Cops and Robbers: Selective Literalism in American Criminal Law

Police often ask people to consent to a search of their person or possessions. Many people agree to allow such searches because they interpret the officers' ostensible "requests" as indirect commands. Yet courts routinely interpret police utterances in this situation as requests. A similar issue arises in the context of custodial interrogation. People being interrogated are inclined to invoke their right to counsel in relatively indirect or tentative terms. Yet courts often conclude that the suspect did not really "request" the presence of counsel. We refer to this inconsistency as "selective literalism," by which we mean that courts selectively consider pragmatic circumstances in interpreting the speech of suspects. Using analytical tools from linguistic theory, this article explores how courts employ selective literalism. It further examines some of the consequences of this inconsistent use of interpretive devices, both practically and jurisprudentially.     

Cameras in the courtroom

The present experiment examined some of the key psychological issues associated with electronic media coverage (EMC) of courtroom trials. Undergraduate student subjects served as eitherwitnesses orjurors in one of three types of trials:EMC, in which a video camera was present; conventional media coverage (CMC), in which a journalist was present; or, ano-media control, in which no media representative or equipment was present. Students who served as witnesses first viewed a 5-min videotape of a reenacted armed robbery. Days later, these students testified as witnesses to the crime in front of a jury of peers. Measures assessed the following: witness and juror attitudes toward EMC, witness report and juror perceptions of nervousness and media distraction, juror perceptions of witness testimony, and witnesses' ability to accurately recall aspects of the crime event. Results showed that EMC witnesses and jurors had significantly more favorable attitudes toward EMC than participants in the other two conditions. And, although EMC witnesses and jurors both reported greater witness nervousness, distraction, and awareness than those in the CMC condition, the EMC experience did not impair witnesses' ability to accurately recall the details of the crime or witnesses' ability to communicate effectively. The psychological and legal policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Real Interrogation: What Actually Happens When Cops Question Kids

Although the Supreme Court repeatedly cautioned that youthfulness adversely affects juveniles' ability to exercise Miranda rights or make voluntary statements, it endorsed the adult waiver standard—knowing, intelligent, and voluntary—to gauge juveniles' Miranda waivers. By contrast, developmental psychologists question whether young people understand or possess the competence necessary to exercise Miranda rights. This article analyzes quantitative and qualitative data of interrogations of three hundred and seven (307) sixteen‐ and seventeen‐year old youths charged with felony offenses. It reports how police secure Miranda waivers, the tactics they use to elicit information, and the evidence youths provide. The findings bear on three policy issues—procedural safeguards for youths, time limits for interrogations, and mandatory recording of interrogations.     

Cops and drivers: Police discretion and the enforcement of Maine's 1981 OUI law

This study examined police discretionary behavior in stopping and arresting drivers suspected of drunken driving in the state of Maine (U.S.A.). A sample of 186 officers was questioned at the beginning and end of a one-year period with respect to their attitudes toward OUI (Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol) law enforcement and their discretionary behavior in regard to OUI.Significant minorities of police officers reported that they made decisions either not to apprehend (thirty-three percent) or not to arrest (forty-one percent) OUI suspects in the study year. Officers who reported discretionary decisions not to apprehend or arrest generally did so infrequently—i.e. five percent of possible apprehensions and ten percent of possible arrests.Type of police department was significantly associated with decisions not to stop OUI suspects: officers in large departments ( ≥ 20 officers) reported more discretion. Officers with longer service careers, administration responsibilities, high personal priorities on OUI enforcement, and favorable opinions of the climate of OUI enforcement were less likely not to arrest OUI suspects.     

Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement

PurposeThere has been a recent surge in the adoption of and media attention to the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement. Despite this increase in use and media attention, there is little to no research on officer perceptions of body-worn cameras.MethodsThis study relies on baseline data of officer perceptions toward body-worn cameras collected from surveys administered to Orlando Police officers who are participants in a randomized experiment evaluating the impact of body-worn cameras (Taser AXON Flex) in law enforcement.ResultsResults suggest that police officers are, by and large, open to and supportive of the use of body-worn cameras in policing, they would feel comfortable wearing them, and that they perceive a potential for benefits of body-worn cameras in improving citizen behavior, their own behavior, and the behavior of their fellow officers.ConclusionsOfficers are generally supportive of body-worn cameras, and they hold perceptions that these devices can be beneficial in positively affecting relevant outcomes. Study limitations and implications are also discussed.     

