New CSPAN Programs on the Supreme Court: Thanks to Anna Christensen at SCOTUSblog for posting this link to CSPAN's Supreme Court website, and for informing on the new "Supreme Court Week" programs available at the site. CSPAN's offerings include: an interview with Joan Biskupic and SCOTUSblog's Lyle Denniston on the role of journalists at the Court; an interview with the Supreme Court's Clerk, William Suter, on the traditions
of the Court, the process people must go through to get the Court to
hear their cases, and his job during Oral Argument in the Supreme Court
Chamber; and beginning sometime this evening, interviews with the Supreme Court Justices. Orin Kerr posted his reaction to the CSPAN coverage early this morning. Howard Bashman has also posted a link to the University of Michigan Law School's video of "A Conversation with Chief Justice John G. Roberts."
Interesting Article on "Semi-Voluntary Acts": At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posts a link to Deborah Denno's upcoming article, "Consciousness and Culpability in American Criminal Law," and asks "[h]ow might we punish semi-voluntary acts?" Berman's question comes from reading the article's abstract, which proposes to that criminal law recognize a third category of "semi-voluntary acts." Denno, a Fordham University professor (whose writings on lethal injections were used in Baze v. Rees), explains that our criminal law currently recognizes voluntary or involuntary acts. If a crime is voluntary, the defendant is criminally liable; if involuntary (like murder while sleepwalking), then he may be acquitted. Her article discusses research showing "that the boundaries between our conscious and unconscious states are permeable, dynamic, and interactive." She proposes that criminal law recognize "semi-voluntary" acts so that individuals who commit crimes while sleepwalking will be less likely to be acquitted. That could be the result, or "semi-involuntary" could become a new way to argue insanity.
International Comparisons of Juvenile LWOP: CrimProg Blog posts a link to Bernard E. Harcourt's Balkinization blog post "The Supreme Court and Juveniles: International Comparisons." Harcourt felt compelled to research the National Organization of Victims of "Juvenile Lifers" challenges to the claim that the United States is the only jurisdiction to sentence minors to life imprisonment without parole. Harcourt unearthed information on international comparisons at the Center for Law and Global Justice at the University of San Francisco, and concluded that the United States is the only country to sentence juveniles to life without parole. Harcourt reaches this conclusion, and comments, "this naturally raises the next question: whether international norms should inform the Supreme Court's consideration of domestic constitutional values." He believes "this is a bit of a scholastic debate that seems to (overly) preoccupy some legal academics, a couple of Supreme Court justices, and most right-wing talk show hosts[,]" but still thinks it is "telling" that the U.S. is alone in sentencing juveniles to LWOP. Harcourt appears happy "just let the Scholastics debate this one..."
Interesting Article on "Semi-Voluntary Acts": At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posts a link to Deborah Denno's upcoming article, "Consciousness and Culpability in American Criminal Law," and asks "[h]ow might we punish semi-voluntary acts?" Berman's question comes from reading the article's abstract, which proposes to that criminal law recognize a third category of "semi-voluntary acts." Denno, a Fordham University professor (whose writings on lethal injections were used in Baze v. Rees), explains that our criminal law currently recognizes voluntary or involuntary acts. If a crime is voluntary, the defendant is criminally liable; if involuntary (like murder while sleepwalking), then he may be acquitted. Her article discusses research showing "that the boundaries between our conscious and unconscious states are permeable, dynamic, and interactive." She proposes that criminal law recognize "semi-voluntary" acts so that individuals who commit crimes while sleepwalking will be less likely to be acquitted. That could be the result, or "semi-involuntary" could become a new way to argue insanity.
International Comparisons of Juvenile LWOP: CrimProg Blog posts a link to Bernard E. Harcourt's Balkinization blog post "The Supreme Court and Juveniles: International Comparisons." Harcourt felt compelled to research the National Organization of Victims of "Juvenile Lifers" challenges to the claim that the United States is the only jurisdiction to sentence minors to life imprisonment without parole. Harcourt unearthed information on international comparisons at the Center for Law and Global Justice at the University of San Francisco, and concluded that the United States is the only country to sentence juveniles to life without parole. Harcourt reaches this conclusion, and comments, "this naturally raises the next question: whether international norms should inform the Supreme Court's consideration of domestic constitutional values." He believes "this is a bit of a scholastic debate that seems to (overly) preoccupy some legal academics, a couple of Supreme Court justices, and most right-wing talk show hosts[,]" but still thinks it is "telling" that the U.S. is alone in sentencing juveniles to LWOP. Harcourt appears happy "just let the Scholastics debate this one..."
Leave a comment