Prospective lawyers’ rape stereotypes and schematic decision making about rape cases

Abstract

Two studies explored stereotypic information processing in rape cases by prospective lawyers in Germany. In Study 1, 451 undergraduate law students rated rape scenarios varying with respect to defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy (force versus exploitation of the complainant's alcohol-induced defencelessness). Acceptance of rape myths was also measured. Likelihood of defendant liability was rated to be lower when there was a prior relationship between the parties and when the defendant exploited the complainant's defencelessness as compared to when he used force (except in the ex-partner rapes where blame was higher in the alcohol-related than in the force-related cases). Complainant blame was higher when there was a prior relationship between the parties and was higher in the alcohol-related cases than in the force-related cases, except in the ex-partner rape where the pattern was reversed. Participants with high rape myth acceptance held the defendant less liable and blamed the complainant more, especially when the two had known each other. Study 2 largely replicated these findings with 129 postgraduate trainee lawyers and showed that sentencing recommendations also varied as a function of defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy. Providing participants with the legal definition of rape did not reduce reliance on rape stereotypes.     

环境侵权证明责任倒置合理性论证

为减轻环境侵权诉讼中原告证明损害和被告加害行为之间存在因果关系的困难,发达国家发展出了多种形态的因果关系推定学说、判例和立法。中国现行法确立的因果关系举证责任倒置规则,对环境侵权诉讼原告的举证困难减轻得更多。从促进信息供给、保护受害者、预防污染和惩戒污染、实质正义、利益平衡、立法难易度、司法可预测性、制度变迁成本等七个方面来看,在环境侵权诉讼中实行因果关系证明责任倒置较因果关系推定为优,因此我国环境侵权立法中应继续实行因果关系证明责任倒置原则,没有必要退回到适用因果关系推定。     

When crimes are joined at trial

In two experiments, subject-jurors read evidence from actual criminal cases, decided on the guilt of the defendant, and answered several additional questions. The defendant was accused of one charge (murder or rape) or two charges (both murder and rape). In both experiments, the defendant was more likely to be convicted of either crime if the two charges were joined in one trial. Trait ratings indicated that the defendant was perceived in a more negative way when standing trial on two offenses. The order in which the charges were heard had no effect, nor did instructions to subjects to judge the cases separately.Portions of this paper were presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, October, 1981. The research was supported by a grant from NSF to Elizabeth Loftus.     

眶壁爆裂性骨折法医学鉴定相关问题探讨(附21例分析)

眶壁爆裂性骨折在眼损伤鉴定中占有相当的比重，有关其法医学鉴定相关的问题，在法医临床学方面少见分析报告。本文对21例眶部爆裂性骨折案例进行统计分析，对其致伤方式，眼部X光片与头颅CT及眶部CT片比较，眶壁骨折伴有眼球结构的损伤情况，眶壁骨折部位及复视情况，鼻眼相关损伤等问题分别进行了统计分析；进一步阐述了眶壁爆裂性骨折是一种人体保护机制的理由；提出了眶部爆裂性骨折早期易于漏诊、眶部X光片显示率低易造成眼损伤鉴定失误的临床特征，以及鼻眼相关损伤的问题。同时，提出了作者就此类损伤法医学鉴定的一些建议，以资法医同仁共同探讨。     

The Impact of the Rape/Sexual Assault Statutory Aggravating Factor on Death Sentencing Decision Making in Capital Murder Trials in North Carolina (1977–2009): A Propensity Score Matching Approach

It was not too many decades ago that rape was a crime for which the death penalty was a permissible punishment in the United States, particularly in death penalty states in the South. Relatedly, historical and contemporary death penalty research almost always focuses on the role of the race of the defendant and, more recently, the race of the victim and defendant–victim racial dyads as being relevant factors in death penalty decision making. As such, the current study employs data from official court records for the population of capital trials (n = 954) in the state of North Carolina (1977–2009) to evaluate the effect of the rape/sexual assault statutory aggravating factor on jurors’ decision to recommend the death penalty. Results suggest that cases in which rape is an aggravating factor had a significantly greater odds of receiving a death penalty recommendation, and these results are robust after also considering the independent effects of defendant–victim racial dyads, even following the application of propensity score matching to equate cases on a host of defendant and victim characteristics, legal and extralegal confounders, and case characteristics. Study limitations and implications are discussed.     

