DNA evidence in rape cases and the Debbie Smith Act: forensic practice and criminal justice implications

The Debbie Smith or "Justice for All" Act was passed on November 1, 2004. The act addresses the problem of collecting and analyzing DNA evidence from backlogged rape kits sitting in crime laboratories around the country. Presently, no empirical data exist by which to assess the soundness of the legislation. However, the act clearly affects discrete operations within the forensic and criminal justice systems. This article explores the relative merits of the Debbie Smith law, highlighting changes in Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs, law enforcement, court administration, correctional treatment, and juvenile justice practices. Concerns linked to the likely impact of the "Justice for All" Act raise significant questions about its overall programmatic utility and treatment efficacy.     

Public support for the courts: An examination of alternative explanations

Public opinion surveys consistently show that there are generally high levels of support for the court system. While there exists general public support for the courts, the most often heard criticism is that the courts are too lenient. The purpose of this study is to describe public attitudes toward the courts and examine a number of explanations of public support for, or against, the courts. The article examines five hypotheses: (1) respondents who are pro-punishment would not be supportive of the courts; (2) respondents who are supportive of the police and the correctional system would be supportive of the courts; (3) respondents who are supportive of the police would not be supportive of the courts; (4) respondents who identify themselves as conservative would not be supportive of the courts; and (5) respondents who express fear and/or concern about crime, and/or who have experienced victimization would not be supportive of the courts. It is found that members of the public express diffuse support for the courts, but criticism center around court leniency and plea bargaining. At least partial support is found for all five hypotheses with support for strong punitive sanctions the best predictor of attitudes toward the courts.     

Current perceptions of marital rape: some good and not-so-good news

The current study extends previous research on marital rape and acceptance of general rape myths by comparing the perceptions of undergraduate college students (n = 85) to those of college alumni/ae (n = 44) who graduated from the same university three decades earlier. Participants read a hypothetical rape scenario that depicted the perpetrator as either the victim's husband or neighbor and completed three measures of different aspects of rape myth acceptance. Results indicated that although participants reported fairly low levels of support for different aspects of rape myths, certain rape myths were more strongly endorsed than were others. Furthermore, rape myth acceptance was stronger for marital rape than for acquaintance rape and for undergraduates than for college alumni/ae. Practical and theoretical implications of this study are discussed.     

Missing gender in cases of infamous school violence: Investigating research and media explanations

The shootings at Columbine and Jonesboro, along with multiple shootings at five other schools, captured the nation's attention and received widespread media coverage. Utilizing a feminist perspective that addresses masculinity, we explore research and major newspaper coverage of infamous school violence to determine how extensively gender is considered as a contributing factor. Results indicate that data sources on violent deaths at school miss the gendered nature of the violence. Similarly, media coverage of the seven cases under study discount the role of masculinities, bullying, and male violence against girls and women, and few of the policy recommendations address these concerns. The relative absence of attention to the gendered nature of school violence encourages incomplete explanations and ineffective policies.     

A comparison of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases between China and the United States

In recent years, both China and the United States (US) have discovered numerous wrongful convictions, including several cases in which innocent people have been sentenced to death. These discoveries have led both countries to reform the death penalty but the extent and nature of the reforms in each country have been greatly different. This article explores the similarities and differences between the nature of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases in China and the US. It will also compare the reforms undertaken in each country. On the whole, the US has made greater progress in the prevention and correction of wrongful convictions involving the death penalty, especially in the areas of evidentiary rules and post-conviction review. In order for China to match America's success, it is necessary that China adopt more substantive reforms. China should learn from America's experience and should continue to adopt international standards of criminal justice, such as due process rights, the presumption of innocence and the exclusion of illegally obtained evidence. In the interim, China should immediately suspend all executions until adequate reforms can be carried out. Ultimately, China should surpass the US in criminal-justice reform and in the field of human rights protection by completely abolishing the death penalty and creating a more effective mechanism for criminal punishment.     

Competition versus regulation: some empirical evidence

In response to dramatic rises in health care costs, policymakers have been debating the relative merits of regulatory and competitive strategies as a means of containing costs. One major activity espoused by proponents of competition is the growth of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) which, in their opinion, will result in the market better determining efficient levels of utilization and costs. Extending this argument, the larger the percent of the population in a market area who enroll in HMOs, the greater the market-forcing effect of HMOs in reducing overall hospital expenditures; that is, if HMOs are providing lower-cost care, then the fee-for-service system will be forced to reduce costs in order to be competitive. The authors studied the 25 largest SMSAs from 1971-1981, and controlling for environmental conditions in each market, they examined the impact of both HMO growth and regulatory activity on costs and utilization. They conclude that neither competition nor regulation had a significant impact in reducing overall hospital costs. While there may have been some impact in specific communities, no generalizable effect could be observed. However, the authors did find that increases in costs and utilization were essentially driven by supply factors such as the number of hospital beds or medical specialists in a given community.     

DO LOWER COURTS ANTICIPATE CHANGES IN SUPREME COURT POLICIES?: A Few Empirical Notes

This paper takes advantage of the change from the Warren Supreme Court to the Burger Supreme Court to investigate a phenomenon not usually examined in judicial impact research—anticipatory reactions. The research question is whether and under what circumstances federal courts of appeals anticipate changes in policy by the Supreme Court. Changes in the citation of Warren Court civil liberties decisions from the Warren Court era to the early Burger Court era are used to evaluate this question. It is hypothesized that moves away from Warren Court decisions would be greatest for decisions which received minimal support on the Warren Court and for important or salient policies. Contrary to these expectations it was found that during the Burger Court era the number of citations of Warren Court decisions actually increased, the percentage of positive citations increased, and the increases were greatest for decisions receiving minimal voting support on the Warren Court and for decisions classified as important.     

