Criminal Law

Assessing Risk: The Use of Risk Assessment in Sentencing

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

Judges are using risk assessment instruments in criminal cases more than ever before. Their role is increasingly prominent at all stages of the criminal justice system, including policing, pretrial detention, […]

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Skene

Up to the Courts: Managing Forensic Testimony with Limited Scientific Validity

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Vol. 102 No. 1 (2018) | Forensic Fail

U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York tells the story of a firearms and toolmark examiner who appeared before him in 2008, proposing to […]

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Koehler

How Trial Judges Should Think About Forensic Science Evidence

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Vol. 102 No. 1 (2018) | Forensic Fail

Here is a forensic-science test for you. Please answer each of the three questions below True or False. Scientific tests conducted over the past 100 years have repeatedly demonstrated that […]

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After Uniqueness: The Evolution of Forensic Science Opinions

After Uniqueness: The Evolution of Forensic-Science Opinions

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Vol. 102 No. 1 (2018) | Forensic Fail

Big changes are occurring in forensic science, particularly among experts who compare the patterns found in fingerprints, footwear impressions, toolmarks, handwriting, and the like. Forensic examiners are reaching conclusions in […]

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reentry philosophies, approaches, and challenges

Reentry philosophies, approaches, and challenges

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Vol. 102 No. 2 (2018) | Rights That Made The World Right

Competing notions of crime and punishment have shaped the administration of criminal justice in the United States ever since the Quakers established the Walnut Street Prison in 1773 in Philadelphia, […]

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Hornby Spring 2019

Can Federal Sentencing Remain Transparent?

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Vol. 103 No. 1 (2019) | Navigating Rough Seas

Criminal trials have virtually disappeared in many federal courtrooms. According to a recent U.S. Sentencing Commission report, “[i]n recent years, 97 percent of federal defendants convicted of a felony or […]

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The Emergence of the American Constitutional Law Tradition

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Vol. 103 No. 1 (2019) | Navigating Rough Seas

My title is “The Emergence of the American Constitutional Law Tradition,” and what I want us to think about today is the process by which American constitutional law came to […]

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Graphic of defendant looking in mirror while being sentenced

Conversations of a Lifetime: The Power of the Sentencing Colloquy and How to Make It Matter

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Vol. 103 No. 2 (2019) | Pay NCAA athletes?

In recent years, there has been increased attention on sentencing, and particularly sentencing disparities. The thrust and focus of this attention have been on the statistics of sentencing and reforms, […]

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Forensic Fail

Forensic Fail? As Research Continues to Underscore the Fallibility of Forensic Science, the Judge’s Role as Gatekeeper is More Important than Ever

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Vol. 102 No. 1 (2018) | Forensic Fail

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the supreme court’s decision in Daubert V. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which fundamentally reshaped how judges evaluate scientific and expert evidence.1 This volume […]

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