The Limits of the Preponderance of the Evidence Standard: Justifiably Naked Statistical Evidence and Multiple Causation

The preponderance-of-the-evidence standard usually is understood to mean that the plaintiff must show that the probability that the defendant is in fact liable exceeds 1/2. Several commentators and at least one court have suggested that in some situations it may be preferable to make each defendant pay plaintiff's damages discounted by the probability that the defendant in question is in fact liable. This article analyzes these and other decision rules from the standpoint of statistical decision theory. It argues that in most cases involving only one potential defendant, the conventional interpretation of the preponderance standard is appropriate, but it notes an important exception. The article also considers cases involving many defendants, only one of whom could have caused the injury to plaintiff. It argues that ordinarily the single defendant most likely to have been responsible should be liable for all the damages, even when the probability associated with this defendant is less than 1/2. At the same time, it identifies certain multiple-defendant cases in which the rule that weights each defendant's damages by the probability of that defendant's liability should apply.     

法官合并审理自由裁量权之规制——以诉的客观合并适用为中心

案多人少背景下诉的客观合并可以成为程序扩容方式。目前法官对同一当事人间的数诉在是否合并审理上专断恣意,表现为诉的合法性评价混乱和合并形态的肯认无序。前者应通过合并要件设置树立诉的合法性评价标尺,后者应通过特定合并形态的肯认确定当事人请求能多大程度上拘束法院。在合并要件方面,须通过法规范明确同一原告对同一被告提出数诉、法院对数诉之一具有管辖权、数诉必须适用同一诉讼程序三项合并要件,防止法官在诉的合法性评价上专断;在合并形态肯认方面,应通过颁布指导性案例确立有牵连关系的单纯合并与预备合并,及时回应当事人提起数诉的审理裁判要求。     

The Effects of General Pretrial Publicity on Juror Decisions: An Examination of Moderators and Mediating Mechanisms

Two studies examined three moderators (gender, attitudes, and media slant) and four mediators (accessibility, evidence importance, evidence plausibility, and standards of guilt) of general pretrial publicity's influence on juror decisions. In Study 1, participants who watched a prodefense rape story were more likely to report that they would need more inculpatory evidence to convict a defendant of rape than were participants who watched a proprosecution rape story. In Study 2, participants watched news stories, one of which was a proprosecution rape story, a prodefense rape story, or a nonrape story. In an ostensibly unrelated study, participants indicated their attitudes toward rape, watched a rape trial, and provided trial and witness ratings. Accessibility did not mediate the media effects on participants' judgments of rape importance; however, attitudes moderated media effects. Rape news influenced juror ratings of the importance of evidence about the complainant's behavior. Finally, media altered the standards participants used to determine defendant guilt. Implications for understanding the mechanisms responsible for pretrial publicity effects are discussed.     

108例强奸案件的法医学分析

本文通过对108例强奸案件的分析,从法医学角度探讨了与强奸犯罪相关的一些因素,并提出:加害人与被害人自身素质与强奸案件的发生有关;法医学证据在强奸案件中具有不可替代的作用;及时报案能获取更多的法医学物证;研究犯罪动机有助于预防和减少强奸案件。     

Can a Woman Rape a Man and Why Does It Matter?

Under current UK legislation, only a man can commit rape. This paper argues that this is an unjustified double standard that reinforces problematic gendered stereotypes about male and female sexuality. I first reject three potential justifications for making penile penetration a condition of rape: (1) it is physically impossible for a woman to rape a man; (2) it is a more serious offence to forcibly penetrate someone than to force them to penetrate you; (3) rape is a gendered crime. I argue that, as these justifications fail, a woman having sex with a man without his consent ought to be considered rape. I then explain some further reasons that this matters. I argue that, not only is it unjust, it is also both a cause and a consequence of harmful stereotypes and prejudices about male and female sexuality: (1) men are ‘always up for sex’; (2) women’s sexual purity is more important than men’s; (3) sex is something men do to women. Therefore, I suggest that, if rape law were made gender neutral, these stereotypes would be undermined and this might make some (albeit small) difference to the problematic ways that sexual relations are sometimes viewed between men and women more generally.     

356例强奸案资料的回顾性研究

本文收集法医物证检验确证强奸案３５６例。统计分析表明，强奸的动机不仅在于用武力强迫的方式达到性乐满足，而且在于用诱骗的方式达到某种权利或优越感的满足；其诱因既来自罪犯，也来自受害人的文化道德素质，性知识和法制观念，以及环境因素等；罪犯与受害人ＡＢＯ血型表型及基因型与相应普通人群比较无统计学差异。     

Is it possible to predict the origin of epithelial cells? – A comparison of secondary transfer of skin epithelial cells versus vaginal mucous membrane cells by direct contact

In alleged sexual assault and rape cases, the focus has often been to collect samples from the victim's body, for detection of body fluids or skin cells from the offender. But in many cases intimate body samples from the perpetrator(s) can also be informative. However, in cases where the female victim claims vaginal penetration, the defendant may display an alternative explanation to the DNA findings, i.e. that the victim’s skin cells has been secondarily transferred to his penis. We hypothesized that female DNA will be detected in a significantly greater amount on swabs from penis after intercourse than after secondary transfer by skin contact.Fourteen male-female couples were recruited to test the above hypothesis, by collecting penile swabs from 3 specified anatomical locations: Glans, shaft, and the coronal sulcus, after two different situations: Vaginal intercourse and secondary transfer of epithelial cells by skin contact. The results show that penile swabs following intercourse produce significantly higher DNA concentrations than after secondary transfer by skin contact. Our results, indicates which of the anatomical regions is best suited for sampling. The DNA profiling results show a preponderance of female profiles over male profiles following intercourse compared to secondary skin contact.Based on these data, it is possible to make a statistical model to distinguish between samples taken after intercourse and samples taken after secondary transfer by skin contact based on the amount of female DNA and mixture proportion (Mx) between female and male DNA in samples collected from penis swabs.     

被告人认罪认罚反悔问题研究

自认罪认罚从宽制度实施以来,被告人认罪认罚反悔问题引发了学界热议.从效果上看,被告人反悔权是一把"双刃剑",其有助于保障被告人认罪认罚的自愿性,确保认罪认罚案件的质量,但被告人滥用反悔权造成的负面影响亦不容忽视.为避免认罪协商程序运行受阻,有必要从规范反悔权行使、完善量刑激励制度、强化法律文书的释法说理、发挥值班律师作...     

Acute nonfatal poisonings by drug preparations]

Acute non-lethal poisonings with drugs within the period of 10 years according to archives data of Toxicological center and medicolegal department of victims' examination in Leningrad medicolegal expert Bureau were analysed. Number of drug poisoning cases increased two-fold and formed 76% of all poisoning cases. Tranquilizers, then antihistaminic, neuroleptic and hypotensive (clofelin) agents were used most often. Drugs were taken with suicidal attempt or with the aim of getting "alcoholic" effect. Poisonings among women were registered three times more often than among men.     

When a corporation rapes: perceptions of rape in civil court for corporate defendants

In recent years, the coupling of poor outcomes for rape victims in criminal court and the widening scope of legal responsibility for sexual assault has prompted plaintiffs to file civil suits for rape against corporations. Unfortunately, we know little about juror perception of civilly litigated rape against corporate defendants and most jury research involving corporate defendants concerns non-sexual injury cases (e.g. premises liability, automobile accidents). With the increasing number of corporations being sued civilly for rape, we need to understand how civil juries perceive these cases. The present study investigated mock jurors’ perceptions of a fictional civil rape trial against a hotel. Community members (N?=?155) read one of three trial summaries: Civil rape trial against the alleged perpetrator, civil rape trial against a hotel, or criminal rape trial. Results indicate females have higher pro-plaintiff judgments than males in civil court, perceptions of greed typically associated with civil litigation apply to rape, and favorable plaintiff decisions are most likely against a corporate defendant. Also, mental models suggest mock jurors conceptualize criminal and civil rape cases against an individual similarly. We discuss our results in terms of psychological, legal and practical expectations when suing for rape.     

The rights of rape victims are enhanced: Using the law of premise liability for compensation

The field of victimology has been inundated with empirical evidence which demonstrates victims of crime have very few rights. Yet a new field of civil liability has been growing in the last few years which gives rape and assault victims a new avenue to be compensated for their injuries. This paper will demonstrate how the victims’ target is not the criminal justice system (through compensation from restitution or victim’s compensation statures). Nor is it the defendant (who usually makes no money). Rather, the target is the rich apartment complex owners and other owners of commercial premises who have failed to maintain their premises safely. As a result of their negligence, the victims fail to be afforded the right to visit or habitat or to sleep without fear and are ultimately raped. Jury verdicts in these premises liability cases have reached more than nine million dollars. This paper will analyze the legal process whereby one particular rape victim actualized her rights and gained significant monetary damages under this evolving law of premise liability. Finally, it proposes the creation of a new institutionalized program that promotes the rape victim’s rights to adequate compensation for her injury-the Rape Victims’ Rights and Opportunities Program.     

Divorce Israeli Style: Professional Perceptions of Gender and Power in Mediated and Lawyer-Negotiated Divorces

This study examines how the power of women is constructed by divorce professionals in a divorce process that is governed by rabbinical family law, the egalitarian ideology of the recently established family courts, and the growing use of mediation in divorce disputes. It is based on 254 questionnaires and 57 interviews with lawyers, mediators, and lawyer-mediators. We found that except for a minority of women lawyers, practitioners claimed that women were not disadvantaged by family law, and that mediation does not adversely affect weaker parties. However, their reactions to hypothetical situations indicated that rabbinical law does matter for women's bargaining power, and for lawyers' recommendations for mediation. This study reveals the complexities of the social construction of gender and power in divorce negotiations and the role of women professionals in empowering divorcing women.     

Racial prejudice in the canadian legal system

The effects of defendant and victim race and the impact of judicial instructions on defendant verdict were examined using a simulated videotaped rape trial. Subjects were 243 Canadian university students randomly assigned to one of eight conditions. Subjects were asked to assume the role of juror and to view a videotape of a simulated rape trial. The results indicated that the defendant's overall attractiveness or “positive appeal” was the best predictor of defendant guilt, above and beyond defendant race. Neither victim characteristics nor the presence of judicial instructions was found to have predictive utility. Results are contrasted with findings from simulation studies in the United States.     

Rape trials and jurors' decisions

Recently, many writers have argued that equal protection for victims of rape is not presently offered in the courts since the outcomes of rape trials are frequently influenced by certain victim, defendant, and rape case characteristics. By systematically manipulating the factors of defendant and victim race, victim physical attractiveness, victim sexual experience, strength of evidence presented, and type of rape committed in a legal rape case, the present study sought to examine the effects of these factors on jurors' verdicts. Data collected from a sample of 896 citizens serving as mock jurors for the rape case indicated that these extraevidential factors had significant effects. Furthermore, it was found that the factors did not act independently as a number of significant interactions were identified. These interactions suggested that the impact of extraevidential factors on jurors' decisions is far more complex than what some writers and law reformers have thought. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of discriminatory treatment of plaintiffs and defendants in rape cases and the role of juror selection in introducing fairness in rape trials.     

房屋拆迁中虚假离婚的法律规制——以传统观念与法治进程之冲突为视角

虚假离婚诉讼的愈演愈烈,损害了司法权威和司法公正。由于法律规则的模糊性和虚假离婚诉讼的隐蔽性,识别与防范房屋拆迁中的虚假离婚是困扰理论界和实务界的难点问题。规则之下的司法裁量是处理虚假离婚诉讼的基本思路。规范司法裁量的适用,可以给民众确定的预期与指引。