New science,old convictions ? Texas Senate Bill 344: identifying further necessary reform in forensic science

In June 2013, Texas Senate Bill 344 (SB 344) was signed into law after strong Innocence Project support. SB 344 has since transformed the Texan judicial landscape. Known as the ‘Junk Science Writ’, SB 344 enables the court to grant habeas corpus relief based on scientific evidence that ‘(1) was not available to be offered by a convicted person at the convicted person''s trial; or (2) contradicts scientific evidence relied on by the state at trial’. Inmates, such as the ‘San Antonio Four’, whose convictions were based upon what is now considered ‘faulty’ medical and forensic testimony, have been released under SB 344. Yet, science, as a field dependent on innovation, is inherently prone to debunking the scientific and forensic methods the law has relied upon to convict individuals. This commentary identifies policy behind SB 344, how SB 344 may influence the perception of science in the courtroom, and how ‘junk science’ is defined and/or limited. Furthermore, this commentary concludes that to achieve justice in the legal system through habeas relief based on ‘junk science’, it is necessary to revitalize and standardize forensic science.     

Women in older ages—“old” women?

Widows in contemporary and past societies are normally portrayed as passive individuals needing to be cared for by their children or relatives, the community, or the state. This article challenges this assumption by documenting the extent and range of the participation of widows in the labor market and the number of dependents for whom they were responsible. The introduction discusses the longstanding image of the widow and the attempts made to coerce widows to behave in accordance with the image. The reasons for the high degree of regulation and supervision, particularly of sexuality, are discussed. The image and associated regulations are then contrasted with the reality of the widows' struggle to survive. It is argued that many widows perceived their age and widowhood as less of a burden and more as a form of liberation from the social and economic constrictions of married life. As widows developed strategies to reorganize their lives, friendships with other women were often decisive.     

Comparative effectiveness research under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: can new bottles accommodate old wine?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, initiated comprehensive health reform for the healthcare sector of the United States. PPACA includes strategies to make the American healthcare sector more efficient and effective. PPACA's comparative effectiveness research initiative and the establishment of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute are major strategies in this regard. PPACA's comparative effectiveness research initiative is one in a long line of federal initiatives to address the rising costs of healthcare as well as to obtain better value for healthcare expenditures. The key question is whether the governance and design features of the institute that will oversee the initiative will enable it to succeed where other federal efforts have faltered. This Article analyzes the federal government's quest to ensure value for money expended in publically funded healthcare programs and the health sector generally. This Article will also analyze what factors contribute to the possible success or failure of the comparative effectiveness research initiative. Success can be defined as the use of the findings of comparative effectiveness to make medical practice less costly, more efficient and effective, and ultimately, to bend the cost curve.     

The forensic pathology of nonagenarians and centenarians: do they die of old age? (The Auckland experience)

The aim of this study is to provide awareness of the common causes of death and their associated trends in the very aged. Forensic autopsies on patients aged >90 years were reviewed. The study lasted from January 1, 1988 to December 11, 1998 and was done in Auckland, New Zealand, the population of which is 1.3 million. Cases were divided into natural or unnatural deaths. Of the total of 319 cases, 272 (85%) deaths were natural. Of those, only 13 (5%) were "written off" as being attributed to old age or senile debility. The most common causes of death were ischemic heart disease (IHD), 74 cases (23%); bronchopneumonia, 37 cases (12%); fractures, 28 cases (9%); acute myocardial infarction, 25 cases (8%); cerebrovascular accident, 19 cases (6%); and ruptured aneurysm, 17 cases (5%); 61 (19%) deaths were multifactorial. Fractures, either as the primary cause of death or as a complicating factor, accounted for 29 cases, third only to IHD and bronchopneumonia. Forty-seven deaths (15%) were unnatural; of those, 43 were accidents, 3 were suicides, and 1 was a homicide. From these results it is clear that the very elderly succumb to disease; they do not often die of old age.     

