Discretionary Justice: Decision Making in a State Juvenile Parole Board

The literature in Criminal Justice is replete with commentary on both the virtues and injustices associated with adult parole board decision-making. There has been far less attention paid to juvenile parole boards in part because so few of them exist. Institutional release decisions in most states still remain the purview of juvenile institutional staff members. This paper examines parole Authority decision-making in a citizen-dominated state juvenile parole board. The paper focuses on the conduct of hearings, dispositional guidelines, criteria used by board members in decision-making and the advocacy role of parole officers and institutional staff. The influence of deinstitutionalization and least restrictive policies on parole Authority decision making is also discussed. During recent years, the literature in criminal justice has become replete with commentary on the virtues and injustices associated with parole board decision-making. Consequently, many questions have been raised about disparate sentences, the criteria used by parole boards in making decisions, unstructured discretion, and the pressing need for guidelines and statistically accurate parole prediction instruments. The intent of this paper is to examine parole decision-making in a state juvenile parole board where individualized treatment and rehabilitation have been long standing goals. The paper focuses upon the criteria used by board members in decision-making, the conduct of hearings, the guideline system used to determine a recommended length of confinement and the advocacy role of parole officers and institutional staff. The influence of deinstitutionalization and least restrictive policies on parole board decision-making is also discussed. The author is presently completing the second year of a two-year appointment as a member of the Parole Authority under discussion. Since December, 1983, the author has continuously observed and participated in approximately 300 individual parole hearings over thirty-seven hearing days.     

Ways of Improving State Guidance of Advocates

Collegia of advocates [advokaty] in the USSR are self-governing public organizations of professional lawyers, voluntarily associated, whose purpose is to provide defense services during the preliminary investigation and before the court, representation in civil cases in court and before the arbitration system, and other kinds of legal help to citizens, enterprises, institutions, and organizations. The collegia of advocates are social organizations of the independent type, occupying an important place in the system of political organization of Soviet society.     

Improving Outcomes for a Juvenile Justice Model Court: A Realist Evaluation

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the Erie County, New York, Juvenile Justice Model Court on court improvement and improved case outcomes for youth and families. A quasi‐experimental design was used within a realist evaluation paradigm, with four independent groups in four years. Court improvement was measured by the number of days between appearance and disposition, and improved case outcomes by the extent to which penetration into the juvenile justice system was reduced. Both outcomes were significantly improved, and it was found that the Model Court intervention was the main predictor for their improvement. Youth with reduced penetration had lower levels of recidivism.     

Making the State Responsible: Intersex Embodiment,Medical Jurisdiction,and State Responsibility

Through consideration of new developments in the United Kingdom's intersex policy, this article traces the ways in which responsibility is produced, naturalized, and avoided by individuals, institutions, and the state. Jurisdiction is identified as a barrier to the attribution of responsibility that must be overcome to achieve progress in relation to the needs of intersex people. By bringing together jurisdictional analysis and vulnerability theory, this article demonstrates how the state has traditionally abrogated responsibility by compartmentalizing specific practices as governed by medical authority. It highlights that such accounts mask the role of the state in the creation of jurisdiction and the ways in which governance is conducted. Challenging these boundaries allows vulnerability theorists to move the state towards greater levels of responsibility. By combining these theoretical tools, the article enhances the practical utility of vulnerability theory and advances an important agenda for intersex people.     

Domestic Violence and Asylum: Toward a Working Model of Affirmative State Obligations

While the 1951 Convention is no longer limited geographicallyand its definition of a refugee is not linked to any particularcrisis or place, the source of persecution and the role of thestate with respect thereto has proved problematic. Domesticviolence claims have suffered particularly because of theseshortcomings, as these cases have been uneasy fits within doctrine.Though the Convention definition ordinarily envisions the stateas persecutor, domestic violence follows a different course.Almost inevitably, its victims are persecuted by their husbands.As ‘non-state actors’, they have frequently andwrongly eluded the Convention norms, revealing a tragic protectiongap in the Convention. An asylum seeker must prove that shehas a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion,nationality, membership of a particular social group or politicalopinion. Despite the seriousness of the claim, if the reasonfor the threat does not lie in one of those five sources, aproper asylum claim has not been made. Worse, however, the sourceof the persecution, a non-state actor, often blocks Conventionprotection. This paper will analyze these stumbling blocks toasylum seekers. It will posit the notion that legitimate asylumseekers have been marginalized by their home countries, renderedvirtual non-citizens. Whether through complicity, neglect orsheer indifference or incompetence, these home countries are‘failed states’, failures in not having providedfull rights of citizenship throughout their populations. Inconjunction with that, it will examine the standards for determiningwhen the non-state actor is a persecutor within the Conventionsense. Finally, it will set out factors to be used to test thefailed state for litigation purposes.     

