ZiefBrief

SF Chronicle Praises Leo's Work

A San Francisco Chronicle article praised Professor Richard Leo's "easy to read" book, Police Interrogation and American Justice, noting that "Leo writes as clearly as he talks on a witness stand as an expert."  Congratulations, Professor Leo!

Richard Leo Featured in New Yorker

The New Yorker's August 24 issue features a Jeffrey Toobin piece on Richard Leo's efforts on behalf of the wrongfully-convicted Norfolk Four.  In 1997, Michelle Bosko was raped and murdered in Norfolk, Virginia. Despite the fact that "abundant" forensic evidence at the scene pointed to another suspect, the "Norfolk Four," Joseph Dick, Jr., Derek Tice, Eric Wilson, and Danial Williams, were convicted, largely because each man confessed to the crime following lengthy interrogation sessions.  Professor Leo's compelling book about the case (co-authored with Tom Wells), The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four, was released last year.  As Toobin notes, Professor Leo supplied a manuscript of the book to John Grisham, who discussed the case with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.  A few weeks ago, Governor Kaine granted conditional pardons to three of the four men still imprisoned for the crime. 

If you would like to read The Wrong Guys, you'll find a copy at Zief Law Library.

Prof. de la Vega Briefs the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Professor Connie de la Vega, who recently filed a Supreme Court amicus brief on the issue of life without parole for juvenile offenders, continues her advocacy on behalf of prisoners. Her latest brief, filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, supports the petition of a prisoner on California's death row who, in the 18 years since his conviction, has not had his first appeal heard by the California Supreme Court.

 

Professors de la Vega and Leighton File Amicus Brief

Professors Connie de la Vega and Michelle Leighton recently filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. (Download a PDF version of the brief here:Download Amicusbrief) The brief, filed in support of appellants Graham and Sullivan, urges the Court "to consider international law and opinion when applying the Eighth Amendment's clause prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments."

Both Graham and Sullivan involve juveniles sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. In Graham v. Florida, Graham pled guilty to armed burglary and attempted armed robbery and received a sentence of time served and three years probation. He was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 17 after violating probation.  In Sullivan v. Florida, Sullivan was sentenced to life without parole for his involvement in a rape committed at age 13.

Prof. de la Vega Comments on the U.S. and Human Rights

USF's resident human rights expert Professor Connie de la Vega is also one of the voices of IntLawGrrls, where she has recently blogged on Time for US to reaffirm commitment to principles enshrined 60 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this post she summarizes the history and work of the Human Rights Commission and the new Human Rights Council, and calls upon the U.S. to "return to its leadership role in the protection of human rights."

Professor Richard Leo's New Book on the Norfolk Four Case

Professor Richard Leo's new book, The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four, will be released on November 3, 2008.  Co-authored with Tom Wells, the book traces the prosecution of four innocent men for a murder committed in 1997.  Although the real perpetrator was identified and convicted, three of the four innocent men remain imprisoned today.  The book's publisher, The New Press, describes the book as "an urgent call for justice and a convincing case for reform in the criminal justice system. . . . writer Tom Wells and law professor Richard Leo masterfully interweave a narrative covering the unfolding of the case with an exploration of topics ranging from coercive interrogation, police perjury (“testilying”), and prosecutorial politics to the role of the death penalty in criminal law."  You can find a copy of The Wrong Guys in the Zief collection.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation — A New Way Forward from Prof. Jack Garvey

Addressing acknowledged flaws in the consensual regime of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, USF's Professor Jack I. Garvey calls for a New Architecture for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The keystone of the new architecture would be a United Nations Security Council resolution declaring nuclear weapons proliferation to be a "threat to peace" and engaging the sanctions regime of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The proposed new regime would be mandatory, and would apply to non-state actors as well as to states. It would also seek to formalize and strengthen the inspection and verification role of the IAEA. Professor Garvey presents evidence that the political will exists to move toward the new architecture.

This is Professor Garvey's second article on nuclear proliferation issues. The first, also published in the Journal of Conflict and Security Law, was The International Institutional Imperative for Countering the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the Proliferation Security Initiative.

Professor Richard Leo's New Book on Police Interrogation

Professor Richard Leo's new book, Police Interrogation and American Justice, will be available from Harvard University Press in February 2008.  Professor Leo "draws on extensive research to argue that confessions are inherently suspect and that coercive interrogation has led to false confession and wrongful conviction. He looks at police evidence in the court, the nature and disappearance of the brutal 'third degree,' the reforms of the mid-twentieth century, and how police can persuade suspects to waive their Miranda rights."  Police Interrogation and American Justice will be available in the Zief Law Library in a few weeks.  You can find Richard Leo's faculty profile here along with a list of his extensive scholarly works on criminal justice issues.

Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders: A Human Rights Report

Today ZiefBrief celebrates Human Rights Day by featuring Sentencing our Children to Die in Prison: Global Law and Practice [PDF; 51 pages], a newly-released report from the Center for Law and Global Justice here at USF.

The report, co-authored by Professor Connie de la Vega and Michelle Leighton, the Center's Director for Human Rights Programs, deals with the practice of sentencing juvenile offenders to life without the possibility of parole ("LWOP"). It surveys the countries where juvenile LWOP sentences are or may be imposed, argues that international law prohibits such sentences, and explores alternative juvenile justice and rehabilitation models. And for legal researchers, the report's appendix contains a 50-state survey, complete with citations and annotations, on juvenile LWOP laws.

USF Professor Honigsgberg Adds Expertise to Guantanamo Coverage

No sooner had USF Law Professor Peter Jan Honigsberg returned from attending the oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases than he was asked by the local ABC affiliate to comment. Asked if he thought Guantanamo's combatant status review tribunals are fair he said "Absolutely not."

Professor Honigsberg has taken a deep interest in the ongoing controversy around the handling of the prisoners in Guantanamo, having traveled to the prison to witness conditions first hand.

The complete video and text of the story, Supreme Court hearing Guantanamo cases, is available on KGO's web site.

Professor Hoingsberg has also conducted a much longer interview with the local Fox affiliate KTVU. In it he is able to go into much more depth about the situation in Guantanamo. It is available in the continuation of this post below.