The ideological bases and functions of contemporary juvenile law reform: The New York State experience

This paper reviews dominant crime control ideologies and relates these ideological assumptions to juvenile justice reform. Using New York State as a case study, the ideological basis of recent juvenile justice legislation is then reviewed through analysis of legislative debates. The debates indicate that the legal reforms represent the ascendance of conservative crime control ideology. The paper then examines the functions and effects of crime control ideology. It is argued that liberal and conservative crime control ideologies are part of a more general institutionalized thought structure dominant in American society. Key elements of this institutionalized thought structure include an emphasis on individualism, formal equality, and rationality. The net effect of the legal reforms, however, appears to be an increase in substantive inequality in the form of extended state control over poor, urban, minority youths. The paper concludes by suggesting that these ideologies function to offer apparent responses to the problem of crime in society without threatening existing distributions of power and wealth.     

Improving the effectiveness of fluorescence for the detection of semen stains on fabrics

The paper describes the use of the Polilight, a light source based on a xenon arc lamp, to exploit the fluorescence properties of semen as an aid to searching fabrics for stains in sexual assault cases. The broad excitation spectrum of semen allows the fluorescence to be generated at a range of wavelengths. This permits the excitation and emission conditions to be selected that minimize interference from background fluorescence of the fabric and thereby optimizes the contrast between the fabric and the stain. A common method for the observation of fluorescence is the use of colored plastic goggles or filters. The paper shows that the detection of fluorescence from semen stains is significantly enhanced using appropriate interference filters.