Law Reviews

A recent article in the Western New England Law Review examines ways in which the rules of evidence and procedures at capital sentencing trials are less rigorous than those applied at the guilt-phase of the trial. In capital sentencing hearings, evidence is permitted that would not be admissible to prove guilt. The defendant does not receive traditional trial protections at the sentencing trial. For example, hearsay may be received by the jury during sentencing, but is generally inadmissible at…

A recent article in the Wayne Law Review by Prof. Phillys L. Crocker of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law examines the Supreme Court’s struggle with the issue of death row inmates waiving their appeals. Crocker uses Rees v. Peyton, a capital case that remained on the Court’s docket from 1965 – 1995, to explore the issue. In that case, Virginia death row inmate Melvin Rees sought to withdraw his petition for a writ of certiorari so that he could be executed. In 1967, the Supreme Court stayed…

Symposium: Pamela Blume Leonard, Michael Mears, John H. Blume, Stephen P. Garvey, Samuel R. Gross, Richard Burr, et al.: “Victims and the Death Penalty: Inside and Outside the Courtroom,” 88 Cornell Law Review 257 (2003). This is a series of articles in the Cornell Law Review stemming from a symposium focusing on the role that victims play in capital cases. The journal provides a close legal examination of victim impact statements and related research, expert analysis of state statutes, and an…