C.S.I.全攻略

“到现场去”不仅仅是新闻格言在新闻报道中有这样一句名言：“到现场去。”说的是新闻记者只有到了新闻现场，才能更好地把握事实。这句话对于司法调查人员来说具有同样重要的意义，因为犯罪现场往往都留有揭开案件真相的线索。法庭科学的先驱性人物埃德蒙德·洛卡德曾经提出过著名的证据交叉原理：每一次接触总会带走一些东西，留下一些东西。也就是说，一个犯罪行为发生后，犯罪分子总会在犯罪现场留下蛛丝马迹。侦破人员只要循着这些蛛丝马迹，必定可以找到犯罪分子。洛卡德的这个格言意味着所有案件在理论上都是可以侦破的，真正的超完…     

Dr. Death? Professionalism,Virtue, and U.S. Physician Participation in the Death Penalty

In the United States at present, the death penalty is a possible sentence in 31 out of 50 states, as well as within the military and for federal cases. In the U.S., numbers of executions are declining, in part due to moratoriums in place and challenges to execution by lethal injection. Participation by physicians in lethal injection executions has been steadfastly viewed by professional medical organizations as contrary to their ethical standards. However, physicians have participated in lethal injection executions, and the morality of the death penalty itself is a matter of intense social and political debate. Medical ethics commentators and professional organizations have typically held that the prohibition on physician participation in the death penalty is independent of the ethical status of the death penalty itself. This article argues that this view is untenable, and that it is tied to a view of professional role virtue that is similarly untenable. At the same time, it argues that, given the morally uncertain status of the death penalty, it is plausible that virtuous physicians may either refuse or choose to participate in some aspects of the death penalty.     

Assimilation and intermarriage for U.S. immigrant groups, 1880–1990

Marriage outside one's ethnic or racial group constitutes the ultimate test of assimilation. In this research, we offer a new test of theories of assimilation by examining the choice of marriage partners among Mexican Americans, several European immigrant groups, and natives. Data from the 1880 to 1990 Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) are employed, augmented by additional identification procedures developed for the Hispanic population. Assimilation measured by intermarriage rates varies by ethnic origin with striking affinity in historical patterns for Italians and Mexicans. Density and location of ethnic settlement, sex ratios, and generational mix played a role. Continued immigration marks certain groups, such as Mexicans, as structurally distinct.     

S.W.A.T.:光荣与梦想

目前市面上正流行一部由克拉克·约翰逊执导的DVD影片:《S.W.A.T》,其中文译名有多种,比如《反恐特警组》和《洛城特警》等。这张DVD碟片由美国八大影业之一的哥伦比亚/三星(Columbia/TriStar)公司于2004年6月1日正式发行。很多人看过后都说很过瘾,故事情节当然是虚构的,不过,原型却是真实存在的,那就是位于洛杉矶东六街251号的洛杉矶警察局特别武器战术小组。S.W.A.T实际上是SpecialWeaponsAndTactics的首字母缩写,意思就是“特别武器和战术小组”。影片根据20世纪70年代的同名电视剧集改编而成,正是这部电视剧让洛杉矶警察局特别…     

Lawyers' Perceptions of the U.S. Supreme Court: Is the Court a “Political” Institution?

Do legal elites—lawyers admitted to federal appellate bars—perceive the Supreme Court as a “political” institution? Legal elites differentiate themselves from the mass public in the amount and sources of information about the Court. They also hold near‐universal perceptions of Court legitimacy, a result we use to derive competing theoretical expectations regarding the impact of ideological disagreement on various Court perceptions. Survey data show that many legal elites perceive the Court as political in its decision making, while a minority perceive the Court as activist and influenced by external political forces. Ideological disagreement with the Court's outputs significantly elevates political perceptions of decision making, while it exhibits a null and moderate impact on perceptions of activism and external political influence, respectively. To justify negative affect derived from ideological disagreement, elites highlight the political aspects of the Court's decision making rather than engage in “global delegitimization” of the institution itself.     

Computer based testing – Bolls v. W. Scott Street,Sec'y of Va. Bd. of Bar Exmnrs., August 11, 2009, case no. 090915

The most significant change to law licensing in the United States is the recent¹ reliance on computer-based testing for the bar exam in all of the fifty states. The following comment piece is meant to inform the computer and technology law community how the use of testing software must necessarily be accompanied by additional procedural protections and corrective processes that may not have existed previously. Chief among these is the availability of discovery of the item in question, namely in this case the essays in a computer-based bar exam, which constitutes evidence that is essential to vindicating one's rights when a software failure occurs.     

The “process” of patenting: Why should we care about a potential U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bilski v. Doll?

In Bilski v. Doll, the U.S. Supreme Court is called to define one of the categories of patent-eligible subject matter, “process” patents. In 2008, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the category has a narrow meaning, and that to be eligible for a process patent under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the invention must involve a machine or apparatus or involve a transformation to a different state or thing, ultimately rejecting the patent application as unpatentable subject matter. The patent applicants have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to determine two issues: first, the meaning of “process” in 35 U.S.C. § 101 and whether the lower court properly relied on a “machine-or-transformation” test, and second, the test's potential conflict with 35 U.S.C. § 273, which provides protection for “method[s] of doing or conducting business.” The Court's decision could change the way that research and business are done, and patent protection for such investments. Parts 1 and 2 of this article address Bilski directly and what is and is not in dispute. Part 3 addresses the “machine-or-transformation” test, while Parts 4 and 5 address reasons not to adopt such a test.     

Adrian A. S. Zuckerman.法律、事实抑或司法

作为裁判的基础，法律和事实之界分，具有重要的含意。法律必须适用于案件事实。案件事实要么由当事人承认，要么由法院确定：其中的任何一种(事实认定)方式均不受法律的规制。法律决定何种类型的事实产生权利和义务；个案事实本身并不是由法律创设的，而是存在于法律之外的(客观)世界之中。当案件事实发生争议时，