Suing Media for Libel: A Litigation Study

This article summarizes the results of a study of 291 reported cases brought against media for libel during a four-year period. The results confirmed the finding in an earlier study that only 5 percent of plaintiffs emerged from the appellate process with judgments compared with more than 60 percent of defendants. Most of the defense successes occurred without trial. In cases that did reach trial, plaintiffs were successful far more often before juries than before judges but lost more than half these judgments on appeal. Cases were analyzed in terms of the identity of the parties, the content of the charges, and the role of state and federal law in shaping the outcome. Despite the recent attention to federal constitutional protections, it is clear that media defendants still do, and must, rely heavily on state law defenses. Finally, the Hutchinson and Wolston rulings of 1979 produced little change in appellate decisions.     

Correlates Of Cynicism: The Case For Black Police Officers

In this paper we test the relationship between perceived satisfaction with promotion policy and cynical attitudes for fifty-seven black male officers in a southern metropolitan police department. Correlation analyses revealed that selected variables taken from the Niederhoffer (1967) model relate to feelings of mistrust in hypothesized directions. Satisfaction with promotion policy was observed to be the most important predictor of cynicism after controlling for the effects of rank, years of service, and education. Equity motivation theory is then presented as an approach to modify traditional opportunity structures grounded in politics and seniority.     

The Criminal Justice Approach: Case Examples

The article presents a special form of a European comparative synopsis. For this case examples have been chosen ranging from administrative or minor (criminal) offences to increasingly serious offences and offenders. In this way it can be comparatively demonstrated how the criminal justice systems studied handle specific cases and whether they do so in a similar or different way.     

The Need for an Interdisciplinary Approach in Forensic Sciences: Perspectives from a Peculiar Case of Mummification

The finding of a mummified body raises many problems, also because of the limits of the medico‐legal investigations in case of mummification. Psychological autopsy and behavioral analysis have demonstrated a significant impact in case of equivocal death. The mummified corpse of a woman was found sealed in a wardrobe during the death investigation of a 36‐year‐old man, later discovered to be the woman's son. The woman's corpse was well preserved and no external injuries were found. Autopsy could not ascertain the cause of death. The state of the premises and the writings on the walls offered an opportunity to investigate the man's psychological profile and to better understand how the events might have taken place. The role of an accurate investigative analysis of the crime scene is a cornerstone of forensic pathology and the case presented underlies the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in forensic sciences.     

Suing "the welfare": the diminishing immunity for child protection authorities

Until recently, child protection authorities enjoyed significant levels of immunity in respect of civil actions arising from their action or inaction. However, the tide has turned in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The decision of Redlich J of the Victorian Supreme Court in the complex case of SB v New South Wales (2004) 13 VR 527; [2004] VSC 513 consolidates the trend in Australia with a further repudiation of the assertion that child welfare authorities should be specially advantaged. It appears that henceforth actions will regularly be able to be brought against the state by persons who have been harmed by the negligent discharge of child protection duties. In the future, plaintiffs' biggest impediment will lie in the evidentiary challenge of establishing the extent of the harm flowing from the breach of the state's duty as against the harm wrought by previous and supervening events.     

A Naval Revolution and Institutional Change: The Case of the United Provinces

This study starting from the debate of the influence of the so-called military revolution on the emergence of modern states, analyses the neglected aspect of the influence of seapower on socioeconomic change, using a formal model. It is maintained that the choice of seapower by a state leads to a different regime than the choice of land military power, because sustainable seapower necessitates a wide alliance of interests, which brings with it more democratic regimes, develops new more efficient and complex forms of organizations, requires the acquisition and diffusion of new knowledge and expertise that brings with it institutional change and economic growth. The present study concludes with a short presentation of the United Provinces (the Dutch Republic) turn to the sea.JEL Classification: N0, N4, C7, O0     

案卷排他性：公安行政处罚听证的规则运用

公安行政处罚要受《公安机关办理行政案件程序规定》的规制。《公安机关办理行政案件程序规定》第一百二十二条规定应当体现了案卷排他性原则,即将听证笔录作为公安机关作出行政处理决定的唯一依据。这是对行政处罚法有关行政听证程序规定的新发展。     

警察形象战略的基石：警察核心价值观

警察形象战略是在新形势下开展警察公共关系建设,促进警察机关和人民群众的沟通和理解,密切警民关系的有效载体。而警察核心价值观的确立和培育则是警察形象战略中最为重要的一个环节,它可以使警察形象建设达到事半功倍的效果。     

Police training in ethics: The need for an innovative approach in mandated programs

Instruction in ethics is included in state-mandated basic training programs in almost all states in America. A review of the relevant literature showed that the courses on police ethics need to highlight adherence to the higher values of law, cultivation of principled conduct, and personal integrity. Based on the examination of the core elements of the currently mandated ethics courses, it was observed that these recompendations are not generally taken into account in the preparation of the courses on ethics.     

