THE POLITICS OF PARTICIPATION AND NONPARTICIPATION IN DISPUTE PROCESSES

Although the access to justice movement has placed great emphasis on expanding participation in dispute processing through informal mechanisms, little theoretical or empirical research in the area has explored the relationship between the organization of dispute processing and legal participation. This article develops a framework for investigating that relationship by examining the ideological and organizational structure of participation and nonparticipation in a comparison between mediation and prosecution of minor criminal cases. The analysis suggests that the concept of participation associated with informal mechanisms has played a role in transforming the institutional legitimacy of dispute processing, yet patterns of participation in conventional dispute processes are reproduced in the neighborhood justice center.     

Hanging: suicide or homicide?

Death by Hanging: Suicide or Homicide. Six cases of homicidal hanging and murder presented as suicidal hanging are recorded. Suspension followed strangulation by ligature or throttling and head injuries in 4 cases. Distinction between homicide and suicide was easy in 5 cases: two of the perpetrators gave themselves up to the police, one committed suicide immediately after he had hanged his 15 year old daughter; in two cases tracks of blood, heavy injuries of the victims, and traces of robbery were obvious. Unless the victim is an infant or an adult person incapacitated by drink, disease, or drugs, or unless there are several assailants murder is difficult to accomplish. Distinction between murder and suicide may be impossible by an examination of the body alone. Detailed investigation of the scene, reconstruction of the position of the suspended body, examination of the rope, the knots, the direction of the fibres on the rope may serve to discover homicidal hanging. - Compared to suicidal hanging homicide has a frequency of about 1% in our autopsy material. However, we cannot estimate the number of obscure cases.     

The enhancement of intimacy and the reduction of loneliness among child molesters

The present report describes the component of our treatment program that is aimed at enhancing intimacy skills and reducing loneliness in sexual offenders. The evaluation of this component, although limited in sophistication, offers data that encourages confidence in the value of the treatment component.     

Agarose gel electrophoresis of human erythrocyte glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT EC 2.6.1.2)

The method of choice to determine erythrocyte glutamate-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) including rare variants was starch gel electrophoresis. Methods using agarose as gel medium were not reported to our knowledge. We present an adapted method using the Tris/maleate buffer system and an agarose of low endosmosis. The common as well as rare variant types of GPT were quickly and reliably separated. In addition, a method for the consecutive determination of esterase D (ESD) and GPT on the same gel using the malic acid buffer system is described.     

Legislative incapacity: the congressional role in environmental policy-making and the case of Superfund

Congress plays a central role in national environmental policy formation but appears ill equipped to set policy priorities and devise integrative legislation. Fragmentation of authority among a multiplicity of committees and subcommittees, especially in the House, contributes to these problems. This pattern is evident in the evolution of Superfund, the national program to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites. The prolonged process of reauthorization in the 1980s contributed to serious program delay and failed to resolve a number of fundamental questions concerning the national cleanup effort. Institutional reforms could contribute to a more effective congressional role in future environmental policy deliberations.