集团诉讼中的律师：私人检察官抑或私利牟取者？

最近的调查显示,公众对集团诉讼制度的不信任正在增长。必须对集团诉讼制度做点什么的感觉不断增强,直至最近在两党连立的《集团诉讼公平法》的讨论过程中达到了顶峰,这部立法扩大了联邦法院对州际集团诉讼的权限,同时要求联邦法院谨慎审查代币券和解协议。寻求利益的集团诉讼律师及其在诉讼启动、选择以及和解方面伴随的努力。基于这一原因,私人检察官类比理论的支持者很少主张国家检察官缺乏启动旨在维护公共利益之诉讼的权力。然而近年来情况变得更加复杂,因为许多国家检察官积极联合私人原告律师启动消费者欺诈诉讼和反托拉斯诉讼。各州已经在尝试的方法有:(1)在私人律师选择方面强制增加竞标程序;(2)禁止受雇于国家检察官的私人律师接受胜诉酬金协议;(3)禁止向国家检察官竞选捐资的律师与那些检察官进行诉讼上的合作。     

Police Body-Worn Cameras: Perceptions of Law Enforcement Leadership

Many people are enthusiastic about the potential benefits of police body-worn cameras (BWC). Despite this enthusiasm, however, there has been no research on law enforcement command staff perceptions of BWCs. Given the importance that law enforcement leadership plays in the decision to adopt and implement BWCs, it is necessary to assess their perceptions. This is the first study to measure law enforcement leadership attitudes toward BWCs. The study relies on data collected from surveys administered to command staff representing local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in a large southern county. Among the major perceptual findings are that command staff believe BWCs will impact police officers’ decisions to use force in encounters with citizens and police will be more reluctant to use necessary force in encounters with the public. Respondents also believe that use of BWCs is supported by the public because society does not trust police, media will use BWC data to embarrass police, and pressure to implement BWCs comes from the media. Perceptions of the impact of BWCs on safety, privacy, and police effectiveness are also discussed.     

英国:新法限制监控摄像头使用

安装监控摄像头的初衷是用来对付恐怖分子,打击犯罪行为。然而,无处不在的摄像头也引发了人们对隐私安全的担忧。为了对政府机构和警察使用监控摄像头的行为进行限制,让国民确信监控摄像头的设置在于"保护和帮助民众,而非监视",英国内政部此前公布一项行为规则,于近日开始在英格兰和威尔士地区实行。     

视频侦查中多摄像头下嫌疑目标同一的概率研究

目的视频侦查中的时空轨迹信息是很多案件侦破的关键,但在证据准备和法庭质证阶段,如何使用这些信息目前并没有方法依据。本文针对视频侦查中轨迹信息的证据转化问题,开展理论分析,建立概率方法。方法结合视频侦查的典型过程,定义了摄像头下人物的人体、衣着和交通工具等特征;对不同的特征根据其出现的可能性进行针对性的概率估计以得到概率上限,对多摄像头下嫌疑人作案和逃窜过程的概率进行表示;基于图模型构造贝叶斯网络对轨迹追踪问题进行建模,并对模型利用贝叶斯网络特性进行求解,以得到似然比结果。结果结合视频侦查场景给出了问题中似然比的公式和近似计算方法。1)通过分解提出时段、时序和方向假设建立了一种时空特征概率模型分析方法;2)提出了视频图像中衣服、人体、交通工具特征的概率分析思路框架;3)得到了假设条件下的似然比结果;4)给出了假设条件对概率计算的影响,讨论了实际应用中后验比估计的方法及方法的使用限制因素。结论本文建立的理论分析方法首次为视频追踪结果的证据应用提供量化参考模型,从概率的角度解释了视频轨迹追踪结果为什么可以成为证据,有助于提升视频追踪证据的证明力:基于视频中能观察到的常见的十二个特征(体态、上衣颜色、上衣纹理、上衣款式、裤子款式、裤子颜色、鞋子款式、鞋子颜色、头发长度、摩托车款式、摩托车颜色、摩托车行李箱样式)的条件,对于具有相同特征的目标依次出现在三个摄像头下(摄像头之间没有分叉路口)的案例,计算得到的似然比(第一个摄像头下的目标与第三个摄像头下的目标为同一目标和不同目标条件下,出现给定特征的可能性之比)下限超过10;量级。     

Body-Worn Cameras and Citizen Interactions with Police Officers: Estimating Plausible Effects Given Varying Compliance Levels

Recent citizen deaths involving police use of force have increased discussion surrounding police accountability and community relations. One piece of this discussion is the use of body worn cameras (BWCs) by officers. Unfortunately, little rigorous research has been conducted to estimate the effectiveness of BWCs in reducing problematic police-citizen interactions. In this paper, we estimate two measures of effectiveness of BWCs by comparing incidents that occur in a squad assigned cameras to incidents that occur in a squad assigned control. First, we estimate the effect of being assigned a BWC (but not necessarily using the camera) on reducing complaints and resistance associated with incidents. Second, we employ data on BWC use to estimate the effect of cameras if they were used with full compliance. Together, these two estimates provide a plausible range of effectiveness that policymakers can expect from BWCs. We find that BWCs have no effect on the rate of arrest or resistance, but can substantially reduce complaints.     

