The use of discretion in prison disciplinary committees

Prison disciplinary committees are faced with the formal role responsibility of adjudicating disciplinary cases in an equitable manner and the informal role responsibility of supporting the authority of the staff members who file charges of rule violations by inmates. Analysis of 630 disciplinary cases reveal that dispositional decisions vary according to the number of charged rule violations and that the pattern of the dispositional decisions can be explained by role conflict but not by the thesis that the cases vary in terms of the adequacy of the evidence supporting blameworthiness.     

The engaged university

Universities play a unique role in society, providing a community of experimentation and innovation. Even so, leaders around the world have had to push for university primacy to retain competitiveness in the global economy. This paper examines efforts taken by universities in the United States to evaluate their contribution to economic development. An emerging role for universities is one of active neighborhood involvement, in which they are engaged in projects with local communities. These projects include providing assistance to local firms and policy advice to state and local government, and getting involved in community outreach. In this role and in an unprecedented manner, universities are engaging on a wide range of topics with local communities, using these communities as labs to test new ideas and find better ways to achieve social and economic goals. This is precisely why it is important to consider the larger role of universities’ in economic and social development.     

The determinants of the effectiveness of medical disciplinary boards: 1960–1977

The results of an empirical study to determine the reasons why some state boards of medical discipline are more active in disciplining physicians than others are presented. The study concluded that for most of the years between 1960 and 1977, the principal determinant of board vigilance was the degree to which they werenot dominated by physicians. But it was also shown that even if all the boards were controlled exclusively by nonphysicians, board activity, stated in absolute terms, would still be very small. This then leads to the inference that current efforts to change the composition of the board and create obligations for reporting miscreant physicians for various sectors in the health services industry will not produce acceptable levels of medical disciplinary board performance.     

The double-design dilemma: political science,parliamentary crisis and disciplinary justifications

Two separate, but inter-linked, dilemmas have highlighted the importance of design-led thinking. First, the crumbling physical fabric of the Palace of Westminster has prompted a multi-billion rebuilding project, which will require the parliamentary studies specialism to engage with questions of design, space, and architecture. Separately, political science more generally has been challenged to utilize the insights of design-thinking and design-practice: a challenge to which it is culturally and methodological ill-equipped. This article considers what a design-led approach to political science looks like in theory, and in practice, in the case study of the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster. This represents a first attempt at how such a fusion could be beneficial for both politics as theory and politics as practice. The main conclusion is that although design-orientated political science is not a panacea for the challenges of modern democratic governance – in intellectual or practical terms – it does appear to offer significant potential in terms of theoretically-informed but solution focused research.     

Demographic profile of offenders in long-term disciplinary segregation

This paper seeks to identify inmate demographic characteristics which may help to classify troublemaking offenders. Data were obtained from the Georgia Department of Offender Rehabilitation for all adult male inmates completing the diagnostic process between 1971–1978 (n=19,363). For purposes of analysis, this population was then dichotomized into those inmates who had required longterm disciplinary segregation and those who had not. Analysis of these data revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups on numerous demographic variables including sentence length, crime type, selfreported education, and prior living arrangement.     

Professional disciplinary proceedings against expert medical witnesses

Witnesses in legal proceedings are protected from civil liability based on their evidence. This immunity is founded on public policy considerations, particularly the belief that witnesses would be less willing to provide full and frank evidence if they were at the risk of civil proceedings based on their evidence. But witness immunity now appears to be subject to an important qualification. The English Court of Appeal has confirmed that witness immunity does not prevent the commencement of professional disciplinary proceedings against an expert witness. In General Medical Council v Meadow [2006] EWCA 1390 the court upheld a disciplinary complaint made against an expert medical witness, even though the complaint was based on that doctor's witness evidence. The Court of Appeal reasoned that the underlying purpose of professional disciplinary proceedings, which is to protect the public, could sit comfortably with witness immunity. The result seems to be that people unhappy with witness evidence cannot sue the witness but can make a professional disciplinary complaint. This apparent gap in witness immunity is important to all professionals who might give evidence.     

Developments in pharmacists' disciplinary processes and outcomes

Pharmacy disciplinary processes and outcomes protect consumers by deterring pharmacists from unacceptable practices and maintaining the reputation and standing of the pharmacy profession. It is important that pharmacists are informed of disciplinary processes and outcomes in order to predict what is regarded as unacceptable behaviour and the potential consequences thereof. Disciplinary procedures and outcomes also play an important role in maintaining public trust in the pharmacy profession and it is therefore important that the public has confidence in the disciplinary structure. The outcomes of pharmacy disciplinary cases that reflect the patient care role of pharmacists are particularly important in helping to determine pharmacists' changed professional responsibility and potential legal liability in the provision of these patient care services.     

The development of an entrepreneurial university

An entrepreneurial society refers to places where knowledge-based entrepreneurship has emerged as a driving force for economic growth, employment creation and competitiveness. In this context, entrepreneurial universities play an important role as both knowledge-producer and a disseminating institution. In the literature, several studies contributed with relevant findings. Most of these studies reveal a tendency to use case studies to explain this phenomenon justified by the embryonic nature of the topic field, and with the lack of a robust theoretical framework to understand it. No empirical study, however, has highlighted the interrelations among environmental and internal factors that conditioned the development of entrepreneurial universities with the teaching, research and entrepreneurial missions that they need to achieve. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of these interrelations identifying the most critical factors that conditioned these missions and to this end brings a proposal model to measure this phenomenon empirically in the light of the Institutional Economics and the Resource-Based View. The methodology adopted is integrated by the Spanish Entrepreneurial University Scoreboard to identify this phenomenon and Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relationships among independent and dependent variables that integrate the proposal model of entrepreneurial university. This research could cover invaluable strategies to bring further benefits to society (in terms of the creation of new business and employment) and, in particular, to educational institutions.     

中国律师惩戒制度之构想

综观世界各国律师惩戒制度,可以得出一个基本印象:律师这一职业不论是在何种社会制度或经济发展状态,都是一个高度自律的行业,执业资格获得、执业行为、纪律惩戒都严格按照国家法律、行业法规、职业纪律进行.高度自律不仅仅是指律师具有高度的职业道德觉悟和行为规范约束,更重要的是律师行业存在一个严明的惩戒制度.通过对各国律师惩戒制度的考察,可以发现一个共性的惩戒指向.     

Race,ethnicity, and prison disciplinary misconduct

It is well known that racial and ethnic minorities (both male and female) have felt the effect of increased incarceration more than Whites, and a large amount of prior research has investigated the factors that influence higher levels of inmate misconduct, including the influence of race/ethnicity. This body of research has produced mixed results. Using recent data from one of the largest state prison systems, this study sought to determine the level of racial and ethnic disparity in the commission of inmate misconduct. Results indicate that Black inmates were significantly more likely than other inmates to commit general rule violations, serious rule violations, and assaultive rule violations. Correlates of inmate misconduct and policy implications stemming from the findings are discussed.