The Impact of Psychological Consequences of Rape on Rape Case Attrition: The Police Perspective

This paper examines whether the psychological sequelae of rape relate to rape case attrition by leading police to see the victim as less reliable. A mixed methods approach with two linked studies, one qualitative and one quantitative, was used. In Study 1, the qualitative study, interviews with 12 specialist police officers were analysed using Framework Analysis. In Study 2, the quantitative study, 76 specialist officers completed an online questionnaire to assess the generalisability of Study 1’s findings. In Study 1, officers’ perceptions of victims clustered into three stereotypes, which we label “the real victim”, “the mad discloser”, and “the bad discloser”. Victims who exhibited signs of shame, self-blame, and post-traumatic stress reactions which impeded their ability to give a coherent account of the rape were perceived as less reliable “mad” or “bad” victims. The findings of Study 2 supported these results. Although police interview strategies have improved in recent years, there is evidence that signs of trauma and shame in the victim are sometimes misinterpreted as signs of lying. This may affect attrition by impacting on victim-officer relationships. Further training on recognising trauma and understanding its consequences is recommended both for specialist officers and front-line staff.     

2005式9mm警用转轮手枪射击弹壳痕迹研究

目的 研究2005式9mm警用转轮手枪射击弹壳痕迹,为警用转轮手枪射击弹壳痕迹检验鉴定提供理论依据.方法 预实验中选取10把警用转轮手枪以单动、联动方式分别射击收取弹壳样本,观察识别射击弹壳上各个痕迹的位置、形态及相互关系;补充验证实验中选取其中5把警用转轮手枪以单动方式分别进行射击实验,完善、验证预实验中得出的结论.结果警用转轮手枪射击弹壳上的烟垢痕迹、弹底窝痕迹及击针头痕迹的分布位置、形态具有规律性,具备检验鉴定价值.结论 利用弹底窝痕迹、烟垢痕迹结合击针头痕迹,可以实现射击弹壳的准确定位;利用烟垢痕迹、弹底窝痕迹及击针头痕迹具有推定弹壳先后射击顺序的可能性;通过弹底窝痕迹、击针头痕迹的细节特征比对,可以实现射击枪支的同一认定.     

MANAGERIAL RESPONSES TO PERCEIVED LABOR SHORTAGES The Case of Police

This paper challenges the popular claim that police labor shortages existed in large American cities during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Empirical tests of a police salary determination model reveal that police managers and public officials possess only limited direct control over police wges. Hence, manipulation of police manpower utilization practices (and, more basically, labor supply to police departments) is the principal way of overcoming “labor shortages.” In recent years, this has included substitution of clerical for sworn personnel, elimination of non-job-related entry requirements, and expansion of auxilhry police forces.     

The Role of Special Master in Institutional Reform Litigation: A Case Study

Wuori v Zitnay (1975), an institutional reform case, came to a successful resolution within a relatively few years. This case study describes the change process from the perspective of the special master and reports on devices used to sustain the changes after the court relinquished active supervision. The case study describes the functioning of masters in other cases to show the comparability of the processes. The special master undertakes change agent activities which are not in keeping with the model of a quasi-judicial role. The master preserves the court's legitimacy by providing a buffer which allows the court to maintain a neutral stance when implementation problems are brought to its attention.     

War as an Institutional Fact: Semiotics and Institutional Legal Theory

In institutional legal theory, norms and facts are reciprocally operating elements: an interplay in which meaning construction is closely connected with acting: the pragmatic understanding of legal language in terms of its uses. With the semiotic elements of institutional theory, extended by the notion of ‘semiotic groups’, an analytical framework can be constructed to analyze a case study on the shifts in the concept of war which have taken place since the 1945 UN Charter and in the aftermath of 9/11. The semiotic aspects of the institutional approach can offer insight into the complexity of the processes of meaning attribution in the field of law and war.

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