Buster,Maranzano and the Castellammare War, 1930–1931

More than most issues surrounding the American Mafia, the history of the Castellammare War is contestable at both theoretical and empirical levels. As the alleged pivotal event in the creation of the contemporary structure of the US Mafia or Cosa Nostra, it is of obvious importance as a topic of historical investigation. But a survey of published works on the War and its consequences reveals confusion, inaccuracies, erroneous assumptions and missing information. This is the first major systematic attempt to explore the War and its consequences made since the 1970s. Aside from adding substantially to the stock of knowledge of the War and its participants, debates on the War are critically evaluated, using original source materials where possible. The Castellammare War did not have the ramifications assumed, when placed either in a broader context or from the vantage point of internal American Mafia dynamics.     

From West Africa to the Balkans: exploring women’s roles in transnational organized crime

There is a lack of reliable data on the role of women in transnational organized crime. So far, the focus of this research has overwhelmingly been on the Italian Mafia. Little is known about women’s roles in other types of organized crime activities. Since there is an ongoing perception that draws on stereotypical imagery of women in organized crime as appendixes to their male counterparts, this article explores whether women are indeed as oppressed in transnational organized crime as they are in other spheres of life. It focuses on the stereotypical constructions of femininity (victims) and masculinity (criminals) and argues that hegemonic gender roles are defined by the dominant European/American culture. The article takes a multicultural feminist approach and studies female criminality in the context of “doing gender,” an approach that assumes that the feminine gender role is something that must be accomplished in the context of specific situations. By studying the roles of women from West Africa and the Balkans in transnational criminal activities, it specifically examines how time and space, as well history and culture, contribute to one’s position in a criminal network.     

A New Paradigm of Customary International Criminal Law: The UN War Crimes Commission of 1943–1948 and its Associated Courts and Tribunals

This article focuses on the United Nations War Crimes Commission’s significant contribution to the development of customary international criminal law defined by the development of international legal standards and proceedings to combat impunity and promote justice. It draws on the Commission’s official history and its increasingly open archives in order to provide an overview of the UNWCC and its work, its members and its legacy for the contemporary era of international criminal law. The article firstly places the Commission in its historical context through the events and agreements that led to its creation and provided the legal character of the UNWCC. The defining characteristics of the Commission are afterwards described: the nations involved, the committee structure it formed and the sub-commission located in the Far East. Lastly, the accomplishments of the Commission are emphasised and criticisms of its work are presented. The article concludes with a discussion on the legacy of the Commission’s work and a possible future research agenda.     

The rise of the Red Mafia in China: a case study of organised crime and corruption in Chongqing

‘Red Mafia’ is the collective term for corrupt public officials in mainland China, mainly from the criminal justice system, who attempt to monopolise the protection business in the criminal underworld by abusing power. In contemporary mainland China, the Red Mafia has developed into an alternative system of governance that can control organised crime groups, enable them to flourish, and protect them where strong government and effective self-protection associations are absent. The author examines organised crime and corruption by analysing the Wen Qiang case, one of the most famous and widely publicised cases in Chongqing’s latest crime crackdown campaign. Drawing on interview data and extensive published materials, this paper offers a tentative definition of ‘Red Mafia’, develops a typology of organised crime, describes the emergence of the Red Mafia in China, explores how gangsters developed relationships with public officials, suggests why organised crime groups chose the Red Mafia as their preferred protection and enforcement mechanism, examines patterns of services provided, and explores the differences between the Red Mafia and other Mafia groups.     

Not biting the dust: using a tripartite model of organized crime to examine India’s Sand Mafia

India’s Sand Mafia, which illegally mines sand for construction, generates approximately USD 17 million per month in revenues. Despite the devastating environmental, physical, and economical harms caused, there is a dearth of criminological research on this organized crime group. This paper develops a tripartite model of organized crime that is used to explore the Sand Mafia’s modus operandi, modus vivendi, and modus coordināti. It conducts document analysis of 75 media and environmental documents published between 2010 and 2015. This group operates as numerous, fragmented structures with transient memberships, and uses violence, political affiliation, and regenerative properties to ensure continued operation. Other factors, such as inadequate manpower, poor enforcement, rapid economic development, and limited acceptance of alternatives to sand, collectively compound the problem of illicit sand mining. Recommendations for alleviating the problem, such as imposing stricter regulations, implementing an independent regulatory body, and empowering local residents, are also examined. Future lines of research inquiry, such as conducting harms analysis via multidisciplinary research, are also offered.     

