Physicians' conflicts of interest in Japan and the United States: lessons for the United States

Japanese health policy shows that even with physician ownership and the absence of for-profit, investor-owned health care, physicians' conflicts of interest thrive. Physician dispensing of drugs and ownership of hospitals and clinics were justified in Japan as ways to avoid commercialization of medicine. Instead, they create physicians' conflicts and fuel patient overuse of services. Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) has responded by introducing per-diem payment, thereby creating incentives to decrease services in ways similar to those of American managed care organizations, but with none of their benefits, such as coordination of care, oversight of physicians practices, and quality assurance. Although the United States and Japanese health care systems are organized and financed differently there is convergence in the source of their physicians' conflicts and the way they are addressed. The United States is starting to integrate institutional and physician payment and align their incentives, in a traditional Japanese way. In so doing, the United States creates new physicians' conflicts and reduces the role of countervailing incentives and power, an advantage of previous policy. Japan, in turn, has combined incentives to increase and decrease services, thus moving closer to the U.S. policy.     

The Politics of Racial Disparity Reform: Racial Inequality and Criminal Justice Policymaking in the States

Racial inequalities in criminal justice are pressing problems for policymakers. Prior literature suggests elected officials promulgate punitive, racially disparate criminal justice policies due to partisanship and racial fears, but scholarship has yet to explain how and why elected officials address racial problems in criminal processing. This article introduces the framework of racial disparity reform policymaking. A racial disparity reform is a policy that seeks to reduce distinctions in criminal justice institutions’ treatment of racial groups. Elected officials pursue these policies due to ideological beliefs in civil rights ideals and political interests in appearing to solve social problems. Using an original database of policy enactments, this article first presents the distribution and types of reform measures adopted by elected officials in all 50 states between 1998 and 2011. It then examines social and political explanations for when state legislatures and executives adopt racial disparity reforms. Policy enactment is predicted by worsening problems of racial disproportion in criminal processing, Democratic control of elected branches, and the absence of judicial efforts to improve racial fairness within a state’s criminal justice system. Similar dynamics encourage the development of different measures types within policies. Such ideological and problem-solving explanations for racial disparity reform show a potential for elected officials to forge more racially just criminal justice practices.     

Fugitives in the United States

Little is known, empirically, about fugitives in the U.S. There is no research describing basic facts such as the prevalence of warrants or how features of warrants vary across geography or demographics of fugitives.PurposeTo (A) describe the prevalence of warrants in the U.S., including variation in warrant features across geography as well as demographics of fugitives (age, race, and gender). In addition, the paper (B) models a key feature of warrants (extradition limits) as a function of legal and extra-legal factors.MethodsThis study draws on the Wanted Persons file—the central operational database maintained by the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) for tracking warrants from all jurisdictions in the United States. Warrant factors are described across demographic groups via bivariate comparisons. Extradition is modeled via a multivariate fixed effects logistic regression framework (i.e., within state comparisons)ResultsThe data show approximately 2 million warrants are active on any given day. Warrant features vary significantly across states (per capita), and fugitive demographics. Extradition varies as a function of legal (e.g., crime seriousness) and extra-legal factors (e.g., race of fugitive).ConclusionsWarrants may provide an important new avenue for scholarship on disparity, criminal carreers, and the administration of justice.     

美国律师管理工作简况

一、美国的律师制度 美国律师业是一个相对比较古老的行业,已有近200年的发展历史。目前,美国律师现有从业人员将近200多万人,近1000人中就有1名律师。美国律师几乎参与到国家政治、经济、文化和公民社会生活的各个方面。参议员、众议员大多数都是律师出身,     

Community Penalties in the United States

The author discusses some background matters concerning the US criminal justice systems that may provide useful context for non-US readers, and summarises the main general conclusions about the operation of community penalties from two decades' research. He also briefly summarises research concerning each of the major penalties that have been attempted. Why American jurisdictions have been comparatively unsuccessful at use of community penalties as alternatives to incarceration and whether that lack of receptivity can be changed is discussed in the conclusion.     

Gun control in the United States

A.B., University of California, Berkeley, 1964; Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, 1970.     

Certifying Death in the United States

Accurately identifying death and its causes is integral to the compilation of mortality data and ultimately to the operation of the criminal justice and public health systems. A clear understanding of who is in charge of such processes is paramount to establishing the quality, or lack thereof, of the information provided in death certificates. Our study provides a comprehensive overview of all state statutes identifying death investigators charged with classifying and certifying death in the United States. We found that state statutes designate a broad range of individuals as responsible for the classification and certification of death. Those vary by state and set of circumstances and can include medical examiners, coroners, pathologists, other physicians, registered nurses, and more. Our findings highlight the important need for a unified standard of qualifications in the medico‐legal system, as well as, regulatory reform at the state level regarding who can complete and sign death certificates.     

美国司法中死刑的适用及其问题

死刑的保留和适用,不但在美国本上引起颇多争议,而且也受到了欧美国家和"世界人权观察”、"大赦国际”等国际组织的密切关注和尖锐的批评.本文将简要介绍美国适用死刑的基本情况及严重违反人权的问题,或许有助于我们认识美国"司法公正”的真相.     

中美两国对芬太尼类物质整类列管的刑法隐喻——以美国过罪化问题为视角

芬太尼类物质整类列管制度并非我国创举,其是中美贸易战背景下美国过罪化问题的衍生物,是美国类物质整类列管制度对我国毒品管制的强行附着,这容易导致我国刑法中的毒品范围无限扩大、普通化工原料与毒品难以界分。应对来源于美国的芬太尼类物质整类列管制度提高警惕,该类物质整类列管只是美国将民众注意力从过罪化问题成功转移至全国公共卫生问题的统治策略,目前美国仍在膨胀不断的刑法中寻求芬太尼滥用危机解决之道。