NCJ Number
75272
Journal
Georgetown Law Journal Volume: 69 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1980) Pages: 211-639
Date Published
1980
Length
492 pages
Annotation
A comprehensive review of published criminal procedure decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1979-80 term and by the U.S. Courts of Appeals between May 1, 1979, and April 30, 1980, is presented.
Abstract
The review is designed to identify and examine trends and developments in the law of criminal procedure as reflected by the year's cases, and to integrate these into the framework of existing criminal procedure principles. Supreme Court decisions and the most noteworthy circuit court cases are discussed. A comprehensive treatment in the footnotes of nearly every reported decision from the circuit courts is included. Major topics addressed include investigation and police practices; preliminary proceedings; trial; sentencing, parole, and probation; review proceedings; and prisoners' rights. With regard to the first category, fourth amendment considerations were addressed by the Supreme Court in Payton v. New York. The Court declared unconstitutional a New York statute that authorized officers to enter private residences to make routine felony arrests. Turning to preliminary proceedings, in United States v. Provenzano the third circuit held that in determining whether a defendant poses a danger to the community, the defendant's general propensity to commit crime, even if the resulting harm does not involve physical violence, is a sufficient risk of danger to deny bail. This term, the circuits continued to probe the ramifications of the Supreme Court's decision in Weatherford v. Bursey, in which the Court ruled that the sixth amendment is not automatically violated when the Government knowingly arranges or permits an intrusion into the attorney-client relationship. Focusing on sentencing determinations, in Roberts v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld a judge's discretion to consider a defendant's refusal to cooperate as relevant to the defendant's attitudes toward society and prospects for rehabilitation. The review provides a case index and 3,164 footnotes.