Organized crime, the militarization of public security, and the debate on the “new” police model in Mexico

After the recognition in Mexico of a situation characterized by violence involving both non-state actors (mainly drug lords) and the state apparatus, the present research critically analyzes both the national security strategy adopted by President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006–2012), which is based on the process of the militarization of public security, as well as the “new” police model proposed by the executive power that seeks to professionalize law enforcement agencies.     

Can financial incentives reduce juvenile confinement levels? An evaluation of the Redeploy Illinois program

Purpose

Assessments of ongoing fiscal restructuring of juvenile justice system processes and the impact such restructuring has on juvenile incarceration rates are limited. When impacts of fiscal restructuring efforts have been assessed, researchers have focused on systemic, macro level changes in incarceration rates but avoided more focused, micro level impacts. This study fills this knowledge gap by examining the recent implementation of the Redeploy Illinois program in two pilot sites. In the Redeploy Illinois program, financial incentives were provided to select counties to develop community based alternatives to incarceration. The goal was to alleviate over reliance on state funded residential facilities for evaluation and confinement purposes.

Methods

Agency data were analyzed using qualitative methods to examine the effects of this change.

Results

Results of this study demonstrated that counties participating in the pilot test of the Redeploy Illinois program were able to reduce their levels of juvenile commitment to the state. Peoria County exceeded their reduction benchmark for all but two years, and St. Clair County well exceed their reduction benchmark for all full calendar years subsequent to implementation.

Conclusions

Findings are consistent with the limited literature exploring fiscal restructuring efforts designed to reduce county levels juvenile commitments.     

Public servants or police soldiers? An analysis of opinions on the militarization of policing from police executives,law enforcement,and members of the 114th congress U.S. house of representatives

Despite the dramatic rise in use of militarized weapons, equipment, and tactics by police departments across the nation, no study has examined the opinions of those responsible for designing, funding, and implementing police militarization in the United States. Therefore this study collected and analyzed opinion data from 465 key stakeholders from the 114th Congress U.S. House of Representatives, law enforcement executives, and local police officers regarding police militarization. Results suggest that while most practitioners and policymakers favor police militarization, Congress and law enforcement differ in support of critical issues such as oversight of military procurement programs, use of surplus military weapons and vehicles, and overall support for the militarization of policing in the United States.     

Do specific forms of university-industry knowledge transfer have different impacts on the performance of private enterprises? An empirical analysis based on Swiss firm data

This study investigates the impact of a wide spectrum of Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) activities (educational and research activities, activities related with technical infrastructure, and consulting) on two innovation indicators (a) in the framework of an innovation equation with variables for specific forms of KTT activities as additional determinants of innovation, and (b) based on a matched-pairs analysis for several specific forms of KTT activities. The data used in the study were collected by means of a survey of Swiss enterprises that took place at the beginning of 2005. We found that research and educational activities improve the innovation performance of firms in terms of sales of considerably modified products, research activities in addition also in terms of sales of new products. This could be shown by several methods: the innovation equation approach with instrument variables for specific forms of KTT activities as well as two matching methods.

“Truly free consent”? Clarifying the nature of police legitimacy using causal mediation analysis

Journal of Experimental Criminology - To test whether normative and non-normative forms of obligation to obey the police are empirically distinct and to assess whether they exhibit different...     

The sociopathic police personality: Is it a product of the “Rotten Apple” or the “Rotten Barrel?”

The “Rotten Apple” theory states that deviant police officers are those who psychological testing fails to screen out. This concept is favored by police administrators because it offers a quick and easy solution to police deviant behavior. However, there is a growing body of literature that suggests that it is the stressful occupation that is policing that is the fertile soil from which police deviant behavior springs otherwise known as the “Rotten Barrel” theory. This article shall explore police deviant behavior from the perspective that it is the “Rotten Barrel” that leads to police deviant behavior.     

Penal and Prison Policy on the “Sunny Side of the Alps”: The Swan Song of Slovenian Exceptionalism?

The article considers penal and prison policy in Slovenia by illustrating and confronting the roots, development and main features of Slovenian vis-à-vis Scandinavian penal “exceptionalism”. It first explores economic, social and political developments that made both Scandinavian and Slovenian penal regimes, in terms of stability and leniency of penal policy, low imprisonment rates and quality of prisoner treatment, to some degree exceptional if confronted with regimes of the vast majority of western countries. Further, the authors explore what consequences and implications the recent punitive tendencies have for Slovenian exceptionalism and whether they jeopardize or perhaps even threaten mild penal order, which the country on the “sunny side of the Alps” has been building since the 1970s. Finally, the authors try to find out whether, in spite of the declining welfarism and rising punitiveness, Slovenian-style penal exceptionalism has a chance to revive and endure.     

Decolonizing Southern Criminology: What Can the “Decolonial Option” Tell Us About Challenging the Modern/Colonial Foundations of Criminology?

