American Criminal Trial Films: An Overview of Their Development, 1930–2000

The history of American trial films – and I am speaking of trial films in general at the moment, not of the sub-division of criminal trial films – has been shaped both by changes in public attitudes toward law and lawyers and by shifts in viewer tastes. These same factors have necessitated changes in the way we define 'American trial films'. In earlier years one could recognize a trial film with relative ease: it was a drama in which a heroic lawyer or lawyer surrogate solved the film's dilemmas in the course of a civil or criminal trial, usually a trial held within a courtroom. Contemporary movies, in contrast, are more interested in action than in debate and oratory, and they are more cynical about the effectiveness of legal processes. Thus they tend to embed a short trial scene in a longer adventure story, and they seldom depict lawyers as heroes on the grand scale or courts as places where fundamental social and moral issues are settled. In sum, the trial film genre is undergoing major change, if not dissolution.     

A COMPARISON OF CHANGES IN POLICE AND GENERAL HOMICIDES: 1930–1998*

This paper presents a new data series for homicides of law enforcement officers. Available for more than two centuries, it is much longer than series previously examined. Police killings had two extreme peaks, one in the 1920s and another in the 1970s. We use the post‐1930 part of the series in a time‐series regression to explore structural conditions that affect police killings in the short term. Economic conditions, prison populations, and World War II have considerably larger impacts on police killings than on homicide generally. Police killings are less affected by demographic changes and by the crack epidemic.     

The Suicide Mortality Rates between 1997–1998 and 2000–2001 in Nantou County of Taiwan Following the Earthquake of September 21 in 1999

Abstract:  The paper aims to show the different suicide mortality rate between 1997–1998 and 2000–2001 in Nantou County of Taiwan with earthquake on September 21 (often referred to as the "9-21 earthquake") in 1999. In additional, it also identifies the preventive strategies for the high-risk suicide population. The age-standardized mortality rates for suicide in Nantou County were calculated for the years 1997–1998 and 2000–2001. The suicide standardized mortality ratio (SMR for townships in Nantou were calculated by "type of township" as the standard rate). There is a statistically significant difference in male suicide rates for the years prior to the earthquake (1997–1998) when pooled and compared to the suicide rates for the years after the earthquake (2000–2001). The rate for four age groups (under 25, 25–44, 45–64, 65 and above) all increased, yet all but one (the group of age 45–64) was not statistically significant. The male SMR has slightly increased after the 9-21 earthquake. Yet there are no statistical significances in most townships, except in Kaohsiung and Puli after the 9-21 earthquake. The Kaohsiung SMRs were 1.36 (95% CI: 0.54–2.80) before the earthquake (1997–1998) and 2.01 (95% CI: 1.04–3.52) after the earthquake (2000–2001). The SMRs before and after the earthquake in the Puli Township were 1.51 (95% CI: 0.95–2.29) to 1.56 (95% CI: 1.03–2.27). This study suggests that monitoring high-risk population, especially males or 45–64 years of age who experienced the highest statistically significant suicide rate in this study. The study provides support for providing both the psychological restoration program and, to the extent feasible, financial support for the unemployed as useful public health strategies for suicide prevention in Taiwan.     

Context and Change: The Evolution of Pioneering Drug Courts in Portland and Las Vegas (1991–1998)

Drug courts in the United States are still relatively young, but they have proliferated dramatically since the first innovation in Miami in 1989. Research focusing on drug courts is now beginning to gain momentum, though it still lags considerably behind the growth of the movement itself. This article describes findings from a first "longitudinal" examination of two of the nation's first and longest operating courts in Portland and Las Vegas, focusing on the dynamic nature of the evolution of the model as adapted in each site. In particular, the research considers the impact of contextual factors – laws, administrative policies, and federal court orders – on the growth of drug court models in each jurisdiction as measured through their screening and enrolling mechanisms over time. The time series analyses suggest that several contextual factors played an important role in shaping these courts and affecting their impact on the target populations and the results they produced. The longitudinal findings illustrate the importance of context in making sense of "normal" evaluation findings and emphasize the dynamic nature of the change process in implementing innovative policy in the criminal courts.     

Webcasters’ protection under copyright – A comparative study

This paper studies the fourth generation ‘peer-2-peer’ (P2P) file sharing technology which is also known as streaming technology from the technology point of view. It critically analyses the nature of streaming technology and assesses similarities to broadcasting for the purpose of copyright protection in the name of webcasting. In addition, it considers the possibility of protecting webcasting within the framework of broadcasting under copyright and the extent of broadcasters’ rights applicable to webcasters. Based on the conclusions derived from the discussion of UK, New Zealand, Italian and US law on streaming, WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) draft documents will be critically analyzed. The Last part of this work will offer suggestions as to how to protect webcasting (streaming technology) under the umbrella of copyright.