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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The university and the human sciences

The current malaise affecting the university in general and the human sciences in particular has a deeper origin than is usually recognized. It has to do with the gap between science and culture, between the scientific way of dealing with things and the ordinary-lifeway of dealing with them. The more the university is seen as the bastion of science, the less those sciences, which traditionally deal with human affairs as seen from the ordinary, common sense point of view, are taken seriously. It is particularly the Geisteswissenschaften which are de facto depreciated. The usual reaction is an attempt to ever more professionalism and methodological rigidity also in these sciences. This leads to disastrous consequences both for the Geisteswissenschaften and for the university as a whole. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Justice and organizational punishment: Attitudinal outcomes of disciplinary events

This study utilized a justice framework to investigate punished subordinates' attitudinal reactions to specific disciplinary events. Results suggested that personality variables (negative affectivity and belief in a just world) influenced subordinate perceptions of the disciplinary event. In addition, belief in a just world had a direct effect on satisfaction with the supervisor, intention to leave, and organizational commitment. Contrary to expectations, harshness (a distributive aspect of the event) influenced perceptions of procedural justice and attitudes toward the institution (organizational commitment) and the leader (trust in supervisor), in addition to its influence on perceptions of distributive justice. The influence of procedural aspects of the event on attitudinal outcomes varied by dependent variable. The implications for future research and for management are discussed.     

Unscientific health practice and disciplinary and consumer protection litigation

Evidence-based health care is expected of their practitioners by contemporary health professions. This requires health care to have a foundation in scholarly literature and to have a scientifically valid methodology. However, there are many instances of registered and unregistered practitioners either providing assessment and treatment that does not conform to such requirements or making representations about likely efficacy that are unjustifiable by reference to peer-reviewed clinical knowledge. Sometimes such conduct is predatory and deliberately exploitative; other times it is simply misconceived on the part of practitioners who regard themselves as medical pioneers. This editorial situates such conduct within unscientific and unorthodox health practice. It surveys recent consumer protection and disciplinary decisions to evaluate the role of the law in regulating such conduct. It argues in favour of an assertive legal response to protect vulnerable patients or potential patients against forms of treatment and promises of outcomes that are unscientific and deceptive.     

论高校与学生惩戒纠纷的校内解诀

高校与学生行政法律关系的存在及其所具有的特殊品质,决定了两者间行政纠纷的解决有剐于一般的社会纠纷.就惩戒纠纷的解决来说,应更加重视校内解纷渠道,即学生申诉机制的进一步完善,使纠纷以及时、有效的方式化解.具体而言,申诉制度可以从明确其属性、强化学生申诉处理委员会的中立性与权威性、进一步廓清申诉事项范围、健全、优化申诉处理流程以及重视发挥学生自治组织在校内纠纷化解当中的作用等方面采加以完善.