Criminal Law

Judging Firearms Evidence and the Rule 702 Amendments

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Vol. 107 No. 2 (2023) | Generative AI in the Courts

Forensic firearms identification involves linking evidence collected from crime scenes — namely, fired cartridge casings and bullets — to a particular firearm. Two assumptions underlie this identification process: First, firearms […]

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Is ‘Forensic Science’ A Misnomer?

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Vol. 106 No. 3 (2023) | Forging New Trails

With the exception of DNA analysis, a great deal of so-called “forensic science” — that is, the analysis of tool marks, bite marks, hair comparisons, fingerprints, blood spatters, arson patterns, and […]

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Illustration of person behind bars with "innocence" written in multiple langauges.

Toward Recognizing an International Human Right to Claim Innocence

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Judicature International (2021-22) | An online-only publication

In the last decade, nations have begun to formally recognize an individual’s right — at any time — to raise post-conviction claims of factual innocence. Despite the recognition at the state level, no international human rights instrument fully recognizes the right to assert one’s claim of innocence.

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What Every Judge and Lawyer Needs to Know About Electronic Evidence

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Vol. 99 No. 2 (2015) | The Mass-Tort MDL Vortex

Not long ago, “friend” was a noun, “yelp” meant a shrill bark, “twitter” referred to a chirp, a “tumbler” was a gymnast or a glass, and “facebook,” “youtube,” and “instagram” […]

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Stopping the Presses: National Security Meets Freedom of Speech

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Vol. 106 No. 1 (2022) | Necessarily Engaged

There are at least two points of consensus among those who study national security secrecy: First, the government must keep some secrets in order to protect national security. Second, a […]

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Cartoon of an autopsy

Autopsy Reports and the Confrontation Clause: A Presumption of Admissibility

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Vol. 99 No. 3 (2015) | Fixing Discovery

In 2004, the Supreme Court, in Crawford v. Washington, restored the “original meaning” of the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause. The framers of that clause — which guarantees a criminal defendant the right […]

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Justice Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg Trials

Justice Jackson’s Persistent Post-Nuremberg Legacy

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Vol. 105 No. 3 (2021) | Leaving Afghanistan

Justice Jackson’s post-Nuremberg legacy — his “dispassionate approach” to criminal procedure — continues to shape modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.

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Benjamin Ferencz at the Einsatzgruppen Trial

Last living Nuremberg Trial prosecutor recalls his work on the Einsatzgruppen Trial

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Vol. 105 No. 3 (2021) | Leaving Afghanistan

During the Nuremberg Trials, Ferencz served as a principal trial lawyer for the U.S., working under chief prosecutors Justice Robert Jackson and Telford Taylor.

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Point Counterpoint

Jurors Asking Questions

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Vol. 100 No. 1 (2016) | 100 Years of Judicature

In some courtrooms, the practice of allowing jurors to pose questions to witnesses is gaining traction. Questioning witnesses allows jurors to clarify information and better understand the evidence and arguments […]

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Legal Standards By The Numbers

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Vol. 100 No. 1 (2016) | 100 Years of Judicature

Just after midnight on a warm summer night, a Caucasian woman was walking alone on the streets of Washington, D.C. All of a sudden, three young men she had never […]

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