Did Age Discrimination Protections Help Older Workers Weather the Great Recession?

We examine whether stronger age discrimination laws at the state level moderated the impact of the Great Recession on older workers. We use a difference‐in‐difference‐in‐differences strategy to compare older and younger workers, in states with stronger and weaker laws, before, during, and after the Great Recession. We find very little evidence that stronger age discrimination protections helped older workers weather the Great Recession, relative to younger workers. The evidence sometimes points in the opposite direction, with stronger state age discrimination protections associated with more adverse effects of the Great Recession on older workers. We suggest that during an experience such as the Great Recession, severe labor market disruptions make it difficult to discern discrimination, weakening the effects of stronger state age discrimination protections. Alternatively, higher termination costs associated with stronger age discrimination protections may do more to deter hiring when future product and labor demand is highly uncertain.     

Neither the T Index nor the D2 Score Measure “Two-Partyness”: A Comment on Gaines and Taagepera

This comment critiques the paper by Gaines and Taagepera (2013 Gaines, Brian J. &; Taagepera, Rein (2013) How to operationalize “two partyness”, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. Digital online version, available at <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2013.770398> (accessed 23 March 2013). [Google Scholar]) outlining two new measures that compare how far election outcomes diverge from a particular ideal of “perfect two-partyness” (one in which all votes are divided equally between the top two parties). Their first proposed T index is an unstable amalgam of two different measures, one linear and the other not. Applied to analysing sets of election outcomes, it systematically mis-signals “two-partyness” in its accepted meaning, producing perverse results. Their second index, D₂, has a varying minimum size level depending on the size of the largest party (P₁) and the number of observable parties competing. In many circumstances D₂ scores bifurcate – the same scores are produced by both very low and very high P₁ levels. Applied to distributions, the D₂ score artefactually homogenizes very dissimilar distributions, again misreads even two-party configurations, and always overstates “two-partyness” in multi-party systems. I conclude that neither the T nor D₂ indices are fit for purpose. They should not be further used in electoral analysis.     

Evidence for Connections Between Prosecutor-Reported Marijuana Case Dispositions and Community Youth Marijuana-Related Attitudes and Behaviors

This article examines relationships between local drug policy (as represented by prosecutor-reported case outcomes for first-offender juvenile marijuana possession cases) and youth self-reported marijuana use, perceived risk, and disapproval. Interviews with prosecutors and surveys of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students in the United States were conducted in 2000. Analyses include data from 97 prosecutors and students from 127 schools in 40 states. Results indicate significant relationships between local drug policy and youth marijuana use and attitudes. In general, more-severe dispositions are associated with less marijuana use, higher disapproval rates, and increased perceptions of great risk. Associations primarily appear to be specific to marijuana-related outcomes. Results are discussed within the framework of both deterrence and broader social norms regarding substance use.     

Validation of the AMPFℓSTR® MiniFilerTM PCR Amplification Kit for Use in Forensic Casework*

Abstract: The AmpF?STR^® MiniFiler^TM PCR Amplification Kit is designed to genotype degraded and/or inhibited DNA samples when the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^TM PCR Amplification Kit is incapable of generating a complete genetic profile. Validation experiments, following the SWGDAM guidelines, were designed to evaluate the performance of MiniFiler. Data obtained demonstrated that MiniFiler, when used in conjunction with Identifiler, provided an increased ability to obtain genetic profiles from challenged samples. The optimum template range was found to be between 0.2 and 0.6 ng, with 0.3 ng yielding the best results. Full concordance was achieved between the MiniFiler kit and Identifiler kit except in a single case of a null allele at locus D21S11. Numerous instances of severe heterozygous peak imbalance (<50%) were observed in single source samples amplified within the optimum range of input DNA suggesting that caution be taken when attempting to deduce component genotypes in a mixture.     

