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Appealing To The Legislature: A Comparative Analysis Of The Georgia Statutes Regarding Evidence Preservation And Access To Post-Conviction DNA Testing
No full textDNA evidence testing is the leading cause of exonerations in criminal cases throughout the United States.2 Yet, without the preservation of evidence in these cases and the ability to subject this evidence to advancing technology in DNA testing, many claims of innocence go unheard and defendants remain incarcerated while the real perpetrators of crime go unpunished. As of September 2009, seven Georgia men have been exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing.3 Such exonerations should be considered victories for our criminal justice system: they free the innocent, correct miscarriages of justice that undermine public confidence in our criminal justice system, and allow the pursuit of the real perpetrators of heinous crimes to commence. ,4 The purpose of this paper is to offer a comparative analysis of Georgia\u27s current evidence preservation and post-conviction DNA testing statutes with a model policy offered by The Justice Project, a bi-partisan criminal justice reform organization
Bringing Home The Bacon: A Two-Pronged Approach To Transparent And Effective Congressional Earmarking
No full textEarmarks signify the process of Congressional allocation of Treasury funds to selected projects or persons by individual Congress members without oversight, without any merit-based allocation process, and often, anonymously. It is a process authorized by the United States Constitution which requires Congress to supervise and direct all appropriations of money from the U.S. Treasury.1 Although a large proportion of funds are allocated to federal agencies, the remainder is available to members of Congress for special projects or persons as earmarks. Because members of Congress have had the power to earmark projects and persons without supervision and without attaching their names to the earmarks, the process has become synonymous with pork barrel politicking
Land-Grant Universities And Access In The Millennium: A Mandate To Re-capture Service Opportunities In Under-Represented Communities
No full textTeaching Public Citizen Lawyering: From Aspiration to Inspiration
No full textA longtime social justice activist and clinical professor, Douglas Colbert,2 recently sought information from colleagues across the country3 for the second part of an important project examining a lawyer’s ethical obligation to engage in pro bono work during a time of crisis, such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or 9/11.4 He sent out surveys to learn which schools actually taught the Preamble to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct in ethics or other courses.5 As Professor Colbert’s letter explained, the Preamble states: “A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the court, and a public citizen having special responsibilities for the quality of justice.”6 I was thrilled to learn that Professor Colbert—a mentor to many newer clinicians like myself—was interested in an issue that I had begun to explore in my own work; that is, how the Preamble’s public citizen lawyer message should be used in law school teaching.7 Indeed, I was surprised to find that while reams had been written about lawyers as representatives of individual clients and officers of the court, very little was said about the role and responsibilities of lawyers or law students as public citizens.8 Yet as Professor Colbert’s inquiry suggests, the Preamble gives us a lot to talk about.9 My interest in the Preamble is not so much rooted in the concept of the delivery of pro bono representation as it is on the public citizen lawyer’s affirmative responsibility to press for legal reform.10 And in contrast to focusing on catastrophic events as catalysts for change, this essay is concerned with teaching students about responding to the everyday travesties and inequities they may encounter in our courts and legal system. Thus, it can be seen as a response to Professor Colbert’s important call to action—providing one approach to Preamble teaching—and supporting him in his curricular reform efforts. This essay outlines the ways in which I have tried to convey to students the importance of the Preamble’s message of lawyer as public citize
Argument, Analogy, and Audience: Using Persuasive Comparisons While Avoiding Unintended Effects
No full textAn Offer They Can\u27t Refuse: Racial Disparity In Juvenile Justice And Deliberate Indifference Meet Alternatives That Work
No full textWhile young people of all races commit delinquent acts, some are provided treatment while others are detained and incarcerated. Once incarcerated, these youth begin their slide down a slippery slope; they lack an equal opportunity to gather evidence and prepare their cases. Furthermore, they will be effectively deprived of the opportunity and the resources to develop the educational and employment skills necessary to progress to productive adult lives. It is well documented that juveniles of color are more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested,1 referred to juvenile court rather than to diversion programs, charged,waived to adult court, detained pre-trial, and locked up at disposition. 2 What recent studies have shown, however, is that these disparate outcomes are not solely the product of race neutral factors. Multi-regression research that controls for other causal variables has revealed a statistically significant race effect on decision-making at multiple points in juvenile justice courts and administrations across the nation. There is incontrovertible evidence that race bias affects critical decisions leading to detention or confinement. The consequences of this disparate treatment can be devastating to juveniles of color and any community aspiring to make good on the guarantee of equal justice
