A Comparison of the Dispositions of Juvenile Offenders Certified as Adults with Juvenile Offenders Not Certified

Abstract In recent years, the transfer of juveniles to adult courts has been seen as one way of “getting tough” on juvenile crime. This study examined juvenile cases transferred to adult court, and compared them with a random sample of delinquents adjudicated in juvenile court for conduct that would constitute felonies if committed by an adult. The results indicated that juvenile cases transferred to adult court were far more likely to be pending and unresolved, as compared to the sample from the juvenile justice system. Furthermore, the results did not support the proposition that juveniles transferred to adult court would receive greater punishment than they could expect in juvenile court. Except for a small number of offenders, the prospect of transfer did not appear to provide a deterrent to crime.     

The Government as Litigant: Further Tests of the Case Selection Model

We develop a model of the plaintiff's decision to file a lawsuitthat has implications for how differences between the federalgovernment and private litigants translate into differencesin trial rates and plaintiff win rates at trial. Our case selectionmodel generates a set of predictions for relative trial ratesand plaintiff win rates, depending on the type of case and whetherthe government is defendant or plaintiff. To test the model,we use data on about 474,000 cases filed in federal districtcourt between 1979 and 1994 in the areas of personal injuryand job discrimination, in which the federal government andprivate parties work under roughly similar legal rules. We findbroad support for the predictions of the model.     

Using state polls to forecast U.S. Presidential election outcomes

This paper uses pre-election polls to forecast U.S. Presidential election outcomes in the states and the Electoral College. The approach is notable in three ways. First, we employ state-level polls to predict voting outcomes in the states; second, we associate probabilities with alternative election outcomes, and third, we identify states most likely to be pivotal in the Electoral College. Using information available on the day before the election, we estimated that the probability of a Republican victory in the Electoral College in the 2004 election was 47.27%.     

Those Weren't "The Good Old Days," Just the Old Days: Laura Kalman on Yale Law School in the Sixties

Laura Kalman's Yale Law School and the Sixties (2005) provides a particularly detailed and attractive portrait of the activist students at the school in these years. There is a real risk that nostalgia for the Sixties will cause law students today to be measured by this past time, even though today's students are significantly different in their response to the law school experience. Reasons for this difference can be found by looking at changes in the social meaning of undergraduate education and at the differences in economic circumstances between then and now—the warm and comforting economic circumstances of the Fifties and Sixties versus the unforgiving economic circumstances that students face today.     

Determinate sentencing, formal rationality, and khadi justice in Maine: An application of Weber's typology

In the 1980s over twenty-five jurisdictions, including Maine, changed their sentencing policies. Nevertheless, only a few states approximated the goal of determinancy proposed by advocates of reform. Recent extensions of Weber's work on law finding to the area of punishment provide a means to reconceptualize the problem addressed by advocates of determinacy. This article refocuses debates about sentencing reform in terms of Weber's concept of formal rationality.It explains why one state—Maine—did not reduce judicial disparities and why determinacy failed to be introduced. Sentences from an experiment conducted among all members of Maine's judiciary are compared with guideline sentences in two states—Minnesota and Pennsylvania. This comparison clearly supports national criticism of Maine's failure to reduce judicial disparities in sentences. It is concluded that widespread sentencing disparities in Maine result from a criminal code legitimating substantively irrational decisionmaking or khadi justice. No attempt was made to move toward a formally rational system advocated by proponents of determinacy.     

The influence of physical properties and lipid content of bile on the human blood/bile ethanol ratio

The relationship between ethanol levels in blood and bile was determined in human postmortem specimens. The influences of several physical properties--surface tension, specific gravity and viscosity--and bile lipid content on the blood/bile ethanol ratio were evaluated. A gas chromatographic direct injection technique was employed to determine the ethanol concentrations in postmortem blood and bile specimens. A positive correlation was established between the levels in the two fluids. No correlation could be found between the blood/bile ethanol ratios and the aforementioned physical properties of bile. Correction of the observed bile ethanol for lipid content had an insignificant effect on the ratio. The average blood/bile ethanol ratio was 1.03 +/- 0.29 (range: 0.32-2.91). The wide range observed makes it undesirable to use bile ethanol concentrations to predict specific blood ethanol concentrations. However, under certain conditions, bile ethanol levels may be used to estimate blood concentrations within a range of values.