When Screams Are Not Released: A Study of Communication and Consent in Acquaintance Rape Situations

This study examines the importance of modes of communication in the context of acquaintance rape, using 96 reported cases of acquaintance rape from a southeastern law enforcement agency. Through the demographic characteristics of each acquaintance rape, as well as the testimonies of the complainants and—in some cases—the accused, this research reveals the way in which victims communicate their responses to these attacks. A typology of modes of communication clearly emerges from these qualitative data. The patterns of communication further underscore the likelihood of passive responses, particularly the complete lack of communication when the victim “freezes.” The implications of such response modes are considered.     

Preventing Genocide: Measuring Success by What Does Not Happen

Although the concept of genocide prevention is recognized in international jurisprudence and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, its content remains vague and peripheral to legal scholarship and policy-making. Effective prevention is particularly challenging to grasp because success must be measured by what does not happen. Reaction to mass-atrocities must be replaced by early warning and rapid engagement through modest and feasible measures. With escalating violence, there may be greater attention to a situation, but also less willingness to intervene as humanitarian intervention through force and similar means becomes increasingly costly. A better understanding of the norms, institutions, and tools within reasonable reach of decision-makers is essential to translating genocide prevention from an elusive ideal into reality. This article evaluates and elucidates the law and practice of early warning and genocide prevention. First, the far-reaching potential of a preventive approach is illustrated based on the example of Rwanda where measures as modest as jamming radio broadcasts inciting hatred could have substantially constrained genocidal violence. Second, scholarship on the indicia and prediction of mass atrocities will be explored with a view to understanding the timeliness of action. Third, the legal and institutional dimensions of an obligation to prevent genocide and other mass-crimes will be addressed with a focus on recent developments within the UN system. And fourth, success stories from Macedonia, Côte d??Ivoire and Burundi will be examined in order to demonstrate the practical impact of early warning and prevention     

Lesser-Evil Justifications: A Reply to Frowe

Sometimes one can prevent harm only by contravening rights. If the harm one can prevent is great enough, compared to the stringency of the opposing rights, then one has a lesser-evil justification to contravene the rights. Non-consequentialist orthodoxy holds that, most of the time, lesser-evil justifications add to agents’ permissible options without taking any away. Helen Frowe rejects this view. She claims that, almost always, agents must act on their lesser-evil justifications. Our primary task is to refute Frowe’s flagship argument. Secondarily, it is to sketch a positive case for nonconsequentialist orthodoxy.

     

我国犯罪构成体系不必重构

引进德日犯罪构成理论,对我国犯罪构成体系进行重构已经成为一种倾向。但是,我国犯罪构成体系并非被抨击的那样一无是处,而为重构论者所推崇的德日犯罪判断体系同样存在着前后冲突、现状和初衷背离、唯体系论等弊端。我国犯罪构成体系所存在的犯罪构成要件之间的关系不明、根据犯罪构成所得出的犯罪概念单一等问题,可以通过贯彻客观优先的阶层递进观念以及树立不同意义的犯罪概念的方法加以解决。因此,我国犯罪构成体系没有必要重构。     

Consent in escrow: opting to opt in

In this paper, we reply to Taylor''s (2015) peer commentary on consent-in-escrow. Specifically, we clarify the utility of this novel approach, the way in which it minimizes risks to participants, and how it differs from existing opt-out methods. We further explore its potential use in fields beyond disaster research.     

A Reply to Five Friends

For an academic, there is no greater reward than having one's scholarship taken seriously. The five distinguished scholars who have contributed to this symposium on The Force of Law (Schauer 2015 ) have done just that, with varying degrees of agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism. But even critical commentary, and perhaps especially critical commentary, is evidence of serious engagement. More importantly, the commentaries contained here have advanced our understanding of law in valuable ways. I respond to each in this reply, but with full acknowledgment that my responses cannot do justice to the full breadth of their contributions and challenges. My hope is not that I will persuade readers that I am correct and my critics mistaken, but rather that the reader who absorbs both the challenges and my response will come away with a greater understanding of the issues that The Force of Law seeks to place on the agenda of contemporary jurisprudence.