Criminal justice decision making as a stratification process: The role of race and stratification resources in pretrial release

Our purpose is to bridge the criminal justice and stratification research literatures and to pursue the argument that homologous structural principles stratify allocation processes across central institutions of American society. The principle observed here in the making of bail decisions, as in earlier studies of the allocation of earnings, is that stratification resources operate to the greater advantage of whites than blacks. The operation of this principle is established through the estimation of covariance structure models of pretrial release decisions affecting 5660 defendants in 10 federal courts. Education and income are treated in this study as observed components of a composite construct, stratification resources, which works to the greater advantage of whites. Prior record is also found to operate to the greater advantage of whites. Two further variables, dangerousness and community ties, increase bail severity among blacks and whites. While the effect of community ties has been legally legitimized since the Bail Reform Act of 1966, the effect of dangerousness was not so legitimized until the Bail Reform Act of 1984. However, because our data precede the latter act, they confirm that this act simply reinstitutionalized earlier practice. Meanwhile, our race-specific findings may explain why although this and earlier studies find negligible main effects of race on criminal justice outcomes, black Americans nonetheless perceive more criminal injustice than do whites. In the criminal justice system, as in other spheres of American society, whites receive a better return on their resources, but our findings that the statutory severity of the offense and dangerousness work to the relative disadvantage of white defendants challenges conflict and labeling theory's one-dimensional characterization of black defendant disadvantage.     

Perceived threat of crime,authoritarianism, and the rise of a populist president in the Philippines

President Duterte of the Philippines implemented an open “war” on drugs based upon claims of an over-proliferation of illegal drugs in the country. Despite summary killings of suspected users and dealers, Duterte enjoys popular support among Filipinos. This paper assesses reasons behind the support using citizens’ perceptions of the severity of the drugs/crime problem, their punitiveness, and authoritarian attitudes as explanations. A sample of 114 Filipinos across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao responded to an electronic survey about socio-legal issues. Results show that drugs/crime are perceived as serious problems nationally yet only minor problems locally. This perceived national seriousness is significantly related to support for Duterte. Trust in the law and enforcement agents, an authoritarian attitude, and region are also strongly related to support for Duterte. This paper concludes with reflections on information manipulation as means to advance political ends and the importance of context in furthering theories of authoritarian submission.     

Out of the woods: the illegal trade in tropical timber and a European trade hub

This article responds to the call for more empirical knowledge about transnational environmental crime by analysing the illegal trade in tropical timber. It aims to provide insights into the social organisation of the illegal transports of tropical timber within the local research setting of the port of Antwerp (Belgium) but meanwhile pays attention to elements throughout the flows from locations of origin over transit to destination. It is often difficult to determine which legal and illegal actors are involved in transnational environmental crime. This research sheds light on the legal–illegal interfaces in tropical timber flows connected to this European setting. The results show that the social organisation of transnational environmental crime is shaped by the global context of the places of origin, transit and destination, where it is continuously on a thin line between legal and illegal.     

从"环境监管失职第一案"看我国环境法治的缺陷

全国首例"环境监管失职案"暴露出我国环境法治建设中存在的诸多问题。这些问题包括:环保机关职责混淆,监督机制存在缺陷,环保市场不够规范,环境事故损害评价体系不科学等。     

The myth of success: the emergence and maintenance of a specialized gang unit in Stockholm,Sweden

Street gangs and organized crime groups pose a unique challenge to police departments across the globe. Given their penchant for public displays of affiliation through well-recognized signs and symbols, their presence is often associated with media attention and public scrutiny, which threatens the legitimacy of the police and creates added pressure to generate a specific and public response to the threat these groups pose. The current study documents how the Stockholm County, Sweden, police developed and maintained an anti-gang operation in response to an emerging gang problem. While police officials labeled the anti-gang initiative a success in the news media, analyses of prosecution statistics and internal police documents demonstrate a less than ideal effect of this operation. Potential reasons for the discrepancy in public pronouncements of programmatic success relative to evaluation of official data are discussed.     

