Alcohol and Drug Mitigation in Capital Murder Trials: Implications for Sentencing Decisions

Analyses of the impact on sentencing when alcohol and drug‐related mitigation is used in the sentencing phases of capital murder trials is virtually absent from the existing literature. The present study addresses this by exploring the effect of having mitigation with alcohol and drug themes accepted in a large sample (n = 804) of capital murder trials in North Carolina. Logistic regression analyses that include a number of relevant control variables reveal no substantive impacts of having alcohol mitigation accepted by capital murder juries, but drug mitigators that were either accepted or rejected by juries were associated with an increased risk of receiving a death sentence. Possible reasons for the results and their implications are discussed and suggestions are made for further study of the effects of alcohol/drug mitigation in capital trials.     

Community Risk Management of High-Risk Sex Offenders in Canada: Findings From a Quasi-Experimental Study

Although considerable controversy surrounds capital punishment, there is no disagreement about the injustice of executing innocent persons. While critics of the death penalty have cited the risk of executing the innocent as a reason for its abolition, adherents have dismissed the risk of error as negligible, if not inevitable, and insufficient reason to halt capital punishment. Still others have proposed or enacted reforms designed to minimize the risk of erroneous capital convictions and sentences and, hence, allow executions to go forward in deserving cases in which doubts about guilt have largely been eradicated. In this article, we examine the principled tensions that accompany attempts simultaneously to safeguard the innocent from execution while promoting the objectives of capital punishment. We focus, in particular, on reforms recently incorporated into Maryland’s death penalty law. We suggest that the existing tensions between protecting the innocent from execution and promoting the objectives of capital punishment are so pronounced that attempted reconciliation of the competing interests is difficult to defend, either in principle or in practice.     

试论对业务过失犯罪的处罚

本文对目前理论上和立法中关于业务过失犯罪处罚的三种观点进行了评析,并提出了处罚业务过失犯罪的新标准.作者认为,主张对业务过失犯罪的处罚应当轻于普通过失犯罪的观点,以及主张取消业务过失犯罪处罚,代之以重大过失犯罪和普通过失犯罪并设置相应法定刑的观点,都是不合适的.主张对业务过失犯罪加重处罚的观点,从结论上看是基本正确的,但过于绝对化.关于业务过失犯罪处罚的正确观点应当是第一,在通常情况下,对业务过失犯罪的处罚应当重于普通过失犯罪;第二,当某些普通过失犯罪表现为行为人公然违反法律的禁止性规定,而行为的客观危害性并不小于业务过失犯罪时,对业务过失犯罪的处罚应当等于或者轻于普通过失犯罪.     

理性 良知 宽容 开明:我国刑法理念的世纪走向

本文汇集了刑法界的一系列新观点 ,较全面地反映出我国世纪末刑法理论的发展趋向     

建立符合我国国情的沉默权制度

处于被司法机关审查状态的公民 ,可以自主地选择说话或不说话的方式表达其意志。沉默的表示应当视为以不作为的方式与司法机关合作 ,将正常行使沉默权纳入抗拒的范畴是不妥的。我国“坦白从宽 ,抗拒从严”的传统政策应当修正为 :“坦白应当从宽 ,沉默受到保护 ,抗拒必须从严”。正确意义上的“坦白从宽 ,抗拒从严”与沉默权并不矛盾。在保护人权的同时 ,必须强化国家的司法权 ,根据我国的国情 ,对沉默权应当予以必要的限制。当前 ,应当审慎地对刑诉法第93条进行修改 ,明确规定沉默权只能有限行使     

当前中国毒品犯罪形势与对策

进入80年代以后,毒品犯罪在我国死灰复燃,而且愈演愈烈,出现了50年代禁毒运动之后从未有过的严峻形势。中国禁毒工作是一项宏大的系统工程,必须采取综合治理措施,多个渠道、多个途径、多个部门齐抓共管,要走专门工作与群众路线相结合、治标与治本相结合、预防与严厉打击相结合的道路。     

构建我国单位犯罪刑罚体系的思路

我国刑法对单位犯罪中犯罪单位的处罚只规定了罚金刑。单一的罚金刑对于单位犯罪的惩罚和预防均显得有些力不从心。在以自然人为适用对象的刑罚体系基础上,构建以犯罪单位为适用对象的刑罚体系十分必要。其主要由刑事破产、执业禁止和停业整顿等主刑以及罚金、没收财产和剥夺荣誉称号等附加刑两部分构成。     

当代刑法溯及力原则的考察--试对新刑法第12条理论重构

刑法的溯及力的出发点和归宿是人权保障 ,是相对罪刑法定精神的体现。肯定我国刑法从旧兼从轻的溯及力原则的基础上 ,引入外国立法例阐释溯及力与既判力的关系 ,进一步完善我国刑法溯及力的立法。     

受贿罪法定刑之评析与探讨

1997年刑法对受贿罪的法定刑规定进行了修改 ,但在刑罚种类、内容、犯罪数额、犯罪情节等方面仍有诸多不足。只有通过立法对刑罚种类的增补和限制、对各种影响法定刑的综合情节进行定位 ,才能更有利于打击犯罪。     

台湾保护管束制度介评

保护管束制度是台湾刑事制裁措施中极具特色的非拘禁性质的罪犯处遇方法。其广泛适用于其他保安处分之替代、受缓刑宣告者、假释出狱者以及少年事件之处理。作者力图通过对该制度之介评 ,对我国大陆相关刑法制度之完善提出己见。