If You Build It,They Will Fill It: The Consequences of Prison Overcrowding Litigation

This article examines the consequences of prison overcrowding litigation for U.S. prisons. We use insights derived from the endogeneity of law perspective to develop expectations about the likely impact of overcrowding litigation on five outcomes: prison admissions, prison releases, spending on prison capacity, prison crowding, and incarceration rates. Using newly available data on prison overcrowding litigation cases joined with panel data on U.S. states from 1971 to 1996, we offer a novel and comprehensive analysis of the impact that overcrowding litigation has had on U.S. prisons. We find that it had no impact on admissions or release rates and did not lead to any reduction in prison crowding. Litigation did, however, lead to an increase in spending on prison capacity and incarceration rates. We discuss the implications of these results for endogeneity of law theory, attempts to achieve reform through litigation, and the politics of prison construction.     

同案同判的宪政意义及其实证研究

同案同判应当是法律适用平等原则的体现。但本文对 1 1 0 7个案件的实证分析结果表明 ,应然的平等原则以及法律规范本身并不能成为同等法律适用对象之间的唯一等价物 ,仅仅根据某种情况适用了某个法律规范 ,并不能确切地预见同等情况也一定会适用同一法律规范。为此 ,本文提出了解决同案异判问题的两个对策     

If It Doesn't Fit,Throw Out the Old Pair and Get a New One

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Pretend It Doesn'T Work: The ‘Anti-Social’ Bias In The Maryland Scientific Methods Scale

The social constructs and methodological principles embodied in the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale (SMS), comprising part of the Campbell Collaboration in Crime and Justice assessment protocol, induce a series of biases in the evaluation of evidence of crime prevention policy interventions that focus on collective social phenomena, such as communities. Applying these principles leads to negative conclusions about effectiveness; yet their inherent ‘anti-social’ bias may induce Type II error with regard to the desirability of ‘social’ interventions to reduce crime. Policy-making is poorly served as a result. This point is illustrated, first, through a scrutiny of the social constructs used, including those that typify treatments, institutional settings and units of analysis. These are seen as being constructed in a way that is congenial to the underlying methodological issue of ‘control’ but that constitute nevertheless a distorted definition of the governance issues involved in crime reduction in community settings. A model more appropriate for evaluating voluntaristic action in civil society is needed. Second, it is suggested that this methodological bias arises particularly in policy interventions and change programmes that address issues concerning the ‘collective efficacy’ of local communities in reducing crime. An empirical exemplification of these arguments is presented with reference to a completed evaluation research study (Foster and Hope, 1993).     

It is Just Good Business: The Case for Supporting Reform in Divorce Court

This article examines the ways in which divorce and child custody proceedings can impact employee productivity and suggests that it behooves businesses to become involved in supporting efforts to improve the process—both as a matter of community service and because it can impact their bottom line. This article further outlines some improvements that are being implemented or considered in various jurisdictions.

Key Points for the Family Court Community
• Divorce does not just impact the parties and their children. It also impacts the work productivity of the individuals involved.
• The population of individuals seeking court involvement in child custody issues has changed, and new processes must be developed to address their needs.
• There are new ideas about how to restructure the divorce process in ways that could benefit both the individuals and their employers.

     

Racial Bias in Case Processing: Does Victim Race Affect Police Clearance of Violent Crime Incidents?

Prior studies have illustrated racial differences in perceptions of police legitimacy. African‐Americans’ views, however, appear to be complex, shaped by perceptions of over‐enforcement of crimes committed by African‐American offenders coupled with under‐enforcement of crimes involving African‐American victims. Using data from the 2002 National Incident‐Based Reporting System, we examine whether victim race (alone, and in combination with offender race) affects police case clearance of four types of violent criminal incidents (homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery) as a potential explanation of African‐Americans’ reduced levels of support for the police. Results suggest that the race of the victim, particularly in combination with the race of the offender, is related to police clearance of violent criminal incidents, but that this relationship is not as strong as those between agency, offense type, and situational characteristics of the incident. Implications for research and policy on police—community relations are discussed.     

