Crime Control in the 2008 Presidential Election: Symbolic Politics or Tangible Policies?

Presidential candidates regularly use crime issues to help win electoral support. Contrary to conventional wisdom, crime control became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. Despite decreasing crime rates and public opinion focused only temporarily on illegal immigration, the three major presidential candidates (Obama, Clinton, & McCain) discussed many anticrime initiatives during the campaign. Unlike past research which has found presidential candidates use primarily symbolic rhetoric in their anticrime rhetoric, all three presidential candidates in the 2008 presidential election were found to have employed tangible statements. The article discusses the different findings, making recommendations for future research.     

Some Further Comments on the First Section of the Vigrahavyāvartanī

The publication deals with topics concerning the interpretation of the Vigrahavyāvartanī in as much as they are relevant for the understanding of (early) Madhyamaka-philosophy in general. A major part of the article is dedicated to a critical assessment of a number of views which have been propagated recently in a paper by Sharma (In: Nagoya studies in Indian culture and Buddhism, Saṃbhāṣā, 2011). A primary goal of the present investigation consists in substantiating the claim that early Madhyamaka represents a metaphysical teaching which stands in sharp contrast not only to stances of common sense but also to tenets propagated in Buddhist dogmatics.     

Keine Eigenzuständigkeit der Bezirksgerichte für Klagen aus einer Scheidungsvereinbarung iSd § 55a EheG

Klagen, die sich aus einer Vereinbarung ergeben, die anl?sslich einer Scheidung geschlossenen wurde, fallen nicht unter § 49 Abs 2 Z 2c JN (idF vor BGBl I 2009/135; nunmehr: Z 2d leg cit). Die Scheidungsvereinbarung nach § 55a EheG ist keine familienrechtliche Vereinbarung im Sinne dieser Bestimmung.     

Insolvenz-Entgelt bei Insolvenzverfahrenseröffnung erst Jahre nach dem Austritt?

§ 3a Abs 1 IESG erfordert lediglich die Einleitung eines (in der Regel) arbeitsgerichtlichen Verfahrens sowie dessen geh?rige Fortsetzung einschlie?lich eines Exekutionsverfahrens. Hingegen ist die (unverzügliche) Einbringung eines Antrags auf Er?ffnung eines Insolvenzverfahrens über das Verm?gen des Arbeitgebers nicht Teil des nach § 3a Abs 1 S 2 IESG geh?rig fortzusetzenden Verfahrens. Verstreichen zwischen der (erfolgreichen) gerichtlichen Geltendmachung der Ansprüche des Arbeitnehmers und der Einleitung eines Insolvenzverfahrens (hier: acht) Jahre, bleibt als Prüfungsma?stab nur die Frage nach einer allf?lligen sittenwidrigen Verlagerung des Finanzierungsrisikos auf die IEF-Service GmbH.     

Berücksichtigung von Gewinnbeteiligungen bei der Abfertigung "alt"

Nach § 23 Abs 1 AngG stellt das für den letzten Monat des Dienstverh?ltnisses gebührende Entgelt die Basis der Berechnung des Abfertigungsanspruchs dar. Schwankt die H?he des Entgelts innerhalb des letzten Jahres vor Beendigung des Arbeitsverh?ltnisses, ist ein Zw?lftel des gesamten Entgelts dieses Jahres als Bemessungsgrundlage der Abfertigung zugrunde zu legen. Dabei macht es keinen Unterschied, ob diese Schwankungen durch variable Pr?mien, Zulagen, Provisionen, Sonderzahlungen oder überstundenentgelte bewirkt werden. Abfertigungswirksam sind nur solche Gewinnbeteiligungen, die für das letzte Jahr vor Beendigung des Arbeitsverh?ltnisses gebühren, nicht jedoch jene, die in diesem Zeitraum lediglich ausbezahlt werden.     

