The first amendment at the crossroads: Free expression and new media technology

A century and a half after it became part of the Constitution, the First Amendment finally began to fulfill its promise of protecting freedom of speech and press. Only in recent decades have courts extended that protection to a broad range of expressive activity. In an era of emerging media technology, courts will be called on to establish new constitutional principles to deal with the changing communications landscape. Once unleashed, the “new”; First Amendment standards will be available to change the legacy of landmark cases that some consider to be overly‐solicitous of freedom of speech and press. Protecting the First Amendment in the cyberspace era is best accomplished not by creating new standards, but by applying and thus preserving established First Amendment principles.     

Hispanics Incarcerated in State Correctional Facilities

Abstract

Criminological investigators have exhibited considerable interest in racial variations among prison inmates, variations in justice system responses to these racial groups, and related issues. However, there has been relatively little interest or research in ethnicity, particularly Hispanics. The category Hispanic is not consistently defined by ei-ther lay persons or scholars. In the media and elsewhere in the U.S., Hispanic is not consistently defined along racial lines, national origin, immigrant status, or language capacity, and, therefore, the term Hispanic has several meanings. This paper examines the characteristics of Hispanics, as an aggregate category and as subgroups, incarcerated in state cor-rectional facilities. The analysis argues that disaggregation of Hispanics into Hispanic subgroups is necessary to understand the diversity of their experiences with incarceration.     

Designating the official opposition in a Westminster parliamentary system

Of all Westminster‐type representative assemblies, Canada's presents an unusually high number of cases where parties rank equal in second place, disputing the role of official opposition, both in the aftermath of an election or during a parliamentary session when party fortunes change. Although exceptional, the phenomenon is not at all uncommon; however, the uncertainty that characterises each of its occurrences indicates that no general rule has ever been drawn from doctrine or jurisprudence, as attested by the latest (1999) decision rendered by Speaker Scott in Nova Scotia. Thus, speculation persists whenever the situation presents itself. This paper attempts some rulings based on the distinction of context proper to 12 historical cases studied. It may help remove the uncertainty that plagues democratic systems in Canada as well as in any other Westminster‐type legislatures around the world.     

Fitting stories into professional legal education—the missing ingredient

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE considers the absence of story‐telling from legal education in England and Wales. This important aspect of persuasion is quite thoroughly considered in the academic and professional legal literature of the USA and Australia, for example, but has received very little attention in England, specifically when one looks at professional legal education and training. Currently, the training programme for law graduates (who will qualify as barristers1) devotes considerable time to training in advocacy skills and often in case preparation as well but typically little or no time to the concept of story‐telling or story‐framing. These training programmes do not seek to inform our lawyers‐in‐waiting about the ways in which fact‐finders make decisions.

If one actively seeks information and learned comment on the topic of story‐telling, the legal trainer in England is forced to turn elsewhere, usually to the USA. Undoubtedly, research is ongoing in England on the topic of juror decision‐making but at present this tends to be the exclusive province of psychologists. This article will suggest that this topic is a vital missing ingredient in professional legal training in England and that space must be made for its inclusion in such training programmes. Consideration will be given to the most appropriate ways to facilitate this inclusion.

Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it.2     

A flying start for the agreement on the conservation of African‐Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA)

Abstract

In accordance with Article XIV the Agreement on the Conservation of African‐Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) entered into force on November 1, 1999 after the signature and ratification by the requisite fourteen Ranges States, comprising at least seven from Africa and seven from Eurasia. A few days later, the first Meeting of the Parties took place in Cape Town, South Africa. This article will provide a brief historical overview of the development of AEWA. However the main focus will be on what has occurred since November 1999 and what can be anticipated in the near‐term future.     

Saving journalism from itself (and from US): The Hutchins Commission was right then,so what about now?

Even though the Hutchins Commission report has not explicitly informed journalistic practices, it has achieved a profound effect in its critique of media access equity and its concerns about media ownership. This article revisits the commission report to interpret its relevance to current media problems. Despite its practical shortcomings of influence, the report continues to provoke a critical inquiry: How is it possible to reconcile a standard of “professional ethic” with the demands of a workaday journalism concerned with the marketplace bottom‐line?     

Constitutional considerations of the escrowed encryption standard

In the physical world, spaces are tangibly defined to secure privacy. The cyberspace equivalent of sealed envelopes and locked doors is encryption. Encryption uses hardware and/or software to ensure that electronic communication is not intercepted by unwelcome and unintended parties. The technology allows communicators transmitting across telephone lines to encode conversations or data.

Sophisticated encryption technology protects legitimate privacy, but it may also cloak illegal activities by obstructing electronic surveillance by law enforcement agencies. The Escrowed Encryption Standard is a federal plan to protect telephone and computer communication from illegal interception and allow government access to these communications for surveillance. This article examines the plan's possibly adverse impacts on constitutional rights, with specific attention to the First, Fourth and Fifth amendments.     

