Justice Story Cuts the Gordian Knot of Hung Jury Instructions

Constitutional law grows more complex over time. The complexity is due, in large part, to the rule of stare decisis. When faced with precedents that it does not wish to follow, the Court usually distinguishes the case before it. Thus, the constitutional landscape is littered with cases that do not fit well together. Navigating past these shoals is often difficult for courts following the Supreme Court’s lead. One example is the law governing instructions that a trial judge can give a deadlocked jury in a criminal case. The right to a jury trial entails the right to have the jury reach a verdict without pressure from the judge, but giving voice to that principle has resulted in a bewildering array of approved instructions. This article argues that the law of 1824, manifested in Justice Story’s opinion in United States v. Perez, was superior to today’s morass. In 1824, judges had virtually uncontrolled discretion to decide when to declare a hung jury. We argue for a return to 1824 with one twist: that judges give deadlocked juries the instruction: “Please continue to deliberate.” This simple change will result in fewer hung juries and far fewer appeals about whether the instructions were too coercive

Interwar Innovation in Three Navies: U.S. Navy, Royal Navy, Imperial Japanese Navy

In 1919, three major naval powers—Great Britain, Japan, and the United States—faced two major challenges: integrating new technology into their doctrines and organizations, and coping with reduced naval expenditures and arms treaties that came as a postwar reaction to armaments spending

Parent-Reared Bobwhite Survival in the Texas Rolling Plains

Considerable research has been accomplished over the past 6 decades on the possible reasons for decline in the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), henceforth known as the bobwhite. Restoring or restocking bobwhite populations by augmentation in areas that once held significant numbers has been a focus for many wildlife agencies and managers. Three main methods for augmentation of bobwhites currently exist: release of pen-raised birds, release of juvenile birds reared by Surrogator®, and translocation of wild bobwhites from one area to another. Of these 3 methods, only translocation has accomplished the goal of reestablishing bobwhite populations. Recently a new model developed by Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, has successfully produced parent-reared bobwhite chicks from wild strain, which are raised by a surrogate parent in a simulated wild habitat environment. These birds have been released into the southeastern United States and successfully established new bobwhite population in areas of restored habitat. We designed a study to determine the viability of this rearing and release method for restoring depleted bobwhite populations in the semiarid, Rolling Plains of Texas. One hundred fifty nine radiomarked, parent-reared bobwhites were released in 2013–2014 on 8 ranches. One hundred five radiomarked, parent-reared bobwhites were released in 2014–2015 on 6 ranches. The survival rates were low for both years of the study with only 4 radiomarked birds surviving the first year and no birds surviving the second year. An apparent lack of predator-avoidance skills appears to be responsible for the high mortality rates that we estimated

Professional Reading: Review Article, Managerial Style in the Interwar Navy: A Reappraisal

Pearl Harbor as Histor