Police Misconduct,Media Coverage,and Public Perceptions of Racial Profiling: An Experiment

The purpose of this study was: (1) to assess the impact of an incident of racial profiling on residents’ attitudes about profiling; and (2) to examine the effects of exposure to a video clip of deliberation about the incident on residents’ beliefs about the causes of profiling. All residents, White and minority, were less likely to believe that Chicago police officers engaged in profiling after the incident. These findings suggest that attitudes about the prevalence of racial profiling are susceptible to the manner in which the media construct incidents of police misconduct. Exposure to the video clip was not related to differences in residents’ beliefs about the causes of profiling, but was related to differences in perceptions of the dangerousness of traffic stops. The findings highlight the need for more research on how media constructions of police misconduct influence attitudes about profiling and impact community–police relations.     

Gender Differences in Worry About a Terrorist Attack: A Cross-National Examination of Individual- and National-Level Factors

Prior research has found gender to be associated with worry about crime and terrorism. We used World Values Survey data to assess gender differences in worry about terrorism across 54 nations. Analyses also examined the influence of individual- and national-level factors. Women were significantly more worried about terrorism in 22 of the 54 nations. Men in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and New Zealand were significantly more worried about terrorism than women. Individuals were more likely to worry about terrorism as the nation’s average mortality count in terrorist incidents increased. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Judicial perceptions of child witness competence

Concern about the difficulties faced by child witnesses in the legal system has led to two major areas of reform: the relaxation of competence and corroboration requirements, and the introduction of special procedures and physical facilities to reduce the emotional pressures of testifying. Although the implementation of these measures depends largely on judicial discretion, little is known about judicial perceptions of child witnesses and about judicial acceptance of these measures. Fifty magistrates and judges in New South Wales, Australia were asked via interview or questionnaire about their beliefs, concerns, and practices related to child witnesses. There was considerable variability in their views about the competence of child witnesses and the need for special protective measures in court for these witnesses. There was, however, more consensus about those aspects of children's ability to testify that give rise to judicial concerns about their competence. Children's honesty was not at issue; they were generally regarded as being at least as honest as adults, if not more so. They were, however, perceived as highly suggestible and susceptible to the influence of others and prone to fantasy. These findings are consistent with the findings of other studies, and provide a basis for judicial education in relation to child witnesses.     

Economic justice,political behavior,and American political values

Although theories of political economy state that citizens' concerns about economic outcomes are important determinants of their political responses, an alternative perspective states that concerns about economic justice influence political responses. Survey data were examined to determine the relative influence of each of these factors on political evaluations and behaviors. Concerns about the justice of the procedures used by the government to make decisions about the distribution of benefits and services strongly predicted evaluations of President Reagan and participation in policy-related political behavior, and were weakly related to general political activism. Concerns about the justice of the distributions of economic benefits were related to evaluations of President Reagan but not to political activism. Judgments about personal economic gain or loss relative to the past predicted evaluations of President Reagan while global subjective judgments of present economic outcomes weakly predicted policy-related political activism. The effect of justice is explained by considering the relationship between citizens' concerns about economic justice and values associated with the American political culture.     

Misleading congress about drug development: Reply

The review essay by Donald Light about a Congressional Budget Office report on pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) (Light 2007) contains factual errors, leaves the reader uninformed about rebuttal responses to criticisms made in the review about studies of R&D costs, and draws erroneous conclusions about the nature of industry economics.     

刑事违法性判断前提条件：空白罪状的现状与反思

空白罪状是成文法系国家突破以往在刑法中只规定自然犯的传统,越来越多地规定法定犯的必然结果。作为刑事违法判断前提条件,空白罪状对罪与非罪的界定具有重要的作用。我国新刑法创空白罪状历史最高,然其空白规范位阶相差悬殊,因此有必要从罪刑法定角度关注空白罪状及其规范的位阶问题,以增强空白罪状作为“违法性判断的前提条件”的规范性和统一性。     

Las condiciones de inteligibilidad de las prácticas constitucionales. una aproximación a partir del caso del aborto

In this paper we intend to highlight the three levels of discourse that underground every constitutional discussion, from the view point of the special case of abortion. We aim, in the end, to propose a reflection about what we could name the intelligibility conditions of our constitutional practices. With this purpose, we identify three discussions that converge in the discussion about the justice of decriminalizing abortion: (a) the explicit discussion about the claimed existence of a right not to be condemned for choosing abortion; (b) the implicit discussion about the nature of public reasons, as opposed to religious reasons; (c) the underlying discussion about the nature of concepts which are used in these two previous levels of discussion.     

