Law Outlines Criminal Law Outlines
Criminal Law with Professor Rachel Barkow at NYU School of Law.
This is a synthesis of all topics in a fall 2019 class, Criminal Law at NYU School of Law. My notes consist of the important elements of each doctrine, the unsettled areas, and policy justifications....
The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Criminal Law Outlines. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:
PROPORTIONALITY
8th amendment requires proportionality (majority view)
Scalia/alito/thomas disagrees: 8A prohibits types of punishments, but no length of prison is too long
Individual challenge test (Ewing)
Compare crime and the sentence and must find gross disproportionality
See if there is a rational basis for believing sentence serves one of the four purposes of punishment, if so, not grossly disproportionate
Compare sentence with sentence of other crimes in the same jx, or sentence or same crimes in diff jx
Difficult to satisfy:
Prosecutor can easily come up with a purpose in step two
Categorical challenge test (Graham)
Look at objective indicia of society's standards
Legislation
Actual sentences
Look at standards of precedents and court's understanding/interpretation of 8A
Culpability of the offender class (juveniles)
Seriousness of the offense (nonhomicide)
Nature of punishment (LWOP)
Whether punishment serves penological goals
Some also look to what other countries do
This test has been used to eliminate categories -
Sentencing juvenile to LWOP for nonhomicide
Juveniles have lessened culpability
Courts cannot distinguish incorrigible juvenile offenders with those capable of change
Incentivizes juveniles to demonstrate maturity and reform
Sentencing juveniles to mandatory LWOP for homicides
Summary: 8A prohibits grossly disproportionate sentences compared to crime
Individual challenge – Ewing | Categorical challenge – Graham |
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Challenging terms of year sentence in individual case
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Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Criminal Law Outlines.
Criminal Law with Professor Rachel Barkow at NYU School of Law.
This is a synthesis of all topics in a fall 2019 class, Criminal Law at NYU School of Law. My notes consist of the important elements of each doctrine, the unsettled areas, and policy justifications....
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