Criminal Justice Fall 2019

Prosecution

Using the Power of Prosecutors to Drive Reform

Eric Gonzalez

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez of Brooklyn writes about his Justice 2020 initiative.

Lawyer Wellness

The Value in the 3 Ps of Wellness: Peer Programs for Prosecutors

Mary Ashley

Peer Support Teams, as an effective organizational strategy for prosecutors, can reduce stress, build resiliency, and address the issues associated with secondary trauma in the workplace.

Health

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Implications for Attorneys and the Courts

Larry Burd and William Edwards

People with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder have increased rates of contact with child welfare, foster care, and juvenile and adult corrections. Attorneys have a key role in identification and appreciation of the broad range of impairments and disabilities impacting people with FASD.

Technology

Challenges in Responding to Mass Forensic Error

Bob Wicoff

When a change in science threatens to undermine many convictions, unique challenges face the criminal justice system, both in notifying affected persons and in conducting retrospective case reviews. This article examines those challenges and suggests efficient and cost-effective approaches to this type of mass error.

Biotechnology

DNA Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases: Past Trends and Future Potential

Cassidy Kesler Pinegar

This article examines three trends in the use of DNA evidence that set the stage for the application of genetic genealogy to sexual assault cases.

Criminal

A Time to Celebrate

Kim T. Parker

How lucky am I, to be rolling into the coveted position of Chair serving the Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association? Lucky, because during my term we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of our section and the...

Lawyer Wellness

Ask Allison

Allison Jackson Mathis

I am terrified. I am going to trial and I don’t want to. The case is high-stakes, and it’s one of my first times going to trial. I don’t want to do this. I am reevaluating my decision to be a lawyer and am plagued by nightmares about this upcoming...

Mental Health

“License and Registration, Please”: Roadblocks to the Use of Foreign Mental Health Experts

Eric Y. Drogin

This column’s very first offering—some three and a half years ago—referred to instances in which Criminal Justice readers might rely upon “persuasive authority from other jurisdictions.” What happens when we decide that what we really want to...

Lawyer Wellness

Across the Country Public Defenders Take Critical Steps to End Excessive Caseloads

Malia Brink

The most vexing and persistent problem in public defense is the excessive caseloads that interfere with the ability of defense programs to implement effectively the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Access to Justice

Inside Private Prisons: An American Dilemma in the Age of Mass Incarceration

Reviewed by Robert Costello

I knew that I wanted to tell this story from multiple perspectives. This led me to interview people who had far different experiences with the justice system as well as opinions on the value or lack thereof of privatization...

Mental Health

Listening Session Participants Express Feelings of Isolation—and Demonstrate Resilience

Maryam Ahranjani

Cindy Aragon’s voice kept getting cut off because of the spotty cell phone service in the rural area of northwest New Mexico from which she was calling. The listeners were most of the 15 members of the ABA’s Women in Criminal Justice Task Force...

Trial Practice

Defendant’s Excited Utterance

Stephen A. Saltzburg

Nothing is clearer in the law of evidence that a voluntary statement by a defendant is admissible against him or her as a “party opponent statement” or an “admission” as long as it is relevant to a charged offense regardless of whether the...

Criminal

Supreme Court Cases of Interest

Carol Garfiel Freeman

The Court closed its 2018 Term on June 28 with decisions in all but one of the pending criminal justice–related cases.

Prosecution

New York Creates Commission on Prosecutor Conduct

Peter A. Joy and Kevin C. McMunigal

New York recently became the first and, so far, only state in the country to create a commission to review claims of misconduct by prosecutors in the 62 district attorney offices throughout the state. Officially termed the Commission on...

Science & Engineering

Hand Identification—Where Is the Science?

In a courtroom in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a detective recounted efforts to prove that the suspect was the individual whose hand was visible in a child pornography photo found on the person’s telephone.

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Program

The Section selected an inaugural class for the new Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Program beginning in ABA year 2017-2018. The Fellowship Program provides opportunities for lawyers from underrepresented groups such as racial and ethnically...