Recidivism and the Propensity to Forgo Parole Release

This study investigates whether inmates who are unconditionally released at the end of their sentence because they opt out of the parole process could potentially benefit from community supervision. This research was conducted in response to a recently passed law in the state of New Jersey that targets this group for a mandatory six-month term of parole. The study uses propensity scores to match this group to discretionarily released parolees in order to simulate random assignment. Results indicate that those who voluntarily forgo parole consideration are significantly less successful after release according to several measures of recidivism, including rearrests, reconvictions, and community tenure. However, between-group differences are small. Findings suggest that some form of supervision may be beneficial for this group, but likely not in the fashion that is explicated in the current law.     

The Abuse Disability Questionnaire: Internal Consistency and Validity Considerations in Two Samples

Comparative psychometric information on the Abuse Disability Questionnaire (ADQ), given to women who were receiving services from domestic violence shelters, was presented. The total score of the ADQ and its subscale scores for Relationship Disability, Life Restriction, Psychological Dysfunction, and Health Status Issues demonstrated adequate internal consistency across two shelter samples. Further construct validation was evidenced by the relationship found between self-esteem and impairment, and also between prior abuse and impairment. Additional research to establish the utility of the Abuse Disability Questionnaire as a research and/or clinical instrument was proposed.     

Race and Juvenile Incarceration: A Propensity Score Matching Examination

Disproportionate minority contact is an important issue in contemporary juvenile justice. Few studies have directly examined the link between race and judicial decision to incarceration. Using official data from Pennsylvania (n?=?41,561), this study added to this literature in two ways. This study used propensity score matching to obtain a purer estimate of the influence race has on the decision to petition a case to juvenile court. The results indicated that prosecutors use perceptual shorthand in making this decision that hinges on race. Specifically, blacks were more 1.28 times more likely than whites to have their case petitioned to juvenile court.     

Race and Ethnicity Effects in Federal Sentencing: A Propensity Score Analysis

Research has examined the role of race and ethnicity in the punishment of offenders. Narrative and meta-analytic reviews have indicated that race/ethnicity influences key sentencing outcomes, at least under certain conditions. This research relies almost exclusively on regression-based analyses for determining race and ethnicity effects. While this technique is useful, recent statistical advances may provide more accurate race/ethnicity estimates. The current study employs propensity score analysis to compare punishment outcomes across White, Black, and Hispanic offenders sentenced in US federal courts during the years 2006 through 2008. Results suggest that (a) during the in/out decision the effect of minority status is frequently smaller than that estimated by regression modeling and (b) during the sentence length decision the effect of minority status is frequently larger than that estimated by regression modeling. Consequently, the modeling strategy may produce different conclusions regarding the presence of race- and ethnic-based disparity in sentencing outcomes.     

Using Propensity Score Matching to Understand the Relationship between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization: A Research Note

Due to methodological limitations, such as unmatched gang samples and a lack of longitudinal investigations, it remains unresolved whether joining a gang leads to future violent victimization or both share a set of common causes. Guided by selection, facilitation, and enhancement perspectives, the current study applied Propensity Score Matching on data from the Gang Resistance Education and Training longitudinal study to investigate the nature of the gang‐violent victimization relationship. Results indicated antecedent differences between those who did and did not join gangs, particularly violent victimization and delinquency. When gang and non‐gang members with similar propensities for joining were matched, the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization dissipated. Findings suggest policy attention to early delinquency and victimization risk factors generally.     

Revisiting the Use of Propensity Score Matching to Understand the Relationship between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization: A Cautionary Note

Previous research has consistently reported that gang members are more likely to experience violent victimization compared to non‐gang members. Recently, however, a study challenged this conventional wisdom using the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) data. Employing propensity score matching (PSM), this study reported no significant differences in violent victimization between gang and non‐gang members. Upon closer examination of the GREAT data and the PSM process used in this study, we note several theoretical, methodological, and statistical concerns. We reanalyze the GREAT data using both negative binomial regression and PSM. We find that self‐reported gang members were significantly more likely to report subsequent violent victimization compared to non‐gang members. Although contrary to this previous study, our findings are consistent with the bulk of previous empirical research and widely held beliefs about the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization.     

Arresting Statistics: The Drift to Informal Justice in England and Wales

This paper re-examines some of the current theoretical models and paradigms of criminal justice in England and Wales based on an analysis of national arrest statistics between 1981 and 1997. The data show that there has been a large increase in the number of arrests in the period but the number of people prosecuted has declined. An increasing number of people are being arrested and released without any further action. The principal argument is that there has been a radical shift in power away from the formal open and public system of justice towards a more informal closed system. The paper concludes that while these trends lend support to a number of theoretical perspectives on the criminal justice process, particularly Choongh's social disciplinary model, the radical transformation which has taken place in the form of criminal justice can only be understood within the broader politics and economic structures of modern Britain.     

