Products liability issues in school asbestos litigation

The hazards posed by deteriorating friable asbestos in the nation's schools are causing serious concerns for public health officials, school boards, parents and school employees. Reports by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Attorney General's Office agree that both school children and school employees stand a substantially increased risk of contracting some form of asbestos-related disease as a result of exposure to deteriorating asbestos materials in school buildings. School systems plagued by the asbestos hazards are now filing suits against asbestos manufacturers alleging causes of action in breach of warranty, negligence and strict products liability in tort. Some plaintiffs in school asbestos litigation seek to recover the costs of EPA-mandated asbestos inspection and abatement programs which have already been completed. Still others request injunctions to compel the manufacturers themselves to conduct inspections and finance abatement. This Note examines the school asbestos situation from a legal perspective and focuses primarily on whether the schools' claims should be considered as economic losses or as property damage. It examines the impact of statutes of limitations on these cases under both contract and tort theories. The Note argues that school asbestos claims should be decided under a strict products liability standard.     

Economic Burden of Child Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence in the United States

Because the effects of children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) carry long lasting consequences for the affected children, IPV exposure may impose a significant economic burden to localities, states, and society at large, made explicit over the victim’s lifetime and over a wide range of behaviors and outcomes, including use of social services, health and healthcare utilization, educational outcomes, workforce productivity, and criminal behavior. While much research has been conducted on the effect of IPV exposure on multiple short- and long-term outcomes, no research to date has examined the economic burden associated with IPV exposure. Using an incidence-based approach, we estimated the aggregate discounted costs associated with healthcare spending, criminal behavior, and labor market productivity accrued by a 20-year-old victim in 2016 projected to the age of 65, applying a 3% discount rate. The average lifetime costs derived from childhood IPV exposure are estimated to be over $50,000 per victim (2016 U.S. dollars) due to increased healthcare costs ($11,000), increased crime costs ($14,000), and productivity losses ($26,000). Over an annual birth cohort of young adults, these costs amount to over $55 billion nationwide. IPV exposure imposes a substantial economic burden to society at large in the form of increased healthcare costs, increased crime costs, and reduced productivity. This study offers an explicit quantification of substantial lifetime costs, which should encourage policy makers to redouble efforts to reduce the incidence of IPV and successfully ameliorate its effects on IPV-exposed children.     

AGE AND ITS RELATION TO CRIME IN TAIWAN AND THE UNITED STATES: INVARIANT,OR DOES CULTURAL CONTEXT MATTER?*

Current empirical and theoretical understanding of the relation between age and crime is based almost entirely on data from the United States and a few prototypical Western societies for which age‐specific crime information across offense types is available. By using Western databases, Hirschi and Gottfredson (1983) projected that the age distribution of crime is always and everywhere robustly right‐skewed (i.e., sharp adolescent peak)—a thesis that is both contested and widely accepted in criminology and social science writings. In the study described here, we tested this age–crime invariance thesis by comparing age–crime patterns in Taiwan (a non‐Western Chinese society) with those in the United States. In light of Taiwan's collectivist culture versus the U.S. individualist gestalt, we anticipated more divergence than homogeneity in their age–crime schedules. Our findings show robust divergence in Taiwan's age–crime patterns compared with U.S. patterns and the reverted J‐shaped norm projected by Hirschi and Gottfredson. Implications for research and theory on the age–crime relation and for studying human development or life‐course topics more broadly are discussed.     

Asbestos body burden in decomposed human lungs

The authors discuss the influence of postmortem tissue decomposition on the lung asbestos body (AB) burden, with the aim of evaluating the reliability of data obtained from autopsies performed for medicolegal purposes several months after deaths in possible connection with asbestos-related pathology. Eight autopsy cases were selected, each one with occupational exposure considered very probable on the basis of the history or pathologic findings. In each case the AB concentrations were assessed soon after death in one lung and after periods of 1 to 18 months in the others, which had been stored in sealed containers without fixation. AB concentrations consistently decreased with time in rotten lungs. The counts in some cases became negative a few months after death, even in cases with very high AB counts at first examination. It may be reasonably inferred that, in putrefied lungs from corpses exhumed after months of internment, the counts in digested tissues and the screening of histologic sections for AB may give false-negative results.     

