Criminal cases generally begin with the filing of formal charges against a defendant. A complaint is not required in many jurisdictions. The filing of charges is known as the opening of a criminal ...

Crime. Due Process and the Criminal Law: A Few Thoughts on Kahler v.Kansas An important Supreme Court decision on how much criminal law doctrine is constitutionally required.

My former law clerk and now federal defender, Benji McMurray, has expanded on this point at length in “The Mitigating Power of a Victim Focus at Sentencing,” 19 FED. SENT’ING RPTR. 125 (2006).

The Due Process Clause requires that before criminal liability may be imposed for violation of any penal law, due process requires “fair warning . . . of what the law intends.” “The fundamental ...

The ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project negotiated a historic settlement with Shelby County to end this practice. In retaliation, the Tennessee legislature passed HB 1719, which prohibits judges from ...