Bill Stuntz’s landmark book, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, has just been released by Harvard University Press. It is well worth a read for those who are interested in the big picture issues surrounding the American criminal justice system. Stuntz has been accurately described by Orin as the leading criminal procedure scholar of his […]
Author Archive | Paul Cassell
Victim Impact Statements and “Ancillary Harm” from a Crime
Along with Professor Edna Erez, I have just published this article on victim impact statements. It is discusses the concept of “ancillary harm” as a legitimate basis for courts using victim impact statements to determine criminal sentence. Here is an abstract: A recent article by Julian Roberts and Marie Manikis argues that the concept of […]
Federalist Society Teleforum on Miranda Warnings and Terror Suspects:
Here’s some promotional information about a debate I will be participating in today, hosted by the Federalist Society: TODAY! Miranda Warnings and Terror Suspects A Teleforum sponsored by the International & National Security Law Practice Group Featuring The Hon. Paul G. Cassell Ronald N. Boyce Presidential Professor of Criminal Law S.J. Quinney College of Law at […]
Text of the FBI Memo on Miranda and Questioning of Terror Suspects:
Following up on my post from yesterday about the FBI’s new policy of using the “public safety” exception to Miranda to question terrorism suspects — The NY Times has the text of the FBI’s memo, found here. The larger interesting question is why should the new policy be limited to suspected terrorists. Presumably FBI agents […]
Justice Department Guidelines Cut Back on Miranda Rights For Terror Suspects:
The Justice Department has just announced new guidelines, apparently expanding the “public safety” exception to Miranda to allow extended questioning of terror suspects. The WSJ has the story here. Such extended questioning will require approval of Justice Department lawyers. How does Eric Holder reconcile these new guidelines with the position that he supported in Dickerson […]
Significant Child Pornography Restitution Ruling in the Fifth Circuit
Today the Fifth Circuit gave victims of child pornography who are seeking restitution a significant victory. The Fifth Circuit agreed with my arguments that the relevant restitution statute does not contain a proximate cause requirement for most categories of losses for which restitution can be awarded. As a result, a victim of child pornography need […]
Federalist Society Debate about Miranda and Questioning Suspected Terrorists
By Paul Cassell on February 9, 2011 9:58 am in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure
Professor Guiora (a colleague of mine at Utah) and I recently debate the appropriateness of Miranda warnings in the context of terrorism investigations. Here’s a link to the Federalist Society’s podcast of the debate, which revolves around whether or not the “public safety” exception to Miranda should apply in the context of questioning suspected terrorists. I argue that, under […]
D.C. Circuit Argument on Victim’s Right to Restitution in Child Pornography Cases
On Monday, I’ll be in the D.C. Circuit arguing an interesting case concerning a crime victim’s right to restitution in child pornography cases. I represent “Amy”, who is the victim depicted in the “Misty” child pornography series — apparently the most widely disseminated series on the web. She has filed restitution requests of approximately $3,000,000 […]
Time to Codify a Miranda Exception for Terrorists?
By Paul Cassell on October 21, 2010 10:27 am in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Terrorism, Uncategorized
Today at 12:15 at the University of Utah College of Law I will be debating my colleague Amos Guiora about whether Miranda rights should be extended to terrorists. I have previously blogged here and here about my view that Miranda’s “public safety” exception means that law enforcement officers investigating terrorist incidents need not give Miranda warnings. […]
Time to Revise Mandatory Minimum Sentences?
Along with my former colleague Erik Luna, I’ve just published an article on mandatory mimimum sentences. The article, which can be downloaded from SSRN here, tries to find common ground on the issue of revising mandatory minimum sentences in the federal criminal justice system. Here’s the abstract: One of us (Cassell) is a former federal judge nominated by […]
Was Senator Franken’s Election Due to Illegal Votes from Felons?
I just ran across this interesting post from John Lott, who discusses whether the election of Senator Al Franken was due to votes from felons ineligible to vote. Here’s a snippet of the argument: Senator Al Franken likely owes his Senate victory to felons. With a razor thin victory over Senator Norm Coleman in 2008 […]
A Crime Victim’s Right to Appellate Review?
The Denver University Law Review has just published my latest article, entitled “Protecting Crime Victims in Federal Appellate Courts: The Need to Broadly Construe the Crime Victims’ Rights Act’s Mandamus Provisions.” The article deals with the question of appellate review of denials of assertions of crime victims’ rights by federal district courts. There […]
Is Sarah Palin a “Victim” of Computer Hacking
Over at Sentencing Law and Policy last week, Professor Doug Berman had this interesting post on the recent conviction of a hacker who hacked into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo mail account. One of the intriguing questions that he raises is whether Sarah Palin would be considered a “victim” of the crime under the Crime Victims Rights […]
Major Gaffe in Britain
In the runup to the elections in Britain, Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown has just made what is being described as “major gaffe” by a host of observers. He called a woman (a Labor supporter) who raised immigration concerns with him directly a “bigoted woman.” The remark was caught on a microphone that Brown forgot […]
2010 U.S. News and World Report Law School Rankings Released
The 2010 U.S. News and Word Report law school rankings have just been released, and can be found here. As has been discussed elsewhere, these rankings are flawed … but, at the same, are an influential fact of life.