RESPONSES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM TO LEGISLATION PROVIDING MORE SEVERE THREATENED SANCTIONS

In 1971, the Tennessee legislature enacted legislation providing for mandatory jail sentences and driver's license revocations for anyone convicted of driving while intoxicated. This new law had no demonstrable impact on the highway traffic fatalities rate-the intended objective. This paper explores the reasons for this apparent lack of impact. Data suggest that, while there was some increase in the severity of sanctions imposed on drunken drivers, there was still a consistent tendency to suspend the jail sentences and grant drivers restricted driving privileges. Nor is there any reason to believe that the police intensified their efforts to apprehend larger numbers of drunken drivers. Thus, the more severe sanctions threatened in the new law were generally mitigated in practice. Some possible interpretations for this are offered.     

SELF‐CONTROL THEORY AND THE CONCEPT OF OPPORTUNITY: THE CASE FOR A MORE SYSTEMATIC UNION*

The purpose of this study is to advance the idea that low self‐control—one of the strongest known predictors of crime—likely has effects that are conditional on the supply of criminal opportunities. Some scholars initially interpreted the theory to make this exact prediction, but Gottfredson and Hirschi (2003) have rejected this interpretation. They have insisted that the simplistic nature of most crimes ensures that opportunities are limitless and that variation in opportunity simply reflects variation in self‐control. We trace the history of this uncertain position of opportunity in self‐control theory and argue that it should play a significant role in the theory, even if Gottfredson and Hirschi did not originally envision this. Next, we draw on routine activities theory and applications of it to individual offending to offer a theoretical statement of how opportunity should be incorporated into self‐control theory. Last, using data from a national sample of juveniles, we test the arguments that have been made. The analysis suggests that the effects of low self‐control on delinquency partially depend on the availability of criminal opportunities, as indicated by the time juveniles spend with their friends or away from the supervision of their parents.     

"RELATIONSHIPS MORE ENDURING"

This article reviews the special legal challenges arising for children raised by lesbian and gay parents when those parents separate. The applicability of the Troxel decision to those special issues is explored and recommendations made for the practice of psychologists who evaluate custody questions in these cases.     

THE DIFFERENTIAL RISK OF RETALIATION BY RELATIONAL DISTANCE: A MORE GENERAL MODEL OF VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION*

This research attempts to elaborate a routine activity model of violent victimization by incorporating an explicit rational choice perspective on potential targets’ decision making to avoid violent encounters. We propose that the costs associated with a violent attack and the probability of offender retaliation depend on whether the offender's targeting strategy is opportunistic or deliberate—a function of the relational distance between the offender and target. Specifically, we propose that victim efforts to limit exposure to an offender may motivate a violent retaliatory response when the victim and offender are intimates compared to when they are strangers. We develop hypotheses based on these ideas and test them using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1992–2000). The results suggest that female targets are more sensitive to an offender's targeting strategy than are males. We conclude with a discussion of how knowledge of the potential risk of violent retaliation on the part of intimate and spousal offenders can be used to create more efficacious policies to protect victims of violence.     

CROSS-SUBSIDY ANALYSIS WITH MORE THAN TWO SERVICES

Thirty years have passed since the publication of "Cross-Subsidization:Pricing in Public Enterprises." The article rigorously definedcross-subsidization and is now a standard citation of regulatorsand scholars addressing the pricing of regulated multiproductfirms. The incremental cost test and the stand-alone cost test,however, have often been misunderstood and misapplied. Thisarticle answers the most common questions that have arisen inthe application of these tests for cross-subsidization and correctsthe most common errors that have been committed in their application.     

BEHIND MORE LITIGATION: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS

Since the reform and the opening up to the world of China, there has been increasingly more litigation in China, which has stimulated further development of the legal profession and greater public and private expenditure on the legal practice. Accordingly, legal reform has become an important component of the national scheme of social transformation. On the other hand, the rapid increase in litigation has unexpectedly eroded the traditional means to resolve disputes of both mediation and judicial mediation. More alarming is that judicial credibility is seriously challenged by judicial corruption and poor enforcement of judicial decisions. The increasing number of litigation-related complaints by the public, and the large number of vetoes against the working reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate by the National People’s Congress, are two indicators of the crisis of judicial credibility. This paper is to analyze the data of litigation, legal profession, mediation, and the phenomena of judicial corruption. Based on this analysis, it suggests that, to overcome the current quandary of judicial development, further reform should not only focus on courts, but also on all functional departments that could collaborate one way or another with the judiciary, should not depend only on governmental organizations but also on NGOs in resolving disputes and social issues, and should explore and develop innovative ways of social management.     

MORE ON DEMEANOR AND ARREST IN DADE COUNTY*

A recent study of police behavior using data collected in Dade County, Florida, found that citizen demeanor is a spurious correlate of arrest in light of control for criminal conduct (Klinger, 1994). This finding calls into question the long-standing belief that hostility directly increases the odds of arrest in police-citizen encounters. Responding to this research, Lundman (1994) reanalyzed data used in several previous studies that had reported hostility effects. His reanalysis offered limited support for a demeanor-arrest link. Because the measures of demeanor he used and the models he estimated were somewhat different from those Klinger had used and estimated, Lundman suggested that it would be valuable to revisit the Dade County data to see whether Klinger's null finding regarding hostility effects might be artifactual. This study reanalyzes the Dade County data. It indicates that one of four measures of demeanor is a significant net correlate of arrest under some circumstances. The implications of this finding are discussed.     

"SHE LOVES AMY MORE THAN HER CAT!"

This article explores the two languages of divorce–the language of the couple and the language of divorce. Originally, this article was submitted for the Meyer Elkin contest.     

IS JUSTICE SERVED BY MORE PEOPLE REPRESENTING THEMSELVES IN COURT?

Justice Donald B. King proposes a streamlined system for couples with assets under $400,000. He explores the problem of nearly 50% of couples going through divorce without attorney representation. He proposes close judicial management of such cases and removal of the need for unnecessary discovery and other expensive procedures.