Justice denied and justice delayed: the trials and tribulations of a Victorian solicitor

This paper explores a Victorian cause célèbre, particularly the latter stages, in which a London solicitor, W.H. Barber, battled first to obtain the renewal of his practising certificate and then to claim compensation from public funds for the sufferings he had endured as a result of his wrongful conviction. Barber's misfortunes arose from his unwitting participation in a series of sensational frauds on the Bank of England, leading to his transportation to the penal colony on Norfolk Island in 1844. Pardoned on the basis of confessions from the wrongdoers, his readmission to the profession was unrelentingly opposed by the Incorporated Law Society, and he only prevailed after a series of rebuffs in the courts.

Barber's tribulations, which had first highlighted the defects of the criminal trial, provide an unusual insight into the under-explored and uncertain state of solicitors' professional ethics at this time and the controversial role of the ILS in enforcing them. They also yield valuable information on solicitors' practices and the effects of a royal pardon.     

Effect of Choice of Measure on the Size of a Racial Disparity

In criminological studies of racial disparities the effect of race on outcomes is assessed after statistical controls for other variables. There is no universally accepted measure of size of disparity after controls in the most common type of disparity study: the study of binary outcomes. Some such studies use a measure that lends itself to interpretation in terms of the proportional reduction in error (PRE). Most use a non-PRE measure of association. This study investigates the effect of choice of measure on conclusions about the size of a disparity after controls. For illustrative purposes the study analyzes data on the awarding of sentence reductions to drug traffickers. After controls, blacks are found to be substantially less likely than whites to receive a reduction according to a type of non-PRE measure: an odds ratio derived from a logit model. But using the same data and model, PRE measures obtained from an ROC analysis indicate that, after controls, there is hardly any difference between the races in their likelihood of sentence reduction. Results illustrate the study's thesis: that the choice of measure can powerfully affect conclusions. The findings' implications—for policymakers and for researchers who conduct racial disparity studies—are discussed.     

The Relation of Antisocial Behavior Patterns and Changes in Internalizing Symptoms for a Sample of Inner-city Youth: Comorbidity within a Developmental Framework

Research examining the relationship between internalizing symptoms and antisocial behaviors has generally been cross-sectional in design. Thus, although extant data have substantiated a strong correlation between internalizing symptoms and antisocial behaviors, few studies have focused on describing the nature of the co-occurrence over time. This study examined the relation between growth in internalizing symptoms and longitudinal patterns of antisocial behavior in a sample of 283 inner-city males and their caregivers assessed as part of a longitudinal developmental risk study. Participants were assessed annually in four waves. Non-offenders and escalating offenders had lower levels of internalizing problems at wave 1 than did chronic minor and serious-chronic-violent offenders. Results revealed a developmental trend of decreasing internalizing problems across study years for most participants, as would be expected, with adolescents participating in serious, chronic, and violent patterns of antisocial behavior displaying greater internalizing problems than those participating in stable patterns of less serious or no antisocial behavior. Further, when there was escalation of seriousness and frequency of antisocial behavior, there also was increased internalizing problems relative to non-escalating juveniles. Results are discussed in the context of developmental psychopathology.

Public Perceptions of Benefits from and Worries over Plant‐Made Industrial Products and Plant‐Made Pharmaceuticals: The Influence of Institutional Trust

Although agricultural biotechnology has been a seminal reference point in risk perception studies, public awareness of their exposure to risk deriving from this new technology has been minimal at best. However, recent events indicate there may be growing public concern as new variations of this technology appear. Understanding what drives perceptions of benefits from the third generation of the agricultural biotechnology and what determines public worries are keys for the future of this technology. To this end, this study analyzes survey data from the midsouth region of the United States to construct four separate regression models of perceived benefits from and worries over plant‐made industrial products and plant‐made pharmaceuticals. Findings suggest that while prior experience with and knowledge about agricultural biotechnology has an impact on perceptions of benefits and worries, trust in farmers plays a highly important role in determining perceptions.