Immigration, National Identity, and Conservatism in the United States

American conservatives are divided about the future of legal immigration. Whereas some assert that the US should remain a 'nation of immigrants', others insist that immigration levels should be reduced to a bare minimum. The divisions owe much to ddifferent conceptions of American national identity. Whereas some represent the US as a 'universal nation' open to all those who subscribe to particular political and philosophical principles, growing numbers within the conservative movement put forward visions of an American nation structured around a distinct ethno-culture. The rifts are deeply rooted, and have consequences for the future of both American conservatism and the Republican Party.     

The bowl with the bitter taste

This article examines the particular approach taken by the Courtof First Instance (CFI) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ)in comparing complex or composite trade marks, contrasting itwith the ‘net effect’ doctrine applied by the UK'sAppointed Persons.     

Agenda building in criminal justice: The case of determinate sentencing

An understanding of policy development, change and implementation is a necessary ingredient in analysis of criminal justice policy. This paper attempts to describe the process of policy formation in criminal justice within the framework, of “Agenda Building.” Through case studies of sentencing reform policy changes in two states, the applicability of the Agenda Building model to the study of criminal justice policy is demonstrated. The argument is advanced that, through the use of such approaches to the study of justice policy change, we will enhance our understanding of the diversity of specific policies and practices which can emerge from an apparently unified reform movement. Further, it is suggested that an enhanced understanding of policy development will allow reformers to better direct and control policy formulation.     

Is there a “lost world” of criminal investigation?

This article is a critical examination of current investigation textbooks. It argues that they, like urban government textbooks of years ago, are deficient in many ways. For instance it is asserted that in a number of respects current texts present an inaccurate depiction of the criminal investigation process. This comes about in a number of ways. For example, at least by implication, many texts appear to present an inaccurate portrayal of how investigators spend their time. Moreover, they also present a highly simplistic picture of both the inter- and intra-organizational context within which investigators must operate. In addition to these deficiencies, the texts under consideration are also guilty of over-emphasizing the role that criminalistics play in the investigative process, while at the same time under-emphasizing the role of informants. Furthermore, most texts put a heavy emphasis on describing the ideal investigator while ignoring the characteristics that actual investigators exhibit. Finally, it is suggested that because criminal investigation texts do not present typologies or categories of crime, the student is faced with a mass of facts that are difficult to learn and retain.The article concludes by suggesting a different framework for criminal investigation texts, a framework that emphasizes that investigators actually operate in an organizational setting which sets contsraints on their actions and a framework which uses a typology of investigative strategies.     

Causing harm: Criminal law

This paper offers two related things. First, a theory of singular causal statements attributing causal responsibility for a particular harm to a particular agent based on the conjunction of a positive condition (necessitation) and a negative condition (avoidability) which captures the notions of sufficiency and necessity in intuitive ideas about agent causation better than traditional conditio sine qua non based theories. Second, a theory of representation of causal issues in the law. The conceptual framework is that of Game Trees and Games in Extensive Form. Causal conditions are defined set-theoretically over Game Trees; causal issues and fundamental distinctions (dependent versus independent intervening causes, foreseeability or not of harm etc.) arising in legal cases are accommodated by the device of a probability distribution over the game-tree representation of cases.This theory of causing harm, or agent causation is presented in greater detail in L. Aqvist & P Mullock, Causing Harm: a logico-legal study (forthcoming, de Gruyter, Berlin) dealing primarily with causation in tort law.     

Use of force by female police officers

Do female police officers use force at the same rate as male police officers? This research examined the use of force by officers in a large, suburban police department during a seven-year period (1993-1999). Use of force reports completed by departmental policy for each use-of-force incident (n = 1,863) and data on arrests (n = 31,778) were examined. A rate of force, defined as the number of use-of-force incidents per one hundred arrests, was computed for male and female officers for each type of force used. A suspect-injury rate, defined as the number of suspects injured per one hundred arrests, also was computed.Force was used in only a small percentage (5.9 percent) of the arrests made. Injury to the suspect (not including the effects of OC spray) occurred in an even smaller percentage (1.6 percent) of arrests, and injury to the suspect resulting in treatment at a hospital (generally, emergency room treatment) occurred in a still smaller percentage (0.7 percent) of arrests.No statistically significant difference between female and male officers was found in the overall rate of force or in the rate of unarmed physical force. Female officers had a lower rate of weapon use when all types of weapons were considered together (p. < 0.05), but not when the different types of weapons were considered individually. Female officers also had a lower rate of any suspect injury (p. < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference in the rate of suspect injury resulting in treatment at a hospital. The differences found, even when statistically significant, were small in absolute terms.     

Allele frequency distributions of four variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) loci in the London area.

Allele frequency distributions of four hypervariable minisatellite loci were obtained from a large sample of individuals in the London area. The sample is subdivided into three major ethnic groups; Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean and Asian, and histograms for these groups are displayed for comparison. The distributions are discussed in relation to mutation rates, heterozygosity and the computer analysis and processing of results.