Death by compaction in a garbage truck

We report on two deaths by compaction in a garbage truck that recently occurred in this county. In both cases, the victim apparently climbed into a recycling dumpster to sleep, and was emptied with the contents of the receptacle into a garbage truck. Subsequent compaction of the victim with the load led to death. We also discuss several similar fatalities that have been reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.     

Child sex tourism: American perceptions of foreign victims

Child sex tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry that affects over 2 million children per year. While thousands of these sex tourists are American, this has been an issue that is largely neglected in the United States (U.S.). This study investigated Americans’ perceptions of child sex abuse and its relationship to the offense location and the victim’s culture. An online self-report survey randomly assigned subjects to one of three identical vignettes of child sex tourism, differing only by location: U.S., Netherlands, or Thailand. The study found that individuals perceived sexual offenses committed inside the U.S. as more severe than offenses committed outside the U.S. and that sexual crimes were viewed as less severe when occurring in an Eastern “Other” culture as compared to Western cultures. These results are discussed as they pertain to legislative efforts designed to reduce the prevalence of American child sex tourists as well as the creation of measures to increase awareness of Americans’ involvement in the child sex tourism industry.     

A Primer for Prospective “Secondary and Premises” Asbestos Defendants

Given the current state of the asbestos litigation, the potential for tort reform, and new information regarding past asbestos claim history, many companies are for the first time assessing their potential asbestos liability. To reduce the impacts of asbestos claims, these companies are evaluating decisions regarding past insurance settlements for environmental liabilities and carve-outs for asbestos liabilities, pursuing insurance coverage for past and future asbestos claims, prioritizing asbestos litigation and settlement strategies, and strengthening asbestos-related disclosures. Model estimates of future impacts of asbestos liabilities can be developed by assessing past claimant information, identifying past asbestos use, population and occupations exposed (worker and bystander), and accounting for future claim runoff. These model estimates can incorporate probability distributions to account for ranges in uncertainty based on published references as well as uncertainties defined by site- or claimant-specific data. By accounting for uncertainty and updating the model as new information becomes available, companies can proactively assess the past, present, and future impacts of asbestos on the company.     

Asthmatic deaths in the medical examiner's population

A study of people who die from asthma was performed. The case files of the Office of the Medical Examiner of Metropolitan Dade County in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., were examined during the 5-year period 1979-1983, and all autopsied cases in which bronchial asthma was the primary or contributory cause of death were collected. These 39 cases were then analyzed as to the age, race, sex, and cause of death of the victim. Additionally, the medication list of the victim, the location of the terminal incident, the scene circumstances, the presence of hospitalization at the terminal incident, and the histopathology of the lungs at autopsy were additionally observed. Essentially, the asthma victim the medical examiner sees at autopsy is an adult white male commonly dying in an acute asthmatic attack. Ninety percent (90%) of the deaths had medications noted with 20% having three or more medicines, one of which was a steroid. The terminal incident occurred at home most frequently with an acute attack or being found dead noted. Most victims received some form of terminal hospitalization. Histopathologically, classical "asthma findings" were noted approximately one half of the time.     

我国大陆地区刑事被害人保护制度论纲

我国大陆地区刑事被害人保护措施虽长期存在,但并未形成专门且自成体系的制度。"有意"且专门的被害人保护制度得以初步成型的时间不过七、八年之久。刑事被害人保护制度的类型整体上可区分为程序性保护制度和实体性保护制度。程序性保护制度的具体内容体现为刑事被害人依法享有的诉讼权利。实体性保护制度的内容具体包括:刑事损害赔偿制度,犯罪赃物追缴、返还或退赔制度,刑事损害赔偿优先于犯罪罚没的制度,刑事被害人的社会保障制度,刑事被害人救济制度。程序性保护制度和实体性保护制度都取得了可喜成绩,但都还存在诸多缺陷和不足。相应地,应当通过针对性的弥补和完善措施,以使我国大陆地区形成更完备、合理且成熟的刑事被害人保护制度。     

