Perception vs. Reality: The Relationship Between Organized Crime and Human Trafficking in Metropolitan Atlanta

Since the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, there has been an increase in both media and scholarly discussions of human trafficking. Although most of these discussions have framed human trafficking as a crime committed primarily by organized crime groups, there has been very little empirical research examining the link between human trafficking and organized crime. In an effort to start to address this gap in the research, we conduct an exploratory study to determine if there is a link between human trafficking and organized crime in one of the Southeast’s human trafficking hubs – Atlanta, Georgia. We collected data on 24 federal human trafficking cases that were indicted in metropolitan Atlanta between 2000 and 2013. Then, we conducted a content analysis of the court documents for each federal human trafficking case and classified the relationship between organized crime and human trafficking using one of three categories: nonexistent, organized criminal network, organized criminal syndicate. For the majority of the human trafficking cases (n = 16), we found that there was no relationship between organized crime and human trafficking. For the cases that did show a relationship between organized crime and human trafficking, we found evidence of organized criminal networks in eight of the cases and evidence of an organized criminal syndicate in only one case.     

Woman Suffrage and Irish Nationalism: ethnic appeals and alliances in America

Nationalism first brought Irish-American women into a political struggle in the late nineteenth century, a role that did not go unnoticed by suffragists, who reached out to Irish-Americans through sympathy with the Home Rule movement. These connections also continued into the twentieth century as the crisis of World War I converged with revolutionary nationalism and the final push for suffrage in America. A small group of nationalists and suffragists worked together and sought alliances in an environment where Irish-American men wielded political power and Irish-American women continued to be active in the nationalist movement beyond the Ladies' Land League era.     

Making sense of body-worn cameras in a police organization: a technological frames analysis

ABSTRACT

This case study of a small police agency in the United States uses semi-structured interviews, a patrol officer survey, and observations, to examine the technological frames of managers and users for interpreting the implementation and use of body-worn cameras. A technological frames approach allows for an in-depth comparison of the knowledge, assumptions, and interpretations of a new technology between groups and for an examination of the processes that may lead to these perceptions changing over time. Although users were initially wary of managers’ rationale for camera implementation, their frames evolved as they realized that body-worn cameras were not being used to identify instances of minor misconduct or policy violations. This development of a more positive perspective was further strengthened by the discovery of additional benefits of body-worn camera use, including protecting users from frivolous complaints and their evidentiary value. These findings challenge the notion that ‘first impressions last’ and that differences in group frames inevitably lead to conflict and unsatisfactory outcomes.     

The Law of Nations in The Federalist Papers

This article explores the influence of prevailing legal and political theories of inter-state relations on the formation of early American constitutional thought. Emphasis is placed on the manner in which the authors of The Federalist Papers built a legal argument against the Articles of Confederation and for the Constitution of 1786 by invoking principles of treaty law and the law of nations. It is argued that the Articles themselves resembled contemporary international treaties in format and in force. The Federalist's reliance upon such authors as Grotius, Locke, Montesquieu, and Vattel is examined in this light.     

Identifying reliable ions for the statistical differentiation of structurally similar fentanyl analogs

Definitive identification of fentanyl analogs based on mass spectral comparison is challenging given the high degree of structural and, hence, spectral similarity. To address this, a statistical method was previously developed in which two electron-ionization (EI) mass spectra are compared using the unequal variance t-test. Normalized intensities of corresponding ions are compared, testing the null hypothesis (H₀) that the difference in intensity is equal to zero. If H₀ is accepted at all m/z values, the two spectra are statistically equivalent at the specified confidence level. If H₀ is not accepted at any m/z value, then there is a significant difference in intensity at that m/z value between the two spectra. In this work, the statistical comparison method is applied to distinguish EI spectra of valeryl fentanyl, isovaleryl fentanyl, and pivaloyl fentanyl. Spectra of the three analogs were collected over a 9-month period and at different concentrations. At the 99.9% confidence level, the spectra of corresponding isomers were statistically associated. Spectra of different isomers were statistically distinct, and ions responsible for discrimination were identified in each comparison. To account for inherent instrument variations, discriminating ions for each pairwise comparison were ranked based on the magnitude of the calculated t-statistic (t_calc) value. For a given comparison, ions with higher t_calc values are those with the greatest difference in intensity between the two spectra and, therefore, are considered more reliable for discrimination. Using these methods, objective discrimination among the spectra was achieved and ions considered most reliable for discrimination of these isomers were identified.