Renewing Criminalized and Hegemonic Cultural Landscapes

The Mafia’s long historical pedigree in Mezzogiorno, Southern Italy, has empowered the Mafioso as a notorious, uncontested, and hegemonic figure. The counter-cultural resistance against the mafiosi culture began to be institutionalized in the early 1990s. Today, Libera Terra is the largest civil society organization in the country that uses the lands confiscated from the Mafia as a space of cultural repertoire to realize its ideals. Deploying labor force through volunteer participation, producing biological fruits and vegetables, and providing information to the students on the fields are the principal cultural practices of this struggle. The confiscated lands make the Italian experience of anti-Mafia resistance a unique example by connecting the land with the ideals of cultural change. The sociocultural resistance of Libera Terra conveys a political message through these practices and utters that the Mafia is not invincible. This study draws the complex panorama of the Mafia and anti-Mafia movement that uses the ‘confiscated lands’ as cultural and public spaces for resistance and socio-cultural change. In doing so, this article sheds new light on the relationship between rural criminology and crime prevention policies in Southern Italy by demonstrating how community development practice of Libera Terra changes the meaning of landscape through iconographic symbolism and ethnographic performance.     

Judicial use of social science research

American courts use social science research in three distinct ways: to make law, to determine facts, and to provide context. In this article, we review and critique the approaches that courts have traditionally taken to dealing with each form of social research. We also summarize and integrate a body of work offering a different perspective that treats law-making research associal authority, fact-finding research associal fact, and context-providing research associal framework. We end by proposing a coherent sequence of steps that courts should take when confronted with an empirical question about human behavior.This article was prepared under the auspices of the Task Force on Judicial and Regulatory Decisionmaking of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government. The views expressed are those of the authors rather than of the Task Force or the Commission. We are grateful to David Z. Beckler, Associate Director, for his comments. Requests for reprints should be sent to either author at the School of Law, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22901.     

The Black Hand: A Study in Moral Panic

This analysis reviews the history of Black Hand extortion in the City of Chicago and argues that the societal response to Black Hand activity constituted a moral panic. In addition, special emphasis is given to the institutional legacy of society's response to Black Hand crime. It is argued that the moral panic created by the Black Hand contributed to the social construction of the alien conspiracy theory, which has dominated beliefs about the Mafia and organised crime for almost a century     

The Russian mafia: Expulsion of law

The purpose of this paper will be to determine whether the conditions that exist in present‐day Russia are congruent with Foucault's claim that power in modern societies is not ensured by law and punishment but by normalization and control, which go beyond the state and its apparatuses, and that law plays an increasingly subordinate role within contemporary disciplinary society. I will also see what conclusions can be drawn from the Russian‐Soviet case that are relevant to evaluating the paradigms supplied by Foucault in deciphering the modalities of power in the modern world. In what sense can he help us understand how discipline and law in Imperial and Soviet Russia created the necessary conditions for the emergence of the Russian Mafia? Law has been transformed in the hands of the Russian Mafia and has expanded its spheres of influence rather than being displaced. The conditions that exist in present‐day Russia can be applied to Foucault's claim that power in modern societies is not ensured by law and punishment but by normalization and control which go beyond the state and its apparatuses. But it is not the case that law plays an increasingly subordinate role in present‐day Russia. Rather, it is no longer controlled by the sovereign power of the monarchy or by the Soviet state and its apparatuses, but is now predominately controlled by the Russian Mafia.     

The Effects of Legal and Extralegal Factors on Detention Decisions in US District Courts

The Bail Reform Act of 1984 changed the law dictating release and detention decisions in federal court. Since its passage, few studies have examined judicial decision-making in this context. Legal research enables us to account for the structure and interpretation of federal detention laws and to analyze previously neglected measures of legal factors in our analyses. We use US Sentencing Commission data on a sample of defendants who were sentenced in 2007 (N?=?31,043). We find that legal factors—particularly length of criminal history, having committed a violent or otherwise serious offense, and having committed the offense while under supervision of the criminal justice system—have the strongest relationships with the presentence detention outcome. A defendant’s age, race, and ethnicity have weaker relationships with detention. When we compare defendants who are similarly situated with respect to legal factors, the probability of detention is similar regardless of age, race, and ethnicity.     

