When every relationship is above average

Marriage license applicants and law students were surveyed about their knowledge of divorce statutes, knowledge of the demographics of divorce, and expectations for their own marriage. Both groups had largely incorrect perceptions of the legal terms of the marriage contract as embodied in divorce statutes, but they had relatively accurate, if sometimes optimistic, perceptions of both the likelihood and the effects of divorce in the population at large. These same individuals expressed thoroughly idealistic expectations about both the longevity of their own marriages and the consequences should they personally be divorced. Increasing individuals' knowledge of divorce statutes through a course on family law did not diminish this unrealistic optimism. Both groups largely approved of the existing divorce statutes, although there was substantial agreement about a few important respects in which the laws should be changed. These findings suggest that the sense of unfairness and surprise that frequently attend divorce may be a result of systematic cognitive biases rather than of a lack of information about divorce.     

When is an assault not an assault? The Canadian public's attitudes towards wife and stranger assault

There is no distinction in the Canadian Criminal Code between assaults committed on strangers and assaults of spouses. Traditionally, however, wife assault has been considered a private affair, and it has been argued that this attitude continues to be reflected in the police response to domestic disputes. In this study of 240 adults'written responses to assault scenarios, the victim-offender relationship produced variations in ratings of seriousness, in the relative amounts of blame attributed to the victim and offender, and in the recommended police response. In general, nondomestic recidivist offenders tended to be treated most harshly by the subjects, as did offenders who assaulted their victims inside a private house. Additionally, female subjects gave higher ratings of seriousness of the offense, and considered future violence by the offender to be more likely, than did male subjects. The findings are explained in terms of the subjects' ability to identify with the offender, although the decision-making process in judging cases of assault is evidently complex. The implications of these findings for police officers with discretionary powers are considered.

     

Inspiration is not infringement

Features in a coin-operated arcade game ‘Pocket Money’inspired similar features in subsequent coin-operated games‘Jackpot Pool’ and ‘Trick Shot’, butdid not amount to copyright infringement as they did not forma substantial part of the original game.     

Massive, fatal aspiration of blood: not necessarily a result of trauma

We report the rare pathologic finding of massive, fatal aspiration of blood in an 82-year-old woman, originating from a ruptured atherosclerotic aneurysm of the ascending part of the thoracic aorta eroding into the left lung. This case demonstrates that lethal bilateral hemoaspiration does not necessarily have to be the result of trauma and that in such cases, the bleeding site does not have to be situated above the trachea.     

When the Public Interest is Not What Interests the Public

In response to the Federal Communications Commission's proposed changes to its electronic media ownership rules, thousands of concerned citizens filed e-mail comments to express their opinions. The chairman of the FCC at that time, Michael Powell, opined that such comments were too general to be seriously considered by the agency in making its decisions. Several indicia of effective participation in such proceedings have been established in the literature, including whether the comments provide specific information relevant to the issues being considered. This article analyses the e-mail comments filed in the FCC's ownership proceedings to determine whether they contain the kind of information that is considered necessary for meaningful public participation. While the comments generally addressed relevant topics in sometimes sophisticated ways, they did not present the kinds of specific information that the Commission uses to justify its expert opinions.     

When Morality Opposes Justice: Conservatives Have Moral Intuitions that Liberals may not Recognize

Researchers in moral psychology and social justice have agreed that morality is about matters of harm, rights, and justice. On this definition of morality, conservative opposition to social justice programs appears to be immoral, and has been explained as a product of various non-moral processes such as system justification or social dominance orientation. In this article we argue that, from an anthropological perspective, the moral domain is usually much broader, encompassing many more aspects of social life and valuing institutions as much or more than individuals. We present theoretical and empirical reasons for believing that there are five psychological systems that provide the foundations for the world’s many moralities. The five foundations are psychological preparations for detecting and reacting emotionally to issues related to harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. Political liberals have moral intuitions primarily based upon the first two foundations, and therefore misunderstand the moral motivations of political conservatives, who generally rely upon all five foundations.

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Comparative advertising is not trade mark infringement

The Court of Appeal has indicated that the use of a competitor'sregistered trade mark for comparative advertising is not trademark infringement.     

Case commentary: anonymisation is not exoneration

This case commentary analyses a ruling that any use of information given in confidence for unconsented purposes is a breach of confidence capable of supporting a legal action (even if the information has previously been anonymised and aggregated). The ruling is being appealed. It is argued that, while it is reasonable to delineate a narrower duty of confidentiality (not to disclose personal information, against breach of which anonymisation protects), this must be within a broad duty of confidence (not to use private information, which using anonymous information can still breach). Thus, the ruling is fundamentally correct in holding that anonymisation does not permit information obtained in confidence to be used for unconsented purposes. This, however, implies that information obtained for a patient's treatment may not be used lawfully for medical research or NHS management purposes without consent, even if it is anonymised. Such a consequence is unacceptable as a matter of public policy. However, it is equally unacceptable to seek an exemption through the idea that patients give "implied consent" for medical research and NHS management purposes. It is also unacceptable to maintain that the public interest in medical research (regardless of its aims) justifies unconsented use of information obtained in confidence, even if the information is anonymised. The way in which Section 33 of the Data Protection Act 1998 creates an exemption to its Second Data Protection Principle provides a ready-made model for a public interest based exemption for medical research and statistical NHS purposes.