Collective Bargaining and Job Benefits in Florida Municipal Police Agencies, 2000–2009

While a recent analysis of unionization among Florida county sheriff deputies was informative, that study failed to provide a comprehensive picture of all law enforcement unionization activity in that state. More specifically, county sheriff offices account for only 20 % of all local law enforcement agencies in the state, represent approximately half the sworn personnel in Florida, and have only been engaged in collective bargaining for the past ten years. As a result, the present study incorporates municipal police agencies, a hitherto neglected portion of the Florida law enforcement community, in an effort to gain a fuller understanding of how unionization influences salaries and other job conditions. The results underscore the importance of adopting a broader orientation to understand the progression of collective bargaining objectives.     

The influence of collective bargaining on large police agency salaries: 1990–2000

Collective bargaining between police management and unions is an important process that determines many aspects of police work, particularly the monetary benefits for line officers like salary and fringe benefits. Working with limited budgets, police administrators who engage in collective bargaining are obligated to negotiate with union representatives over wage benefits while attempting to maintain adequate financial resources toward other police operations. Though students of policing learn that police unions try very hard to increase economic reward for their members there is limited research on the effectiveness of their efforts. Since economic benefits are the primary focus of police unions, it is important; therefore, to evaluate the impact that collective bargaining has on salaries earned by police personnel. This study examines this issue by combining four waves of the Law Enforcement Management and Administration Statistics for the period 1990–2000. Pooled time series analyses reveal that large organizations that engaged in collective bargaining had higher minimum wages for officers during the period. As predicted, collective bargaining did not affect minimum chief’s salaries.     

加拿大集体谈判法律制度研究

经过60余载的发展,加拿大的集体谈判制度日趋完善,在维护产业和平中发挥了重要的作用。加拿大集体谈判制度围绕谈判主体资格的确定、谈判过程的规制、谈判僵局的处理以及谈判的监管机制进行构建,在充分尊重谈判双方自主性的前提下,也重视发挥政府的调控作用,以确保集体谈判被控制在法治的框架内。随着集体谈判制度的发展,加拿大劳资关系中的合作、磋商、沟通逐渐成为一种常态,劳动者的磋商权逐渐获得承认。     

Expanding ADA coverage to employee benefit plans: recent judicial and administrative developments

The Americans with Disabilities Act has been heralded as the Emancipation Proclamation for persons with disabilities. The purpose of the law is to provide nothing less than a "clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities." Precisely how the nondiscrimination principles of the ADA will be applied to an employer's provision of health benefits to its employees has been the subject of much debate since the Act's passage in 1990. Although the statutory language and the legislative history support a limited application of the ADA to benefits issues, recent court decisions and enforcement actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicate that the ADA may have a much more profound impact in the area of benefits plan design and administration. Moreover, as benefits administrators take a much more active role in managing health care decisions, the ADA may become a vehicle for legal challenges to those decisions that affect the disabled.     

Preventing youth suicide: issues for law enforcement personnel

Suicide is a leading cause of death for adolescents. A number of problem behaviors associated with youth suicide fall into the purview of law enforcement personnel, and they are therefore in a position to detect risk and prevent suicidal behaviors. Eight hundred one youth identified as having school difficulty, a group at increased risk for both suicide and legal problems, participated in a paper and pencil survey followed by an interview focusing on suicide risk and protective factors. Linear regression was used to examine the ability of factors within each risk and protective factor dimension to predict current suicide risk. The study goal was to determine the most relevant factors influencing suicide risk in each domain examined. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for assessment and policy for law enforcement personnel.     

A guide to the EEOC's final regulations on the Americans with Disabilities Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued its final regulations on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Although the regulations offer some guidance for employers on how to comply with the Act, they fail to provide specific answers to the many complicated compliance questions that will surely arise. Further, the regulations are almost totally silent on certain critical issues related to insurance, workers' compensation, and potential conflicts between ADA obligations and terms of collective bargaining agreements. The EEOC has essentially left the resolution of many important ADA questions to case-by-case determination and the litigation process.     

