Recently added articles from Justice System Journal:
WHY SO LONG? EXPLAINING PROCESSING TIME IN CAPITAL APPEALS*
Sep 01, 2008; ... No studies to date have investigated processing time in capital appeals across states. This article presents the findings of an investigation of the time expended by fourteen state supreme courts to resolve direct appeals of capital convictions and sentences. Data on 1,676 direct appeals decided ...
JUSTICE DELAYED OR JUSTICE DENIED? A CONTEMPORARY REVIEW OF CAPITAL HABEAS CORPUS
Sep 01, 2008; ... In the last year, researchers released two reports about capital cases and habeas corpus. Together, these studies offer a contemporary snapshot of postconviction review and illustrate the influence of state collateral processes on capital habeas litigation in the federal courts. This essay ...
PLEA BARGAINING AND THE DEATH PENALTY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY
Sep 01, 2008; ... One of the most troubling criticisms of plea bargaining is that it is coercive, insofar as prosecutors may use their discretion to induce defendants to forfeit their trial rights out of fear of receiving a harsher sentence if they do not plead guilty. Inducements and concerns surrounding guilty ...
STARVING THE DEATH PENALTY: DO FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS LIMIT ITS USE?
Sep 01, 2008; ... Death penalty cases are expensive for judicial systems to administer, in terms of both time and money. This is a potential problem for the equitable administration of justice when such cases are financed by local governments. The relative wealth of local jurisdictions varies, giving some a ...
RACE, PROSECUTORS, AND JURIES: THE DEATH PENALTY IN TENNESSEE
Sep 01, 2008; ... The behavior of prosecutors and juries with respect to àie decision to impose the death penalty is examined. Using data on 968 first-degree murder convictions in Tennessee from 1 977 to 2006, models of prosecutorial and jury behavior are constructed with a focus on the role of the defendant's ...
THE ILLINOIS DEATH PENALTY DEFENSE SYSTEM AND THE ABA CAPITAL DEFENSE GUIDELINES*
Sep 01, 2008; ... The American Bar Association has published a collection of standards to be used in defending capital cases-"Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases" (2003)-and the Supreme Court of the United States has approved the use of those standards in ...
THE PRIVATE BAR'S EFFORTS TO SECURE PROPER REPRESENTATION FOR THOSE FACING EXECUTION
Sep 01, 2008; ... The organized bar, most notably the American Bar Association, has attempted since the mid-1980s to ensure proper representation for people who may be executed. WMe these efforts initially focused on finding counsel for state post-conviction and federal habeas corpus proceedings, more recently ...
WHOSE JUSTICE? PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE REACTIONS TO CAPITAL-CASE REVERSALS*
Sep 01, 2008; ... As many as two-thirds of capital cases are reversed due to serious error, an aggregate rate critics interpret as evidence of a malfunctioning system and which others portray as a system correctly functioning to detect errors. This article investigates reactions of prosecutors and defense ...
LIFE QUALIFICATION, AUTOMATIC DEATH PENALTY VOTER STATUS, AND JUROR DECISION MAKING IN CAPITAL CASES*
Sep 01, 2008; ... Voir dire in capital cases requires judges to determine whether prospective jurors would be fair and impartial in the determination of guilt, as well as whether they are willing to consider voting for all available sentencing options should the jury find the defendant guilty. This article looks ...
STRESS AND THE CAPITAL JURY: HOW MALE AND FEMALE JURORS REACT TO SERVING ON A MURDER TRIAL*
Sep 01, 2008; ... Previous research findings gathered by the Capital Jury Project showed that many jurors who served on capital murder trials experienced significant stress and suffered extreme emotional setbacks. The present analysis extends these findings by focusing on gender-specific variations in responses ...
MORATORIUM AND REFORM: ILLINOIS'S EFFORTS TO MAKE THE DEATH PENALTY PROCESS "FAIR, JUST, AND ACCURATE"
Sep 01, 2008; ... This article provides an overview of recent efforts to reform the death penalty system and its operation in Illinois. Three different stages of the reform process are examined: the Illinois Supreme Court's Special Committee on Capital Cases, which led to changes in supreme court rules in 2001; ...
NEW JERSEY'S ROAD TO ABOLITION*
Sep 01, 2008; ... New Jersey reinstated capital punishment in 1982 . The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed nearly every capital conviction that it reviewed between 1982 and 2007. Twenty-five years later, on December 17, 2007, the State of New Jersey officially abolished the death penalty and replaced it with life ...
The Future of America's Death Penalty: An Agenda for the Next Generation of Capital Punishment Research
Sep 01, 2008; ... The Future of America's Death Penalty: An Agenda for the Next Generation of Capital Punishment Research, edited by Charles S. Lanier, William J. Bowers, and James R. Acker. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2008. reviewed by Eric N. Waltenburg Almost three-and-one-half decades ...
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
May 01, 2008; ... As the still all-too-new editor of the Justice System Journal, I am pleased to once again present a diverse combination of political science, law, and court administration. My goal for this issue, and indeed all coming issues, is to present articles that in the words of Editorial Board member ...
COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES OF CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS IN AMERICAN COURTS: THE VIEW FROM THE STATE BENCH*
May 01, 2008; ... Collateral consequences of criminal convictions are restrictions, penalties, and sanctions generally not included in penal codes or sentencing guidelines, but resulting from criminal convictions under U.S. state and federal law. Despite growing interest in these sanctions, we know very little ...
INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS AND DECISION MAKING ON THE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS*
May 01, 2008; ... The international environment influences domestic politics, particularly during times of war. The traditional governmental response to such crises is to curtail the civil rights and liberties of Americans in the name of national security. Often, challenges to these restrictive policies find ...
CAMPAIGNING FOR STATE SUPREME COURT, 2006*
May 01, 2008; ... This article reports the results of a survey of candidates who ran in partisan and nonpartisan state supreme court elections in 2006. While much recent scholarship aimed at explaining election outcomes has demonstrated that candidates and voters act strategically in state supreme court ...
Peremptory Challenges and National Origin: Watson v. Ricks
May 01, 2008; ... During voir dire in criminal trials, prosecutors and defense attorneys can challenge potential jurors to remove them from the jury pool. These challenges can be based on cause when a juror displays bias or incompetence. Attorneys also can use a limited, specified number of peremptory challenges ...
FROM THE BENCHES AND TRENCHES EVALUATING THE COURT PROCESS FOR ALASKA'S CHILDREN IN NEED OF AID
May 01, 2008; ... The study described in this article was undertaken by the Alaska Court System's Child in Need of Aid Court Improvement Committee in 2005. The study described the Alaska Court System's handling of child protection cases, compared that situation to findings from two earlier assessments, and ...
A Critical Review of Gibson v. Commonwealth of Virginia*
May 01, 2008; ... Addressing an audience at a Crowne Plaza Hotel in February 2007, the Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, Harvey Bryant, allegedly accused the city's circuit court judges of "illegal conduct." ("In Adversity, Beach Prosecutor Keeps the Faith," Virginian-Pilot Online, June 26, ...