The impact of race on perceptions of criminal injustice

Based on a stratified sample of 239 residents of Cincinnati, Ohio, the present study explored whether African Americans and Whites differ in their perceptions of racial injustice in the criminal justice system. The data revealed a cleavage in the extent to which the races believed that Black citizens would be differentially stopped by the police, given a speeding ticket, jailed, and sentenced to death. The effect of race remained strong even when controls were introduced for sociodemographic characteristics, experience with the criminal justice system, experience with crime, neighborhood disorder, and political and crime related ideology. Perceptions of injustice, moreover, were strongest among the least affluent African Americans. The possibility that the racial divide in perceived criminal injustice both reflects and contributes to a larger racial chasm in how Black and White citizens understand and experience their lives in American society is explored.     

The Distance Selling Directive: Points for Future Revision

The EU Distance Selling Directive that was implemented in UK law in the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 has provided guidelines for the protection of consumers undertaking distance transactions. The following paper discusses the provisions of the Directive with particular reference to e-commerce via the Internet, highlighting some possible areas for further consideration. Articles within the Distance Selling Directive are examined for problems of legal interpretation and implementation. There is discussion of: Article 2 (Definitions) and difficulties with its fundamental concepts of 'supplier' and 'consumer'; unnecessary exemptions in Article 3 (Exemptions); the 'local taxes' headache (and others) in Article 4 (Prior Information) and using e-mail under Article 5 (Written Confirmation of Contract). Under Article 6 (Right of Withdrawal), the 'cooling off period', exempted goods and services, refunds and reclaiming goods, and for Article 7 (Performance) substitute goods and contract law implications, are investigated. Finally Article 8 (Payment by Card) looks at protection against fraudulent card use.     

A: Reviews: general

PALESTINIAN PEASANTS AND OTTOMAN OFFICIALS: RURAL ADMINISTRATION AROUND SIXTEENTH‐CENTURY JERUSALEM. By Amy Singer. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995.

THE PASHA'S PEASANTS: LAND, SOCIETY, AND ECONOMY IN LOWER EGYPT, 1740–1858. By Kenneth M. Cuno. (Cambridge Middle East Library, 27.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 295 pp., tables, appendices, index. £35.00 (hb).

SOCIALISM AND NATIONALISM IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. Edited by Mete Tunçay and Erik Jan Zürcher. London & New York, British Academic Press, in association with the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam. 222 pp. £39.50.

INSIDE THE ARAB WORLD. By Michael Field. London, John Murray, 1994. 439 pp., maps. £25.

STRUGGLE AND SURVIVAL IN THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST. Edited by Edmund Burke III. London & New York, I. B. Taurís, 1993. xi, 393 pp. £14.95 (pb).

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SYRIA UNDER ASAD. By Volker Perthes. London & New York, I. B. Tauris, 1995. 298 pp. £39.50.

THE ARAB MINORITY IN ISRAEL 1967–1991: POLITICAL ASPECTS. By Jacob M. Landau. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993.

THE ARAB MINORITY IN ISRAEL'S ECONOMY: PATTERNS OF ETHNIC INEQUALITY. By Noah Lewin‐Epstein and Moshe Semyonov. (Social Inequality Series.) Oxford, Westview Press, 1993.

THE HEALTH CARE OF THE ARABS IN ISRAEL. By Nira Reiss. (Westview Special Studies on the Middle East.) Oxford, Westview Press, 1991.

THE GULF: ENERGY AND GLOBAL SECURITY. By Charles F. Doran and Stephen W. Buck. London, Lynne Rienner, 1991. 228 pp. £27.50.

IRAN AND THE COLD WAR: THE AZERBAIJAN CRISIS OF 1946. By Louise Fawcett. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 181 pp. £32.50.

THE GULF CONFLICT, 1990–1991: DIPLOMACY AND WAR IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER. By Lawrence Freedman and Efraim Karsh. London, Faber & Faber, 1994. xlv, 504 pp.

IRAN AND IRAQ: THE THREAT FROM THE NORTHERN GULF. By Anthony H. Cordesman. Oxford, Westview Press, 1994. x, 378 pp. £45.50 (hb), £16.95 (pb).

