Municipal services and the judiciary: the immunity doctrine in the service delivery process

During the past decade residents have sought judicial redress against municipalities alleging discrimination in the delivery of services in their neighborhoods. Recent court activity in this area has expanded to include the issues of municipal government and public servant immunity and liability. After anda brief discussion of how the municipal bureau cracy impacts the service delivery process and municipal service equalization suits, this paper provides a legal perspective on immunity and liability issues affecting the municipality and its personnel. The paper also addresses the topic of municipal protection against liability losses and concludes with a summary discussion of arguments for and against imposing strict liability upon municipalities and their representatives.     

Adarand v. pena: turning challenges into opportunities

This article provides a historical and legal overview of preference and set-aside programs. Further, the barriers and driving forces that have influenced preference programs are discussed. Finally, the processes, strategies, programs, and criteria employed at the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to meet the test of strict scrutiny in Adarand, will be explored and analyzed as alternatives for preference programs.     

Teaching Negotiations in the New Millennium: Evidence‐Based Recommendations for Online Course Delivery

Traditional methods for teaching negotiation have required both instructor and student to be physically present in the same location. With the advent of the Internet and associated technological advances, however, instructors may now transcend geographical barriers and effectively deliver the same content virtually. In this article, we present an exploratory study comparing two masters‐level negotiation courses: one taught using a traditional in‐person method and the other taught online. Results showed no significant difference in knowledge acquisition as quantified by objective measures, including mean grades. In addition, self‐report data indicate that, although students' skill and mastery of negotiation improved in both courses, online students reported that they experienced less interaction and social engagement with their classmates and instructor. Several course development strategies and best practices are discussed.     

The Road to Uluru: Constitutional Recognition and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have campaigned for reform to the Australian state for generations. Over the last decade, debate over constitutional recognition has assumed mainstream prominence as a series of parliamentary and expert bodies designed to raise awareness of the need for change, propose options for that change, and build a community consensus around those proposals, have been established. This article assesses the five public processes undertaken between 2010 and 2017. It explains that constitutional reform has been hampered by state ambivalence towards the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). However, it argues that that same state ambivalence created space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to eventually take control of the debate, reframe it along their own priorities, and re-energise the movement for constitutional recognition. Even if prospects for a referendum remain uncertain, the Uluru Statement from the Heart has succeeded in building community consensus for a clear proposal because the UNDRIP informed and influenced its development.     

The police,crime, and economic theory: A replication and extension

Based on insights garnered from rational choice theory, Loftin and McDowall hypothesize that there is likely to be a reciprocal relationship, over time, within jurisdictions between police force strength and crime. Contrary to expectations, their ARIMA analyses of the association between total police force employment and the total crime rate for Detriot during the period of 1926 to 1977 produce null findings. As a result, they conclude that rational choice models are too simplistic to explain the relationship between the agency size and crime. It is our contention that this conclusion might be premature. We suggest that a failure to disaggregate total police force employment into its component sectors may be masking substantial reciprocal effects. The present investigation employs ARIMA techniques to model the reciprocal relationship between total, patrol, and detective police employment and total, property, and personal, robbery crimes in Milwaukee for the years 1930 to 1987. Consistent with previous research we report null findings between total police employment and total crime rates. However, the findings also reveal significant reciprocal relationships between the disaggregated measures of police size and crime. The implications of these results for rational choice theory are discussed.     

Validity testing of commercial urine cocaine metabolite assays: II. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and confirmation by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A comprehensive validity assessment study was performed on eight commercial urine assays for detection of cocaine use. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each assay were evaluated by analyzing, in random order and under blind conditions, specimens spiked with known drug concentrations and clinical specimens obtained from human subjects after intravenous cocaine use. Commercial assay results were compared with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) assay of the same specimens for benzoylecgonine. All of the assays examined were determined to have utility in screening for cocaine use, with the exception of the KDI Quik Test, which was not a reliable test for detection of cocaine use. Major differences in sensitivity, specificity, and confirmation rate by GC/MS were noted among the assays, differences which should be taken into consideration when implementing a urine screening test for cocaine use or interpreting test results involving use of these assays.