“I didn't Know You were Fighting So Hard for me”: Attorneys' Perceptions of Youth Participation in Child Dependency Proceedings

This study examined attorneys' perceptions of youth participation in child dependency proceedings. Surveys and semi‐structured interviews were conducted with attorneys who represent adolescents in child dependency proceedings. Three dimensions of participation were identified: receiving information, providing information, and self‐advocacy. Barriers to youth participation included individual‐level factors, such as the youth or the attorney not wanting the youth to attend, and system‐level factors, such as the scheduling of court hearings, large caseloads, long waits, and cases being adjourned multiple times. Recommendations for enhancing youth participation in child dependency proceedings are presented.     

A “good fit”: Client sorting among nonprofit,private, and pro bono immigration attorneys

Existing scholarship finds that having an attorney in immigration legal proceedings increases the chances of a favorable outcome. This work, however, often acknowledges that the representation effect is underexplained: selection may explain outcomes, and variation among attorneys is difficult to assess. Through 103 interviews with attorneys who practice immigration law in three organizational environments (nonprofit legal services, private firms, and corporate law firm pro bono programs) in two East Coast areas, this paper argues that attorneys' sorting of clients between different types of legal organizations helps explain the representation effect. Attorneys define what type of case is a “good fit” for their representation, selecting cases they think they can help increase the probability of a favorable outcome. However, what they define as a “good fit” varies by attorneys' practice environments, and centers not only on the facts or characteristics of a client and their case, but also attorneys' organizational constraints. By documenting the central role of practice environment variation and its organizational constraints on attorneys' case selection, this paper helps explain the representation effect and its implications for increasing vulnerable immigrants' access to legal representation in the United States.     

Attorney communication and impression making in the courtroom

This study investigated the effectiveness of attorney communication and impression making in the courtroom. Trained in-court observers rated attorney presentations for factual and legal informativeness, organization, articulateness, and rapport during the opening statement phase of 50 trials. After the trials, jurors were asked to evaluate the attorneys' overall articulateness. enthusiasm, and likableness during the trial. The attorneys were then questioned about their own performance on these indices. The results revealed that the opening statements of prosecuting attorneys were judged by observers as better organized and more factually and legally informative than defense attorneys. However, these variables were not related to trial outcome. Juror evaluations of prosecuting attorneys more closely agreed with these attorneys' self-perceptions of courtroom performance while defense attorneys rated themselves significantly more favorably than did jurors. More courtroom experience did not generally lead to better courtroom performance during opening statements for either prosecuting or defense attorneys, and often resulted in significant overestimations of general performance relative to juror evaluations, particularly among defense attorneys. System constraints operating in favor of prosecutors and performance feedback mechanisms available to prosecutors but not to defense attorneys are discussed. These mechanisms may account for the discrepancies between juror perceptions of attorneys and attorney self-perception.     

Legal education and early career mentoring: mid-career attorneys' pro bono commitment

Much extant research suggests that students who enter law school highly enthusiastic about public interest law and pro bono work often take mainstream jobs with minimal participation in pro bono activities. Frequently, these studies place some of the blame on law schools. This study, however, suggests that law schools, as well as mentors in first post-graduation jobs, might positively affect attorneys' level of commitment to pro bono work. This longitudinal study is unique in that it includes measures of students' attitudes during law school and in mid-career. It raises the possibility that attorneys whose level of commitment to pro bono work did not decrease since law school were substantially influenced by their law school training and early career mentors. Although some students will leave law school with less dedication to public interest law and pro bono work, this study offers hope that, through legal education and mentorship, other students will maintain their strong commitment to helping poor clients.     

POLICE PERCEPTIONS OF INFLUENCE: A Study in the Criminal Case Disposition Process

This study examines police perceptions of their own influence and the influence of the judges, attorneys, victims, and defendants in the felony case disposition process. The findings suggest that while police perceive their own influence as relatively low, it is enhanced by their direct participation in plea discussions both in their own view and that of the observers. The study concludes that there appear to be substantial benefits from greater police participation in the negotiated disposition of criminal cases.     