Regulating hospital labor costs: a case study in the politics of state rate commissions

With the advent of various attempts to control hospital costs by direct state regulation, labor input costs have become a target of particular attention. This focus is due in part to the unique discretion administrators can exercise over labor factors, and in part to the large absolute part of hospital resources devoted to labor costs, conservatively estimated to be about 55 percent of total budget. This paper examines the impact of state efforts in prospectively setting rates on collective bargaining outcomes in the hospital sector. Specifically, bargaining in New York, Maryland and Connecticut is examined. The paper concludes that government attempts at controlling costs have, in all cases, required the regulatory bodies to consciously exert influence on the collective bargaining process. Further, while such attempts seem to be within the paradigm of multilateral bargaining, there are significant distinguishing features in the role hospital regulatory bodies play in the bargaining process. These variations from the multilateral paradigm may impede the long run ability of rate review efforts to control bargaining outcomes with respect to wages.     

Labour Constitutions and Occupational Communities: Social Norms and Legal Norms at Work

This paper considers the interaction of legal norms and social norms in the regulation of work and working relations, observing that, with the contraction of collective bargaining, this is a matter that no longer attracts the attention that it deserves. Drawing upon two concepts from sociology – Max Weber's ‘labour constitution’ and Seymour Martin Lipset's ‘occupational community’ – it focuses on possibilities for the emergence, within groups of workers, of shared normative beliefs concerning ‘industrial justice’ (Selznick); for collective solidarity and agency; for the transformation of shared beliefs into legally binding norms; and for the enforcement of those norms. If labour law is currently in ‘crisis’, then a promising route out of the crisis, we argue, is for the law to recover its procedural focus, facilitating and encouraging these processes.     

Education as a component of law enforcement professionalism: the concept and its measurement

The. lack of empirical studies of education as a structural variable. within theoretical modelt, of professionalization was disucssed. Also, a scale. designed to measure. education, as a camponent of the. concept of low enforcement as a. profoession was developed. lnterpreted as valid and reliable, the scale. was employed in a survey of North Carolina law enforcement personnel. Although it was concluded that many law enforcement personnel did not identify education as an element of the concept of law enforcement as a profassion, a minority strongly endorsed education. Law enforcement. personnekl overwhelmingly phefered criminal justice. curricula over those. of other disciplines, and many anticipated participation in criminal justice educational programs. It was concluded the conceptualization of education as, a component of law enforcement as a profession was, emerging. However, such conceptualieation was not felt to be pervasive within the law enforcement community.     

A Comparison of Law Enforcement Divorce Rates with Those of Other Occupations

It is a common belief that the divorce rate for police officers is higher than that of the general population. This belief is commonly held in spite of the fact that there is no empirical research supporting such a belief. To compare the divorce rate of law enforcement personnel with the rates for other occupations, we analyzed data from the 2000 U.S. Census. The results of this analysis indicate that the divorce rate for law enforcement personnel is lower than that of the general population, even after controlling for demographic and other job-related variables.     

行政管理视域下行政执法体制存在的问题对策——以济南市为例

济南市行政执法体制改革在实践中取得了很大成效.通过整合执法队伍,进一步提高执法水平,使执法交叉、执法扰民、重复处罚、多头处罚等现象大幅度减少.但由于体制机制尚待理顺,有关的法律法规不健全,国内可资借鉴的成熟经验还不多,使济南市行政执法过程中还存在着一些问题,因此,必须加大改革创新力度,全面推进依法行政,提高科学民主决策水平和执行能力;加强立法工作,健全法规、规章,合理界定综合执法范围;科学配置综合执法职权,重新定位行政执法目标,完善行政执法协调机制.     

基于派出所法律实施的基层社会治理法治化——以浙江K派出所为例

改革开放三十多年来,"严打"、"普法"、"社会治安综合治理"以及"社会管理综合治理"等方式可以看作是国家对基层社会进行治理的探索.十八届四中全会提出"推进基层治理法治化"吹响了全面依法治理基层社会的号角.作为拥有执法人员数量最多的基层执法机构,处在社会矛盾解决第一线的派出所的法律实施依据、方法和技术理应为基层社会治理提供法治资源和法治路径.浙江省K派出所的案例、做法和制度有力地诠释了派出所的法律实施契合基层社会治理.派出所法律实施所展现出来的四大法治功能是推进基层社会治理法治化的桥梁.派出所应从人口管理、行政执法、刑事司法、服务社会、走群众路线、严格遵守程序原则和善于运用非正式制度性因素等方面来为基层社会治理法治化提供理念支持和行动榜样.     

