The goal of this study was to examine the growing use of neurological and behavioral genetic evidence by criminal defendants in US criminal law. Judicial opinions issued between 2005-12 that discussed the use of neuroscience or behavioral genetics by criminal defendants were identified, coded and analysed. Criminal defendants are increasingly introducing such evidence to challenge defendants' c...

Understanding the roots of current theoretical justifications for criminal punishment is crucial in evaluating its susceptibility to future change. In the American criminal justice system, the dominant justification for punishing individuals is that offenders have made a voluntary choice to break the law, thus validating the imposition of a societal sanction. However, recent discoveries in the ...

BY ROBERT M. AXELROD I f the purpose of criminal laws is to define crime, lay the groundwork for criminal prosecutions, and, ultimately, reduce criminal behavior, the functionality of the money laundering laws (and their associated regulations) should be evaluated at least in part by how effective they are at facilitating criminal prosecutions. For that purpose, the Suspicious Activity Report (...

[This article examines the evidential and procedural aspects of claims based on mental incapacity in English courtrooms in the ‘long’ 18 century. It employs a frame the author has termed ‘manifest madness’ to analyse how such claims were articulated and elaborated at trial in this period. This analysis reveals, first, the substantive significance of the accused’s conduct; second, the part playe...

[This article focuses on accessorial liability under statute, in equity and in criminal law. One of its purposes is to identify some of the common problems that have arisen in determining the liability of accessories in different areas of civil law, whilst drawing some comparisons with the criminal law. It will be argued that the problems that need to be addressed in determining accessorial lia...

State laws provide a variety of means to protect children from self-inflicted or parentally-inflicted harm. In recent years, the Supreme Court has imposed stringent procedural requirements on juvenile delinquency laws. In the past year, however, the Court has refused to extend these procedural stringencies to analogous child-protective state laws. This article explores generally the rationale f...

The scope of this study is to question the fact that in some countries in Latin America (Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic) abortion is still forbidden in all situations. Even after all the debate on this thorny issue, the theory of human rights is not often used in the defense of abortion. This is clearly related to the pervasive, albeit unspoken belief that, d...

Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Evidence Commons, Forensic Science and Technology Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Medical Jurisprudence Commons, Neurosciences Commons, Public Law and Legal...

Australian criminal law is a matter for states and territories. In relation to abortion, many laws are unclear and outdated, and are inconsistent between states and territories. Doctors practise under time constraints and on a case-by-case basis. Most current laws have grey areas that leave doctors vulnerable to accusations, negative publicity and career damage, especially in the case of late a...