Skip to content
Version 1.0.0
Sentencing Law and Policy
Part of the Law Professor Blogs Network

A terrific examination of Alito and criminal law

By Douglas Berman

In The National Law Journal, Marcia Coyle has this terrific and thorough article, entitled “Cutting his own path: ‘Justice’ Alito could alter criminal law,” which explores the possible impact of Justice O’Connor’s likely replacement on various criminal justice issues.  (Disclaimer:  My view of this article is heavily biased because I am quoted at length in the article and because the article begins with a reference to the latest issue of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.)

The lengthy Coyne article is today’s must-read for folks interested in Alito and criminal justice issues.  Here is the enticing lead to whet your appetite:

The last person with substantial hands-on prosecutorial experience to ascend to the Supreme Court was Earl Warren, whose 18 years in those trenches influenced the Warren Court’s revolution in criminal procedure.  But don’t expect former federal prosecutor and now Judge Samuel A. Alito, if confirmed, to steer a similar course.

The article notes that Professor Yale Kamisar has an article in the latest issue of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law exploring the impact of Warren’s criminal justice background.  That article, “How Earl Warren’s Twenty-Two Years in Law Enforcement Affected His Work as Chief Justice,” is a fascinating read and can be accessed here. 

For anyone interested in thinking dynamically about how the new Roberts Court might approach criminal justice issues, I encourage checking out all the articles appearing in the OSJCL‘s symposium entitled “The Warren Court Criminal Justice Revolution: Reflections a Generation Later.”  In addition to the Kamisar article, there are terrific articles from Professors Morgan Cloud, Richard Frase, Tracey Meares, Donald Dripps and George Thomas III.  Professor George Thomas merits considerable credit for organizing this symposium as a Guest Editor for the OSJCL, and his informative introductory article, “Through a Glass Darkly: Seeing the Real Warren Court Criminal Justice Legacy,” can be accessed here.