Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology articles from January 2009

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology archives from January 2009

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...

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...

When human experimentation is criminal.
January 1, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION An unacknowledged problem exists in the realm of human subject experimentation: criminal acts are being committed seemingly without consequence. The individuals escaping punishment are no ordinary individuals; rather, they...

Juveniles' competency to stand trial: wading through the rhetoric and the evidence.
January 1, 2009... I. THE PROBLEM: MINIMAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BEING COMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL IN CRIMINAL COURT II. THE ISSUE: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JUVENILE DEFENDANTS AND COMPETENCY TO STAND TRIAL A. THE APPLICATION OF DUSKY TO DEFENDANTS IN...

The consequences of law enforcement officials' failure to record custodial interviews as required by law.
January 1, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION In an Article published in this Journal in 2005, we advocated the enactment of state statutes requiring that interviews of suspects held in custody at police facilities be electronically recorded, and we attached a proposed...

Killing in Self-Defence.(Book review)
January 1, 2009... FIONA LEVERICK, KILLING IN SELF-DEFENCE (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006). 217 PP. I. JUSTIFYING KILLING IN SELF-DEFENCE (1) Based on first appearances, one might think that self-defense is easy to justify. A bad guy threatens to kill...

Let the punishment fit the crime: should courts exercise the power of appellate sentence review in cases involving narcotics and other stigmatized crimes?
January 1, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION The traditional rule under the common law is that an appellate court may not review a sentence that the trial court has imposed if it is within statutory guidelines. (1) Since the legislature establishes narcotics laws,...

Rethinking the increased focus on penal measures in immigration law as reflected in the expansion of the "aggravated felony" concept.
January 1, 2009... I. INTRODUCTION Imagine the following scenario, based on an actual case. (1) Mary is a legal permanent resident who has lived in the United States since she was one year old. (2) When she was in her mid-twenties, Mary pulled a woman's hair...