‘Inheritance Families of Choice’? Lawyers' Reflections on Gay and Lesbian Wills

This article presents the findings of research about the will‐writing practices of gays and lesbians. It develops a conversation between sociological literature about ‘families of choice’, which is silent about inheritance, and socio‐legal research about ‘inheritance families’, which is relatively silent about sexuality. It demonstrates how research with lawyers can contribute to thinking about inheritance and complement historical archives about personal life and sexuality. Focusing on funeral rites, partners, ex‐lovers, friendships, children and godchildren, and birth families, the findings reveal how gay men and lesbians have used wills to communicate kinship practices in ways that both converge with and differ from conventional testamentary practices. Examining the findings through the concepts of generationality, family display, connectedness, and ordinariness, and locating them within the recent history of social and legal changes, it complicates and troubles both anti‐normative and individualistic readings of the choices gay and lesbians make in constructing their ‘inheritance families’.     

Two conjectures about the issue of expert testimony

This article responds to concerns about expert testimony in experimental psychology by conjectur that disagreements about the propriety of the testimony are camouflaged arguments about the strength of psychological knowledge. Differences between proponents and opponents of expert testimony are about the state of psychological knowledge and certainty, rather than about the proper standard for psychologists to use when deciding whether to testify. A second conjecture is stimulated by the assumption that laypersons generally overvalue eyewitness testimony and that expert psychological testimony is a required corrective. The truth of this assumption rests on the debatable assertions that eyewitness identifications, without more, are potent sole determinants of trial outcome, and that lay juries need instruction from experimental psychologists about aspects of human behavior of which the jurors are definitive producers and consumers. One need not resolve these debates in order to understand that psychologists should not rely on the legal community to set the psychologists' standards for expert testimony. And psychologists, in considering their role as courtroom experts, should guard against a self-serving critique of the acumen of lay juries.     

Perception of Seriousness and Concern about White-Collar Crime: Some Results of an Opinion Survey Among Swiss Banks

Scientifically, little is known about white-collar crime in Switzerland or concern about white-collar crime and even less about how concerned bank employees are about this criminality. This article is based on a small opinion survey of Swiss bank employees and tries to explore perceptions of seriousness and concern about white-collar crime among people who, in their position, might have to face this issue regularly. Past assumptions on the public’s indifference towards white-collar crime seem not to be confirmed in this study as the results obtained demonstrate a greater sensitivity with respect to white-collar crime and especially towards crimes perpetrated by corporations. Even though Swiss bank employees do qualify white-collar offences as very serious acts, they are still more punitive with regard to ordinary crimes.     

论美国潜在竞争理论--兼论构筑我国混合合并控制的理论基准

潜在竞争理论作为对混合合并行为进行规制的基本理论,受到各国学者的广泛重视.从各国的司法实践和法律规定来看,以美国和欧盟的反垄断法为主要理论基础,形成了美国潜在竞争理论与欧盟潜在竞争理论两大理论体系,而目前我国学者们普遍应用的是美国潜在竞争理论,但人们在论及该理论时又经常将两大体系的理论混用.因此,有必要将美国潜在竞争理论进行较详细的介绍和分析,以避免混用现象的发生.同时,也可以为设计我国的混合合并控制理论提供有益的借鉴.     

Barriers and Supports to Dating Violence Communication between Latina Adolescents and Their Mothers: A Qualitative Analysis

Few Latinx parents and adolescents talk with one another about dating violence, yet communication with parents could help adolescents make better decisions about dating relationships. Seventeen Latina adolescents (15–17 years old) and their mothers living in Washington D.C and central Virginia participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their perceptions of dating violence behavior and communication with parents about dating violence. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded for emergent themes using a grounded theory approach. Seven themes emerged and were grouped into three domains: (a) Parental Messages about Problems in Dating Relationships; (b) Barriers and Supports for Parent-Adolescent Communication about Dating Problems; and, (c) Cultural Values and Differences. The results of this study can be used to inform future work focused on improving parent-adolescent communication about dating violence and to enhance healthy adolescent Latina dating decisions.     