The law and economics of supranationalism: the European Union and the subsidiarity principle in collective action perspective

This article, prepared for an issue devoted to the work of Judge Richard A. Posner, considers the implications of law and economics for the structure of supranational organizations, with particular attention to the application of collective action theory to the relationships among states in the EU. After discussing the connections between this approach and Judge Posner’s work, the article describes collective action theory and its implications for our understanding of the state and of relationships among states. From this perspective, supranational organizations such as the EU can be understood as institutional structures that facilitate collective action among states by reducing the transactions and enforcement costs of making and implementing collective decisions. At the same time, the delegation of authority to supranational institutions creates agency costs for states and their peoples because the interests of the state and its people diverge from the interests of the collective in some instances. Viewed in this perspective, the institutional structure of the EU—like that of other supranational organizations or federal nation states—reflects an effort to strike a balance between collective decision making and local control so as to maximize the collective gains and minimize the resulting agency costs. Understood in these terms, various features of the EU’s institutional design make sense. The ordinary legislative process permits the EU to act without the unanimous consent of member states, thus reducing transactions costs in those areas where collective action is necessary, particularly in relation to the creation and regulation of the internal market. The EU reduces enforcement costs through principles of direct applicability or effects and the supremacy of EU law, which are effective legal restraints in states governed by the rule of law. The institutional structure of the EU also incorporates a representative and deliberative process for collective action that helps control the resulting agency costs for member states and their peoples through supermajority and co-decisional requirements. The collective action perspective also illuminates the function of the subsidiarity principle and the enhanced role of national parliaments in its enforcement.     

我国集体协商制度实证主义建构的法哲学反思

我国集体协商制度之所以未能实现和谐劳动关系的规制功能,主要原因之一,在于其制度建构的实证主义哲学观使实现集体行动合法化、体现劳资自治的"争议权"在制度构造上缺乏合法地位。虽然"争议权"的行使可能引发法的正当性与安定性之间的矛盾,但是,基于自然法的理论分析,"争议权"的行使与维持劳动关系稳定的目标并不冲突。在追求劳动关系正义的基本宗旨下,通过拓宽集体交涉的法律途径可实现争议权在实证法上的合法地位。     

北京市城管综合行政执法的发展困境及解决思路

北京市城管综合行政执法工作已经开展十余年,在北京城市管理中发挥了重要作用。目前该领域存在的职权界定标准模糊、执法物质保障缺乏、执法队伍结构不合理、职权配制不科学、执法理念、执法方式简单化等障碍直接影响了城管综合行政执法效能的发挥。对此,首先应科学划定城管综合行政执法的权限范围,其次加强城管执法物质保障和执法队伍建设,再次建立城管执法多项职权的协调体制,最后转变执法观念,改进执法方式,提高执法能力。     

The Reconstitution of Law in Local Settings: Agency Discretion, Ambiguity, and a Surplus of Law in the Policing of Hate Crime

