About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

57 S. C. L. Rev. 85 (2005-2006)
To Aid, Abet, Counsel, Command, Induce, or Procure the Commission of an Offense: A Critique to Federal Aiding and Abetting Principles

handle is hein.journals/sclr57 and id is 95 raw text is: To AID, ABET, COUNSEL, COMMAND, INDUCE, OR PROCURE THE COMMISSION OF AN OFFENSE: A CRITIQUE OF FEDERAL AIDING AND ABETTING PRINCIPLES ADAM HARRIS KURLAND* I. INTRODUCTION ............................................... 85 H. THE PROBLEMS WITH FEDERAL AIDING AND ABETTING DOCTRINE ..... 89 III. AIDING AND ABETTING RUN AMOK: A CASE STUDY ............... 118 IV. CONCLUSION ............................................... 135 I. INTRODUCTION Federal aiding and abetting law, which has been spinning out of control for quite some time, has now spun totally out of control. For decades, prosecutors have successfully used pliant legal doctrines to impose criminal accessorial liability. Today, prosecutors are inconsistently applying and misapplying these doctrines to the point of abuse, confusion, and unfairness.' The problem has several dimensions. First, misapplication of aiding and abetting principles invariably results in an improper easing of the requisite mens rea requirements for conviction. As a result, the integrity of the criminal justice process is fundamentally compromised. * Professor of Law, Howard University School of Law. I wish to thank Vemida Chaney, J.D. 2005, Howard University School of Law, for her research assistance. I also wish to thank Dean Kurt Schmoke and Howard University School of Law for providing research funding for this Article. This Article uses male pronouns to refer to federal criminal defendants. The majority of federal criminal defendants are male, although the percentage of female defendants is increasing. See UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS SOURCEBOOKOF CRIMINALJUSTICE STATISTICS 2002 417 (2003) (noting that males constituted 85.4 % of all convicted federal defendants in 2000). This Article uses female pronouns to refer to legal counsel. Females make up 48 % of currently enrolled law students in ABA-approved law schools. ABA 2004 Enrollment Statistics, Letter by David Rosenlieb, Data Specialist for Office of the Consultant on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Jan. 12, 2005 (copy on file with the author). See also Claire G. Schwab, A Shifting Gender Divide: The Impact of Gender on Education at Columbia Law School in the New Millennium, 36 COLUM. J.L. & SOC. PROBS. 299, 310 (2003) (noting the enrollment trends of the past two decades indicate women will constitute a majority of all law students around 2005). I. A recent article noted the multiple approaches to mens rea standards for federal criminal offenses and concluded that federal aiding and abetting law is in a state of chaos. Baruch Weiss, What Were They Thinking?: The Mental States of the Aider and Abettor and the Causer Under Federal Law, 70 FORDHAm L. REV. 1341, 1355 (2002).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most