A Test of Sex Estimation in Subadults Using the Elevation of the Auricular Surface from Four Samples of Known Age and Sex

Biological sex is foundational to the work of forensic anthropologists and bioarcheologists. The lack of reliable biological sex estimation methods for subadults has, thus, greatly limited forensic and bioarcheological analyses. Auricular surface elevation showed promise as a subadult sex estimation method in previous studies. This study examined two auricular surface elevation evaluation methods on four subadult samples of known age, sex, and ancestry. Samples were scored as “male,” “female,” or “indeterminate” and results were examined with chi‐square analysis. No consistent sex estimation pattern, accuracy, or predictive value was produced between samples. Only one test was significant using Fisher's exact test analysis (FET = 7.501, p < 0.022): the composite approach on the Hamann‐Todd sample. While age, sample size, or developmental factors may play a role in these results, clearly sample variation does as well. This study found auricular surface elevation was not a useful subadult sex estimation method.     

城镇规划区违建执法困境及其解释——国家能力的视角

既有理论框架难以全面解释违建执法的困境.实际上,违建执法的困境反映执法领域国家能力的不足.从执法的结构和过程看,国家能力不足表现在多个层面:执法机构的"孤岛现象"普遍,不同机构之间难以有效合作;一线执法人员的素养欠缺,且其工作难以被执法机构有效考核;执法人员在进入社区空间、处理执法事务时受阻严重.由于国家能力的不足,执法人员常常接受执法对象的讨价还价,违建执法表现出"日常惰性—专项治理"的循环结构,强力执法与违法不究处于共生状态.改善社会治理,需要在执法领域强化国家能力,需要从执法机构、执法人员及其与社会的互动等多方面着手.     

A Test of Two Methods of Recall for Violent Events

This project took advantage of an opportunity to test the comparability of two different methods for collecting self-reports of violent incidents. Using a life events calendar (LEC) approach, we collected data from individuals about violent incidents that occurred within a 1–3-year prior time period. These individuals had been research participants in a previous study that collected information about violent incidents using prospective, weekly interviews. Results using the LEC method were compared with the weekly self-reports of violence for an overlapping recall period. This allowed us to see how well the recall of violent incidents at a later date mapped onto reports obtained within seven days of any incidents. Overall results show a significant amount of under-reporting using the life-event calendar methodology compared to the weekly interview approach, but some higher concordance of reporting was found for serious rather than minor violence.     

Informal Circles of Ministers: A Way Out of the EU's Institutional Dilemmas?

This contribution argues that the particular relevance of informal circles of ministers lies in their ability to routinise and communise the process of the interpretation of constitutional norms at the intergovernmental level. The informal setting triggers a particular mode of interaction—deliberative intergovernmentalism. In the case of economic policy coordination among the euro–zone countries, which is analysed in this article, this interaction produces common standards for the assessment of the economic situation in the member states and guidelines on appropriate policy responses in particular budgetary and economic situations. In a situation, in which there is growing need for closer policy coordination but European Union member states are reluctant to transfer further decision–making competences to the supranational level, the mediation between diverging interpretations of the rather 'thin' formal constitutional norms governing the coordination process is crucial in order to ensure the overall stability of the coordination framework. Informal circles of ministers can therefore be a way out of the current institutional dilemmas arising from the attitude of national governments to move towards new areas of common engagement while being increasingly reluctant to transfer further formal decision–making competences to the supranational level.     

An Examination of Defendant Sex Disparity in Capital Sentencing: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

Although much prior work has examined the influence of extralegal factors on jury capital sentencing decision-making, the influence of defendant sex has been largely omitted from previous investigations. Using propensity score matching methods, the current study analyzes data from the North Carolina Capital Sentencing Project to examine whether “sex matters” in capital sentencing. Findings demonstrated that prior to matching there was a significant difference in the likelihood of receiving the death penalty for female and male defendant cases; however, after matching cases on an array of legal and extralegal case characteristics, these differences were no longer significant. Further results revealed that male defendants’ cases included different aggravating and mitigating factors than female defendants’ cases and that female defendants had limited “paths” to capital trials. Findings suggest that any apparent sex effects that are observed in capital sentencing stem from real differences in the case characteristics found in female and male defendants’ cases rather than any direct effects of defendant sex on jury decision-making. Study limitations and implications for death penalty research are also discussed.     

