Yes, This Phone Records Audio!: The Case for Allowing Surreptitious Citizen Recordings of Public Police Encounters

Dec 19, 2014 | Archives, Notes, Number 4, Print Edition

In today’s technologically advanced world, nearly fifty percent of Americans own smartphones, a statistic that increases to sixty-six percent when considering Americans between the ages of twenty-four and thirty-five. This, along with the recording capabilities of...

Trusts—Trustee’s Decanting Power Derived from Irrevocable Trust Language—Morse v. Kraft, 992 N.E.2d 1021 (Mass. 2013)

Dec 19, 2014 | Archives, Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 47

A trustee’s discretion is generally constrained by statute, by the terms of the trust, and by the trustee’s fiduciary duty to act in the beneficiaries’ interests. When a trustee, acting within the scope of that discretion, distributes trust property into a new trust,...

Constitutional Law—Eleventh Circuit Holds True Threats Doctrine Analyzed Under Objective Standard—United States v. Martinez, 736 F.3d 981 (11th Cir. 2013)

Dec 19, 2014 | Archives, Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 47

Although the First Amendment generally bars government restrictions on speech based on message or viewpoint, the government may restrict certain categories of speech where the speech’s content imposes harm that “‘overwhelmingly outweigh[s]’ any First Amendment...

Evidence—Admitting Prior Conviction for Drug Possession in Later Prosecution for Drug Distribution is Reversible Error—United State v. Lee, 724 F.3d 968 (7th Cir. 2013)

Dec 19, 2014 | Archives, Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 47

In a criminal trial, Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) (FRE 404(b)) prohibits the prosecution from using a defendant’s other crimes, wrongs, or bad acts to prove the defendant’s propensity to commit the charged offense. Courts, in their discretion, may admit other bad...

Ending the Military’s Courts of Criminal Appeals De Novo Review of Findings of Fact

Jun 3, 2014 | Archives, Lead Articles, Number 3, Print Edition, Volume 47

Under Article 66(c) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the military’s courts of criminal appeals have the unusual appellate power to conduct a de novo review of a trial court’s findings of fact. Congress gave the military’s appellate courts their unique...

The EU-27, U.S., U.K., and China Should Dump Cap-and-Trade as a Policy Option and Adopt a Carbon Tax with Reinvestment To Reduce Global Emissions

Jun 3, 2014 | Archives, Lead Articles, Number 3, Print Edition, Volume 47

Cap-and-trade is a failed policy. Under the Kyoto Protocol, global emissions have continued to increase and the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) price collapsed due to hot air and over allocation of emissions. The time has come to abandon cap-and-trade...