The Value of CCTV Surveillance Cameras as an Investigative Tool: An Empirical Analysis

There has been extensive research on the value of closed-circuit television (CCTV) for preventing crime, but little on its value as an investigative tool. This study sought to establish how often CCTV provides useful evidence and how this is affected by circumstances, analysing 251,195 crimes recorded by British Transport Police that occurred on the British railway network between 2011 and 2015. CCTV was available to investigators in 45% of cases and judged to be useful in 29% (65% of cases in which it was available). Useful CCTV was associated with significantly increased chances of crimes being solved for all crime types except drugs/weapons possession and fraud. Images were more likely to be available for more-serious crimes, and less likely to be available for cases occurring at unknown times or in certain types of locations. Although this research was limited to offences on railways, it appears that CCTV is a powerful investigative tool for many types of crime. The usefulness of CCTV is limited by several factors, most notably the number of public areas not covered. Several recommendations for increasing the usefulness of CCTV are discussed.     

Characterization of Digital Cameras for Reflected Ultraviolet Photography; Implications for Qualitative and Quantitative Image Analysis During Forensic Examination

Reflected ultraviolet imaging techniques allow for the visualization of evidence normally outside the human visible spectrum. Specialized digital cameras possessing extended sensitivity can be used for recording reflected ultraviolet radiation. Currently, there is a lack of standardized methods for ultraviolet image recording and processing using digital cameras, potentially limiting the implementation and interpretation. A methodology is presented for processing ultraviolet images based on linear responses and the sensitivity of the respective color channels. The methodology is applied to a FujiS3 UVIR camera, and a modified Nikon D70s camera, to reconstruct their respective spectral sensitivity curves between 320 and 400 nm. This method results in images with low noise and high contrast, suitable for qualitative and/or quantitative analysis. The application of this methodology is demonstrated in the recording of latent fingerprints.     

流浪乞讨与管制--从贫困救助看中央与地方权限的界定

随着《收容遣送办法》的废止,个人自由权利与社会治安秩序之间的现实冲突比过去更为突显。应转变中央和地方关系的传统思维,在允许地方更多自主权和选择权的同时,更充分地保障公民个人的宪法基本权利。无论是中央和地方关系的法律界定,还是公民权利的宪法保障,都要求建立独立的司法机构以审查地方立法的有效性。     

Implementing and evaluating crime prevention and control programs and policies

The history of crime prevention and control efforts in the United States has demonstrated little progressive improvement in our ability to deter crime. The major obstacles to implementing effective interventions and policies have been a weak scientific knowledge base about how to prevent crime, the research community's inability to effectively disseminate what is known about the causes of crime and to translate this knowledge into operational programs and policies, and a resistance on the part of practitioners and policy makers to evaluate programs and policies and to use this information in the development of new programs and policies. In the last decade, there have been major advances in our understanding about the causes of crime and we have now demonstrated the effectiveness of selected prevention programs. But there is little evidence that this scientific knowledge is informing current practice or policy. Problems in the dissemination of this information and the resistance to utilizing it remain. These problems are discussed and suggestions are made for addressing them. Our knowledge base remains modest, but it is now sufficient to inform policy and practice. The research community must work to do a better job of disseminating this information and overcoming the resistance to utilizing it before we will be successful in implementing effective crime prevention programs and policies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Accommodation and Satisfaction: Women and Men Lawyers and the Balance of Work and Family

This study of graduates of the University of Michigan Law School from the late 1970s reports on the differing ways that women and men have responded to the conflicting claims of work and family. It finds that women with children who have entered the profession have indeed continued to bear the principal responsibilities for the care of children, but it also finds that these women, with all their burdens, are more satisfied with their careers and with the balance of their family and professional lives than other women and than men.     

International aid,trade and investment and access and allocation

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The access to goods and their allocation (who gets what, when, where and how) is one of the analytical problems of the 2009...