‘A confession of ignorance’: deaths from old age and deciphering cause-of-death statistics in Scotland, 1855–1949

A large amount of the research undertaken in an attempt to discover the reasons underlying the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century mortality decline in Britain has relied on the statistics published by the Registrars General. The processes by which individual causes of death are recorded and then processed in order to create the statistics are not, however, well understood. In this article, the authors build on previous work to piece together a time series of causes of death for Scotland, which removes many of the discontinuities encountered in the published statistics that result from the Registrar General deciding to update the nosology, or classification system, which was being used to compile his figures. Having regrouped individual causes of death to ‘smooth’ the time series, the authors use the new groups to examine the changing causes of death in Scotland for selected age groups, before turning to undertake a detailed examination of mortality amongst those aged 55 or more. The authors find that when deaths from ‘old age’ in the latter age group are separated from other ‘ill-defined’ causes, it becomes obvious that there was a ‘rebranding’ of cause of death. The authors then use individual-level data from two Scottish communities to further dissect the roles played by ‘informants’ and ‘doctors’ in this rebranding, in order to see how these roles may have altered over time and what the consequences might be for one's view of how mortality changed in Scotland between 1855 and 1949. Finally, the authors argue that their findings have important implications for some of historical demography's most prominent theories: the McKeown thesis and the theory of epidemiological transition.     

Are old witnesses always poorer witnesses? Identification accuracy,context reinstatement,own-age bias

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is unwise for a criminal defense lawyer to allow a law enforcement officer, former law enforcement officer, or relative/close friend of an officer to serve as a juror. This project examined the decisions of 2853 jurors of whom 235 reported being or having been a law enforcement officer and 1348 reported knowing a close friend or relative who is or was an officer. Participants watched a videotape of a trial of a burglary of a habitation and were asked to give individual verdicts. Results indicated that the average conviction rate was 57.6%. Past and present officers did not differ in their conviction rate from non-officer jurors. Jurors who indicated knowing a past or present law enforcement officer did not convict the defendant more than those who did not know anyone in law enforcement. Implications for this research are discussed.     

Visualising the past – An evaluation of processes and sequences for fingermark recovery from old documents

This study aimed to collect data on the effectiveness of most of the fingermark visualisation reagents currently used on porous surfaces on fingermarks aged for up to 90?years, significantly extending the timescales for which such information exists. A limited subset of the variables associated with processing of old fingermarks was explored, with a focus on the use of 1,8 diazafluoren-9-one (DFO), 1,2-indandione, ninhydrin, and physical developer. These techniques were used in sequence on batches of cheques between 11 and 32?years old, and on documents dating from the 1920s and 1940s. The potential for applying a physical developer enhancement process (blue toning) as the final step in the sequence was also explored. The benefits of using processing sequences on porous items were clearly demonstrated, with all processes in the sequence adding value in terms of additional marks found on the cheques up to 32?years old. In addition, physical developer was found to be capable of developing fingermarks up to 90?years old, whereas the amino acid reagents appear less effective on documents of 70?years and older. An experimental physical developer formulation with reduced environmental impact was found to be as effective as the existing process in these experiments. Blue toning was found to visualise an additional 10–25% of marks, and its wider use after silver-based deposition processes is recommended based on the evidence from this study.     

Validity of Demirjian and Willems methods for dental age estimation for Malaysian children aged 5–15 years old

BackgroundOne of the most commonly used method for dental age assessment is the method reported by Demirjian and coworkers in 1973. It was later modified by Willems and coworkers whereby they “performed a weighted ANOVA” in order to adapt the scoring system.AimTo evaluate the applicability of Demirjian and Willems methods for dental age estimation for Malaysian children and to correlate the accuracy of the findings with the chronology of tooth development of premolars and second molars.Materials and methodsA total of 991 dental panoramic radiographs of 5–15-year-old Malaysian children were included in the study. The mean Demirjian and Willems estimated ages were compared to the mean chronological age.ResultsThe mean chronological age of the sample was 10.1 ± 2.8 and 9.9 ± 3.0 years for males and females respectively. Using the Demirjian method, the mean estimated dental age was 10.8 ± 2.9 years for males and 10.5 ± 2.9 years for females. For Willems method, the mean estimated age was 10.3 ± 2.8 years males and 10.0 ± 3.0 years respectively.ConclusionsWillems method was more applicable for estimating dental age for Malaysian children. Overestimation in Demirjian method could be due to advanced development of second bicuspids and molars.     

