Consequences of a Guilty Plea: SCOTUSblog's Monday Round-up a link to Tony Mauro's National Law Journal article "Do Defendant's Get Enough Warning About a Guilty Plea's Consequences?" In the article, Mauro comments on thesimilarities between the recent "Balloon Boy" incident in Colorado and Padilla v. Kentucky. Mauro sees parallels between the two cases, because both "are casting new light" on "when, whether and how defendants should be informed about the collateral consequences of pleading or being found guilty." While some groups, like the Uniform Law Commission, support the idea of informing defendants about the collateral consequences of their pleas, others, like Supreme Court Justice Breyer, believe requiring lawyers to give accurate advice about those circumstances "will set in motion the great legal rule machine." Sentencing Law and Policy blogger Doug Berman linked to the article yesterday.
How Many "Bites" Will Prosecutors Have At Convicting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? This weekend, on Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posted on the media's fears that KSM could be acquitted or avoid the death sentence by commenting, "these professed fears fail to appreciate that various limits on double jeopardy would enable prosecutors many bites at the KSM apple, if needed." Berman points out that "if shrewd" federal prosecutors could go after KSM for just the bombing of the Twin Towers and the deaths that resulted in New York City, and if necessary, then prosecute him for the bombing of the Pentagon and the deaths that resulted in Virginia or with the crash of United flight 93 and the deaths that resulted in Pennsylvania. State prosecutors in Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania could also pursue charges against KSM. Berman writes that of the three states, "citizens of [Virginia] have every reason to hope (and perhaps demand) that Virginia state prosecutors go after KSM if the results of the planned federal prosecutions do not seem satisfactory." On a related topic, Howard Bashman posts on How Appealing that Jeffery Toobin is wondering "Post-Pizza: Who will judge Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?" in the November 30th edition of The New Yorker.
Top Ten SSRN Downloads: CrimProf Blog has posted a new version of its Top-Ten Recent SSRN Downloads for manuscripts announced in the last 60 days in the criminal law and procedure journals. Note number three on the list, Blaming the Brain, by our contributing blogger Steve Erickson.
McDonald v. Chicago Amicus Brief: At Volokh Conspiracy, David Kopel posts a link to, and expresses his praise for, the Cato Institute's amicus brief for the Second Amendment case McDonald v. Chicago. Kopel writes that the brief "shows that from the Founding Era into through the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment, national citizenship was paramount to state citizenship," and "argues that Slaughterhouse violated canons of constitutional construction-such as by interpreting the Privileges or Immunities Clause to make it nothing more than a reiteration of the Supremacy Clause." Kopel notes that Timothy Sandefur of the Pacific Legal Foundation is lead author of the brief. Their News Release discussing the brief is available here.
How Many "Bites" Will Prosecutors Have At Convicting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? This weekend, on Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posted on the media's fears that KSM could be acquitted or avoid the death sentence by commenting, "these professed fears fail to appreciate that various limits on double jeopardy would enable prosecutors many bites at the KSM apple, if needed." Berman points out that "if shrewd" federal prosecutors could go after KSM for just the bombing of the Twin Towers and the deaths that resulted in New York City, and if necessary, then prosecute him for the bombing of the Pentagon and the deaths that resulted in Virginia or with the crash of United flight 93 and the deaths that resulted in Pennsylvania. State prosecutors in Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania could also pursue charges against KSM. Berman writes that of the three states, "citizens of [Virginia] have every reason to hope (and perhaps demand) that Virginia state prosecutors go after KSM if the results of the planned federal prosecutions do not seem satisfactory." On a related topic, Howard Bashman posts on How Appealing that Jeffery Toobin is wondering "Post-Pizza: Who will judge Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?" in the November 30th edition of The New Yorker.
Top Ten SSRN Downloads: CrimProf Blog has posted a new version of its Top-Ten Recent SSRN Downloads for manuscripts announced in the last 60 days in the criminal law and procedure journals. Note number three on the list, Blaming the Brain, by our contributing blogger Steve Erickson.
McDonald v. Chicago Amicus Brief: At Volokh Conspiracy, David Kopel posts a link to, and expresses his praise for, the Cato Institute's amicus brief for the Second Amendment case McDonald v. Chicago. Kopel writes that the brief "shows that from the Founding Era into through the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment, national citizenship was paramount to state citizenship," and "argues that Slaughterhouse violated canons of constitutional construction-such as by interpreting the Privileges or Immunities Clause to make it nothing more than a reiteration of the Supremacy Clause." Kopel notes that Timothy Sandefur of the Pacific Legal Foundation is lead author of the brief. Their News Release discussing the brief is available here.
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