Nine points of the law: evidentiary rules and the costs of litigation

If the defendant in a lawsuit is better informed than the plaintiff about the value of damages that could potentially be assigned by the court, biasing the burden of proof toward the plaintiff may lower aggregate efficiency losses from litigation.     

Landnahme, das Wachstumsdilemma und die ?Achsen der Ungleichheit“

This contribution analyzes relations between capitalistLandnahme*, the current twofold??economic and ecological??crisis of capitalism and social inequality. The core assumption is that capitalist societies need to constantly seize non-capitalist social environments in order to safeguard processes of dynamic self-stabilization. At present however, a tipping point seems to have been reached as conventional economic growth, set to overcome economic crisis, inevitably increases ecological dangers. Advanced capitalist societies thus face a growth dilemma and it seems necessary to readjust the ??axes of inequality??. To this purpose a theory of capitalistLandnahme is essential, as this approach encapsulates an extended concept of exploitative relations, which allows for a pluralistic understanding of social antagonisms and relations of domination. This article offers a topical analysis of finance capitalism in order to exemplify this approach. It argues that theLandnahme theorem can be brought to bear fruitfully as an analytical link between a theory of capitalism and research in intersectionality.     

Autorisierung. Eine wissenschafts- und wirtschaftssoziologische Perspektive auf geistiges Eigentum

Property obliges??and intellectual property entails responsibility about the knowledge produced. The theoretical concept of authorization enables the development of a genuinely sociological perspective of intellectual property. Based on this perspective of intellectual property, it is possible to introduce new aspects in the current and for the advanced knowledge capitalism central debate. The concept of authorization is based on the observation that??from the perspective of knowledge users??it is very difficult (if not impossible) to assess in advance the quality of knowledge and knowledge goods, like for example drugs. This uncertainty entails the consumers?? demand for authorization for an attribution of responsibility. The need of authorization is caused by the extent of insecurity and it exists independently from the aspiration of intellectual property by a company or person (for the time being, the debate struggles only with the last problem). Starting from there, the article examines the question how authorization is being established in the social field. Thereby, it is not only contentious whether or not knowledge should be commercialized or is open access. It is also contentious to which extend the power of definition should be hierarchically monopolized or egalitarianly distributed. The theoretical perspective will be illustrated with a case study on the authorization of seed??the latter being an economic resource which is of elementary importance for human life.     

Kapitalismus und Gender. Eine Auseinandersetzung mit der kapitalismuskritischen Intersektionalitätsforschung

In intersectionality research capitalism is often analyzed as a social order that systematically produces social inequalities. Particularly the feminist literature describes capitalism as a set of gendered institutions that enforces patriarchal control structures. This paper does not engage in a critique of capitalism. Instead, it follows a strictly analytical perspective in order to discuss the basic structure, the culture and the institutions of modern capitalism with respect to gender equality. The paper argues that modern capitalism in general is neutral in respect of gender issues. Discriminations against women are caused by traditional gender stereotypes and concrete institutional settings that can be changed without tearing at the very fabric of modern capitalism.     

Pornographic exposure over the life course and the severity of sexual offenses: Imitation and cathartic effects

Purpose

Extant scholarship has examined pornography's putative link to the commission of sex crime. Yet, virtually no research speaks to whether an offender's exposure to pornography during many different stages of life elevates the violence of a sex offense. The current study addresses this gap.

Methods

Using retrospective longitudinal data, we systematically investigate the effect of offender pornography exposure during adolescence, adulthood, and immediately prior to the offense on the level of physical injury as well as the extent of humiliation experienced by sex crime victims.

Results

Findings indicate that adolescent exposure was a significant predictor of the elevation of violence—it increased the extent of victim humiliation. Results also suggest a tempering, or cathartic effect of pornography—using pornography just prior to the offense was correlated with reduced victim physical injury. No effects, however, were observed for adult pornography exposure.

Conclusion

Pornography use may differentially influence offenders’ propensity to harm or degrade victims over the life course.     

MORALITY,MARKETS, AND THE ASC: 2011 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY*

This Presidential Address explores the possibilities for fruitful multilevel theorizing in criminology by proposing an integration of insights from situational action theory (SAT), a distinctively micro‐level perspective, with insights from institutional anomie theory (IAT), a distinctively macro‐level perspective. These perspectives are strategic candidates for integration because morality plays a central role in both. IAT can enrich SAT by identifying indirect causes of crime that operate at the institutional level and by highlighting the impact of the institutional context on the perception‐choice process that underlies crime. Such multilevel theorizing can also promote the development of IAT by revealing the “micro‐instantiations” of macro‐level processes and by simulating further inquiry into the social preconditions for institutional configurations that are conducive to low levels of crime. Finally, drawing on Durkheim's classic work on occupational associations, I point to the potential role of professional associations such as the American Society of Criminology in promoting and sustaining a viable moral order in the advanced capitalist societies.     

Keine Gerichtsstandsvereinbarung über internationale Zust?ndigkeit für Ehescheidung

Gerichtsstandsvereinbarungen, die über die in Art 3 bis 5 Brüssel IIa-VO (2201/2003/EG, EuEheKindVO) vorgesehenen Gerichtsst?nde hinausgehen, sind unzul?ssig.     

Kein Prozesshindernis der entschiedenen Sache bei negativem Vers?umungsurteil

Dem negativen Vers?umungsurteil kommt weder Bindungs- noch Pr?klusionswirkung für Folgeprozesse zu. Es enth?lt zwar einen Ausspruch über die Abweisung der Klage; es liegt ihr aber kein Tatsachensubstrat zugrunde. Bei einer Klageabweisung ist die rechtskr?ftige Verneinung auf den vom Gericht zur Abweisung herangezogenen Sachverhalt beschr?nkt, sodass die Geltendmachung eines sogar quantitativ gleichen Anspruchs aus einem anderen Lebenssachverhalt m?glich bleibt. An einem solchen "ma?geblichen Sachverhalt" fehlt es aber bei einem negativen Vers?umungsurteil.     

Keine Ausfolgung von bei erkennungsdienstlichen Ma?nahmen im Strafverfahren entnommenen DNA-Proben zur Feststellung der Abstammung im Vaterschaftsverfahren

Genetische Informationen (hier: DNA-Material), die durch erkennungsdienstliche Ma?nahmen von den Sicherheitsbeh?rden ermittelt wurden, dürfen gem § 67 Abs 2 SPG ausschlie?lich für Zwecke des Erkennungsdienstes ausgewertet werden. Auf diese datenschutzrechtliche Bestimmung nahm der Gesetzgeber in § 85 Abs 4 Au?StrG Rücksicht. Daher ist die Ausfolgung von bereits entnommenen DNA-Proben zur Feststellung der Abstammung im Vaterschaftsverfahren nicht zul?ssig.