The V‐chip and cyber cops: Technology vs. regulation

This article explores the interests involved in regulating television violence and indecency on the Internet, and how those interests might be better served by receiver‐based filtering technology rather than the traditional content‐based sender control. Receiver‐based control technologies represent a promising opportunity to remedy an outdated system that relies on restrictions on expression at their source to regulate media content. Traditional source‐based content restrictions, while they served a purpose in the earlier days of broadcasting, are no longer the least restrictive means of protecting society from material that is offensive or inappropriate for some. Government speech restrictions are not only constitutionally disfavored, but may soon come under increased scrutiny by the courts, especially when the technological means are available to tailor program content to individual needs.     

Understanding sexual homicide

Abstract

Sexual homicide is a crime that receives much media attention, but one that still has a relatively small research base compared to other crimes. Although the idea of someone deriving sexual gratification from or during the killing of another is an anathema to many, forensic professionals need to understand sexual homicide and the range of circumstances and motivations that lie behind it. This paper explores this complex crime: it illustrates the various definitions and labels used; it suggests that sexual homicide is rare and is committed by individuals who, although having troubled histories, may not differ from other offenders. Then, by examining the various legal and behavioural circumstances in which sexual homicide can occur, this paper illustrates the diversity of sexual homicide and presents it in a more understandable manner. Finally, the paper suggests that knowledge of this diversity is required both for investigative and clinical purposes.     

Terms of service and bills of rights: new mechanisms of constitutionalisation in the social media environment?

ABSTRACT

From a cursory look at the terms of service of the main social networking websites, it is immediately possible to detect that Facebook’s show a peculiar configuration. Although they represent a mere contract between private parties, these terms adopt the traditional jargon of constitutional texts and articulate their contents in terms of rights, principles and duties. This curious pairing between norms regulating social media and the constitutional sphere is also apparent in a series of non-binding documents that are unequivocally named ‘bill of rights’ and seek to articulate a set of principles to protect social media users. This paper examines whether the emergence of a constitutional tone in this limited number of texts could be related to the effective, or aspirational, constitutional function that these documents exercise. The identification of a series of significant shortcomings will lead to exclude that social media’s terms of service and bills of rights of social media users currently play a constitutionalising role. Nevertheless, the possibility to theoretically justify the use of these documents as mechanisms of constitutionalisation in the social media environment will be adduced as an evidence of the potential constitutional aspirations of these texts.     

Government and education news

Abstract

The issue of feedback to students on assessment has been identified by many law schools as an area of high priority. Feedback to students is a key component of quality assessment, student progression and the academic experience of students. However, provision of high quality feedback is also a workload factor for lecturers.

Kingston University and Nottingham Trent University both have identified assessment feedback as an action area in their respective Learning and Teaching Strategies. The learning and teaching co‐ordinators within the Law Schools of these two universities decided to collaborate on a survey of the feedback techniques and practices used.

This study was undertaken to explore strategies to sustain and strengthen the quality of feedback in the context of larger classes, increased student numbers and pressure on resources. The aim was to establish the range of feedback and practices used and to identify student and staff perceptions of existing assessment feedback practices. Using semi‐structured questionnaires, data was collected and analysed in terms of the extent to which assessment feedback was perceived as effective, the extent to which these findings were consistent with the literature and to make recommendations on how assessment feedback could be enhanced.

Findings showed that students clearly distinguished between different features of assessment feedback and evaluated these differently, that there was little consistency in the perceived experience of assessment feedback, and that feedback given often did not meet students’ expectations. Staff perceived that giving good feedback was important but that students seldom acted on feedback. Staff also reported that giving individual written feedback was their preferred method although this is one of the most time‐consuming methods. The conclusions of the study offered practical ways of improving the quality and effectiveness of assessment feedback by revisiting established assumptions about feedback and raising students’ awareness of the various sources, forms and functions of assessment feedback.

For staff, larger classes, increased student diversity and diminishing resources mean that staff will need to work smarter, with regard to providing effective assessment feedback, if there is to be a consistently better student experience of assessment feedback.     

Book review essay

Prior research into the effects of racial diversity on workplace relationships has demonstrated that white workers prefer to work in and with groups which are also composed of white workers. Using structural equation models, we tested whether higher levels of racial diversity, measured as social distance from coworkers and inmates, were associated with lower evaluations of organizational commitment, teamwork among coworkers, and efficacy in dealing with inmates. We found the expected negative effects of racial diversity on white male correctional workers for organizational commitment, but not for teamwork and efficacy. For minority male correctional workers, racial diversity did not affect organizational commitment, teamwork, or efficacy.     