Low-Level,but High Speed?: Assessing Pretrial Detention Effects on the Timing and Content of Misdemeanor versus Felony Guilty Pleas

Abstract

While numerous studies have examined pretrial detention and felony case outcomes, little empirical attention has been devoted to misdemeanor pretrial detention. We theorize that misdemeanants detained for a longer proportion of time will plead guilty quicker because the costs of fighting their charges in jail often outweigh the sanctions they face. Utilizing data on 165,630 felony and misdemeanor cases from Miami-Dade County, Florida, during a 4-year period (2012–2015) we assess whether the effects of pretrial detention length on the timing and content of guilty pleas differ across lower-level and upper-level courts. Survival analyses and multinomial logistic regressions indicate that misdemeanor cases overall and those involving lengthier pretrial detention are resolved faster, with most resulting in non-carceral sanctions such as credit for time served (CTS). Given that misdemeanors make-up the bulk of U.S. criminal cases, these findings reveal important insights about how pretrial detention impacts case-processing dynamics in lower courts.     

Mechanisms and Consequences of Professional Marginality: The Case of Poverty Lawyers Revisited

A partial replication of Jack Katz's (1982 ) Poor People's Lawyers in Transition, this article explores the manifestations and consequences of professional marginality of legal aid lawyers. Based on thirty‐five interviews with poverty attorneys and interns in Chicago, the authors show that scarce material resources and unclear expectations continue to give rise to the marginalization of this segment of the legal profession. The authors analyzed ideological, task, status, and material dimensions of attorneys' professional marginality. With no access to reform litigation, central to the legal aid “culture of significance” in the 1970s, present‐day poverty lawyers seek new ways to cope with marginality. The authors argue that these lawyers' coping strategies have many negative consequences. Thus, over time, poverty lawyers' deep engagement with clients, ideals of empowerment, and social justice orientation give way to emotional detachment, complacency, and an emphasis on “making do” within the constraints of the system.     

Client Games: Defense Attorney Perspectives on Their Relations with Criminal Clients

In this study, relations between criminal defense lawyers and their clients are explored from the attorneys'perspective using interviews with 155 defense counsel from nine felony trial courts. Attorneys claim public clients are more skeptical and less willing to accept their professional authority than private clients and that they need to take extra steps to gain their cooperation. The accountability of attorneys is investigated in relationship to the need to establish "client control. " This problem is resolved through a gamelike situation leading to the apparent paradox that attorneys share decision-making power with public clients contrary to their expectations.     

Elements of the Defense Attorney's Craft: An Adaptive Expectations Model of the Preliminary Hearing Decision

The way criminal defense attorneys handle cases prior to final disposition is a subject that has gone largely unexplored by researchers. This study focuses on the decisions of attorneys to waive preliminary examinations in nine felony courts. Employing both interviews and case-level data, analysis of this decision emphasizes the adaptive behavior of attorneys to local court policies, client concerns, tactical issues, and time pressures. Underlying the specific rules of choice guiding this decision are more fundamental concerns of attorneys regarding efficiency, professionalism, and the minimization of later regrets associated with waiving preliminary hearings.     

Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of Suspect Gender in Prosecutorial Decision‐Making

Utilizing a sample of 8,461 cases involving heterosexual intimate partner violence, this paper examines the role of suspect gender in prosecutorial decision‐making. Four decision points are assessed: the decision to file charges (versus rejection for insufficient evidence); to file as a felony (versus a misdemeanor or probation violation); to dismiss for insufficient evidence (versus full prosecution); and to reduce felony charges to a misdemeanor or violation of probation. Suspect gender was found to be statistically significant in relation to all four outcomes in favoring female over male suspects. Numerous interaction effects were observed between gender and measures of prior arrest and offense severity in particular, suggesting that prosecutors distinguish between male and female suspects across these variables. We suggest that these data provide some support for recent qualitative research suggesting that court personnel are responsive to the gendered asymmetry of intimate partner violence, and may view female intimate violence perpetrators more as victims than offenders.     

