In October 2005, Florida, a notoriously violent state, codified its castle doctrine and doctrine of self-defense into a group of statutes known as the “Stand Your Ground” law. This new statutory scheme abrogates the duty to retreat before using deadly force and is built upon hard, bright-line rules and presumptions that appear to do away… continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The young professor arrived in the United States in 1937, a refugee from the rise of Nazism in Germany and civil war in Spain. After teaching in Brooklyn and Kansas City, he moved to the University of Chicago in 1943. In 1948 he published his book about power politics that brought him lasting prominence and… continue reading
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
