The Treatment of Foreign Country Convictions as Predicates for Sentence Enhancement Under Recidivist Statutes

32 Pages Posted: 28 Jan 2007

See all articles by Alex Glashausser

Alex Glashausser

Washburn University School of Law

Abstract

All jurisdictions within the United States have some form of repeat offender statute that enhances sentences based on prior convictions. Many criminals in the United States have committed crimes in other countries. It is no surprise, then, that a recurring question is whether convictions from foreign countries count as predicate offenses for the purpose of recidivist statutes. Some state legislatures have addressed that question directly, but many more have enacted ambiguous statutes that use phrases such as outside this state. Some courts have interpreted those phrases as embracing convictions from outside the United States, while others have limited their scope to the United States. This note discusses doctrinal and policy considerations and proposes a standard courts should use in deciding when to include foreign country convictions.

Keywords: foreign convictions, repeat offender, recidivist statutes, sentencing, sentence enhancement

JEL Classification: K14, K33

Suggested Citation

Glashausser, Alex, The Treatment of Foreign Country Convictions as Predicates for Sentence Enhancement Under Recidivist Statutes. Duke Law Journal, Vol. 44, p. 134, 1994, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=959715

Alex Glashausser (Contact Author)

Washburn University School of Law ( email )

1700 College Avenue
Topeka, KS 66621
United States
785-670-1662 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://washburnlaw.edu/faculty/glashausser-alex.php

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