华人有组织犯罪

本文对作者进行的多项实证研究进行梳理,通过研究在亚洲和美国的犯罪组织与犯罪网络的历史、结构和犯罪活动,对华人传统的有组织犯罪团伙和新型犯罪网络进行了概览。此外,本文还对这些华人有组织犯罪团伙和其他种族的犯罪团伙及其民间和政府组织之间的关系进行了研究,还探讨了控制华人有组织犯罪的问题和前景。最后,本文探讨了华人有组织犯罪的前景,特别是华人参与跨国犯罪的新生代力量。本文认为并不存在总部设在亚洲某处的、垄断性的、世界性的一个华人黑手党。     

Embryonic stem cell research: one small step for science or one giant leap back for mankind?

At the forefront of modern debate over the ethical use of biotechnology is embryonic stem cell research. In this poignant analysis of its legitimacy, the author examines the history of this research in light of the United States' policy favoring the protection of human beings over scientific progress. Stem cells, which can divide in culture to create specialized cells in the human body, possess significant potential for curing disease, particularly when taken from human embryos. However, as evidenced by the research atrocities committed under the Nazi regime, the benefits of human research do not come without a cost to humanity. Recognizing this, the later trial of these scientists produced the Nuremberg Code, a set of natural law principles guiding future research on humans that continues to influence health policy decisions. Drawing on this background, the author first considers the appropriate legal status for a human embryo. Biologically, the characteristics of a human embryo place it between human tissue and a constitutional person. Judicially, the answer is even less clear. The author analyzes case law in the context of abortion and in vitro fertilization, as well as classifications by the common law, state legislation, and the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, to conclude that a human embryo should be subject to the same legal and ethical restrictions as any other "human subject." Accordingly, the author argues that embryonic stem cell research violates the ethical standards and purposes of the Nuremberg Code and should be banned by federal legislation. Such a prohibition will fulfill the societal policy choice of protecting potential life and vulnerable human subjects.     

UN Commission on Human Rights adopts resolutions on access to medication, right to health

In April 2002, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted two resolutions that are important in the context of access to treatment. The Commission is the UN's leading body with respect to international human rights issues. It consists of 53 UN member states and meets annually. The Commission's resolutions can be found on the website of the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights via www.unhchr.ch/ by clicking on "Documents of Charter-based bodies".     

Who is the parent in cloning?

In July 1996, a sheep named Dolly was born in Scotland. What makes Dolly's birth noteworthy is that she is the result of the first successful cloning attempt using the nucleus of an adult cell. The technique that led to Dolly's birth involved transferring the nucleus of a mammary cell from an adult sheep to the enucleated egg cell of an unrelated sheep with gestation occurring in a third sheep. The possibility of applying this technique to human reproduction raised concerns worldwide with several countries moving for an immediate bans on human cloning. In the United States, President Clinton requested that the National Bioethics Advisory Commission ("NBAC"), a multidisciplinary group composed of scientists, lawyers, educators, theologians, and ethicists study the implications of cloning and issue recommendations. The Commission consulted other scientists, ethicists, theologians, lawyers, and citizens with interests in this advancing technology and concluded that, "at this time it is morally unacceptable for anyone in the public or private sector, whether in a research or clinical setting, to attempt to create a child using somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning." This Article was included in a larger work prepared at the request of, and submitted to the Commission by, law professor Lori B. Andrews. Cloning through nuclear transfer will change the way we create and define families. This Article explores how existing law relating to parentage, surrogacy, egg donation, and artificial insemination may apply in the cloning context to clarify the parent-child relationship established through cloning.     

The case of the two-percent assessment and the question of union susceptibility

In 1934, the Chicago Mafia, or Outfit, arranged to have a mob associate, George Browne, elected as the national president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes (IATSE). Subsequently Outfit leaders used Browne to perpetrate a massive embezzlement scheme from this union. For 18 months IATSE members paid a two-percent assessment from their wages into a special fund. That money was later siphoned out in the form of cash payments that went mainly to Browne, a co-conspirator, and the Outfit. The amount taken would be equivalent to about twenty million dollars today. The episode previewed the schemes that organized crime groups later used to mulct union benefit funds from the Teamsters and other labor organizations in the post-World War II era. Such schemes depended upon the wide scale complacency of the leadership within the affected national unions. This article uses the history of IATSE’s two-percent assessment to analyze the reasons behind that complacency. In this way it addresses the question of why unions might be more susceptible to organized crime manipulation than other institutions.     