Juror common understanding and the admissibility of rape trauma syndrome evidence in court

Expert testimony on rape trauma syndrome has been used in sexual assault cases to corroborate the victim's complaint and to educate the jury. One of the primary arguments against the admissibility of this testimony is that it is not helpful because most jurors are adequately informed about rape and rape victim behavior. To test this assumption, a Sexual Assault Questionnaire (SAQ) was administered to experts on rape and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and two nonexpert comparison groups. Results indicated that the nonexperts were not well informed on many rape-related issues and were significantly less knowledgeable than the expert groups. The data also showed considerable consensus among the experts about the current scientific database on rape trauma. The implications of these results for the use of expert psychological testimony on rape trauma syndrome in court are discussed.     

Taking behavioralism seriously: some evidence of market manipulation

Over the last ten to fifteen years, economists and legal scholars have become increasingly interested in and sensitive to behavioralist insights. In a companion article, Jon Hanson and Douglas Kysar argued that those scholars have nevertheless given short shrift to what is, at least for policymaking purposes, perhaps the most important lesson of the behavioralist research: individuals' perceptions and preferences are highly manipulable. According to Hanson and Kysar, one theoretical implication of that insight for products liability law is that manufacturers and marketers will manipulate the risk perceptions of consumers. Indeed, to survive in a competitive market, manufacturers and marketers must do so. In this Article, Hanson and Kysar present empirical evidence of market manipulation--a previously unrecognized source of market failure. The Article begins by surveying the extensive qualitative and quantitative marketing research and consumer behavioral studies that discern and influence consumer perceptions. It then provides evidence of market manipulation by reviewing common practices in everyday market settings, such as gas stations and supermarkets, and by examining familiar marketing approaches, such as environmentally oriented and fear-based advertising. Although consumers may be well-aware of those practices and approaches, they appear to be generally unaware of the extent to which those tactics are manipulative. The Article then focuses on the industry that has most depended upon market manipulation: the cigarette industry. Through decades of sophisticated marketing and public relations efforts, cigarette manufacturers have heightened consumer demand and lowered consumer risk perceptions. Because consumers are aware that smoking may pose significant health risks, the tobacco industry's success in manipulating risk perceptions constitutes especially strong evidence of the power of market manipulation. The Article concludes by arguing that the evidence of market manipulation may justify moving to a regime of enterprise liability. Indeed, according to Hanson and Kysar, the evidence of market manipulation confirms the intuitions of the first generation of product liability scholars, who worried about manufacturers' power to manipulate and called for just such a regime.     

海洋生态损害国家索赔主体问题研究

中国海洋环境保护现状不容乐观,海洋生态索赔案件存在索赔主体混乱、错位的现状,有关国家机关就索赔权的行使尚未能有效协调,不利于及时、有效地对海洋生态损害提出索赔。从中国海洋环境保护立法现状入手,以海洋行政主管机关的职能划分为视角,分析各职能机关的权限范围,理清有关国家机关海洋生态损害索赔权行使的界限,以确定和统一各类型海洋生态损害具体适格的索赔主体,并探索确定中国海洋生态损害索赔主体的方法。     

DNA profile evidence in complex disputed paternity cases: The analysis of 300 real cases

In disputed paternity cases where the putative father is unavailable DNA from one or more of his relatives could be used. However, interpreting results is often difficult, because of the partial information regarding the parental genotype obtained from his relatives. We analyzed results obtained in 300 real paternity cases performed through close relatives of the real father (sib, half-sibs, one grandparent and/or uncle). DNA was typed with PowerPlex (Promega) and the LR estimated with the Software BDGen. As expected the higher LR values were achieved with sibs and half-sibs (in such cases where his/her mother was available for testing). The LR values were tight related to the number of uninformative loci, which varied between 0 and 13. In 10% of the reviewed cases, 10 or more non-informative loci were observed; all of them associated LR values below 0.01. Thus, providing evidence in favor of no relatedness.     

Liability and food safety provision: Empirical evidence from the US

Recent environmental and food safety incidents are bringing attention to regulatory regimes and their effects on care provision. This article investigates the effects of the application of liability regimes with punitive damages in the reduction of food contamination episodes in the United States from 1990 to 2000. The main result is that the application of strict liability laws allowing claims of punitive damages decreases in a statistically significant way the number of food safety incidents. Statistical results show that states allowing claims of punitive damages are between 15% and 30% less likely to suffer food safety incidents.     

论毒品犯罪案件的证据

毒品犯罪案件有许多不同于普通刑事案件的特殊性，毒品案件中的证据又具有相对的单一性，必须当场缴获毒品和毒资才能证实犯罪。本文结合缉毒侦查中的具体情况，强调办理毒品案件必须增强证据意识，要把握好破案的时机，适时取证；收集证据一定要十分仔细，获取的证据应做好固定保全工作，并特别注意取证的合法性；采用技术侦察手段须把握住一条底线：不得诱人犯罪；应正确运用推定规则判定“明知”，对推定结论允许以确凿的事实予以反驳。     

论毒品犯罪案件的证据

毒品犯罪案件有许多不同于普通刑事案件的特殊性,毒品案件中的证据又具有相对的单一性,必须当场缴获毒品和毒资才能证实犯罪。本文结合缉毒侦查中的具体情况,强调办理毒品案件必须增强证据意识,要把握好破案的时机,适时取证;收集证据一定要十分仔细,获取的证据应做好固定保全工作,并特别注意取证的合法性;采用技术侦察手段须把握住一条底线:不得诱人犯罪;应正确运用推定规则判定"明知",对推定结论允许以确凿的事实予以反驳。