疑案·存案·结案——从春阿氏案看清代疑案了结技术

清末春阿氏杀夫案在司法档案和纪实小说中有着不同版本。刑部、法部和大理院轮番审理,未能查出事实真相。大理院迫于结案的压力,以存案的方式了结了该案。判决书内容含混,而处理疑案的技艺则甚为高超。以疑案及其结案技术为切入点,重新审视并评价皇权下的司法实况,可以观察到司法现实复杂而生动的本来面目。     

疑难案件的法哲学争议——一种思想关系的视角

传统法理学将疑难案件当然地视为审判方法论的研究范畴,实际上这是一种误解,疑难案件不仅与审判方法论紧密相连,同时还不可避免地牵涉到法哲学的内容,此外它还是打通一般法理学与审判方法论的重要桥梁.     

作为一种集体记忆的浪漫主义——对浪漫主义的文学人类学解读

18世纪晚期,浪漫主义应对理性的危机应运而生.它从批判理性和对美的最高设定两个方面出发,借助于恢复人类的艺术信仰、解放人类的原始感情以及回归人类的原始本能,来纠正人类自身的失衡和畸变.它改写了人类片面和极端崇拜理性的历史,以自然、神话、民间文学等为武器建构了人类的审美的集体记忆.     

The impact of race and extra-legal factors in charging defendants with serious sexual assault: Findings from a five-year study of one Pennsylvania court jurisdiction

Research on sexual assault case processing remains mixed regarding how extra-legal factors such as the racial-ethnic composition of the defendant-victim dyad may impact prosecutorial decision-making. We use data from 2006–2010 in a Pennsylvania county court jurisdiction to examine the victim- and defendant-related factors that influence charging decisions. We also explore how the demographic and offense characteristics influence decisions to prosecute offenders for more serious types of sexual assault. Our findings indicate that the racial composition of the defendant-victim dyad contributed to the prosecutorial decision to charge an offender with a more serious sexual assault, while victim characteristics and use of violence during the offense were not related to seriousness of the charge.     

Legislative voting in the pork-dominant parliament: evidence from the Philippine House of Representatives

In this paper I investigate how legislators behave in extremely pork-oriented, or pork-dominant, systems where virtually no party-line voting takes place and politicians strive to deliver individual/local benefits instead of national public policies. I argue that, in the pork-dominant context, most legislators vote with the president, who controls access to the pork pipeline, irrespective of their party affiliations. Thus, the president’s party legislators should have little incentive to vote against the president, regardless of voter demands for pork or policy; however, sometimes opposition-party legislators elected particularly from more-developed districts (where voters often desire policy over pork) should have strong incentives to vote against the president. These arguments are supported with quantitative studies of the post-authoritarian Philippine House of Representatives. It is found that, in the highly homogeneous legislature dominated by pork-seeking politicians, (1) most bills are passed with unanimous or near-unanimous consent, (2) governing-party legislators almost always vote with the majority of the members of the parliament, regardless of voters’ socio-economic conditions, and (3) opposition-party legislators, especially in more-developed areas, tend to vote against the parliamentary majority. These findings indicate that voters’ high socio-economic status promotes programmatic accountability, leading their representatives to undermine voting unity within the extremely cohesive pork-dominant legislature.     

The size of the underground economy in Germany: a correction of the record and new evidence from the modified-cash-deposit-ratio approach

Based on the Ahumada et al. (Rev Income Wealth 53(2):363–371, 2007) critique we revise existing estimates of the size of the German underground economy. Among other things, it turns out that most of these estimates are untenable and that the tax pressure induced size of the German underground economy may be much lower than previously thought. To this extent, German policy and law makers have been misguided during the last three decades. Therefore, we introduce the Modified-Cash-Deposit-Ratio approach, which is not subject to the recent critique and apply it to Germany for the period 1960–2008.     

Describing the feasibility of using case management in a specialist forensic substance misuse intervention for UK veterans: a case study

Veterans with mental health problems are a high-risk group for substance misuse difficulties and are over-represented in forensic settings. Yet, there are few substance misuse services available for this population. Evidence suggests that case management can provide effective interventions for veterans with substance misuse problems. However, there is little research to show its effectiveness in the UK. The present study reported on the implementation and preliminary outcomes of the Veterans Forensic Substance Misuses Service (VFSMS), piloted within a prison setting, to demonstrate the feasibility of the service. The VFSMS operated in four stages: Assessing needs, developing case management plans, providing bespoke support and developing discharge plans. Case studies were used to demonstrate this process, with measures of alcohol use and recovery showing outcomes for each case. Findings from three case studies suggested that case management was a feasible approach, with a range of interventions being used, including substance misuse and mental health services, plus housing and employment services. Outcome measures suggested that alcohol and substance misuse recovery improved following the VFSMS intervention. While the scope of the findings is limited, they suggested that case management is a feasible substance misuse intervention, with preliminary findings showing improvements in substance misuse outcomes.     