我国刑法中轻罪与重罪若干问题研究

我国刑法中轻罪与重罪的划分,仅指轻罪行与重罪行的划分。在学术界关于区分轻罪和重罪的四种观点中,以一定法定刑为标准认定罪行的轻重具有充分的依据。认定轻罪和重罪法定刑的分界线当以有期徒刑3年为限,即凡法定最低刑为3年或3年以上有期徒刑的罪行都是重罪,反之便是轻罪。我国刑法存在若干轻罪与重罪界限不明的条文,需调整其罪刑关系。犯罪的未完成形态只存在于重罪之中。     

Prosecuting child sexual abuse in rural Kentucky: Factors influencing case acceptance by prosecuting attorneys

This study examined the relationship between felony prosecutors’ discretion and the legal and social factors present in cases of child sexual abuse. Prosecuting attorneys from 20 rural circuits in Kentucky were targeted for semistructured interviews in order to determine what influences them to accept or not accept a case for prosecution. Findings show a relationship between rural Kentucky prosecutors’ decision to accept a case and the availability of physical evidence, victims’ age and competence, potential trauma inflicted upon the victim, and the situation in which the allegation of sexual abuse originated. The relationship between prosecutors’ discretion and various factors is discussed regarding the impact on other criminal justice officials in their pursuit to combat child sexual abuse in Kentucky and in other rural communities as well. Winner of 1997 Outstanding Graduate Paper Award, Southern Criminal Justice Association     

Revocation by consent: The United States Parole Commission's expedited revocation procedure

This article examines the United States Parole Commission's development and use of an expedited revocation procedure for parole violations not involving serious new felony offenses. The majority of parole revocation proceedings involve charges of administrative violations (such as alcohol abuse, drug use, or failure to report) or misdemeanor offenses, and most parolees charged with such violations admit them. When there is no dispute as to the charged violation, the sole issue is the determination of the appropriate sanction.In 1996, the commission began a pilot project designed to expedite the processing of parole violations involving administrative, misdemeanor, and lesser felony charges. Certain alleged parole violators were given the option of waiving the right to a revocation hearing, acknowledging responsibility for the charged violation, and accepting a specified revocation penalty determined by the commission on the basis of the case record. The goal was to conserve commission resources without negatively affecting the due process rights of the alleged parole violator or the integrity of the guideline system used to sanction parole violations. In 1998, the commission incorporated the expedited revocation procedure developed in the pilot project into its permanent regulations. By FY 2003, expedited revocation determinations accounted for 40 percent of all commission revocation actions. The savings generated by the expedited revocation procedure allowed the commission to devote more resources to conducting revocation hearings involving more serious and/or contested charges.     

CRIMINALITY, PROSECUTORIAL SCREENING, AND UNCERTAINTY: TOWARD A THEORY OF DISCRETIONARY DECISION MAKING IN FELONY CASE PROCESSINGS

This research contributes to a further understanding of the process of criminalization by examining case information that affects prosecuting attorneys' decision to continue felony prosecution following grand jury indictment. It is suggested that prosecuting attorneys, like other decision makers in organizations engaged in people-processing activities, are confronted with uncertainty emerging from an inability to unilaterally exercise control over all actors involved in the transformation process. By relying on a self-imposed decision criteria of prosecutorial merit defined as the likelihood of obtaining a jury trial conviction, prosecutors attempt to impose a "bounded rationality" on the exercise of discretion in screening decision making. This rationality is one that is sensitive to concerns for effective management of victims and witnesses. It is argued that information relevant to victim/witness credibility and/or cooperation in prosecution is brought to bear in deciding prosecutorial strategies of case processing. Therefore, it is hypothesized that, controlling for legal and extralegal variables, case information that decreases uncertainty concerning victim/witness management will increase the probability of continued prosecution. Support is found for this uncertainty avoidance thesis. In addition, the data indicate that prosecuting attorneys are less likely to continue prosecution of cases involving female defendants and are more likely to continue prosecution of defendants whose bail outcome includes financial conditions for release.     

Felony and misdemeanor defendants filed in the u.s. district courts during fiscal years 1990–95: An analysis of the filings of each offense level

The number of criminal defendants in cases filed in the federal courts increased by fewer than 1,000 from 1990 to 1995. Separate analyses of filings of felony and misdemeanor defendants revealed that there are different factors that influence the magnitude of the caseload of each offense level. The number of federal felony filings is strongly linked to staffing levels within the ninety-four U.S. attorneys’ offices, while the types of filings are a reflection of prosecution priorities. As a result, the magnitude of the felony caseload in the federal courts does not mirror either local or national crime rates. Misdemeanor filings, on the other hand, are dependent on enforcement practices of local authorities at military bases and/or national parks, and are concentrated within a few federal courts. The number of misdemeanor filings and traffic violations, in particular, are susceptible to dramatic changes when these local authorities modify their enforcement procedures.     

