The future of forensic and crime scene science. Part I. A UK forensic science user and provider perspective

This paper presents an overview of the views expressed by UK forensic science users and providers during the Centre for Forensic Investigation's 1 day conference 'The Future of Forensic and Crime Scene Science' and is set in the context of the changing national agenda and likely advances in current and future technology. It begins by examining the success of the Home Office DNA Expansion Programme and future demands of the Criminal Justice System, highlighting the changing use of forensic science both at the crime scene and within the forensic process itself. In particular, the use of forensic science at the early stages of an investigation to provide intelligence and support the decision making process is discussed together with the need to adopt a partnership approach to tackling crime and its causes. Key system and technological drivers for performance improvement and change are identified and the likely timescales and implications of their introduction are discussed. Finally, the Home Office plans to build on the success of the DNA Expansion Programme, through the introduction of the proposed Home Office Forensic Integration Strategy, are explored and the paper concludes by highlighting the benefits, implications and issues arising from the changing and developing use of forensic science.     

Medical care of individuals residing in substance abuse and recovery homes: an analysis of need and utilization

The current study examined medical care need and utilization patterns among a substance abusing and recovering population (n = 876), investigating factors such as employment and drug use categories (e.g., pharmaceutical use, cocaine use, heroin use, alcohol use). It was found that those who were unemployed needed and utilized greater medical care than those who were employed. Results indicated that heroin, cocaine, and/or alcohol use was not predictive of medical care need or utilization, whereas pharmaceutical drug use was predictive of medical care need and utilization. Trauma and risky use of substances were not significant predictors of medical care need or utilization whereas the suicide severity composite was significant. Potential implications for misuse of medical services (e.g., to obtain pharmaceutical drugs of use) and federal medical care expenditure allocation are discussed.     

Questioning mandatory sentencing efficiency: A case study of persistent felony offender rapists in Kentucky

This policy analysis explores the incapacitative efficiency of Kentucky’s career criminal statute in averting the recidivism of offenders convicted of rape. The study utilizes a 1985 cohort of Kentucky persistent felony offenders with at least one rape conviction (n = 62) and tracks recidivism rates up to fifteen years later. The results question the efficiency of mandatory sentencing. In general, mandatory minimum sentences (where offenders are not eligible for statutory good time or parole) kept these offenders incarcerated beyond the time necessary to avert future crimes.     

Compensation for medical injury in New Zealand: does "'no-fault" increase the level of claims making and reduce social and clinical selectivity?

The issues of patient safety and quality of care have gained policy attention with a growing appreciation of the scale and impact of medical injury in health systems. While the focus is clearly on the prevention of iatrogenic injury, the question of patient compensation is now also considered important, if only because in fault-based tort systems the fear of litigation may itself be a barrier to the disclosure and open discussion of medical error. No-fault systems, by contrast, do not require proof of culpability, and thus may both reduce barriers to compensation and increase disclosure of error. Little evidence, however, is available on the performance of such systems. This article reports on the analysis of two data sources-a sample of hospital admissions and a complete set of compensation claims for medical injury. Both are for the same year and region of New Zealand, a country that has maintained a no-fault system of accident compensation for a quarter of a century. Just over 2 percent of hospital admissions were associated with an adverse event that was potentially compensable under scheme criteria. While the claims process was well targeted, the level of claims making and receipt was low, with the ratio of successful claims to potentially compensable events being approximately 1:30. Comparison of social and clinical characteristics of the two data sets revealed a degree of selectivity. Compared with the hospital events, the typical successful claimant was younger and female and was much more likely to have experienced a surgical adverse event that, while unexpected, was not due to substandard care. It is concluded that, in interpreting these results, account needs to be taken of a number of features unique to the New Zealand system. These include: the limited payoff for a compensation claim (no pain and suffering or lump sum, free hospital care); the relative complexity of the grounds for claim (either rarity and severity or practitioner error); and a history of limited litigation for medical error. This suggests that, while the New Zealand system is well targeted, cheap, and free of financial and legal barriers, a change in legal doctrine alone has not in itself been sufficient to remove completely the selective and low level of claims making traditionally associated with patient compensation under tort.     

Who supports tax limitations: Evidence from massachusetts' proposition 2½

The vote on Massachusetts' Proposition 2½—and by extension the votes to restrain or roll back taxes in other states as well—should not be interpreted simply as expressions of the narrowly defined self-interest of the voters. This study shows that other characteristics such as sex, race, religion, occupation, educational background, and political orientation also have an important influence on voting behavior. These characteristics combine with self-interest measures such as public sector employment and voters' likely gains from tax reduction to push individual voters in different directions on the issue of tax limitation. Consequently, we find little polarization in the electorate along demographic lines.