PLACE THE DEATH PENALTY ON A TRIPOD, OR MAKE IT STAND ON ITS OWN TWO FEET?

This paper considers differences in evidentiary standards and constitutional limitations during the guilt, eligibility and penalty selection determinations of a capital trial. Capital trials and the subsequent sentencing hearings of guilty defendants require careful procedural safeguards to ensure that juries are able to make distinct guilt, eligibility and penalty determinations, as contemplated by the governing… continue reading

WELFARE FRAUD, NECESSITY, AND MORAL JUDGEMENT

Moral Judgment has always played a major role in judicial decision-making, especially in cases involving poverty-related offences. An analysis of recent court decisions in such cases shows the same values that informed the courts in their deliberations more than 150 years ago continue to do so today. View More

KELO V. NEW LONDON AND THE STATE LEGISLATIVE REACTION: EVALUATING THE EFFICACY AND NECESSITY OF RESTRICTING EMINENT DOMAIN FOR ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT AT THE STATE LEVEL

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Kelo v. City of New London decision in June 2005, it sparked a firestorm of controversy. The opinion was decried as the downfall of our private property scheme, with its loudest critics noting that the opinion could be read broadly enough to support an interpretation that allowed… continue reading

NOTE: FEDERAL TAX CREDIT INCENTIVES AS A METHOD OF PROMOTING BROWNFIELD REMEDIATION

The benefits of redevelopment are innumerable—a cleaner environment, more jobs, increased tax base, more stable communities, and a deterrence of urban sprawl. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines the term “brownfields” as “ ‘abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination… continue reading

TO SAVE OR NOT TO SAVE: HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN NEW JERSEY – JUSTIFICATIONS, HINDERANCES, FUTURE

The concept evokes images of wealthy older women sitting well postured on horse-hair-stuffed settees in the parlor of some Victorian mansion, just one among a lengthy strip of painted ladies standing demurely along a shady, tree-lined street. A fire crackles in the background, a Victrola plays, lace lies everywhere. They discuss the horrid color their… continue reading

THE RIGHT TO HEALTH – A HOLISTIC PLAN FOR THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION

While both sides of the aisle agree that minimizing costs is a critical component in any health plan, few plans provide specifics aimed at achieving that objective. Current programs provide or extend insurance coverage to the uninsured, divest employers of a coverage requirement, and vest it, instead, in individuals. These methods would add substantial costs… continue reading

THE IMPACT OF MANDATORY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ON THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM

This article explores the impact of the mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect by analyzing the repercussions of erroneous reports. The consequences of investigating reports that do not result in an intervention by the child welfare agencies can be very serious because these diminish the already over-extended resources of these agencies. The consequences of… continue reading

BUT DID THEY LISTEN?: THE NEW JERSEY DEATH PENALTY COMMISSION’S EXERCISE IN ABOLITIONISM: A REPLY

On January 2, 2007, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission, with one dissenting vote, declared itself “pleased” to submit its report and recommendations to the Governor. The Commission had reached consensus: The legislature should simply abolish the death penalty and substitute life without parole. Although they personally supported capital punishment, some Commissioners voted to… continue reading