A Pilot Study Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Cortisol Awakening Response and Health Outcomes among Law Enforcement Officers

As first responders who are frequently exposed to job-related trauma, police officers are at an elevated risk of adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Evidence-based approaches to stress reduction are sorely needed to address the complex variety of problems that police officers face. In this pilot study we examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention designed to address police officer stress. A total of 43 police officers completed an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (MBRT) program, which was designed to improve mindfulness, resilience, stress, health outcomes, and emotional functioning. Using multilevel models we found significant improvement in self-reported mindfulness, resilience, police and perceived stress, burnout, emotional intelligence, difficulties with emotion regulation, mental health, physical health, anger, fatigue, and sleep disturbance. Although there were no significant pre-to-post-MBRT changes in cortisol awakening response (CAR), while controlling for pre-MBRT increase area under the curve (AUC_I), change in mental health was a significant predictor of post-AUC_I. Implications of these findings and areas for future research are discussed.     

Devolution,Evolution, Revolution … Democracy? What's Really Happening to English Local Governance?

The Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill 2015–2016[HL] was introduced into the House of Lords as Bill No. 1 in the 2015–2016 parliamentary session. The Bill forms a critical element of the government's high‐profile policy of devolving powers and responsibilities to local areas within England. The transition from first‐generation ‘city deals’ to second‐generation ‘devolution deals’ within five years provides a sense of the pace and development of the reform agenda but there is also a strong sense that something is missing. ‘Missing’ in the sense of an understanding of the specific type of devolution on offer, ‘missing’ in the sense of how an explosion of bilateral new ‘deals’ will be offset against the obvious risks of fragmentation and complexity, and ‘missing’—most importantly—in relation to the democratic roots that might be put in place to counterbalance the economic thrust and make the reform agenda sustainable. It is in exactly this context that this article argues that the full potential of the current devolution agenda will only be realised when the Conservative government fulfils its September 2014 commitment to wider civic engagement about how England is governed.     

The 2016 Referendum,Brexit and the Left Behind: An Aggregate‐level Analysis of the Result

Why did Britain vote for Brexit? What was the relative importance of factors such as education, age, immigration and ethnic diversity? And to what extent did the pattern of public support for Brexit across the country match the pattern of public support in earlier years for eurosceptic parties, notably the UK Independence Party (UKIP)? In this article we draw on aggregate‐level data to conduct an initial exploration of the 2016 referendum vote. First, we find that turnout was generally higher in more pro‐Leave areas. Second, we find that public support for Leave closely mapped past support for UKIP. And third, we find that support for Leave was more polarised along education lines than support for UKIP ever was. The implication of this finding is that support for euroscepticism has both widened and narrowed—it is now more widespread across Britain but it is also more socially distinctive.     

SCOTUS in the time of COVID: The evolution of justice dynamics during Oral arguments

We assess changes in oral arguments at the US Supreme Court precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the degree to which those changes persisted once the justices acclimated to the new procedures. To do this, we examine whether key attributes of these proceedings changed as the Court experimented with telephonic hearings and subsequently returned to in-person oral arguments. We demonstrate that the initial telephonic forum changed the dynamics of oral argument in a way that gave the chief justice new power and reconfigured justices' engagement during these proceedings. However, we also show that the associate justices adapted to this new institutional landscape by changing their behavior. The findings shed light on the consequences of significant, novel disruptions to institutional rules and norms in the government and legal system.     

The double-design dilemma: political science,parliamentary crisis and disciplinary justifications

Two separate, but inter-linked, dilemmas have highlighted the importance of design-led thinking. First, the crumbling physical fabric of the Palace of Westminster has prompted a multi-billion rebuilding project, which will require the parliamentary studies specialism to engage with questions of design, space, and architecture. Separately, political science more generally has been challenged to utilize the insights of design-thinking and design-practice: a challenge to which it is culturally and methodological ill-equipped. This article considers what a design-led approach to political science looks like in theory, and in practice, in the case study of the Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster. This represents a first attempt at how such a fusion could be beneficial for both politics as theory and politics as practice. The main conclusion is that although design-orientated political science is not a panacea for the challenges of modern democratic governance – in intellectual or practical terms – it does appear to offer significant potential in terms of theoretically-informed but solution focused research.     

Diluting Free Expression: Statutory First Amendment Proxies in Trademark Dilution Law

Trademark dilution law, a relatively recent innovation in federal trademark doctrine, has serious implications for free expression. Dilution law purports to protect famous trademark owners from blurring and tarnishment, although critics of the doctrine suggest the harms of dilution are frequently overblown, if not imaginary. This article first highlights the differences between standard trademark infringement and trademark dilution, including the fair use provisions of the latter statute. It then analyzes the conceptual mismatch between the fair use provisions and dilution, focusing particularly on the problems with the nominative fair use doctrine. The article also explores the special problems dilution doctrine creates for parodists, including some court decisions that protect only an extremely narrow range of parodies. Finally, the article offers concluding perspectives on this difficult area of trademark doctrine.     

Tribal law enforcement authority to enforce state laws

This paper summarizes the current status of the ability of tribal law enforcement officers to enforce state law in all states that have Indian country – defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1151 as any Indian reservation, dependent Indian communities, or Indian allotments – within their borders. It is important to understand the current status of those officers as their agencies look to improve public safety in their nations. First, for context, we provide a brief background on tribes and tribal law enforcement. Then, we present a summary of the legal jurisdictional challenges faced by tribal law enforcement. Finally, we analyze the current status of tribal law enforcement officers in each state and conclude with a summary and concluding remarks.     

A Molecular Method to Detect Wound Cells in Bloodstains Resultant of Sharp Force Injuries for Crime Scene Reconstruction

Previous research by the authors on an animal model showed that bloodstains can contain additional information about their somatic origin in the form of wound cells. Bloodstains produced by a gunshot wound to the head were distinguished from bloodstains produced by a gunshot wound to the chest by testing the stains for a brain microRNA marker. In this study, the effectiveness of the technique was examined on blood drops shed externally from a stab wound to the liver of rat carcasses. Specifically, investigations were conducted on the liver microRNA marker, rno‐mir‐122‐3p, with the QIAGEN miScript System, and PCR analysis. Between the two stabbing methods used, 67% of the scalpel blades and 57% of the blood drops tested positive for rno‐mir‐122‐3p; however, other samples tested negative giving inconclusive results as to the wound‐of‐origin. The amount of the liver cells in the bloodstains appeared to be related to the extent of trauma.