Patterns of Trauma Induced by Motorboat and Ferry Propellers as Illustrated by Three Known Cases from Rhode Island*

Abstract: Understanding patterns of trauma is important to determining cause and manner of death. A thorough evaluation of taphonomy, trauma, and bone fracture mechanisms is necessary to reconstruct the circumstances of the death. This study examines the skeletal trauma caused by boat propeller strikes in terms of wound characteristics and location based on three cases from Rhode Island. These case studies review the traumatic characteristics caused by propeller injuries and highlight the anatomic regions most likely to sustain skeletal trauma. With this information, investigators may be able to identify propeller trauma even in severely decomposed remains. The discussion of boat propeller trauma also raises issues regarding how forensic anthropologists and forensic pathologists classify trauma (specifically blunt force vs. sharp) and highlights semantic issues arising in trauma classification. The study also discusses why these propeller cases should be classified as blunt trauma rather than sharp or chop/hack trauma. Ultimately, the authors urge consistency and communication between pathologist and forensic anthropologists performing trauma analyses.     

The genesis of liability in ancient law

This article considers the emergence and evolution of punitiveand compensatory remedies in ancient law. I describe how ancientpractices of retaliation gradually evolved, through four generalphases, into rules requiring victim's compensation. I suggestthat the Biblical lex talionis ('eye for an eye...life for alife') and similar rules that emerged in other ancient legalsystems triggered an important change in the ancient law ofwrongs, marking the end of a system of retaliatory justice andthe emergence of a system based on victim's compensation. Thepaper addresses four related questions. (1) Why was a singlelimit of 1:1 to talionic penalties introduced across all categoriesof wrongdoing, replacing older customary practices that haddifferent multipliers according to the circumstances of thecase? (2) In the presence of imperfect enforcement, did the1:1 limit to retaliation result in underdeterrence? (3) Whydid the practices of literal talionis rapidly fall into disuseafter written formalization? (4) Where the kofer and blood-moneypayments made under a threat of literal retaliation likely togenerate overextraction from the wrongdoer and excessive deterrence?     

RICO: The genesis of an idea

In 1970, the Congress enacted the Organized Crime Control Act. Title IX of the 1970 Act is the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act or RICO. This Act had its origins in legislation going back as far as 1934, but coming forward to 1961. The 1970 Act borrowed ideas from this earlier legislation, principally “enterprise,” but also the use predicate statutes to define “racketeering activity.” The ideas are not new, but their combination affects how prosecutors and law enforcement agents investigate, try, and sanction violations of the Act. RICO’s drafting also reflects organizational theory and economic analysis. The investigation and prosecution of a single crime committed by an individual on a single day and in a single place maybe done using one set of procedural and evidentiary rules. Nevertheless, the investigation and prosecution of patterns of diverse offenses committed by, through, and against licit and illicit enterprises require sophisticated procedures, evidentiary rules, and criminal sanctions. In addition, antisocial conduct is more than a challenge to the administration of criminal justice; it also requires the full panoply of civil sanctions, including public injunctions as well private enforcement of injunctive relief and treble damages. RICO has had a profound effect on the prosecution of organized crime, white-collar crime, and other forms of similar criminal behavior. William J. & Dorothy K. O’Neill Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School; A.B. 1957, University of Notre Dame; J.D. 1960, Notre Dame Law School. Professor Blakey was the Chief Counsel of the Subcommittee on Criminal Laws and Procedures of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1969-70 when the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-542, 84 Stat. 922 (1970) was processed, Title IX of which is the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act or RICO. For a general treatment of the statute from a variety of perceptive, see the collection of law review literature in G. Robert Blakey & Kevin Roddy, “Reflections on Reves v. Ernst & Young: Its Meaning an Impact on Substantive, Accessory, Aiding, Abetting and Conspiracy Liability under RICO,” 33 Amer. Crim. L. Rev. 1345, 1348 n. 3(1996).     

汽车炸弹主动预防系统初探

如何应对汽车炸弹的恐怖袭击,是当今世界竭力研究的一个重大课题。在当前研究基础上,本文提出了一种综合应对方法——汽车炸弹主动预防系统,并对系统的组成、功用、要求、技术关键及发展方向做了一个系统的分析。通过分析,并结合当前技术实际得出结论,该系统切实可行,能完成对汽车炸弹恐怖袭击的主动预防,是一种很有研究前景的反恐系统。     

The Davis dilemma: how to prevent battles over frozen preembryos

Cryopreservation of preembryos, or the freezing of fertilized human eggs, is a procedure increasingly used by infertile couples to improve the odds of success of advanced reproductive technologies. As a consequence, divorcing couples are finding themselves in dispute over the disposition of frozen preembryos that have not been implanted. Courts have been called on to decide to whom the frozen preembryos should be awarded, but the law is unclear whether frozen preembryos should be treated as marital property, as children, or as something else. The author analyzes various arguments concerning the appropriate legal status of frozen preembryos, and suggests a new rule to settle such disputes.     

病理科如何防范医疗纠纷与事故

新的<医疗事故处理条例>已正式实施,依法行医是社会对医务人员的新要求,它对医务人员严守执业法规,防范医疗风险有了更大的约束力,对医务人员的医疗行为要求更高.病理科作为形态诊断学科,它的工作过程,结果的重要性、责任性,以及它在医疗事故鉴定中的特殊地位,都显得十分重要.在新的形势下,如何防范纠纷与事故,要求病理工作者必须以新的工作方式和责任应对.     

病理科如何防范医疗纠纷与事故

新的《医疗事故处理条例》已正式实施 ,依法行医是社会对医务人员的新要求 ,它对医务人员严守执业法规 ,防范医疗风险有了更大的约束力 ,对医务人员的医疗行为要求更高。病理科作为形态诊断学科 ,它的工作过程 ,结果的重要性、责任性 ,以及它在医疗事故鉴定中的特殊地位 ,都显得十分重要。在新的形势下 ,如何防范纠纷与事故 ,要求病理工作者必须以新的工作方式和责任应对。一、提高诊断准确性 ,是防范的根本病理诊断对临床诊治起着决定性作用 ,一个错误的诊断就可能导致严重的后果。因此 ,提高每一个诊断的准确性 ,是防范差医疗错与事故的根…