Representing People Charged with Crimes Associated with Being Pregnant
Early investigation, early intervention, early engagement with the prosecution, and early public advocacy can lead to positive client outcomes.
Spring 2024
Volume 39, Issue 1
Features
Let the Sunshine in: Open the Doors to Closed Juvenile Sessions
States can reach a degree of transparency in juvenile and family courts by crafting appropriate judicial orders that balance the public interest with privacy rights.
A Canary in the Coal Mine: Juvenile Records and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
Exceptions to confidentiality and expungement laws carry real risks of juvenile records being discovered and used on background checks to deny housing, education, employment, and other collateral con…
Charles J. Ogletree Jr.: A Humble Civil Rights Defender and Public Theologian
Three colleagues and friends honor the life and legacy of an internationally known civil rights scholar, public theologian, author, and trial lawyer.
Conviction Review Today: The Role of Prosecutors
The broader meaning of exoneration and the steps to establish conviction review procedures, including handling systemic errors, initiating DNA review, and uncovering ethical breaches.
Security as a Superstition: The Constitution as a Potential Ritual
The Fourth and the Fifth Amendments serve as two main ways the U.S. Constitution protects communication records that could become evidence.
Steps to Uncovering Bias: Talking with Prospective Jurors about Racism
How justice-driven officers of the court can address issues of racial bias at jury selection to reduce the likelihood of its impact during deliberations.
From the Chair
Task Force of Strategic Visioning
CJS Chair Tina Luongo discusses critical takeaways from the Task Force on Strategic Visioning's recent full membership survey.
Book Review
Recent Reads
Professional practice, memoir, and fiction book reviews and recommendations from the Criminal Justice Section.
Cert Alert
Supreme Court Cases of Interest
A summary of three high-profile additions to the docket and other pending criminal law and procedure cases.
Guest Columns
A Husband-and-Wife Espionage Case: The Prosecutor's Perspective
The Toebbe case provides an opportunity to consider whether the current U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (the Guidelines) section applicable to such offenses is written in a way that's sufficiently helpful…
Reckoning with the Past Is the Only Way to Achieve a Just Society
Elected prosecutors must exercise courageous leadership in standing up for everyone in their community, regardless of race, religion, or creed.
Protecting the Plea Bargaining Process against Judicial Breaches
In California, as in many other states, courts have the final say in whether a plea agreement survives.
Mental Health
Observing the Forensic Mental Health Examination: When Is Three a Crowd?
Example dialogue illustrates how a prosecutor might navigate statutory interpretations regarding third-party observations.
Public Defense
Congress Must Act to Protect Federal Public Defense
The spending bill would drastically cut the federal public defense budget, expanding the hiring freezes and other negative effects on defense services.
Trial Tactics
Alternate Suspects and the Privilege against Self-Incrimination
A case study of Rios-Vargas v. People on whether a defendant may call an alternate suspect to the witness stand when the alternate intends to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights.