THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF GUIDELINES CIRCUMVENTION: THE CASE OF FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS*

Recent scholarship on criminal punishments increasingly highlights the importance of courtroom social contexts. Combining recent data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (FY1997–2000) with aggregate data on federal districts, the current study examines interdistrict variations in the application of downward departures from the federal sentencing guidelines. Findings indicate that substantial variation exists in the probability of both prosecutor‐initiated substantial assistance departures and judge‐initiated downward departures. This variation is accounted for, in part, by organizational court contexts, such as caseload pressures, and by environmental considerations, such as the racial composition of the district. Additional evidence suggests that individual trial penalties and race disparities are conditioned by aggregate court contexts. Drawing on interviews with federal justice personnel, this article concludes with a discussion of future directions for research on federal guidelines departures. Part of the glory of the federal system…is that you've got this one big organization, but it can be molded to different needs…
‐ An assistant U.S. attorney ‐     

THE PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS IN FEDERAL COURTS: 1980–1998*

Research Summary: This study reports findings from the American Terrorism Study. The data show that from 1980 to 1998, the U.S. government periodically tried accused domestic and international terrorists through the use of traditional criminal trials. The extent to which federal prosecutors “explicit politicized” these trials (and the success that the politicization had) varied among the types of terrorist groups. Explicit politically was not found to be successful in trials of domestic terrorists but seemed to work for trials involving international terrorists. Over the 20‐year period, however, federal prosecutors began to rely more heavily (and more successfully) on the politicization of the criminal acts by international terrorists. The results also show that international terrorists, like their domestic counterparts, are much less likely to plead guilty. Finally, the study shows that these traditional trials have resulted in international terrorists being punished more severely than domestic terrorists. Unfortunately, the practice of performing these politicized trials within the venue of the federal court system may have been compromised by defense strategies that capitalized on the due process procedures so prominent in the U.S. system of justice. In the wake of the terrorism attacks in September 2001 by foreign nationals, the federal government began to take the next step in its “war against terrorism” by instituting the use of military tribunals. Policy Implications: Although the federal government has been relatively successful in the prosecution of terrorism in America in the past two decades, the movement toward the use of military tribunals has perhaps become inevitable (as the use of the traditional criminal trial for international terrorists manifests weaknesses). In the short term, it is likely that several international terrorism cases stemming from the September 2001 attacks and other subsequent attacks (which may be presumed) will be tried in federal courthouses across the country (even with the advent of military tribunals). Federal prosecutors will need to be trained on the specifics of trying these kinds of cases. In the long term, the use of military tribunals will provide greater ease of prosecution for the federal government. Long‐term consequences such as retaliatory attacks and attacks aimed at the release of political prisoners cannot be ignored by policy makers.     

PUNISHING THE “MODEL MINORITY”: ASIAN‐AMERICAN CRIMINAL SENTENCING OUTCOMES IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS*

Research on racial and ethnic disparities in criminal punishment is expansive but remains focused almost exclusively on the treatment of black and Hispanic offenders. The current study extends contemporary research on the racial patterning of punishments by incorporating Asian‐American offenders. Using data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) for FY1997–FY2000, we examine sentencing disparities in federal district courts for several outcomes. The results of this study indicate that Asian Americans are punished more similarly to white offenders compared with black and Hispanic offenders. These findings raise questions for traditional racial conflict perspectives and lend support to more recent theoretical perspectives grounded in attribution processes of the courtroom workgroup. The article concludes with a discussion of future directions for research on understudied racial and ethnic minority groups.     

THE USE AND EFFECTS OF FINANCIAL PENALTIES IN MUNICIPAL COURTS

With prison, jail, and probation caseloads overloaded, financial penalties appeal as alternative sanctions. Using probation data for cases sentenced in municipal courts, this paper presents regression analyses suggesting that judges tended to employ rational discretion in imposing economic sanctions, for monetary assessments without jail were most likely to be given to low-risk offenders and assignment of probation alone and jail terms was most strongly influenced by offense. The amount of the financial sanction was also significantly related to the type of crime. Controlling for individual attributes and offense, the odds of subsequent arrest and incarceration were significantly less for those given a financial penalty than for those receiving a jail sentence.     

MAKING FAMILIES AND CHILDREN A HIGH PRIORITY IN THE COURTS

This article describes the California Administrative Office of the Court's (AOC's) Center for Families, Children & the Courts (CFCC). CFCC is an interdisciplinary unit that brings together all of the AOC's work on statewide policies and practices related to families and children in the court system. CFCC thus models the unified family court model within the state AOC. CFCC's projects and activities are described to show the effectiveness of its multidisciplinary and collaborative approach in addressing complex policy and practice issues. It is hoped that readers may discover aspects of CFCC's work that could be adapted to their own jurisdiction or practice.     

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN CHILD LAW

In 1989, England and Wales adopted the Children Act, a revolutionary and pioneering statute changing the language of the law in regards to the needs of children. Judge Nigel Fricker, the family court judge in York, formerly in Sheffield, describes this change and some of its effects on the practice of judging, the law, and the behavioral sciences regarding children.     

THE FORMATION OF LOCAL POLITICAL PARTIES IN UNITARY STATE OF REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PERSPECTIVE

As a unitary state which adheres to the principle of local autonomy in 1945 NRI Constitution, Indonesia reflects the character of federalism in the context of the relationship between central and local. The character is reflected on more number of government affairs under the authority of the local than the central. It also reflects that Indonesia actually is a very diverse country, so the plurality must be treated with establishing a decentralized unitary state. Indonesian pluralism is also reflected in the diversity of its people political channels. Unfortunately, in this context, the party system in Indonesia is still highly centralized with the party system with national concern only. This normative law research with theoretical, normative, sociological and historical approaches finds that Indonesia, theoretically, is feasible to implement the local party system in addition to the existing national political party, because it holds the doctrine of the federalism mentioned above. Normatively, the provisions of pluralistic of Indonesia are set out in the Constitution, including provisions on local autonomy which provides a space for the pluralism. The pluralistic of the political channels is sociologically proven by more differentiation of public options in every election. Therefore, for the building of diverse and autonomous Indonesia in the future, a local party system which dichotomous with national political parties needs to be built. It serves as the basis of the strengthening of regional autonomy in the context of the Unitary State of Indonesia.     

日本法医学DNA的发展与现状

日本法医学DNA研究始于1983年,从整体上看,其发展历程即是欧美法医学 DNA发展史的缩影,在一些课题研究方面走在世界的前列.1991年成立DNA多型学会,1997年建立DNA鉴定方针,对一些问题做了有关规定与解释,以保证DNA鉴定的正确使用.