The nature and basis of inalienable rights

This paper has two purposes. One is primarily (but not exclusively) conceptual and the other is normative. The first aim is to say what inalienable rights are. To explain this, inalienable rights are contrasted with the notions of forfeitable rights and absolute rights. A recent novel analysis of inalienable rights by Feinberg is explained and criticized. The first task is concluded by discussing what duties inalienable rights imply. The second aim is to see what moral principles, if any, justify designating some rights as inalienable. The claim of Nozick and others that inalienable rights must be paternalistically grounded is examined and rejected. After a brief critical discussion of the Lockean and Hobbesean accounts of the basis of inalienable rights, it is argued that the harm principle can serve as an adequate ground for categorizing at least the right to life (and perhaps other rights) as inalienable.An earlier version of this paper was read at Guilford College, Tulane University, and Wake Forest University. I have benefited from the suggestions and comments of members of those audiences and from Stephen Darwall, Thomas Hill, Jr., Edward Langerak, Ruth Lucier, James Smith, Lance Stell, Laurence Thomas, and Donald Van DeVeer.     

公共役权的概念和性质

公共役权，是公益事业、国家或公众取得一种要求相关不动产所有权人或使用权人承受某种负担的权利。公共役权调整国家和不特定公众与不动产权利人之间的权利义务关系。     

The nature of human aggression

Human aggression is viewed from four explanatory perspectives, derived from the ethological tradition. The first consists of its adaptive value, which can be seen throughout the animal kingdom, involving resource competition and protection of the self and offspring, which has been viewed from a cost–benefit perspective. The second concerns the phylogenetic origin of aggression, which in humans involves brain mechanisms that are associated with anger and inhibition, the emotional expression of anger, and how aggressive actions are manifest. The third concerns the origin of aggression in development and its subsequent modification through experience. An evolutionary approach to development yields conclusions that are contrary to the influential social learning perspective, notably that physical aggression occurs early in life, and its subsequent development is characterized by learned inhibition. The fourth explanation concerns the motivational mechanisms controlling aggression: approached from an evolutionary background, these mechanisms range from the inflexible reflex-like responses to those incorporating rational decision-making.     

The wild (white) ones: comparing frames of white and black deviance

In this case study, I establish how a racial privilege shields whites from being framed as deviant by using two racially segregated motorcycle rallies as a naturalistic experiment. I conduct a content analysis of reader posts to online newspaper stories about the biker events (which regularly include deviance) and discover the bikers, their behaviors, and the proposed community reactions are framed in nearly opposite ways. Posters attribute a ‘white innocence’ to white bikers, framing them as upper class exemplars of American Individualism who temporarily suspend their morality during the rally by drinking, exposing their nude bodies, and ignoring newly passed laws, banning loud mufflers, and requiring helmets. Posters claim these unpleasant, although non-dangerous forms of deviance can be ignored, overlooked, and even celebrated as defiant acts against authority. The white innocence can appear racially innocuous until compared to the perception of black bikers who engage in similar behaviors at their rally but are framed as underclass criminals who attend the rally to steal and murder. This reveals how a usually unseen privilege shields whites from entanglements with the criminal justice system, as posters also call for further policing of racial minorities.     

恢复性司法述议

恢复性司法以恢复原有社会秩序为目的,着重于对被害人所受伤害的补偿以及对犯罪行为人的改造,是对犯罪行为作出的系统性反应。本文结合中外司法实践,探索恢复性司法的模式问题。     

The nature of shoplifting in Iceland

This paper investigates the nature of shoplifting in Iceland for the period 1977–1980. Data was collected from police reports. There were a total of 103 incidents reported to the police in the greater Reykjavik area for the four-year period studied. Most incidents were reported on Fridays and Wednesdays, and in December. Fifty-nine per cent of the subjects were between the ages of 11 to 14 years and only 6.9 per cent were above the age of 50 years. Young females tended to shoplift more frequently than males whilst in the company of their contemporaries. Females commonly stole clothes intended for personal use, wheras males most frequently stole books which they intended to sell for cash. Shoplifting represents a very small proportion (about 1.3%) of all theft offences reported to the police in Iceland. Cases were invariably dealt with out of court and although a large proportion of suspects admitted to previous shoplifting it was very rare that people were re-apprehended.     

论公证权的基本属性

在以德国、法国为代表的大陆法系国家的公证法律制度中,公证员都具有国家公职人员和自由职业的双重属性。关于公证权的性质界定,在法学界比较一致的看法都认为它是一种国家权力,是国家在对当事人所涉及的法律行为、有法律意义的文书进行证明,以此来证明其真实性、合法性。由此得出了公证权是国家授权的理论。很多教材、专著和论文都认为公证权是一种国家权力或是国家以法律的形式将该项权力授予公证人来行使,从而使得公证证明具有不同于一般民间私证     

调解权的价值、性质与实现

本文以纠纷当事人的调解权为核心和基础,以调解权与相关国家权力的关系为视角,分析了调解权的被动性、调解权的差异性以及调解权的受支配性等特征。认为当事人之间的调解权利意识,是社会公众所昭示的公共性政策在法律领域的延伸,强调在需求多样化与多元化的今天,调解权的实现有利于维护公民的利益。     

The prevalence and nature of violent offending by females

The purpose of the current study was to examine the nature and prevalence of violent offending by females. Using National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data from 1998, this study examined the relationship between cooffending and type of offense as well as the type of weapon(s) used during violent incidents and the race of the perpetrators. The findings suggest that females are more likely to be involved in aggravated assaults compared with robberies and murder or nonnegligent manslaughter. This is particularly true for females who commit their violent crimes alone. When females cooffend with other females or males, however, they are more likely to commit robberies. Overall females are more likely to be involved in violent incidents where either personal weapons or knives are used. When females cooffend with males, however, more likely to be involved in incidents with guns. Finally, the current study found that Black females were more likely to commit violent offenses with other females, whereas White females were more likely to commit violent offenses with males.     

Bibliographical update / The nature and foundations of rights

Edwin J. Delattre, Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1989, xviii + 247 pp.     

The regulatory anticommons of green infrastructures

Development of green infrastructures (renewable energy plants and transmission networks) is urgently needed if significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions are to be accomplished in the next few decades. But the huge financial investments required by these infrastructures will not be undertaken without a well-designed regulatory framework. This paper argues that barriers to the implementation of such a framework can best be understood by drawing analogies to the Law and Economics literature on anticommons. Although situations of ownership anticommons (many owners with veto rights) and regulatory anticommons (many regulators with veto rights) display some differences from the point of view of the preferences and the coordination costs, it is submitted that this analytic framework can be employed to assess and criticize recent EU and US proposals which try to improve planning and siting procedures for cross-border green infrastructures. The literature on anticommons also suggests that effective remedies to suboptimal resource use are directly dependent on the design of the coordination mechanisms among all the regulatory levels.     

The state of nature and the evolution of political preferences

Analysis of governmental institutions often proceeds from ahypothetical 'state of nature', according to which humans areanalyzed as if they once existed as solitary individuals withno rules. Humans have never existed as humans in such an environmentbut have always been a group-living species. Rules have evolvedwith humans and were never 'created' de novo. Evolved ruleshave implications for contemporary governance. Human groupshave always been in conflict, and rules distinguish betweengroup members and outsiders. These rules have proved remarkablyflexible. Some rules regulate private conduct of group members.Although the desirability of these rules today is unclear, Iargue that a libertarian regime would have been unstable, whichmay explain why there are few persons with tastes for libertariangovernments. This analysis further explains why utility functionscontain elements of envy. Rules of property, contract, and hierarchyare well developed and universal among humans.