Compelling the EPA to Regulate GHG Emissions Under the Act to Prevent Pollution From Ships

Shipping remains the only sector in the world not currently subject to any legally binding greenhouse gas emission (“GHG”) reduction measures. If left unregulated, ships may represent over 20% of GHG emissions by 2050. This article examines the possibility of compelling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate GHGs from ships under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (the “APPS”), 33?U.S.C. § 1901, et seq. Unfortunately, until there is an international agreement to reduce GHG emissions from ships, as well as amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the APPS, a citizen suit under the APPS will not be effective.     

Trust in the Police in Rural China: a Comparison Between Villagers and Local Officials

Although the past decade has witnessed the rise of studies on Chinese evaluations of the police, rural villagers’ assessments of the police remain under-researched. Drawing upon performance theory and survey data from China’s countryside, this study tested whether variations in satisfaction with government performance and life are linked to villagers’ and officials’ trust in county and local/town police. We found that villagers displayed lower levels of trust in the police than local officials. Higher satisfaction with government performance and integrity were associated with greater trust in county police among both villagers and officials. Villagers’ greater satisfaction with crime control and safety led to their stronger trust in both county and town police, but such satisfaction was not significantly related to officials’ trust in both levels of police forces. Rural residents’ generalized trust and particularized trust were associated with a greater likelihood of viewing the police as trustworthy. Meanwhile, female respondents, both villagers and officials, and higher-income officials were more likely to view the police as trustworthy. Directions for future research and policy are discussed.

     

Measuring the impact of public perceptions on child welfare workers

The Public Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale measures how the social environment influences child welfare workers, including their job satisfaction and intent to leave. Psychometric studies have validated the scale for private child welfare workers, but there are no validation studies with public agency staff. This study fills that gap, showing stigma and respect are important constructs that also predict worker intent to leave. This research found an additional construct, blame, which was not present in private worker validation studies. The scale provides an important tool for the field as we continue to build evidence for effective recruitment and retention.     

Tricyclic Antidepressants Found in Pilots Fatally Injured in Civil Aviation Accidents

Prevalence of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) has not been explored in pilots. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) aviation accident and the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) toxicology and medical certification databases were searched for pilots fatally injured in aviation accidents. During 1990–2012, CAMI received bio‐samples of pilots from 7037 aviation accidents. Of these, 2644 cases were positive for drugs. TCAs were present in 31. TCA blood concentrations ranged from therapeutic to toxic levels. The NTSB determined that the use of drugs and ethanol as the probable cause or contributing factor in 35% (11 of 31) of the accidents. None of the 31 pilots reported the use of TCAs during their aviation medical examination. The prevalence of TCAs in aviators was less than 0.5% (31 of 7037 cases). There is a need for aviators to fully disclose the use of medications at the time of their medical examination.     

Prepartum Psychosis and Neonaticide: Rare Case Study and Forensic‐Psychiatric Synthesis of Literature

Peripartum psychosis is a rare but serious psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of a mood episode with psychotic features. Although controversy surrounds the nosological status of peripartum mental disorders, these conditions continue to be of exceptional interest to the medical and forensic mental health communities. The aim of this study was to report a rare case of prepartum psychosis which escalated to the endpoint of neonaticide and summarize literature on peripartum mental disorders and infanticide. A 30‐year‐old mother murdered her newborn with the spike of her serum delivery system and planned to commit suicide while in hospital after hallucinating due to an acute puerperal psychotic disorder with a prepartum onset and postpartum deterioration. Her disorder was not managed until neonaticide. Throughout this paper, the significance of a multidisciplinary approach for the optimal management of these incidents is highlighted and diagnostic as well as therapeutic issues are addressed.     

Friends You Can Trust: A Signaling Theory of Interest Group Litigation Before the U.S. Supreme Court

How do interest groups influence U.S. Supreme Court justices to vote in favor of their preferred outcomes? Following prior research on the influence of the Solicitor General, we develop and expand on the signaling theory of interest group influence via amicus curie briefs. We argue that an interest group's ideological reputation and the nature of the ideological signal it sends in its brief both function as powerful heuristics that convey information to the justices depending on the justices' own ideological preferences. When an organization files an amicus brief advocating for an outcome seemingly contrary to its traditional preferences (i.e., an unexpected signal), this signal should be more noticeable and credible than a signal in accordance with a group's conventional views (i.e., an expected signal). However, unexpected signals should have greater influence on justices who share the brief filer's preferences. We test our signaling theory on the terms from 1991 through 2002. We find that unexpected signals (but not expected signals) are associated with Supreme Court voting, and the influence of unexpected signals appears to be particularly strong among justices who share the ideological preferences of the brief filer.     

Unjust Enrichment in the ‘Fairchild Enclave’ International Energy Group Ltd v Zurich Insurance plc

In International Energy Group v Zurich Insurance, the Supreme Court considered the implications of the special rule in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd for insurers’ for employers’ liability. The question for the Court was whether, in the light of its earlier decision in Durham v BAI (Run off) Ltd, insurers could be held liable for employees’ mesothelioma claims, even if the employer was not insured throughout the period of employment. The seven Justices unanimously held that insurers’ liability was proportionate to the period of insurance. In reaching that result, the majority recognised that the insurers were entitled to ‘equitable recoupment’ from insured‐employers in respect of periods during which they were uninsured. This note critiques the recoupment right with an unjust enrichment lens.