From Planning to Prototypes: New Ways of Seeing Like a State

All states have pursued what James C. Scott characterised as modernist projects of legibility and simplification: maps, censuses, national economic plans and related legislative programs. Many, including Scott, have pointed out blindspots embedded in these tools. As such criticism persists, however, the synoptic style of law and development has changed. Governments, NGOs and international agencies now aspire to draw upon immense repositories of digital data. Modes of analysis too have changed. No longer is legibility a precondition for action. Law‐ and policy‐making are being informed by business development methods that prefer prototypes over plans. States and international institutions continue to plan, but also seek insight from the release of minimally viable policy mock‐ups. Familiar critiques of law and development work, and arguments for its reform, have limited purchase on these practices, Scott's included. Effective critical intervention in this field today requires careful attention to be paid to these emergent patterns of practice.     

析国家作为恐怖主义的主体问题

恐怖主义主体是否包含国家的问题是困惑恐怖主义法律定义的一个现实障碍。对此问题,发展中国家与西方发达国家认识不一,从历史看,国家恐怖主义是个人或组织团体恐怖主义的根源,而且国家恐怖主义的危害与当量是个人及团体恐怖主义所无法比拟的;学者的学说、国家和联合国内的反国家恐怖主义的努力也说明了国家恐怖主义犯罪的存在;国家的恐怖主义刑事责任追究可依公约以特殊方式进行;国际关系与国际政治行为的民主化与文明化,也要求坚持公理、正义与法律,要求反国家恐怖主义。     

It Takes a Coalition: The Community Impacts of Collaboration

Members of Congress frequently collaborate on policy initiatives, reaching out to colleagues in both parties to find common ground on solutions for the problems faced by their constituents. Using a novel dataset of over 30,000 “Dear Colleague” letters sent by members of the 111th Congress, I use the collaborative relationships that exist in the earliest stages of the policy process to measure the social influence of legislators. I demonstrate that districts represented by members of Congress who are better connected to their colleagues receive a greater share of federal grant money. I argue that this is because collaborative legislators are well‐positioned to be influential allies to strategic bureaucrats who want to maintain a broad base of support for their programs in Congress. Thus, devoting resources to building relationships with their colleagues is one way members of Congress can more effectively support the communities they represent.     

The Complexity of Hate Crime and Bias Activity: Variation across Contexts and Types of Bias

Are racially-motivated hate crimes, non-criminal bias incidents, and general forms of crime associated with the same structural factors? If so, then social disorganization, a powerful structural correlate of general crime, should predict rates of hate incidents. However, tests of social disorganization’s effects on racially-motivated hate crime yield inconsistent results. This study uses data from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) to explore such inconsistencies. Specifically, we assess the effects of social disorganization across contexts and types of bias motivation using bias incidents over 12 years. The results suggest that (a) social disorganization, particularly residential instability, is robustly correlated with rates of both hate crime and other prejudicial conduct, and that (b) the interactive effects of social disorganization help explain variations in incident rates by motivation type. Specifically, anti-black incidents are most frequent in unstable, homogeneous (i.e. white) and advantaged communities, while anti-white incidents are most frequent in unstable, disadvantaged communities.     

"Like a bird in a cage": Vietnamese women survivors talk about domestic violence

In recent years, a growing literature has emerged that explores the role of culture in domestic violence for ethnic minority populations, including immigrants and refugees. This article presents qualitative data collected from Vietnamese refugee women through a research project in partnership with the Refugee Women's Alliance in Seattle, Washington. Through the women's stories, their own self-awareness of domestic violence as Vietnamese women residing in the United States is available for reflection and review. Issues of acculturation, changing gender roles, examples of strength, and cultural persistence constitute the thematic structure within which these women articulate their needs for creating and sustaining a life free of abuse for themselves and their children.     

To Behave Like a Liar: Nonverbal Cues to Deception in an Asian Sample

The detection of deception is an essential yet challenging component of investigative interviewing. Behavioural cues to deception in particular, have long been used in investigative interviewing contexts to determine decisions of suspect veracity and deceit. Nevertheless, deception research amongst non-American or European populations has yet to fully explore the effectiveness of such non-verbal observations. This study may be the first to examine truth-lie behaviours involving South-East Asian participants. In this study conducted in Singapore, 68 participants completed either a mock criminal task or a non-criminal task, before encountering an investigative interviewing scenario in which they had to lie or tell the truth to the interviewer. The results showed that liars displayed significantly more head movements and less hand/finger movements, as well as reported more feelings of guilt, than truth-tellers. Implications for investigator training and criminal investigative procedures are discussed.