Brake mechanics, asbestos, and disease risk

Health risks posed by inhalable asbestos fibers are known to exist in a variety of industrial and nonindustrial settings. Although early studies described an increased risk of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma in asbestos-industry workers, subsequent research revealed the existence of a potential asbestos-related health hazard in nonasbestos industries such as the textile and railroad industries. Brake mechanics and garage workers constitute a large work force with potential exposures to levels of asbestos capable of producing disease. Unfortunately, the health risk faced by these workers has received little attention. This article briefly discusses currently available information on the asbestos health risks of workers in this setting, and highlights the need for further investigations of this occupational group.     

改变美国警察执法的三大案例

与罗马 -日耳曼法系相比 ,普通法系更注重程序公正。马菩诉俄亥俄州、米兰达诉亚利桑那州、泰瑞诉俄亥俄州是 1 960年代美国最高法院有关警察执法的三大案例 ,它们分别确立的排除规则、米兰达警告、滞留与搜拍的权限对美国警察执法产生了重大影响 ,促进了美国警察制度的改革 ,有力地保障了公民的人权。     

The Effectiveness of Trace DNA Profiling—A Comparison Between a U.S. and a U.K. Law Enforcement Jurisdiction

Recovery, profiling, and speculative searching of trace DNA (not attributable to a body fluid/cell type) over a twelve‐month period in a U.S. Crime Laboratory and U.K. police force are compared. Results show greater numbers of U.S. firearm‐related items submitted for analysis compared with the U.K., where greatest numbers were submitted from burglary or vehicle offenses. U.S. multiple recovery techniques (double swabbing) occurred mainly during laboratory examination, whereas the majority of U.K. multiple recovery techniques occurred at the scene. No statistical difference was observed for useful profiles from single or multiple recovery. Database loading of interpretable profiles was most successful for U.K. items related to burglary or vehicle offenses. Database associations (matches) represented 7.0% of all U.S. items and 13.1% of all U.K. items. The U.K. strategy for burglary and vehicle examination demonstrated that careful selection of both items and sampling techniques is crucial to obtaining the observed results.     

过犹未及：保护被害人诉讼权利之反思

目前,虽然适度保护被害人诉讼权利确有必要,但是国内学界主流的学术观点过于强化了对被害人诉讼权利的保护。因为无论是从西方国家兴起的被害人权利保护运动之后的立法动态、刑事诉讼的本质及其基本法理,还是从立法与司法实践中的具体作法来看,对被害人诉讼权利的保护只能限定在物质补偿权与知情权等方面,否则就是过犹未及。     

欧洲国家非职业性石棉受害者补偿制度评介

欧洲是较早进口和消费石棉的地区，石棉的使用不但对劳动者造成损害，也对企业周边居民以及劳动者的家属造成身体损害。自20世纪90年代非职业性石棉受害者问题显现之后，一些国家开始关注非职业性石棉受害者补偿制度的构建。法国是建立这一制度最早的国家，其后，英国和比利时等国家也通过立法对非职业性石棉受害者给予补偿，不过，由于社会情势不同，这几个国家的相关制度也存在一定的差异。     

我国刑事被害人社会补偿制度之构建

以犯罪人为中心的刑事政策使被害人权利遭到严重忽视,尤其在经济上难以获得充分赔偿,易于导致被害人的"二次伤害"。建立刑事被害人社会补偿制度,将刑事被害人的权利保护纳入社会保障法体系范畴已被世界多国选择。我国应引入社会补偿制度,重新审视国家与社会、救助与补偿之间内涵与区别,明晰刑事被害人社会补偿制度的性质,构建补偿对象清晰、补偿条件明确、资金来源充裕、管理机构权威的刑事被害人社会补偿制度,以实现我国刑事被害人权利的充分保障。     

Manpower impacts of changes in federal budget priorities

This paper presents the results obtained from computer simulations conducted to determine the sentitivity of occupational employment demands to shifting patterns of U.S. Federal expenditures. The general model utilized is described and the effects of four hypothesized shifts in national priorities upon U. S. manpower requirements in the early 1960's are estimated. Selected occupations are classified and ranked according to their sensitivity to changing patterns of resource allocation between military and civilian activities. From these findings implications for economic and manpower forecasting are derived and discussed.     