An important yet poorly understood function of law enforcement organizations is the role they play in distilling and transmitting the meaning of legal rules to frontline law enforcement officers and their local communities. In this study, we examine how police and sheriff's agencies in California collectively make sense of state hate crime laws. To do so, we gathered formal policy documents called “hate crime general orders” from all 397 police and sheriff's departments in the state and conducted interviews with law enforcement officials to determine the aggregate patterns of local agencies' responses to higher law. We also construct a “genealogy of law” to locate the sources of the definitions of hate crime used in agency policies. Despite a common set of state criminal laws, we find significant variation in how hate crime is defined in these documents, which we attribute to the discretion local law enforcement agencies possess, the ambiguity of law, and the surplus of legal definitions of hate crime available in the larger environment to which law enforcement must respond. Some law enforcement agencies take their cue from other agencies, some follow statewide guidelines, and others are oriented toward gaining legitimacy from national professional bodies or groups within their own community. The social mechanisms that produce the observed clustering patterns in terms of approach to hate crime law are mimetic (copying another department), normative (driven by professional standards about training and community social movement pressure), and actuarial (affected by the demands of the crime data collection system). Together these findings paint a picture of policing organizations as mediators between law‐on‐the‐books and law‐in‐action that are embedded in interorganizational networks with other departments, state and federal agencies, professional bodies, national social movement organizations, and local community groups. The implications of an interorganizational field perspective on law enforcement and implementation are discussed in relation to existing sociolegal research on policing, regulation, and recent neo‐institutional scholarship on law.     

Law enforcement employment discrimination based on sexual orientation: A selective review of case law

Homosexuality has been the subject of discrimination from Biblical times through the present. Homosexuals continue to experience pervasive forms of discrimination, including denial of employment which they may be otherwise qualified to obtain. One profession that is particularly open in its discrimination against homosexual employees is law enforcement. This article traces the development of homosexuals’ rights as they specifically relate to employment in law enforcement. Examples of common arguments raised by police administrators to justify such actions are examined with each illustrated by an example from relevant case law. Finally, areas in which the law has begun to provide greater protection for the employment rights of homosexuals are identified.     

Excited delirium syndrome: a political diagnosis?

"Excited delirium" has become increasingly recognised as a medical entity that is typically associated with individuals suffering from a mental illness and/or affected by a variety of stimulant-type drugs. Because the diagnostic label has been used in association with situations of violence on the part of the person affected, and this has included circumstances where chemical and electrical as well as physical restraint has been applied by law enforcement personnel, the diagnostic entity has come to be reviewed by a variety of courts and tribunals. There is considerable debate in medical circles as to the scientific validity of such a "diagnosis" but there appears to be some medical and therapeutic value in clustering the relevant signs and symptoms under such a label. At the same time, using such a term in relation to deaths associated with circumstances where individuals are restrained could be seen as a way of deflecting the investigation of such deaths away from the actions of law enforcement personnel.     

The idea of autonomy and the foundations of contractual liability

This paper examines a recurrent debate about the rationale of contractual liability: whether the central object of contract law is to facilitate human interaction by respecting individual choices, or if it is in large part to redistribute wealth, power, and advantages generally. The debate between defenders of freedom of contract and those who would use contract law to advance schemes of redistribution is connected to the long-standing issues between natural-law theories and legal positivism. This paper is divided into two main sections. In the first, the notion of individual autonomy is examined in light of the classical view, most recently advanced by Fried, that the rationale for enforcing contracts is connected to the respect for individual autonomy as such. There is also an examination of the notion of a collective concern, and what it is, from a libertarian point of view, that makes some social goals objectionably collective. The second part of the paper argues that the use of collective resources for the enforcement of contracts brings with it the authority to limit and shape enforcement in the interest of redistribution.     

Legal Emotions: An Ethnography of Distrust and Fear in the Arab Districts of an Israeli City

Recent sociolegal scholarship has explored the role of emotions in lawmaking and policymaking on security and crime issues. This article extends this approach to the relationship between law enforcement and affect by addressing the role of policing and security agencies in the (re)production of long‐term emotions, which bind a collective and fuel ethnonational division. An ethnography of the distinct emotional climate within the Arab districts of Lod, an Israeli city, shows that this climate is structured by two emotions: rampant distrust toward friends and neighbors, and intense fear of the Israeli authorities. This emotional climate is the product of the subterranean ties of Lod Palestinians with the Israeli security agencies as well as their experiences of the blurred line between state security and crime control enforcement. I embed the initial creation and relative stability of this emotional climate in the broader relationship between the Israeli state and its Palestinian citizens from 1948 to the present. The article concludes with a discussion of how the law enforcement's affective production has consequences for the salience and scope of citizenship and by arguing for a greater focus on the link between law enforcement, collective emotions, and processes of inclusion and exclusion.