Regulating DAS Developments: Making Small Cells Work in a Macro World

Abstract

We are all familiar with the 120‐ to 200‐foot towers and monopoles with their triangular antenna arrays that have come to dot our landscape over the last 20 years. While these “macro” cell sites are not going away any time in the foreseeable future, new small cell deployments, known as DAS, or Distributed Antenna Systems, are increasingly being used by carriers and infrastructure providers to fill in coverage gaps and increase system capacity in congested areas. DAS equipment requires less power and can be located closer in proximity to its end users, often utilizing small form-factor antennas that can easily blend into their surroundings.     

Pattwena of harm: An analysis of gender and defamation

This article explores whether the law of defamation is gender‐specific. Through a quantitative and historical analysis of libel and slander cases, the study indicates that when women brought actions against those who assaulted their reputations their likelihood of being awarded judicial remedy was unalterably linked to their sexual identity. The study examined 278 appellate cases brought by both male and female plaintiffs during two decades in United States history when emergent women's rights movements were pronounced, the late 19th century and the mid‐20th century.     

Laying the foundation for institutionalisation of democratic parliaments in the newly independent states: The case of Ukraine

This article examines the institutionalisation of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, since the fall of the Soviet Union. The emergence of a popularly elected legislature in post‐Soviet Ukraine stands as a cornerstone in the development of a democratic regime. While the Verkhovna Rada is by no means a mature parliament, the foundation for future institutionalisation has been laid through the establishment of a representative political process, nascent political parties, a separation of powers between the executive and the legislature, and the policy‐making capacity of the Parliament.     

the death penalty: An American history

Stuart Banner's thoughtful book, The Death Penalty: An American History (2002), serves as the basis of this review essay which explores the forces shaping the nation's experiences with capital punishment. The essay traces Banner's account of important death penalty developments throughout American history and examines justifications traditionally offered in support of capital punishment, issues of administration, and execution protocols. It concludes by projecting that, consistent with historical trends and nagged by serious and recurring administrative problems, the death penalty in America will in due course become a thing of the past.     

Issues in Conducting Research on Crime Victimization

Abstract

There are many issues facing the non-Indian researcher who works with Native American subjects in Indian country. The impact of historical trauma, the history of Native American/United States government relations, and a history of exploitation are just some of the concerns facing non-Indian researchers. It is possible for non-Indian researchers to overcome tribal skepticism and resistance through the inclusion of tribal members in research design and implementation, cooperation with tribal research internal review boards, and respecting tribal values and beliefs. Native communities, as a result of past exploitation, may need reassurance that the research project will result in meaningful change or the development of resources in return for their participation.     

Freight train graffiti: Subculture,crime, dislocation

In the widespread and growing hip hop graffiti underground, a new subcultural practice has recently become popular: the illegal painting of graffiti on outbound freight trains as a means of sending graffiti images out from their initial, circumscribed points of production into wider circulation. Using ethnographic methods appropriate to such a fluid, dislocated, and visually rich subject of study, I examine the proliferation of freight train graffiti, and the cultural and historical dynamics surrounding it. I also document the ways in which freight train graffiti both reproduces and expands long-standing orientations in the hip hop graffiti underground toward spatial mobility and symbolic expansion. Finally, I explore a variety of cultural and theoretical trajectories that freight train graffiti suggests: the development of criminal and deviant subcultures as dislocated symbolic communities; the interweaving of crime, cultural space, media, and audience; and the emergence of postmodern or anarchistic forms of everyday criminality.     

Parliamentary party groups and their parties: A comparative assessment

This article presents a comparative study of the interrelationship between parliamentary party groups and their extra‐parliamentary party organisations in liberal democracies. Starting with a historical overview of the most important party changes that have taken place since the 1960s, a typology of parliamentary party/party organisation relations is suggested. The following variables are identified as being of particular importance in shaping the structure of power in political parties: position of parliament in the political system; (non‐)existence of the incompatibility rule; effects of the electoral system; competition structure and degree of polarisation of the party system; political culture; conditions under which parties emerged; (non‐)existence of public funding for parties; degree of professionalisation of the political elite.     

Turning over a new leaf? Cohesion and discipline in the Italian parliament

The literature on parties suggests various hypotheses about the conditions under which the cohesion and discipline of parliamentary parties will be greater or lesser. Since one such hypothesis concerns party‐system characteristics, Italy offers an opportunity to investigate what happens to cohesion and discipline when a system characterised by the permanence in office of a large, centrally located party and based on the permanent exclusion of left and right extremes, is replaced by one characterised by strong bi‐polar tendencies and the alternation in office of two competing coalitions. Italy's transformation appears to have produced more cohesive and disciplined behaviour in parliament.