ENSURING AUTHENTIC YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN DELINQUENCY CASES: CREATING A PARADIGM FOR SPECIALIZED JUVENILE DEFENSE PRACTICE

In delinquency courts, juvenile defense attorneys are essential for guaranteeing children's due process rights and encouraging their meaningful participation in the proceedings. Yet, indigent defense delivery systems are largely failing youth accused of committing crimes. This article highlights the importance of developing systems that support the highly specialized practice area of juvenile defense. To protect their clients’ rights and meet their ethical obligations, juvenile defense attorneys must zealously advocate for their clients’ expressed interests and must strategically address the biases and misunderstandings prevalent in delinquency courts. Specifically, defense attorneys must vigorously challenge systemic race, class, and gender injustices; incorporate expert knowledge of youth development into their advocacy; and protect clients’ mental health and educational interests. Such holistic representation promotes rehabilitation and reduces recidivism. Because of numerous obstacles that currently impede defense attorneys from engaging in such exemplary practice, systemic reforms are necessary to support high‐quality defense representation and, ultimately, ensure that youths’ rights are protected.     

从张家山汉简《二年律令》看汉代处罚文书犯罪的特点

张家山汉简《二年律令》有对伪作制书、一般官文书,伪写、毁坏、遗失、盗窃玺印,更改文书传递方式、延误文书传递时间的违法行为进行处罚的律令条文。从汉代对文书犯罪处罚的律令看,突出了根据被伪写文书及玺印者的身份和地位的不同来定罪、采取重罪吸收轻罪的原则对违犯文书规定者进行判罚、区分伪写文书和玺印等犯罪所造成的后果不同进行定罪、处罚的文书犯罪行为涉及到文书制作和管理的各个环节等几个特点。     

论转化犯立法的理论根据

转化犯是我国刑法理论对刑法中特有行为形式所作的理论概括,转化犯最大的立法价值在于它凸现了罪责刑均衡原则。基于转化犯是轻罪向重罪的单向转化,转化犯的法定性既缘于罪刑法定原则的要求,也是刑法规范作为裁判规范的属性使然。作为规范的表达方式,注意性规定的转化犯,其立法的理论根据缘于犯罪构成学说;而拟制性规定的转化犯,其立法的理论根据则基于法律拟制的正当性,即借助于法律拟制立法的正当性要求,拟制性规定的转化犯既可以弥补刑法条文的漏洞或缺陷,还可以满足刑法规范对实质正义的立法诉求。     

Guardians Ad Litem and Children's Attorneys in Arizona: A Qualitative Examination of the Roles

An ongoing debate exists with little research support concerning the differences in the roles of guardians ad litem (GAL) and children's attorneys (CA) in dependency cases. Through qualitative interviews, this study examined GALs’ and CAs’ perceptions and execution of roles. Both executed their roles similarly and agreed the best interests of the child and the child's wishes are important. Shared goals included child safety, ensuring the child's voice is heard, keeping the family together, and minimizing the distress to the child. Challenges to executing their roles were often systemic, including overwhelmed courts and lack of community resources to serve clients’ needs.     

Mental competence and end-of-life decision making: death row volunteering and euthanasia

This article reports on a qualitative study of defense attorneys' perceptions of the mental competence or rationality of death row inmates' decisions to waive habeas appeals and proceed directly to execution. Interviews were conducted with twenty attorneys who have either directly represented or been closely involved with would-be volunteers. Through analytic comparison with another end-of-life decision, euthanasia, this article reports on four themes from the interviews: (a) attorneys' perceptions of the legal standard of competence, (b) their perceptions of the competency evaluation process, (c) implications of competing interpretive frames (i.e., volunteering vs. suicide), and (d) the rationality of decisions to waive appeals. Implications of research findings, particularly in terms of recent restructured models of competence, are also discussed.