In the land of OZ: designating opportunity zones

Public Choice - The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowed governors of the fifty states to designate low-income areas as a “Qualified Opportunity Zone” (QOZ), which entitled the...     

Stable Isotope Ratios of Marijuana. I. Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotopes Describe Growth Conditions*

Abstract: There remains significant uncertainty in illicit marijuana cultivation. We analyzed the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of 508 domestic samples from known U.S.A. counties, 31 seized from a single location, 5 samples grown in Mexico and Colombia, and 10 northwest border seizures. For a subset, inflorescences and leaves were analyzed separately. These data revealed a strong correspondence, with inflorescences having slightly higher δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values than leaves. A framework for interpreting these results is introduced and evaluated. Samples identified as outdoor‐grown by δ¹³C were generally recorded as such by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). DEA‐classified indoor‐grown samples had the most negative δ¹³C values, consistent with indoor cultivation, although many were also in the outdoor‐grown domain. δ¹⁵N indicated a wide range of fertilizers across the dataset. Samples seized at the single location suggested multiple sources. Northwest border δ¹³C values suggested indoor growth, whereas for the Mexican and Colombian samples they indicated outdoor growth.     

Subway Train‐Related Fatalities in New York City: Accident versus Suicide*

Abstract: We examined the characteristics of subway train‐related fatalities in New York City between Jan. 1, 2003 and May 31, 2007 in order to determine which factors are useful in differentiating accident from suicide. Subway train‐related deaths with homicide and undetermined manners also are included. During this period, there were 211 subway train‐related fatalities. The manners of death were: suicide (n = 111), accident (n = 76), undetermined (n = 20), and homicide (n = 4). The causes of death were blunt trauma (n = 206) and electrocution (n = 5). Torso transection and extremity amputation were more frequent in suicides. Antidepressant medications were more frequently detected in suicides, whereas cocaine and ethanol were more frequent in accidents. However, autopsy findings should be weighed in the context of the entire evaluation along with other circumstantial and investigative findings. In unwitnessed deaths where additional information is unavailable or discrepant, the most appropriate manner of death usually is undetermined.     

The Reliability of Lie Detection Performance

We examined whether individuals’ ability to detect deception remained stable over time. In two sessions, held one week apart, university students viewed video clips of individuals and attempted to differentiate between the lie-tellers and truth-tellers. Overall, participants had difficulty detecting all types of deception. When viewing children answering yes–no questions about a transgression (Experiments 1 and 5), participants’ performance was highly reliable. However, rating adults who provided truthful or fabricated accounts did not produce a significant alternate forms correlation (Experiment 2). This lack of reliability was not due to the types of deceivers (i.e., children versus adults) or interviews (i.e., closed-ended questions versus extended accounts) (Experiment 3). Finally, the type of deceptive scenario (naturalistic vs. experimentally-manipulated) could not account for differences in reliability (Experiment 4). Theoretical and legal implications are discussed.     

Predicting Short-Term Institutional Aggression in Forensic Patients: A Multi-Trait Method for Understanding Subtypes of Aggression

Accurately predicting inpatient aggression is an important endeavor. The current study investigated inpatient aggression over a six-month time period in a sample of 152 male forensic patients. We assessed constructs of psychopathy, anger, and active symptoms of mental illness and tested their ability to predict reactive and instrumental aggression. Across all levels of analyses, anger and active symptoms of mental illness predicted reactive aggression. Traits of psychopathy, which demonstrated no relationship to reactive aggression, were a robust predictor of instrumental aggression. This study (a) reestablishes psychopathy as a clinically useful construct in predicting inpatient instrumental aggression, (b) provides some validation for the reactive/instrumental aggression paradigm in forensic inpatients, and (c) makes recommendations for integrating risk assessment results into treatment interventions.

Psychopathy and Stalking

We examined the association between psychopathy, assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: Screening Version (Hart et al., Manual for the psychopathy checklist screening version (PCL:SV), 1995), and stalking in 61 men convicted of stalking-related offenses. Psychopathic symptoms were rare, but their presence—especially that of affective deficit symptoms—was associated with victimization of casual acquaintances and with several risk factors from the Guidelines for Stalking Assessment and Management (SAM) (Kropp et al., Guidelines for stalking assessment and management, 2008a), including stalking in violation of supervision orders, degree of preoccupation with victims, and targeting of victims with limited access to external resources. The findings suggest that in spite of their rarity, psychopathic traits may be important in the assessment and management of stalking risk.

UK software patents – Get with the program

Computer-implemented inventions feature in almost every field of technology, and although improvements to computer-based devices are routinely made in software, the circumstances in which patent protection is available remains unclear. The patentability of software varies considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Worryingly, there are variations in form, if not in substance, between patent offices working from the same legal source. Against the background of a sea change in the US position, there is the prospect of a clarification of the European Patent Office approach that will provide a platform for consistency in Europe. This paper focuses on the UK position, highlights the tension between the UK and the EPO and considers the key questions before the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal.     

Suspect burial excavation procedure: A cautionary tale

Geographic location, time of reporting and need for rapid evaluation contributed to a lack of intelligence concerning a suspect burial site in scrub woodland (～15 km from the last known location of a missing person) in Northern Ireland. Police received reports of a subsiding ‘grave’, which was evaluated positively using GPR and victim recovery dogs (VRD). After 24 h work, archaeological excavation showed a vertical-sided, stepped excavation on undisturbed clay with no inhumation. Subsequent research showed the feature to be an engineering trial pit. The GPR response was a water table and rocks, VRD were possibly reacting to disturbed ground. The work serves as a demonstration of good archaeological practice in suspect burial excavation, following a lack of landscape evaluation and poor overall intelligence.     

Detecting Specialization in Offending: Comparing Analytic Approaches

Offending specialization continues to be a subject of empirical inquiry for scholars interested in criminal careers. Early research consistently spoke to the generality of offending profiles, but more recent work has revealed somewhat mixed findings. These results have emerged alongside newly developed and applied methods that detect and describe offending specialization. To what extent these methods shape divergent conclusions and/or provide overlapping insight remains unclear, however. Therefore, the degree to which more recent inquiries are actually studying the same operational definition of specialization is unknown. In order to consider this issue further, this study utilizes four frequently applied approaches with a single data set. The study indicates when and where findings converge and also describes any unique insights provided by each method. The work concludes with a discussion surrounding the utility of applying multiple strategies in assessing specialization in criminal offending.