Promise-Induced False Confessions: Lessons from Promises in Another Context

People are generally skeptical that someone would falsely confess to a crime he or she did not commit. Nonetheless, a myriad of convicts exonerated by DNA and the rapidly emerging scientific literature on the subject calls into question this long-standing belief. Scholars in the field now recognize that personal and situational risk factors, including promises of leniency, heighten the risk of a false confession. Promises of leniency have been shown to be particularly coercive in interrogations and to produce unusually persuasive testimony in the courtroom. Due to a failure to recognize the power behind these promises, our justice system does not adequately safeguard criminal defendants who give promise-induced confessions. As such, federal appellate courts are in disarray over when a promise of leniency renders a confession inadmissible at trial. On the other hand, the power behind promises in the plea-bargaining context is better recognized by scholars and laypeople alike and our justice system consequently provides much greater safeguards to criminal defendants who plead guilty in response to a promise. This Note argues that jury instructions that help the jury better detect, understand, and weigh confession testimony can close the unwarranted gap between procedural safeguards governing promise-induced admissions of guilt during plea discussions and interrogations. This Note also proposes a model instruction, which conveys the relevant scientific and legal principles in a way that will impact jurors’ verdicts in false confession cases

\u3cem\u3eMayhew v. Town of Smyrna\u3c/em\u3e: The Sixth Circuit Frustrates Public Employees\u27 Right to a Jury Trial

On May 11, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Mayhew v. Town of Smyrna, held that the protected status of a public employee’s speech in a First Amendment retaliation claim remains one of law, rather than one of mixed law and fact. In so doing, the Sixth Circuit disallowed jury determinations on the fact-intensive inquiry into the protected status of the employee’s speech. This Comment argues that despite having the invaluable opportunity—as a historically conservative court—to defend the voices of public employees, the Sixth Circuit continued its obliteration of public employees’ right to a jury trial. This Comment further argues that the Sixth Circuit’s decision could leave much of private sector misconduct unreported

The Ideal Catalogue House: Mail-Order Architecture and Consumer Culture, 1914–1930

This dissertation explores the mail-order house and its relation to aspects of consumer culture, establishing a context for understanding its popular appeal and its notable presence in the competitive housing market between 1918 and 1930. Fueled by a demand for housing, and widely promoted during a period of economic prosperity which ushered in an interest in consumerism associated with home ownership, the mail-order house, assembled from pre-cut lumber and sold by mail-order suppliers, represented an affordable and appealing means for consumers to acquire the aesthetic and material elements associated with the ideal house and home. The dissertation articulates the popular appeal and critical reception of mail-order houses in order to gain greater understanding for their presence in the housing market of the 1920s. By reviewing contemporary government publications, articles and commentaries printed in the professional and popular press, as well as the contents of the trade catalogues, this dissertation places mail-order houses in an appropriate social and historical context. In doing so, it is thus revealed that they appealed not only to middle class home buyers, but were favored by industrial corporations for workers housing, and were simultaneously embraced by real estate entrepreneurs for an upper class clientele in emerging suburban developments. The geographic placement of mail-order houses strongly indicates that these houses had a great impact on the appearance of cities and towns in the United States, as well as elsewhere. By investigating both large national manufacturers as well as small regional companies that frequently advertised, and produced mail-order houses to a diverse consumer population, this dissertation presents a background for understanding the broad scope of the mail-order house business. The dissertation reviews trade materials to explore the methods by which mail-order houses were designed, marketed, and targeted to appeal to a broad range of consumer interests. Comparing manufacturers\u27 points of view with popular attitudes, tastes, and trends of consumer culture, it concludes that the variety of architectural styles, goods and services offered by the various competitors afforded consumers the opportunity to acquire through catalogues their own mail-order versions of the ideal house and home