刑事政策视野中犯罪未完成形态立法模式的理性建构

犯罪未完成形态的立法模式是客观主义犯罪观和主观主义犯罪观在犯罪未完成形态上的立法体现。犯罪未完成形态立法模式不仅决定着犯罪圈的大小,而且征表和反映了国家的刑事政策取向和对不同行为的刑事政策态度。中国现行犯罪未完成形态立法模式的主要缺陷是:刑法总则的立法模式与分则的犯罪构成模式相矛盾;刑事立法对犯罪预备行为处罚的泛化和刑事司法对犯罪预备行为处罚的异化致使罪刑法定原则受到挑战;刑事立法对犯罪未遂行为处罚的主观化不当地扩张了可罚的未遂行为的范围。中国对犯罪未完成形态的立法模式应当进行如下改革:犯罪预备行为处罚的例外化;犯罪未遂行为处罚的客观化;犯罪中止行为认定的合理化。     

Improving the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Soviet State

In conjunction with the drafting of the new Constitution of the USSR, there is much of theoretical and practical value to be gained from discussion of the problem of further improvement of the administrative-territorial structure of the Soviet State and elaboration of specific proposals to establish it in law. The importance and complexity of these questions demand generalization of historical data on the territorial organization of the Soviet State analysis of the present administrative structure of the union republics and discovery of the laws governing the process under study.     

Legislative Demands for Bureaucratic Policymaking: The Case of State Medical Boards

Abstract While much is known about the relationship between Congress and regulatory agencies, there has been little examination of the role state legislatures play in the activities of state regulatory bodies, particularly those activities related to timely, salient policy issues. This article explores the relationship of state legislatures to medical boards, which are increasingly becoming more policy active. We find that state legislative involvement and influence are the most important determinants of policy‐active state medical boards; institutional elements play a secondary role. Major changes in the private health care delivery system affect legislative involvement and play an indirect role in predicting policy activism. We drew our data from a 50‐state survey of executive directors of state medical boards.     

Criminal Law beyond the State: The European Model

This article will analyse two models of criminal law beyond the State, which are here termed ‘eunomic’ and ‘dialogic’. It will then focus on one case study, European criminal law, which was inherently ‘dialogic’ until the last decade of the past century but has now quite unique features. In accordance with classic liberal views, criminal law has always been conceptualised as one of the most salient attributes of the sovereign State. The monopoly on the use of violence was to be legitimised by the State's concern for the sphere of autonomy of the individual. It is submitted in this article that it is precisely this condition that is lacking in the current European model, which promotes security‐oriented paradigms of self‐fulfilment and effectiveness. However, criminal law, if properly conceived, could in theory function as a powerful vehicle of integration.     

社区矫正：二元化刑事政策背景下的社区治理新模式探索

随着中国公民社会的兴起和“小政府、大社会”的政府改革方向，政府职能和权力突破了只在行政机关内部上下转移的框架，管理重心、权力向社会、社区和民间组织转移。社区，作为公民社会生活中一个最基本的稳定的社会单元，社区治理正打破传统的政府一体化统管局面，在现代公共行政管理中发挥着重要作用，而社区矫正，作为与监禁矫正相对的行刑方式，我们认为，应该成为发展和完善社区治理的一个重要契机，并且与社区治理相融合。本文将结合社区治理理论和刑事政策学，以此为切入点探索社区治理的新模式。     

The Influence of Lobbying Activityin State Legislatures: Evidence from Wisconsin

This study attempts to assess the degree of influence interest groups can exert on the state policy process, specifically via their lobbying activities. The analysis uses data from the 2005–06 Wisconsin Legislative Session to assess the association between lobbying activity and legislative outcomes in one state legislature. The study finds a direct association between lobbying activities and bill outcomes, while also exploring the potential influences of both key political actors and public attention. Public attention is found to reduce the effects of lobbying efforts, suggesting that lobbying is most effective when focused on less salient issues.     

Medical malpractice in the absence of a doctor-patient relationship: the potential liability of psychiatric examiners in New York State

In New York, psychiatrists (and all physicians) have a duty, in every circumstance with respect to such functions as they are required to undertake, to conduct themselves and all their examinations in a thorough and proper manner. Especially in a forensic setting, psychiatrists must bear in mind that they have a legal duty to perform a competent examination before they render an opinion. It is well established that malpractice liability does not require the preexistence of a doctor-patient relationship based on an undertaking for the purpose of treatment. The author discusses a long line of cases in New York State which holds that psychiatric examiners are potentially liable in malpractice for any breach of duty with respect to those functions that are undertaken. Failure to conduct a proper, careful, and competent examination may result in liability in a variety of areas: competency examinations, commitment proceedings, workers' compensation claims, and so on. Limitations on such malpractice liability are discussed. Unlike some jurisdictions, New York does not accord judicial immunity to psychiatric examiners.     

日本知识产权立国论评介

日本首相小泉纯一郎 2 0 0 2年 2月 4日在第 15 4届国会上发表施政演说时提出要将战略性地保护和利用知识产权、加强日本企业的国际竞争力以后 ,日本成立了知识产权战略会议 (2 0 0 2年 3月 )。该会提出了知识产权立国论 ,制定出《知识产权战略大纲》(2 0 0 2年 7月 ) ,国会还通过了《知识产权基本法》(2 0 0 2年 11月 )。设立了知识产权战略本部 (2 0 0 3年 3月 ) ,推出了《有关知识产权创造、保护及其利用的推进计划》(日本知识产权界称之为“知识产权战略推进计划” ,以下简称“推进计划”)。在短短的一年半时间里 ,日本政府已从提出政策…     

新世纪国家对农村教师队伍建设的特别性支持政策:成效、问题与建议

新世纪以来,国家实施了一系列支持农村教师队伍建设的政策措施.这些政策对发展农村教育具有重要意义.政策实施已取得积极成效,但也存在实践中的困境.当前,必须继续强化支持农村教师队伍建设的历史使命、实施对农村教师待遇的差别支持、构建有利于农村教师队伍建设的体制机制,不断完善农村教师队伍建设的国家支持政策.