Critical Criminology - Southern criminology has been recognized as a leading theoretical development for attempting to overcome the perpetuation of colonial power relations reflected in the unequal...     

The progressive policy shift in the debate on the international tax challenges of the digital economy: A “Pretext” for overhaul of the international tax regime?

This contribution presents a critical overview of the policy and legal debate (primarily from a tax treaty law perspective) surrounding the challenges raised by the digitalisation of the economy for the international tax regime. The article addresses some key policy challenges inherent in the proposals for reform currently under consideration. It focuses in particular on the difficulties associated with fitting the concept of “value creation” within the pre-existing framework based on “source” and “residence”; a gradual transition from a primarily “supply” approach to a “supply and demand” approach in the understanding of “source”; and an implicit drift in the policy debate on the tax implications of the digitalised economy from a targeted analysis aimed at incrementally reforming the existing regime to a full-blown reconsideration of some of its fundamental tenets.     

Is “Contribution to the Host States Development” An Essential Criterion to Define Investment Under International Investment Law?: A Search Through the Lens of Arbitral Awards

Liverpool Law Review - International Investment Arbitration proceedings often deliver its Award in two parts: (i) Jurisdiction and (ii) Merit. One of the most debated and controversial elements in...     

Introducing the Open Clause to improve copyright flexibility in cyberspace? Analysis and commentary on the proposed “two-step test” in the Third Amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC,in comparison with the EU and the US

The so called “three-step test”, that the limitations and exceptions of copyright shall be allowed in certain special cases, provided that they do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author, grants copyright flexibilities to balance the interests of all stakeholders, especially within the European system of circumscribed limitations and exceptions. This is essential for the domain of computer law, confronted by rapid and unpredictable global technological developments, and is, thus, enshrined in the most important international intellectual property (IP) treaties. Through the proposed third amendment to the Copyright Law of the PRC, the legislature intends to adopt this test while also introducing an open-ended list of limitations and exceptions that constitutes a China-specific “two-step test.” This contravenes prima facie the thesis endorsed by the WTO Panel in the case concerning Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act in 2000. In contrast, court decisions in China frequently apply the fair use doctrine of US copyright law, neglecting to consider its peculiar context of the US common law tradition and, thus, unduly expanding the Chinese courts' discretionary power.This paper summarizes the case law in China and takes a comparative approach to address the divergence between the judicial application of cyber copyright law and the existing legislation. It suggests revising the proposed Article 43 of the Copyright Law of the PRC to capture the due interpretation of the three-step test, thereby finessing the delineation between rights protection and free use with the compensation of remuneration under the principle of proportionality. It argues that transplanting the US fair use doctrine into Chinese copyright law is feasible, but with the preconditions of endeavouring to strengthen judicial reform to integrate the IP adjudication systems, enhancing the coherence and efficiency of copyright enforcement, and facilitating consistent dialogues between scholars, practitioners, and lawmakers.     

How Can the Word “Cow” Exclude Non-cows? Description of Meaning in Dignāga’s Theory of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Apoha</Emphasis>

Dignāga’s theory of semantics called the “theory of apoha (exclusion)” has been criticized by those who state that it may lead to a circular argument wherein “exclusion of others” (anyāpoha) is understood as mere double negation. Dignāga, however, does not intend mere double negation by anyāpoha. In his view, the word “cow” for instance, excludes those that do not have the set of features such as a dewlap, horns, and so on, by applying the semantic method called componential analysis. The present paper aims to prove this by referring to the fragments quoted by Jinendrabuddhi and Siddhasenaga?i. Dignāga logically proves that the denotation of the referent Q by the word “P” cannot be derived from the joint presence (anvaya) of “P” with Q. Instead, he derives it from the joint absence (vyatireka) of “P” with the nonexistence of Q. Anyāpoha is nothing but verbal vyatireka. Componential analysis is used for describing what is to be excluded. Dignāga draws taxonomic hierarchies of words based on their customary use, and assumes componential analysis to operate in the background of the hierarchies formed in semantic fields, stating that a general term is restricted to having the same reference with one of its specific terms insofar as the former is connected (yukta) with the characteristics of the latter’s referent. Moreover, he states that a proper name also denotes its referent by excluding those that do not have the cluster of a certain number of qualities.     

Letter to the Editor: Commentary on “Is it possible to predict the origin of epithelial cells? – A comparison of secondary transfer of skin epithelial cells versus vaginal mucous membrane cells by direct contact,M.M. Bouzga et al., Science & Justice,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2020.02.003”

This letter to the Editor comments on the paper “Is it possible to predict the origin of epithelial cells? – A comparison of secondary transfer of skin epithelial cells versus vaginal mucous membrane cells by direct contact” by M.M. Bouzga et al. (Science & Justice,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.20al.20.02.003).