Assessing the influence of the Columbine shooting on federal sentencing outcomes

School shootings are not a new phenomenon in the United States or internationally. In comparison to other acts of violence experienced by youth, such tragedies are uncommon but garner extensive media attention. The Columbine High School shooting received more attention across a broader range of issues than any other school shooting, with only the Sandy Hook tragedy rivaling it for media attention. In the aftermath of the Columbine shooting, public sentiment regarding violence in schools became a central point of contention that bred fear and panic. Given the embeddedness of judges within the larger community context and the effects of community characteristics on sentencing outcomes, we wondered if the Columbine shooting – via moral panic and community upheaval – might have had an impact on judges imposing criminal sentences. To assess the effect of the Columbine shooting on judicial decision-making outcomes, the current study uses United States Sentencing Commission data from 1998 through 2001. In doing so, it contributes to the extant literature concerning the embeddedness of judges within communities and answers recent call for more research on the temporal context of sentencing disparities.     

The politics and mythology of organized crime: A Philadelphia case-study

Although much criticized, the “Cosa Nostra” theory of organized crime continues to exert considerable influence over lawmakers and law enforcement officials. This theory has been extensively studied on a national level, but few local case studies trace the transition from the multiethnic organized crime of the 1930s and 1940s to the (supposed) Italian hegemony of the years since 1960. Philadelphia provides an excellent opportunity for such a study, as the base of a strong Jewish-dominated structure before 1960 and a “Mafia town” thereafter.A major concern of this article is the manner in which the history of crime in the city was retroactively rewritten during the 1970s, in order to provide a basis for contemporary theories and bureaucratic needs.     

THE ATTEMPTED MERGER BETWEEN GENERAL ELECTRIC AND HONEYWELL: A CASE STUDY OF TRANSATLANTIC CONFLICT

The thwarted merger of General Electric and Honeywell standsout, so far, as the only merger between US companies to be derailedsolely by the European anti-trust authorities, while being clearedby the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and 11 other jurisdictions.In this paper, the authors examine the European Commission'sdecision, and the theories underlying it and compare the Commission'sapproach with that followed by the DoJ. They observe that theCommission and the DoJ had a different assessment of broadlysimilar facts, and attempt to understand the source of the divergence.The authors find that (1) the horizontal effects identifiedby the European Commission rely on a particular perspectiveof market definition, which is debatable (and leaves some questionsunanswered); (2) the anticompetitive effects in the bundlingand Archimedean leveraging theories are not sufficiently robustthat they could be presumed (Accordingly, their likelihood shouldbe supported by strong evidence, but the evidence presentedby the Commission was far from compelling); (3) the deal mayhave involved significant efficiencies that were overlooked.These observations raise the suspicion that the Commission'sdecision may have been affected by bureaucratic capture, suchthat civil servants did not follow the mandate that had beenassigned to them. We find that the procedure enforced at thetime was vulnerable to capture and that the Commission had anincorrect perception of the standard of review that the Courtwould apply to its decision in the context of an appeal. Theaccountability to which the Commission felt subject was thusbiased downwards and enlarged the scope for capture. In addition,some (admittedly casual) evidence regarding the actual unfoldingof the procedure, as well as subsequent reforms of process andprocedure undertaken by the Commission, would support the viewthat significant problems arose in this area.     

CONTEXTUAL DISPARITIES IN GUIDELINES DEPARTURES: COURTROOM SOCIAL CONTEXTS,GUIDELINES COMPLIANCE,AND EXTRALEGAL DISPARITIES IN CRIMINAL SENTENCING1

This study examines the theoretical and empirical linkages between criminal court social contexts and the judicial use of sentences that deviate from the recommendations of sentencing guidelines. Individual sentencing data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (PCS) are combined with county‐level measures of social context to examine predictions about the role courtroom characteristics play in judicial departures. Results from hierarchical analyses suggest that the likelihood of departure varies significantly across courts, even after accounting for variations in individual case characteristics. Several measures of courtroom social context—including the size of the court, its caseload pressure and the overall guidelines compliance rate—are significantly related to the individual likelihood of receiving a departure sentence. Moreover, the social context of the court also conditions the influence of various individual‐level sentencing considerations. Findings are discussed in relation to contemporary theoretical perspectives on courtroom decision making and future directions for research on contextual disparities in criminal sentencing are suggested.     

反思与重构——以既有的西方法律思想史课程及其教科书为线索

西方法律思想史前辈学者的辛勤努力下 ,西方法律思想史研究 (其成果主要和必然表现在课程和教科书上 )取得了前所未有的成绩。但是批判和反思是研究的必经途径和必要的方法 ,西方法律思想史研究亦然。因此 ,在现代语境下 ,需要不断地对西方法律思想史进行重新的理解和解释 ,尤其是对西方法律思想史的研究对象、学科性质、研究意义和教科书的写法进行必要的反思和批判 ,以期重构西方法律思想史。