Identification procedures as a part of death investigation in Turkey

Forensic identification techniques include the examination of ID cards, the decedent's private belongings, fingerprints, footprints, lip marks, dental findings, red blood cell enzymes, performing photograph matching, facial reconstruction, visual identification, and DNA "fingerprinting." As part of forensic examinations, the identification of corpses that are fresh, decomposed, fragmented, or skeletonized as well as individual body parts and human remains can be requested. Identification becomes a challenging task for forensic terms particularly in mass-disaster situations. Each identification case should be considered to its own merit and the way to do that should be based on the effectiveness and cost of each method used. In Turkey, one of the major duties of the medicolegal system on the investigation of deaths is to identify the deceased if unknown.This study is undertaken to investigate the procedures, as well as their validities, used to deal with individualization of dismembered bodies directly sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, for autopsy and/or visual identification, as well as those received from peripheral districts for forensic identification. According to the Turkish Penal Procedural Law, a positive identification of the deceased is mandatory before performing an autopsy. According to the law, the ID cards are not taken to be sufficient for recognition of the deceased, and the major way of identification in daily practice is visual identification by a relative or any recognizant person to approve the identification to the prosecutor. If visual identification fails, fingerprints, dental x-rays or body x-rays, and DNA "fingerprinting" can be used to establish identity when compared with known records of the individual obtained by law enforcement.This retrospective study was carried out into 421 dismembered bodies, among 3063 autopsies performed in year 2002 by the Department of Morgue at the Council of Forensic Medicine, with particular insight into the identification procedures undertaken and their results. The overall negative identification rate was 30.4%, and in 1% of the cases, the visual identification by relatives were not confirmed by DNA identification and taken as misidentified.     

Mentally challenged patients in a forensic hospital: a feasibility study concerning the executive functions of forensic patients with organic brain disorder, learning disability, or mental retardation

The past years have seen an increasing number of patients of lower intelligence or with organic brain disorder being committed into our forensic psychiatry. Our clinic has an ongoing scientific project to investigate the possibilities of reducing costs while at the same time guaranteeing adequate treatment and enforcement practice in forensic hospitals. This current project did not take these kinds of patients into consideration initially. This feasibility study is intended to examine if and to what extent these patients can be part of the scientific project. All patients of forensic psychiatry in Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania) with an IQ<80 (learning disorder) or a primary or secondary organic brain dysfunction that have been committed to the clinic since 2009 are included. These patients went through an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Furthermore, the treating psychotherapists had to rate the prognoses for criminal re-offending at discharge. Patients affected by lower intelligence or an organic brain dysfunction achieve lower results in neuropsychological testing than other patients participating in the main project. Nevertheless, participation in neuropsychological testing does not appear to overtax them. Future examination of the patients will be conducted to investigate to what extent certain therapeutic methods have been of noticeable benefit to this problematic group.     

In vitro production of GHB in blood and serum samples under various storage conditions

The in vitro production of GHB was observed in freshly collected, untreated whole blood samples using glass BD-Vacutainers and polypropylene S-monovettes. GHB concentrations were determined daily over a period of one week and after 3, 6 and 9 weeks again. Furthermore, the GHB concentration in 40 untreated random whole blood samples stored at 4°C for a longer period of time (10 samples 12 month, 10 samples 24 month and 20 samples 36 month) was also determined. For comparison, the in vitro production of GHB in freshly collected and prepared serum samples was observed. GHB serum concentrations were determined three times over a period of one week and once again after six weeks. Sample preparation was performed by means of methanolic extraction following the precipitation of whole blood and serum samples. A methanolic standard calibration was done in a low range of 0.005-0.1 μg/mL (LOD: 0.004, LLOQ: 0.013). For quantification a spiked blood bank serum with a determined GHB concentration of 0.09 μg/mL was used. Corrected calibrations in the range of 0.09-5.09 μg/mL were used (LOD: 0.08 μg/mL, LLOQ: 0.30 μg/mL), recovery: 91.3% (high level: 4.09 μg/mL) 50.5% (low level: 0.19 μg/mL). RESULTS: Relevant elevation of GHB was observed in all whole blood samples stored in liquid form (4°C or room temperature). In two of the 40 whole blood samples stored over a longer period of time at 4°C, GHB concentrations in the range of 13 μg/mL were even determined. These findings constitute grounds for caution. Even a GHB cut-off level of 5 μg/mL cannot be considered as "absolutely positive" proof of a case of exogenous administration, at least in untreated liquid blood samples in long time storage. However, no significant elevations of GHB were otherwise observed in any of the serum samples independently of storage temperature nor in the whole blood samples that were frozen for storage. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the cut-off for exogenous GHB of 5 μg/mL could be lowered significantly, with the consequence of winning valuable time for the potential victim, but only if serum is collected for GHB determination or if the whole blood sample is frozen immediately after collection and the procedure well documented.