Post-conviction DNA exonerations

The role of DNA profiling is constantly increasing in various fields and criminal justice is not an exception. Several individuals, who are wrongfully convicted, have been exonerated based on DNA evidence. Research in the U.S. has consistently found the major factors contributing to wrongful convictions to be： （1） eyewitness errors; （2） mishandling of evidence by police and prosecutors; （3） false or coerced confessions; （4） improper interrogations and line-ups; （5）jailhouse informants or ＂snitches＂; （6） ineffective assistance of counsel; （7） forensic errors; and （8） the adversarial system. This paper examines the data made available by the Innocent Project for 233 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the U.S. since 1989.     

DNA fingerprints and rape: A feminist assessment

Can the use of DNA fingerprinting reduce the frequency of rape? Feminist technology assessment is used here to evaluate this new forensic technique, which distinguishes between persons by differences in DNA sequences in variable regions of their chromosomes. Although everyone's DNA pattern is unique, the statistical degrees of difference among sub-populations within ethnic and racial groups are not fully known. The technique is beset by laboratory errors, difficulties in interpretation, and lack of quality control. Policy analysts may also be troubled by the politics behind the harassment of expert witnesses, the rejection by journals of critical articles, the influence of the FBI on federal assessment reports, and the inequitable distribution of costs and benefits. The cases of British rapist-murderer Colin Pitchfork, San Diego rape victim Alicia Wade, and eight exonerated convicts demonstrate how the technique can clear probably innocent rape suspects, but they illustrate little rape-prevention capacity. If DNA testing accurately exonerates a suspect, then the police may continue searching; yet, a test with greater power to exonerate may let criminals escape and may lower the credibility of rape victims' eyewitness testimony. Furthermore, any accurate DNA typing might foster behavior to avoid apprehension or the reduction of sentences through plea-bargaining, thus having a negative effect on deterrence. Despite clear benefit to individual women in specific circumstances, this technique is likely, overall, to be disadvantageous to women. The rape victim identifies her assailant in a police line-up again before the jury in court. He is convicted and put behind bars. Some years later he hears about DNA testing and convinces his lawyer to get tests on the semen that was fund on the victim's clothes. when results show that he could not have been the rapist, he is released from prison. Yet the victim remains convinced that he was the man who attacked her and lives in fear that will find her and rape her again.¹     

法医DNA检验技术应用得失探讨

目前,法医DNA检验技术主要是应用刑事案件(命案、强奸、恶性械斗、群死群伤、盗窃等)现场上出现几率较大的生物物证来进行认定或排除,为诉讼提供客观、真实的证据。本文通过作者实际办案经历,来探讨工作实践中如何正确有效应用法医DNA检验技术,更好地服务于公安业务工作。     

The Media, The Campaign, and The Message

This article examines the 1996 press releases issued by Republican presidential nominee candidates during the invisible primary and the subsequent stories generated by these press releases in newspapers. We systematically examine how campaigns structure their messages, which messages are transmitted by the press to the voting public, and what factors influence the transmission of the campaign's message. We find that campaign organizations disseminate a variety of messages to the media. Our analysis demonstrates that national media organizations are most receptive to informative (logistical) messages disseminated by candidates who are at the head of the field and most hostile to substantive (issue-oriented) messages regardless of their campaign of origin. By contrast, the state press is most open to substantive messages issued by lower-tier candidates. It appears from our results that the media, more than the campaign, bear the responsibility for the emphasis on the horse race.     

The consents of The Calculus

I study a game where two agents bargain on an agreement to replace the status quo. For their agreement to come into effect, they need the approval of a third agent. The preferences of this third agent is private information, but there is communication among agents. I study this game in the context of international agreements to provide an explanation for involuntary ratification failures. I show that under certain assumptions, the informational deficiency is incurable due to incentives to misrepresent preferences, and that a parliament whose majority is more hawkish than their executive prefers the executive to be risk averse.     

The Significance of The Administrative State

To mark the 60th anniversary of the appearance of The Administrative State by reexamining the politics–administration debate is confining and ignores Waldo's grand enterprise to describe the unique context in which American public administration emerged and developed. Instead of bemoaning or strategizing the reconciliation of a supposed schism, modern scholars should appreciate what is, in fact, a natural and necessary tension.     

从作为公平的正义到基于道德性的正义

罗尔斯的正义理论并不是从原初状态出发,而是从更深的基础:人性的道德权利出发,进而来保证自由平等权利的赋予以及作为公平的正义的实现,从这个基础上来理解作为公平的正义实质上便是基于道德性的正义。     

高校体育课教学方法改革与发展的研究

本文通过对传统教学方法的分析,找出其存在的问题和弊端.并根据素质教育应培养具有创新能力的人才的需要,提出新的教学方法,以其对高校体育教学改革提供参考.