Pondering personal privacy: a pragmatic approach to the Fourth Amendment protection of privacy in the information age

As technology with surveillance capacities has advanced, the debate over the rights of the citizenry to be free from governmental breaches of personal privacy has intensified. Within the United States, government actions legally challenged as intrusions into personal privacy have been analyzed under the Fourth Amendment, but Supreme Court rulings in such cases lack a clear and consistent rationale. Additionally, while more than a dozen federal privacy statutes have been enacted, each piece of legislation pertains to a specific type of information (e.g. driver’s license information, education records, and financial records). There is no overarching federal legislation which protects the individual’s private affairs from warrantless government inspection. A key issue underlying the scope of the debate and the variation in court decisions and public policies pertinent to invasions of privacy by government agencies is the lack of a clear and cogent definition of ‘privacy.’ By means of a review of the evolution of legal protections of privacy under the Fourth Amendment and a review of the evolution of technology with surveillance applications, it is suggested that there is a need for a sound operational definition of privacy. As a starting point for an informed and pragmatic dialogue on this matter, an operational definition of privacy built upon extant case and statutory law is provided.     

Population data of new Y-chromosome STRs GATA C4, DYS438, DYS437, GATA A7.2, GATA H4, DYS439 and GATA A10 in males from Colombia

Two hundred twenty-five unrelated males were typed for 7 over 8 loci Y-chromosome STRs proposed in a collaborative study by The Spanish and Portuguese ISFG Working Group. The markers amplification were in two multiplex reactions GEPY I with GATA C4, DYS438, DYS437, DYS461 (GATA A7.2) and GEPY II with GATA H4, DYS439, GATA A10 and DYS460 (GATA A7.1). All gene diversities were upper 0.5 with the highest value in DYS439 with 0.64. Furthermore, 152 haplotypes from 7 loci Y-chromosome STRs were found within studied population and a high haplotype diversity 0.9902 was found. The DYS460 (GATA A7.1) marker can not be studied because its diverse alleles were not able for interpret.     

Social integration and suicide in South Korea

The increasing suicide rate in South Korea in recent decades was found to be associated with measures of social integration/regulation (birth and divorce rates).     

Violent women: findings from the Texas women inmates study

Prior research on violent crime by female offenders is reviewed. A Texas female prisoner sample is used to explore specific questions raised by the literature review. Violent and nonviolent offenders were compared, looking specifically at race, socioeconomic status, having been raised in single-parent homes, criminal history, gang membership, marital status, and childhood abuse. Findings indicated that women who are violent were more likely to be younger, African American, unemployed, and having extensive criminal histories. They were more likely to come from dysfunctional families with childhood abuse. Limitations of the study were noted.     

Mandatory reporting by nurses of child abuse and neglect

Most Australian jurisdictions have mandatory reporting legislation to compel members of selected professional groups, including nurses, to report suspicions that a child has been or is likely to be subjected to abuse or neglect. This article details the legal obligations of nurses in each jurisdiction, and highlights differences between jurisdictions. Problematic features of the laws are identified, including the use of ambiguous concepts like "reasonable" suspicion and "significant" harm. Literature is reviewed to identify what is known about nurses' legal knowledge, actual reporting practice, and the practical problems that arise for nurses in this context. It is concluded that empirical research needs to be conducted, because it is not known if the laws are practically effective, whether nurses have sufficient training in, and knowledge of, their reporting duties, or what factors influence sound reporting. Such research can inform both the development of sound training systems and recommendations for legal reform.     

Charting a course through difficult legislative waters: tribunal decisions on life-sustaining measures

Since the enactment in Queensland of the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld) and the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 (Qld), a decision can be made to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment from an adult who lacks capacity to make such decisions for herself or himself. The Guardianship and Administration Tribunal of Queensland has been asked to consider the law in relation to these decisions on a number of occasions since the legislation was passed. This article explores the relevant provisions of these statutes and some of the difficulties that arise from how they are currently drafted. It also examines how the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal has dealt with applications to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining measures, and suggests a course that might avoid some of the difficulties that are inherent in Queensland's legislative regime.     

Books in review

the author of Against All Odds: Holocaust Survivors and the Successful Lives They Made in America,winner of the 1993 National Jewish Book Award.