Attributes that Differentiate Children Who Sip Alcohol from Abstinent Peers

Sipping alcohol during childhood may be a marker of differentiation as regards children’s future risk of underage drinking; yet very little is known about alcohol use when it occurs among elementary school-aged children. The purpose of the present study is to examine alcohol sipping behavior in a sample of third-grade school children to learn whether sipping is associated with attributes that could increase children’s likelihood of further underage drinking. We collected telephone interview data from 1,050 mothers and their third grade children (mean age 9.2 years; 48.2 % male) residing in the Southeastern United States. The majority of mothers were White non-Hispanic (69.02 %) or Black non-Hispanic (21.3 %); most (85 %) lived in households shared with fathers or other adult caretakers. We hypothesized that children who sip alcohol would score lower than abstinent peers on indicators of competence and score higher on indicators of exposure to alcohol-specific socialization by parents and peers. A multivariate model controlling for frequency of parent alcohol use and demographic covariates showed that children who had sipped alcohol were significantly less likely than abstinent peers to affirm indicators of competence and significantly more likely to affirm indicators of exposure to alcohol specific socialization by parents and by same age peers. These preliminary findings suggest that developmental attributes associated with risk of underage drinking begin to differentiate at least as young as middle childhood. Research is needed to test prospectively for continuity between alcohol risk attributes present in middle childhood and future alcohol use.     

Executive Orders and Administrative Control

One of the key recommendations of the Winter Commission was the empowerment of governors over the executive branch. However, key institutions have not evolved in this direction; the long ballot still exists in most states, and the formal powers of governors have strengthened to their probable capacity. The authors suggest that a quasi‐formal power—the gubernatorial use of executive orders—may be a significant tool for empowering the governor in the state administrative realm. Analyzing all executive orders in 49 states for 2004 and 2005, they find variation in the aggregate use of and functions performed through these orders. Many executive orders do allow the government more direction and control of state bureaucracy. Finally, the authors suggest that the study of executive orders may be necessary to understand gubernatorial power in the executive arena and beyond.     

Dangerous Offenders: Some Problems of Management

Dangerous behaviour, for the purpose of this paper is confined to the commission of serious harm to others and not to self. Such behaviour is examined within the context of definnitions of such behaviour, and issues that arise in respect of sentencing (including past and current practices). Certain ethical issues are considered and the paper concludes with a detailed consideration of aspects of management.     

We are meeting on Microsoft Teams: Forensic analysis in Windows,Android, and iOS operating systems

Microsoft released a new communication platform, Microsoft Teams, in 2017. Due in part to COVID-19, the popularity of communication platforms, like Microsoft Teams, increased exponentially. Given its user base and increased popularity, it seems likely that digital forensic investigators will encounter cases where Microsoft Teams is a relevant component. However, because Microsoft Teams is a relatively new application, there is limited forensic research on the application particularly focusing on mobile operating systems. To address this gap, an analysis of data stored at rest by Microsoft Teams was conducted on the Windows 10 operating system as well as on Android and Apple iOS mobile operating systems. Basic functionalities, such as messaging, sharing files, participating in video conferences, and other functionalities that Teams provides, were performed in an isolated testing environment. Cellebrite UFED Physical Analyzer and Magnet AXIOM Examine tools were used to analyze the mobile devices and the Windows device, respectively. Manual or non-automated investigation recovered, at least partially, the majority of artifacts across all three operating systems. In this study, a total of 77.6% of the populated artifacts were partially or fully recovered in the manual investigation. On the other hand, forensic tools used did not automatically recover many of the artifacts found with the manual investigation. Only 13.8% of artifacts were partially or fully recovered by the forensic tools across all three devices. These discovered artifacts and the results of the investigations are presented in order to aid digital forensic investigations.     

Disproportionate and Discriminatory: Reviewing the Evidence on Police Stop and Search

Eight years after the Lawrence Inquiry, the question of police powers to stop and search people in public places remains at the forefront of debate about police community relations. Police are empowered to stop and search citizens under a wide range of legislative acts and the power is employed daily across Britain. Far from laying the debate to rest, the Lawrence Inquiry prompted new research studies and fresh theories to explain the official statistics. We argue that the statistics show that the use of the powers against black people is disproportionate and that this is an indication of unlawful racial discrimination. If stop and search powers cannot be effectively regulated – and it seems that they cannot – then their continued use is unjustified and should be curtailed.