Extractable iron in experimental hematomas

The extractable iron and total iron were determined in experimental, subcutaneous hematomas (5 ml blood) of rats after different periods of vital time. The extractable iron was determined from homogenate extract obtained after 24-h incubation with concentrated HCl diluted 1:3 and protein precipitation. For the determination of total iron, the specimens were wet-ashed. The same iron determinations were also made for the corresponding control specimens of the subcutaneous tissue. Extractable iron started to rise over the control values in 2-day-old hematomas, being about 5 times higher after 3 days, about 15 times higher after 7 days, and about 20 times higher after 14 days. The ratio of extractable iron and total iron expressed as percentages was about 1% in 1-h and in 1-day-old hematomas, about 20% in 3-day-old hematomas, about 50% in 7-day-old hematomas, and about 65% in 14-day-old or older hematomas. The effect of autolysis for 3 days at room temperature was studied on 1-h-old hematomas. Extractable iron values were slightly higher in the autolyzed specimens, but the difference was statistically insignificant as compared to specimens taken immediately after death.     

遗失物立法中的几点思考和建议

我国关于遗失物的立法还不够完善,导致司法实务中有关遗失物纠纷的处理无法可依。为此,应当建立和完善物权立法,对遗失物拾得人的报酬请求权,遗失物的悬赏广告,以及无人认领的遗失物归属等问题应作出明确合理的规定。     

Doing Justice: Perceptions of Gender Neutrality in the Jury Selection Process

There is a paucity of research on juries in general including the jury selection process. Very little of it examines the effect of gender. This study surveyed 138 potential jurors to determine whether jurors believed they were excluded from jury service due to gender. Additionally the study assessed whether gender affected attitudes about women serving on juries and whether perceptions about women and jury service were associated with general views about the fairness of the justice system. Findings suggest that gender had little effect on jury service or views about women serving on juries, but views about women and their role in jury service was associated with perceptions of general fairness in the system, regardless of the respondent’s gender. These findings point to the need for a more complex understanding of gender when examining the jury selection process.     

论刑法解释的基本原则

对刑法解释基本原则的研究,在方法论和存在论上必然遭遇到语言解释学上不可避免的部分和整体之间的循环问题。确立刑法解释的基本原则受几个关系的影响:哲学解释学、一般法律解释和刑法解释学的关系;刑法的基本原则和刑法解释的基本原则之间的关系;刑法的基本思想和刑法解释的基本原则之间的关系。“以政策为指导原则”、“整体性原则”、“明确具体原则”不是刑法解释的基本原则。我国刑法解释的基本原则有三个:合法性原则,它是刑法解释的形式规制;合理性原则,它是刑法解释的实质规制;合目的性原则,它是刑法解释原则的冲突之整合规则。     

Computer simulation of the accident with nine victims

In the paper we wish to emphasise the significance of vehicle driving dynamics analysis in the collision phase and occupant load analysis by means of using a software environment. Thereby we also wish to present the results of the simulation of the course of a traffic accident with nine victims that arose from a collision between an Audi A6 passenger car and the VW Caravelle van. In treating the traffic accident the forensic expert was faced with the questions about what caused the injuries to the front passenger in the Audi A6 passenger car, about the way the two vehicles had collided, about their collision velocities, about the way the two vehicles were handled and about the causes that originated the traffic accident. The critical situation on the road was a consequence of the tiredness of the van driver, the inadequate use of the passive safety systems and overloading the van.     

Testing assumptions about naivety in insurance fraud

Abstract

Despite the recognition that traditional methods of fighting the rising and pressing crime of insurance fraud are ineffective, much attention in the process of its detection is still paid to the characteristics of false claims and of people submitting them. Although there is some research looking into the assumptions insurance companies hold about these characteristics, the question of the general public knowledge about them has been rather neglected. This appears unjustified in light of the fact that it is ‘the average’ opportunistic driver most likely to lie about their loss. The results of this project, employing the method of thematic analysis, whereby the narratives of 25 male drivers are examined, challenge the correctness of corporate assumptions about what the layman driver could know about insurance fraud.     

再论人身关系——兼评民法典总则编条文建议稿第3条

本文在研究了人身关系在我国民法史上的存在形态及比较了前苏联、中国和西方主要国家有关人身关系的学说的基础上,认为我国绝大部分民法学者对人身关系的理解不同于西方主要国家学界对此种关系的理解,我国在人身关系的理解上遗漏了主体资格问题,将“人”仅仅理解为人格权,并进而导致了这种关系的重要性的降低,造成了其在立法相关条文中被后置于财产关系。作者最后指出,人身关系应包括人格关系、人格权关系和身份关系三类关系,并进而建议对民法典总则编建议稿第3条做出人身关系前置的立法调整。