各国市场操纵证明问题的横向比较

在行政执法中,市场操纵的证明是行政机关、当事人和其它行政程序参与人按照法定的范围、方式、标准和程序,运用证据查明、阐明和认定与市场操纵相关的特定事实或争议事实的法律活动,是连接行为事实与法律责任的核心环节,在证券执法领域具有极其重要的意义。本文将从证明构成要素的各个层面,对美国、德国、英国、澳大利亚、香港和中国内地行政执法中市场操纵的证明机制进行比较研究,总结和提炼出一般原则和主要特点,以期为中国的证券执法提供有益的借鉴。     

NATIONAL VICTIM COMPENSATION: Its Cost and Coverage

In recent years, numerous states have established programs to compensate victims of violent crime, and efforts to enact a national victim compensation law continue. One of the major obstacles to positive legislative action on victim compensation programs has been the lack of reliable estimates of the potential costs of such programs. In this article, a series of compensation program models with varying eligibility criteria are examined. Data from a variety of sources—victimization surveys, the Uniform Crime Reports, and existing state compensation programs—are brought together to determine the effects of differing statutory criteria on the coverage and costs of possible national victim compensations programs. Program model recommendations are made and policy issues are discussed.     

论侵害生命之损害赔偿责任——解释论的视角

侵害生命的损害赔偿责任由受害人生命权侵害责任和近亲属身份权侵害责任组成。生命侵害于死亡不可逆转地将要发生时构成,仍有主体资格的受害人此时即取得了生命侵害之抚慰金请求权以及死亡赔偿金请求权,这些请求权于死亡实际发生时转由受害人的继承人继承。身份权侵害于受害人死亡时构成,近亲属取得抚慰金请求权以及继发的物质损害赔偿请求权。被抚养人的抚养利益以及继承人的继承利益,均通过继承规则来实现,而不采固有利益侵权构成之模式。我国生命侵害之赔偿实践中,精神利益被过度低估,导致最终的赔偿数额的高低主要取决于物质损害的大小,引发了“同命不同价”之批判。解释论上,可根据《侵权责任法》第16条及第22条之规定,在坚持物质损害赔偿差异化处理的同时,对精神损害作平等的评价,认可受害人生命侵害之抚慰金请求权,并大幅度提高受害人及其近亲属的抚慰金数额,来彰显生命的精神价值,实现人格平等的价值诉求。     

The development of national medical care programs in the United Kingdom and Canada: applicability to current conditions in the United States

After a hiatus in the early to mid-1980s, a growing number of policy leaders, policy organizations, and citizen groups are advocating programs that ensure basic medical care for all. Although a large literature examines the applicability to the U.S. of national medical care programs that have been established in other countries from the perspective of operations and effectiveness, little attention has been given to the applicability of the experience of other nations in securing these programs. This paper examines the development of national programs in the U.K. and Canada and addresses two questions. First, what factors were critical to the establishment of the British National Health Service and the Canadian hospital and physician insurance programs? Second, how applicable are those factors to current conditions in the U.S.? The paper reviews the roles played by dislocations in society, by established models of state-sponsored medical care programs, by political institutions and leaders, and by the major medical sectors. It shows that the U.S., while differing in many particulars, presents several parallels to the U.K. and Canada. The paper argues that the current environment in the U.S. offers the nation the opportunity to develop at state or local levels government-sponsored programs that guarantee basic medical benefits to all. A new and powerful coalition, moreover, may in the coming years advance the cause of broader, more substantive change at the national level.