Michael M. O’Hear – Page 140 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Seventh Circuit Case of the Week: The Jude Saga Continues

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:June 13, 2009
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Eastern District of Wisconsin Federal Criminal Law & Process Federal Sentencing

seventh-circuit1 For a resident of Milwaukee, there can be no question about the marquee Seventh Circuit case last week: the court decided the appeals of three of the defendants convicted in the notorious Frank Jude beating. In United States v. Bartlett, the court (per Chief Judge Easterbrook) affirmed the convictions of all three defendants and the sentences of two. However, the Seventh Circuit also vacated the sentence of Jon Bartlett, who will now have to be resentenced in the lower court.

As everyone living in the Milwaukee area knows, Bartlett and his codefendants were police officers convicted of civil rights violations for the savage beating suffered by Jude, a biracial man. For many, the Jude case, which received intense local media coverage, was emblematic of the state of police-community relations in inner-city Milwaukee.

Bartlett’s “win” on appeal resulted from a discrepancy in his sentencing.

Criminal Appeals Conference Next Week

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:June 12, 2009
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Legal Scholarship Speakers at Marquette

It won’t be long before our distinguished speakers begin arriving in Milwaukee for the Criminal Appeals Conference on Monday and Tuesday. You can preview the Conference handout (including abstracts of the papers to be presented and biographies of the speakers) here. The main venue for the Conference is now full, but it is still possible to register here for overflow seating with a video feed. An audio recording will be also be available for download after the Conference.

Social Framework Evidence in Employment Discrimination Cases

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:June 7, 2009
Post category:Labor & Employment Law Legal Scholarship

I’ve just read a fascinating new article by Paul Secunda and Melissa Hart on the use of expert social science testimony in employment discrimination cases. They report on the conflict, both in the courtroom and in the academy, over the use of so-called “social framework” evidence, which speaks to the tendency of certain workplace policies and practices to promote (or reduce) the impact of stereotyping and bias. The debate echoes debates elsewhere in the law over the use of science that cannot definitively establish causation, but can only deal in likelihoods or relative increases in risk. I am reminded of a case I use in teaching the insanity defense, United States v. Lyons, 731 F.2d 243 (5th Cir. 1984), in which the Fifth Circuit bemoans the inability of psychologists to state with certainty whether a crime resulted from a defendant’s inability to control himself.

Entitled “A Matter of Context: Social Framework Evidence in Employment Discrimination Class Actions,” the full Secunda-Hart article is available here on SSRN. You can read the abstract after the break.