Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology articles

Recent articles from Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

The cognitive psychology of mens rea.
March 22, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea--"the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty." (1) Few today would disagree with the maxim; the criminal law has long since rejected the idea that causing harm should be criminal regardless of the...

A relational Sixth Amendment during interrogation.
March 22, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION [L]awyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. (1) Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court trumpeted the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in Gideon v. Wainwright, (2) our legal culture has extolled the value of this right in ensuring a fair criminal trial. (3)...

What can RICO not do? RICO and the non-economic intrastate enterprise that perpetrates only non-economic racketeering activity.
March 22, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION Jackson Nascimento belonged to a local street gang that claimed territory on the south side of Boston, Massachusetts. (1) The gang operated exclusively in that area and did not actively participate in economic activity. (2) For several years, Nascimento's gang waged a...

Mens rea for sexual abuse: the case for defining the acceptable risk.
January 1, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION The Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas (1) has intensified the debate over the constitutionality of statutes that impose strict criminal liability for sexual abuse of children. (2) Critics of these statutes have long been troubled by the possibility that an...

Free to leave? An empirical look at the Fourth Amendment's seizure standard.
January 1, 2009... So what do we do if we don't know? I can follow my instinct. My instinct is he would feel he wasn't free because the red light's flashing. That's just one person's instinct. Or I could say, let's look for some studies. They could have asked people about this, and there are none.... What...