Animal protection and legislators in Britain and the United States

This article considers the reaction of legislators to the emergence of animal protection as a political issue. A quantitative analysis of legislative behaviour in the House of Commons and the House of Representatives in the late 1980s and early 1990s reveals (mainly through the identification of a small but significant group of legislators willing to promote concern for animal welfare) that the growing societal concern for animals has permeated into the political institutions of Britain and the United States. Examining the characteristics of these legislators suggests, moreover, that the most significant variable is party label, with concern for animals being associated with parties of the centre‐left. It is further suggested that there are good reasons to suppose that this association is no accident and that ideologically, there is a fit between animal protection and the ideals of the left.     

Civil asset forfeiture, equitable sharing, and policing for profit in the United States

Purpose

Critics of asset forfeiture claim that forfeiture laws create financial incentives that inappropriately influence police behavior. The present study examines the relationship between measures of the financial incentive and legal burdens for civil asset forfeiture on federal equitable sharing payments to local law enforcement to determine whether police behavior is affected by different statutory incentives for forfeiture activity.

Methods

Using LEMAS and DOJ forfeiture data, this study addresses some of the limitations of previous research by using a multi-year average for forfeiture activity, an improved measure of financial incentives for law enforcement, and multiple measures of statutory burdens to law enforcement to determine the impact of forfeiture laws on forfeiture activity.

Results

Consistent with anecdotal reports and limited prior research, findings indicate that agencies in jurisdictions with more restrictive state forfeiture laws receive more proceeds through federal equitable sharing.

Conclusions

Results suggest that state and local law enforcement agencies use federal equitable sharing to circumvent their own state forfeiture laws when state laws are more burdensome or less financially rewarding to these agencies, providing additional evidence that police operations are influenced by financial incentives.     

行政给付中的信赖保护

行政法上之信赖保护主要适用于给付行政领域,是行政给付应当遵循的一项基本原则.信赖保护原则主要通过限制授益行政行为的随意改变来保护行政相对人的信赖利益.该原则不仅体现在行政给付的立法与政策的制定过程中,更主要的是作为具体行政行为程序法的基本原则贯穿在行政给付具体行为中的事实认定、法律适用以及给付决定的作出等整个行政给付行为过程中.同时,对信赖利益的实体性保护也是必须的,这主要涉及信赖保护方式的选择.     

美国军事司法体制

美国军事司法体制直接起源于英国的《战争条款》,这种体制强调军事指挥官对军事司法程序的控制,军事司法的独立性、公正性很难得到保障。《统一军事司法法典》的颁行,加强了军事司法的法律之治和对正当程序因素的吸收,增强了军事法官的独立性,保障了被告人的程序权利,从多个方面限制和制约了军事指挥官对军事司法程序的过多干涉和非法影响。军事指挥权和军事司法权的相互制约型塑了美国军事司法体制的基本结构,同时决定了纪律、秩序功能和公平、正义功能指导军事立法和司法的双重属性。研究美国军事司法体制的历史、结构与功能,对于促进全球新军事变革视野中的我军军事司法体制改革,具有重要的借鉴意义和参考价值。     

美国的保释制度

美国的保释制度是在继受英国的保释制度的基础上发展而来的。以保释是原则,羁押是例外为指导思想,并把保释权上升到宪法的高度,反对预防性羁押。近年来,随着犯罪率高升,美国开始对保释权有所限制。一、保释制度在美国的缘起美国学者关于保释内涵的理解直接来源于英国。从17世纪中叶开始,英国政治学、法学思想对美国的法律制度的确立产生很大的影响。尤其是有关自由、民主、法治、分权与制衡等学说与理论深深刺激了酷爱自由清教徒移民者,鉴于对政治国家仍然心有余悸以及对其不信任心理依然存在,注重个人基本权利的保护和反对酷刑的思想意识迅…     

美国邮轮旅客保护立法动态研究

美国是目前邮轮旅游立法比较完善的国家,其通过《邮轮安全与安保法》《国际邮轮旅客权利法案》等法律规制邮轮承运人,保障邮轮旅客的合法权益.2013年以来,美国相继制定《邮轮旅客保护法》及《邮轮旅客信任法案》等提案,对于邮轮旅客的权利保护作出了更为详尽和细致的规定.中国未来邮轮立法可从旅游、船舶建造技术、行政监管和邮轮旅游合同当事人权责方面借鉴美国邮轮法律制度.     

