Hall LawProf Mark Denbeaux, Iowa LawProf Tung Yin, and UC Davis LawProf Diane Amann comment on the dilemma the Obama administration faces as it sifts through the Guantanamo cases. A "charge or release" policy seems to be the consensus;...

Plunging into Vacant Orifices in Vacant Sex Shop

Posted on January 21, 2009
(Australia). An Aussie man has been arrested for repeatedly breaking and entering into an adult shop to have sex with a blow up doll. Her name is Jungle Jane and he didn't even stay to cuddle her (or so it...

Nassau to videotape interrogations in major crimes

Posted on January 19, 2009
Nassau police are about to start videotaping all interrogations in homicide and serious robbery cases, a move that both law enforcement officials and defense lawyers say will make prosecutions more fair. Police and prosecutors said the videotapes will be useful...

Welcome To Inauguration Island, A Prostitution-Free Zone

Posted on January 19, 2009
You invite a couple of million of your closest friends to the biggest bash your town has ever thrown. You extend bar hours nearly till dawn. You import thousands of cops to keep the streets safe. You commandeer every bit...

Stephen P. Garvey Cornell Professor of Criminal Law

Posted on January 18, 2009
Stephen Garvey has written and taught in the areas of capital punishment, criminal law, and the philosophy of criminal law. Following his graduation from Yale Law School, Professor Garvey clerked for the Hon. Wilfred Feinberg of the U.S. Court of...

Remarks on Torture May Force New Administration?s Hand

Posted on January 18, 2009
Just 14 months ago, at his confirmation hearing, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey frustrated and angered some senators by refusing to state that waterboarding, the near-drowning technique used on three prisoners by the Central Intelligence Agency, is in fact torture...

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