论“不强迫自证其罪”条款的解释与适用——《刑事诉讼法》解释的策略与技术

修正后的《刑事诉讼法》第50条明确规定"不得强迫任何人证实自己有罪",但是,关于该条款究竟是否赋予了被追诉人沉默权,理论界和实务界产生了认识上的分歧,由此导致"不强迫自证其罪"条款在我国司法实务中的运作前景存在一定的模糊性,其立法效果有待观察。在司法实务中正确适用"不强迫自证其罪"条款,关键是坚持运用正确的法律解释方法。     

Networking in the Shadow of the Law: Informal Access to Legal Expertise through Personal Network Ties

Civil legal problems are common in everyday life, but the costs of obtaining legal representation create barriers to legal action and contribute to disparities in access to justice. Some individuals, however, may have informal access to legal assistance through personal network ties with lawyers, enhancing their responses to justiciable problems. In this study, we draw from theories of social capital and network formation to examine the distribution and mobilization of network‐based legal expertise. Using nationally representative survey data, we find that network‐based access to lawyers is widespread, and most people who have ties to lawyers expect to informally mobilize legal assistance when facing a problem. But people who are most likely to afford formal legal representation are also most likely to have informal access to lawyers. Thus, while informal access to lawyers may shape responses to legal problems, it may also exacerbate inequalities in experiences with civil justice events.     

Cumulative Disadvantage as an Explanation for Observed Disproportionality within the Juvenile Justice System: An Empirical Test

A number of scholars have attempted to explain disproportionality within the juvenile justice system as a function of cumulative disadvantage. This empirical test of the cumulative disadvantage hypothesis suggests that minorities tend to be most disadvantaged at stages in the process where confinement decisions are made (detention, commitment). Thus, while disadvantage does not appear to aggregate consistently and unidirectionally as the child moves through the system, there is some evidence that disadvantage does aggregate between the detention and adjudication stages, once controls from legal differences are imposed.     

Industrial Relations and Justice Ideologies in the Firm: A Justice-Based Explanation of Works Council Effectiveness

This paper investigates why the effectiveness of works councils varies across firms. Drawing on a large body of literature on justice in organizations, and on the basis of the premise of methodological individualism, we present the groundwork for a justice-based theory of workplace codetermination. The theory focuses on workers' attitudes toward justice in organizations, the structural reasons behind these attitudes, and their consequences for the effectiveness of codetermination. Results from a qualitative employee survey in four German firms provide first empirical support for the theory presented.     

物权行为无因性理论之目的论解释

支持或反对物权行为无因性理论者,实质上都是基于某种法律上的意识形态,以一种目的论或功能论的态度加以解释的。在历史上,基于保护交易安全之功能论或目的论来解释物权行为之无因性原则,出现在后期潘德克吞法学中。功能实证分析只是对无因性原则的机能进行一种实证的、中立的描述,与价值判断无涉;目的论是从无因性原则中发现的交易安全之保护机能来进一步论证该原则的正当性,以增强其价值层面的说服力。本文认为,承认物权行为及其无因性原则,符合当代社会侧重保护动的安全之法政策目标,因而在目的论上具有先进性;并且,我们应该充分理解德国法为维系无因性原则和不当得利、善意取得制度在体系上的意义关联而坚持该原则的真正目的。     

Informal politics: the role of Congressional letters in legislative behaviour and careers

Members of the United States Congress are cross-pressured by constituents, party leaders, the president, and even by their own career goals. Yet, they are limited in their time and resources, and must maximise the tools available to them. Given that Congressional letter writing to the president as a tool available to all members occurs so widely, such behaviour informs a deeper understanding of how legislators seek to professionalise as politicians in competitive national politics. Utilising a data set of nearly 13,000 Congressional letters across eight Congresses, the author finds that letter writers systematically differ from non-letter writers, shedding light on the value of letter writing in Congressional behaviour and career aspirations, as well as the drivers behind this form of behaviour. Letter content varies based on the institutional and individual characteristics of the letter writer, suggesting members differ in how they view and use this tool.     

算法决策规制——以算法“解释权”为中心

算法决策正成为经济与社会体系的一部分,一方面,它创造了显著的社会与经济价值,但另一方面,不公不义的预测或推断会损及个人自主与尊严从而使算法备受质疑。由于算法无法解决自身导致的妨害问题,且算法控制者与数据主体间存在明显的信息或权力不对称,因此,有必要赋予个人一项具体的数据权利——算法“解释权”,以强化其对于己不利的算法决策提出异议的权利,进而促进算法正义、保护个人自主与尊严。不过,利用“解释权”对抗算法妨害虽然必要但并不充分,其在技术上面临可解释性难题,且与商业秘密存在紧张关系。因此,算法决策需要统合规制,需要进一步增强算法决策的社会控制,优化算法应用监管。     

民间融资的信息监测:基于制度框架的思考

民间融资是尚未纳入政府日常监管的金融行为,但随着民间融资的日益增多和随之出现的诸多问题,对民间融资的监管已经迫在眉睫.民间融资的信息监测活动是政府监管的前提,需要从分析民间融资信息监测的必要性和现状入手,继而探索其法理依据,以便构建民间融资信息监测制度.