美国的替代监禁制度

自经历70年代犯罪高峰以来,美国的刑事司法体系发生了非常深刻的变化。警务模式、刑事审判、刑罚执行等各个领域在指导思想,基本理论以及具体的工作方式方面都在发生变化,各项改革措施纷纷出台。替代监禁是上世纪90年代以来美国各州地方法院刑事审判改革的一项比较成功的举措。     

The International Criminal Court and United States opposition

While the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been touted as the most fundamental development in international society to date, there has been relatively little criminological research examining the potential influence of the ICC. Additionally, criminologists have neglected the United States' responses to the ICC. Our purpose is to fill that gap by examining the United States' role in the development of, and subsequent reactions to, the ICC. Moreover, we draw upon Chambliss' Structural Contradictions Model to explicate processes within the development of International Law, thereby expanding its utility. We begin with a brief discussion of the most contentious elements of the ICC for the United States, sovereignty and jurisdiction, followed by a review of the theoretical model utilized in our analysis. We then discuss the role of the United States in the development of the ICC followed by the proceeding actions taken against the Court. We suggest how US withdrawal and legislative undermining of the ICC not only reflects the US ambiguous relationship with international law but also reveals some of the inherent limitations placed on the ICC as an international institution of formal social control. We conclude with a criminological analysis of the Court's potential based on the existing Rome Statute and the recent efforts of the U.S. to thwart its efficacy.Dawn L Rothe is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Western Michigan University. Her main research interests focus on White-Collar-Crime (state and transnational crimes), international law and institutions of social control, and criminological theory. Her recent work has appeared in Critical Criminology and Social Justice, and is the author of the forthcoming book Symbolic Gestures and the Generation of Social Control: the International Criminal Court published by Lexington.Christopher W. Mullins is an Assistant Professor of Criminology in the department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa. His research focuses on violence, especially interconnections between street culture, gender and street violence, as well as violence by corporations and nation-states. His work has appeared in Criminology, Critical Criminology, and Criminal Justice Review and is the author of two forthcoming books and several book chapters.     

当代美国的死刑制度

美国最高法院在1972年曾经宣布暂停死刑执行,但是在1976年又恢复了死刑的执行,目前美国是唯一仍然保留并适用死刑的所谓西方文明国家。美国联邦系统和38个州的刑法都规定了死刑,可以适用死刑的罪行还比较多,但是罪名相对比较集中;死刑诉讼程序严格且复杂;相对于美国庞大的犯罪数字,尤其是暴力犯罪而言,其死刑判决和实际执行死刑数量仍属较低;美国死刑执行方式呈现为以注射方式为主多种执行方法并存的特点。美国死刑程序复杂但是死刑错判率仍然较高。     

乞讨权在美国确立的过程

引言由孙志刚事件、《城市生活无着流浪乞讨人员救助管理办法》颁布实施、各地禁止乞讨规范出台所引发的关于乞讨权、乃至生存权的探讨曾经是媒体和学术界的一个共同热点。但近年来,这一话题不仅渐渐淡出媒体的视线,而且,也逐渐远离学者们的关注。〔1〕然而,如何对乞讨者以及乞     

美国仲裁制度的新发展

近年来,仲裁制度在其发展过程中,吸取了调解和审判的优点,演变出新的形式,在运用上更加灵活。尽管形式发生了演变,但随着经济的发展,仲裁在适用法律的层面上出现了许多新的问题。本文以美国为视角,对仲裁制度的发展进行了探讨,并试对《统一仲裁法》修改过程中出现的几个热点问题作简要的介绍分析。