法律心智:返回法律的生活世界——一种现象学的视角

科学的思维方法为研究法律提供了有效的路径,但是作为科学研究对象的法律却逐渐远离了对于人之生活的意义关照。虽然现象学语境下所构建的法律心智表现为一种理想模型,但最后实现的效果实质在于通过重塑立法者和裁判者的个人理解而将遮蔽的生活世界揭示出来,并推向"公共性",这将是现象学独有的洞察。现象学视角下的法律心智研究将引领我们返回法律的生活世界,这不仅将促使我们重新审视理性的担当和责任,而且将释放法律的"本真性",更重要的则是重塑公民的个人理解。     

徽州田野调查的个案分析——从“杀猪封山”看习惯的存留与效力

在中国传统的乡土社会里,法律渊源呈现出多元化的特征,除朝廷律令之外,传统习惯曾经是调整人们日常生活和民事行为的重要渊源。近几十年来,随着社会结构和社会性质的根本性转变,中国社会的法律与秩序也发生了深刻的变革。传统习惯在当代中国农村是否还存在?习惯是否与现代国家制定法相冲突?其在农村法治建设中的地位和作用怎样?这些问题都应引起我们法学研究的重视。通过对徽州农村民事习惯调查中的个案分析发现,在当今徽州农村仍然存留着大量的传统习惯,有些习惯甚至发挥着重要的法律效力。在当代中国农村的法治建设中,我们应当承认和重视发挥习惯的法律效力,探究那些“被冷落的真实”,为农村法治建设的发展寻找传统的动力。     

我国中央与地方权力配置基本理论探究——以对权力属性的分析为起点

在我国这样的单一制国家,地方权力的行使也不可避免,但在地方权力行使的同时我们对这种权力的属性却没能进行深入的研究,这使得地方与中央的权力关系很难理清,进而我们现在所进行的中央与地方的权力配置就具有某种盲目性。在我国,地方权力与中央权力一样都是在统治权力的权属与权能分离过程中治理权力行使的体现,只是两者的分工不同而已。为了使人民更好地行使统治权力,必须合理地配置中央与地方的权力。这种权力配置在静态上要求职权法定;同时,由于权力在行使过程中所表现出来的差异性,这种权力配置还要求动态的权能配置的法治化和权力行使的正当化。因此,我国中央与地方权力配置的应然状态就是通过静态的权限划分和动态的权能配置实现权力行使所指向的特定目的,而不至于陷入实用主义的泥沼。     

新时代法理：从冲突走向合作——建立法理型社会的法律社会学思考

以法律社会学的三大研究范式即功能主义、自由多元主义和马克思主义的社会观-国家观-法律观之间的主要差异——合作、竞争和冲突——为立论基础,论证了当代中国由马克思主义的冲突观转向功能主义的合作观的必需。依据这种＂从冲突走向合作＂的新时代法理,结合当代中国国家治理的六个基本法律问题,阐述了如何在关键转型上遵循新法律理性,从基调伦理与宪政改革上建立法理型社会秩序。     

Implicit judgments of rape cases: an experiment on the determinants and consequences of implicit evaluations in a rape case

Implicit evaluations reflect people’s gut response toward an attitude object and are based on associative processes. They are the starting ground for more reflective processes and subsequent explicit evaluations. The present research examined determinants and consequences of implicit evaluations in a rape case. Situational (i.e. specifics of the rape case) and personal factors (i.e. rape myth acceptance) were demonstrated to influence both explicit and implicit judgments of the rape case. Moreover, sex of participant influenced participants’ implicit evaluations but affected explicit judgments only indirectly via the implicit evaluation. People’s gut response was shown to affect their explicit judgment of the case, and this effect was particularly pronounced for people with a low need for cognition (i.e. people who do not like to engage in effortful processing). The discussion focuses on the role of implicit cognition and implicit biases in judicial decision-making.