Can young pups teach an old Dog new tricks? Lessons for British reformers from eastern Europe's new constitutional democracies

This article analyses the process of constitutional reforms in eastern Europe and draws lessons for similar reforms in British politics. It looks, first, at electoral engineering and shows how political actors, pursuing their particular interests, try to turn proportionality back into majoritarianism, and how and why such moves do not necessarily result in their projected outcomes. In a similar vein, it then goes on to analyse parliamentary formal rules, such as standing orders, and demonstrates how attempts to manipulate them can be offset, not just by counter‐manipulation, but by underlying informal rules and cultural norms. Overall, we argue that, because constitutional change is an ongoing and crucially political process, its results are neither wholly predictable nor always welcomed. On the basis of the eastern European experience, we also suggest that constitutional change does not necessarily lead to increased legitimacy of the system, thus undermining one of the major hopes of reformers in Britain.     

周应青:艺高人胆大

人物档案:周应青,江苏省盐城市苏一律师事务所主任、阜宁县政协常委、江苏省律协青年委员会委员、盐城市律协常务理事、盐城市仲裁委员会仲裁员、阜宁县检察院特约检察员。周应青诚信敬业,连续多年受表彰和嘉奖,并被评为盐城市“十佳法律工作者”。惟一敢接此案的律师江苏省阜宁中学高一年级学生王某,因不堪忍受班主任老师的不当处罚,服毒自尽。案发后,小王的父母欲请律师和学校打一场官司,可找了全县多名律师就是没人愿意代理。经人指点,他们找到了周应青。听了案情陈述后,周应青拍案而起,当即同意代理此案。接受委托后,他依法向公安机关、…     

韩寒:而立之年

新年前夕,韩寒连发了几篇谈革命、说民主、要自由的博文,立刻引发了不少争论,支持者有之,贬斥者有之,一时众说纷纭、洛阳纸贵。更耐人寻味的是,以前韩寒涉及敏感话题的博文经常享受被"秒杀"删帖的待遇;而此次竟然开放讨论,连以民粹著称的《环球时报》也以《韩寒     

曹莲芝:为民请命

她很普通,与她交谈就像和邻家大姐一样亲切、随和,让人有时竟忘却她全国人大代表的身份,可她确是位忠实履行代表职责、为民请命、受人爱戴的人大代表;她很平凡,一名普普通通的公交公司的乘务员,在平凡的岗位上,她默默地二十年如一日地奉献着,在漫长的旅途中留下闪光的足迹,她无愧于全国劳动模范的称号.……     

聚焦:韩德云

翻开韩德云的档案,可以看出,他的每一次选择、每一次飞越、每一点成就,都和国家的法治进步息息相关。韩德云:1962年出生于四川;1982年在西南政法学院(西政)获哲学学士学位并留校任教;1987年赴美国加州大学法学院攻读研究生,获法学硕士学位;1990年返回西政经济法系国际经济法教研室工作;1994年辞职与其他归国留学生共同创办合伙制的索     

付振中:铁肩担道义

自6月中旬以来,发生在山西省洪洞县等地的黑砖窑奴工事件经媒体报道后震惊全国,并引起了舆论的持续关注,最高层领导纷纷批示,山西省长公开道歉,警方也开展了大规模专项整治行动,打击黑窑主,     

国产品牌:风雨飘摇

去年年底,在安徽省合肥市召开的’95全国名牌大会上,与会者对外国名牌大举“扫荡”中国市场、蚕食鲸吞国产名牌的现状深为忧患,大家满怀不屈的信念高唱起了国歌,捍卫国产名牌已到了危急关头。有心人会注意到,这十几年中,国外大企业进军中国市场先后展开了三大战役:首先是产品涌进大     

正当防卫:无罪

刑法第二十条第三款:对正在进行行凶、杀人、抢劫、强奸、绑架以及其他严重危及人身安全的暴力犯罪,采取防卫行为,造成不法侵害人伤亡,不属于防卫过当,不负刑事责任。     

消费:一掷千金

一业兴百业旺据中国网报道,国庆"黄金周"游客接待量、旅游总收入在2008年金融危机后,连续五年保持了平稳较快的增长,今年双节黄金周期间,旅游更呈现井喷态势,增幅创历年同期最高,旅游总收入增速继续小幅超过游客接待量增速。此外,省、市、景区今年反馈回的情况也显示出,门票收入占旅游总收入的比例正在日益缩小,上述现象再次表明,中国旅游业正在由单一旅游