THE UNITED NATIONS, IRAN, AND IRAQ: HOW PEACEMAKING CHANGED. By Cameron R. Hume. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1994. xi, 269 pp. £27.50.

THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PETROLEUM COMPANY. Volume 2: THE ANGLO‐IRANIAN YEARS 1928–1954. By J. H. Bamberg. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994. 639 pp. 55 tables, 5 maps, 20 graphs and diagrams, 88 illustrations, 3 appendices, index. £55.00 (hb).

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TRENDS IN CENTRAL ASIA. Edited by Shirin Akiner. London, British Academic Press, 1994. ix, 205 pp.

FAITH AND FREEDOM: WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD. Edited by Mahnaz Afkhami. London, I. B. Tauris, 1995. xi, 244 pp: £12.95 (pb).

DECIPHERING THE SIGNS OF GOD: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ISLAM. By Annemarie Schimmel. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1994. 317 pp. £39.50.

BEYOND FAITH AND INFIDELITY: THE SUFI POETRY AND TEACHINGS OF MAHMUD SHABISTARI. By Leonard Lewisohn. (Curzon Sufi Series.) Richmond, Curzon Press, 1995. 344 pp. £14.99.

GIVING VOICE TO STONES: PLACE AND IDENTITY IN PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. By Barbara McKean Parmenter. Austin, University of Texas Press, 1994. ix, 117 pp. One map.

GENIZAH RESEARCH AFTER 90 YEARS: THE CASE OF JUDAEO‐ARABIC: PAPERS READ AT THE THIRD CONGRESS OF THE SOCIETY FOR JUDAEO‐ARABIC STUDIES. Edited by Joshua Blau and Stefan C. Reif. (University of Cambridge Oriental Publications, 47.) Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 1 illustration, 3 indexes, xiv, 176 pp. $54.95.

ARABIC SOCIOLINGUISTICS: ISSUES AND PERSPECTIVES. Edited by Yasir Suleiman. Richmond, Curzon Press, 1994. xv, 273 pp.

DIE MAMLUKISCHE ARCHITEKTUR IN ÄGYPTEN UND SYRIEN. By Michael Meinecke. (Abhandlung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairos, Islamische Reihe, Band 5.) Gluckstadt, Verlag J. J. Augustin GmbH, 1994. 2 vols., 819 pp. 142 pis., 153 plans.     

The Arab Spring and the Notion of External State Sovereignty in International Law

The notion of external sovereignty is not one that is free from contestation. Yet, it is defined in this article broadly as a state’s independence and exclusive authority over its territory and those residing upon it. The events of the Arab Spring have challenged this form of sovereignty with human rights and humanitarian law violations being discussed in various quarters. This article discusses the notion of external state sovereignty in light of these events. It dissects the notion into various relevant constituent elements of sovereign equality, protection from intervention, and the protection from the use of force and discusses how they can be discerned in the midst of the conflicts in the Arab Spring, in particular those in Libya and Syria. However, it also assesses how the events of these conflicts have impacted upon these various elements of the notion. In this respect, while it portrays external sovereignty as an enduring concept, aspects of it have been questioned and its contours have been challenged during the course of the Arab Spring. More specifically the emergence of the Responsibility to Protect concept has influenced the way in which various forms of intervention have been undertaken and judged by the international community.     

A Systematic Observational Study of a Juvenile Drug Court Judge

The shift of the juvenile justice system from its initial rehabilitative ideal toward a more punitive orientation highlights the need to systematically document key elements of the juvenile drug court model. In particular, it is important to clearly document the role of the juvenile court judge because he or she is considered vital to this program model. The current study used participant observation as well as confidential questionnaires on which youth shared their perceptions of the judge. Findings show the judge‐participant interactions typically were brief, varied by the participants' level of compliance with the program, and that sanctions were given twice as often as rewards. Youth perceived the judge to be fair, respectful, and concerned about their lives. Discussion focuses on the significant opportunity that juvenile drug court judges have for positively influencing the lives of drug‐involved youth.