Sentencing Class @ OSU Moritz College of Law

Power(Point) to the people

Here are the PowerPoint files I have received to date from students/presenters.  Thanks again to Caitlin Chamberlin for the suggestion to share.

False Confessions: Download false_confessions_powerpoint2.ppt

Actual Innocence: Download actual_innocence.ppt

McClesky: Download mccleskey_presentation_314.ppt

UPDATE:  Here are some more of the powerpoints:

Capital Child Rape: Download child_rape_death_penalty_presentation.ppt

Victim Considerations: Download victim_presentation.ppt

MORE:  And here is a straggler powerpoint:

Women and DP: Download women_and_dp_presentation.ppt

Readings and questions for April 19 on impact on victim's family

Jim Rogowski and Brandon Crunkilton have provided these readings, along with a few questions for Blog discussion, in conjuction with their coverage of victim impact issues:

• U.S. News and World Report, 1997, "The Place for Vengeance"
• Journal of Family Law (excerpt), 1997, "An Argument Against Allowing the Families of Murder Victims to View Executions"

Questions for Blog Discussion:

1. Do you personally believe in the death penalty?
2. If a member of your family were murdered, would you want their attacker executed?
3. Would you want to witness the execution?
4. Even if you would not personally want to witness the execution, do you think other victims' family members should be allowed to witness the execution?

Readings for April 18 on women and the death penalty

Andrea Esselstein, Stephanie Fortener and Janean Weber have created a terrific little "reading packet" for their coverage of the topic of women and the death penalty. This packet can be downloaded here:

Download selected_readings_for_women_and_the_death_penalty.doc

Enjoy and feel free to start the conversation with comments to this post (especially if you are worrying at all about the class participation part of your grade as we approach our last week of class).

Reading on capital child rape for April 11 and 12

Jordan and Brett are in command this week, addressing the very interesting and very timely topic of whether child rape can and should be a capital offense.  Here is their reading list (with links I found):

• Coker v Georgia, 433 U.S. 584 (1977) (available here)
• State v Wilson, 685 So. 2d 1063 (La. 1996) (exceprts here)
• A note by Joanna D'Avella at 92 Cornell L. Rev. 129 (2006) (available here)
• An article by Corey Rayburn at 78 St. John's L. Rev. 1119 (2004) (available here)

I have lots of thoughts about categorical rules concerning the application of the death penalty that I will try to (briefly?) set out to begin our discussion.

Notable local capital sentencing analysis

Sunday's Columbus Dispatch has this intriguing article entitled "Death sentences rare for local juries: Murderers convicted in Franklin County more likely to get life in prison."  In addition to the article, the Dispatch has this fascinating review "of the last 100 aggravated murder indictments [in Franklin County which] shows that juries are becoming more reluctant to impose the death penalty."

Webcast of the Sixth Circuit argument in Reynolds habeas case

In addition to the parties' briefs, you can now access here the webcast of the Sixth Circuit argument today in the complicated federal habeas case in which an Ohio death row prisoner is challenging the Ohio state court proceedings that resulted in his death sentence for a murder committed in Summit County, Ohio in the mid-1990s.

Both the briefs and the webcast provide a great set of materials for further gearing up for our discussions of habeas review in capital cases in this week's classes (readings here and here).

A week for reviews

I hope everyone is as excited as I am for the week of capital review we will be having to kick of April:

• On Tuesday, the Reynolds habeas case will be heard by the Sixth Circuit at Moritz.
• On Wednesday, we will discuss habeas procedures in general (readings here).
• On Thursday, we will discuss how habeas procedures deal with innocence claims (readings here)

Everyone should feel free to express pre- or post-event comments here.

Readings for April 5 on Herrera and innocence

Here is the note from Kurt Copper from his team explaining their reading choices and plans:

I have attached two files which are edited copies of Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390 (1993), and House v. Bell, 126 S.Ct. 2064(2006). I tried to do textbook style edits on the cases so people would be more apt to read them and get the point. I would suggest to the class that they might like to read the entire cases to more fully understand the Justices' arguments, but these edited versions give a decent synopsis in about 15 pages total.

Also, we suggest a law review article, "SIMPLE MURDER: A COMMENT ON THE LEGALITY OF EXECUTING THE INNOCENT", 44 BFLR 501 (1996).  We will show a short video clip in class and try to spur the discussion on innocence claims, the role of the federal courts, and the effectiveness of clemency. 

Also, could you post on the blog a short explanation that the difference between a "Herrera" claim and a "Schlup" or "gateway" claim is that the herrera claim is a purely constitutional one (i .e. "it is unconstitutional for you to hold and execute me because I am innocent") and the gateway claim is a procedural one ("though my claims of constitutional violations in my state trial have been procedurally defaulted and thus normally wouldn't be heard, the federal courts should excuse this and hear them because i am actually innocent"). I think just getting that basic concept before reading the cases will help frame them better for the reader.

It should be interesting.

Download edited_version_of_herrera_v. Collins.doc

Download edited_version_of_house_v. Bell.doc

Readings for April 4 on habeas review

Alexander Smith has sent along this note along with the readings that are available for downloading below:

Because there are two groups going in the same week, I have limited readings to two journal articles that give a solid overview of the complex procedures relating to Federal habeas review. My presentation will attempt to navigate the many rules and requirements surrounding such review in order to create a better understanding of how this process fits into the larger appeal system for death penalty cases.

Students may also want to glance at 28 USC 2241-2266, where the right of habeas review is codified.

Download the_theories_of_federal_habeas_corpus.doc

Download the_writ_of_habeas_corpus_a_complex_procedure_for_a_simple_process.doc