Court Sentencing Patterns for Environmental Crimes: Is There a “Green” Gap in Punishment?

Objectives

This study examines sentencing patterns for environmental crimes and tests the assumption that “green” offenders receive more lenient treatment from criminal courts than non-environmental offenders.

Methods

We present two sets of analyses. First, we present an empirical portrait of environmental felony offenses convicted in a single state (Florida) over a fifteen-year period and the resulting criminal sanctions. Second, we use a precision matching analysis to assess whether environmental offenders receive more lenient treatment when compared to non-environmental offenders with the same characteristics and offense severity scores.

Results

Findings indicate that an overall small percentage of felony convictions in state courts stem from environmental crimes. We also find that punishments for environmental crimes are more lenient than sanctions assigned to comparable non-environmental offenses when the environmental crime is ecological, but that punishments are sometimes harsher when the environmental crime involves animals.

Conclusions

The findings provide general support for the argument that courts and other formal institutions of social control treat environmental crimes more leniently than non-environmental crimes. This paper also raises important questions about citizen and state actors’ perceptions of crimes against the environment and, more generally, about the ways in which theories of court sentencing behaviors apply to environmental crime sanctioning decisions.

     

A new method for the recovery and evidential comparison of footwear impressions using 3D structured light scanning

Footwear impressions are one of the most common forms of evidence to be found at a crime scene, and can potentially offer the investigator a wealth of intelligence. Our aim is to highlight a new and improved technique for the recovery of footwear impressions, using three-dimensional structured light scanning. Results from this preliminary study demonstrate that this new approach is non-destructive, safe to use and is fast, reliable and accurate. Further, since this is a digital method, there is also the option of digital comparison between items of footwear and footwear impressions, and an increased ability to share recovered footwear impressions between forensic staff thus speeding up the investigation.     

Pampered or pariah: does animal type influence the interaction between animal attitude and empathy?

ABSTRACT

Research into the interaction between deliberate harm of animals and potential risk for human directed violence has burgeoned in the past two decades. In light of an underlying premise that attitudes are predictive of behaviour, a number of researchers have examined demographic and personality variables that affect attitudes to, and by extrapolation behaviours towards, animals. One particularly active topic of research in this area is the potential relation between human-directed empathy and attitudes to animals, with researchers consistently finding that those with higher human-directed empathy scores tend to hold more pro-animal welfare attitudes. The current study adds to this literature by evaluating the effect of different animal types (Pet, Pest or Profit) in this overall animal attitude/human-directed empathy relationship with a large (n?=?1606), community-based, Australian sample. As anticipated, attitudes towards animals in the Pet category were significantly more pro-welfare than for either Pest or Profit animals and women indicated more pro-welfare attitudes across all three than men. The strength and significance of the relation between human-directed empathy and attitudes to animals varied across Pet, Pest and Profit animal categories and affective vs cognitive empathy. The strongest correlation was found between Pet and the Empathic Concern subscale of the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The implications of these differences for the previously observed link between attitudes to animals and empathy, humane education and future research directions are discussed.     

Trends in Mortality of the Soviet Population

Two prominent American demographers present an up-to-date study of trends and countertrends in mortality of the Soviet population; discussed are variations (by republic and over time) in life expectancy, infant mortality, and mortality in the working ages. Analyzing trends since 1959, the authors highlight problems relating to the quality and interpretation of pertinent statistical data of Soviet origin. Distinguishing real trends from pseudotrends, they evaluate mortality differences among regions and illustrate a more favorable long-term trend in mortality than suggested by official figures (nonetheless, because of error in official statistics, actual rates are generally higher). Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 123, 841.     

A Soviet paradise à L'Américaine

An Examination of the Mystic Tendencies in Islam in the light of the Qur'an and Traditions. By M. M.Zuhúruddin Ahmad, M.A. LL.B., Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the Ismail College, Andheri (Bombay). 9” x 5½”. Pp. 248. Published by the author, Pali Road, Bandra (Bombay). 1932. Obtained in England for 10s. 6d.

The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. By Sir Muhammad Iqbal. 9” x 5½”. Pp. 192. Oxford University Press. London: Humphrey Milford. 1934. 7^s. 6d. net.

The Suez Canal: Its Past, Present and Future. By Lieut.‐Colonel Sir Arnold Wilson, K.C.I.E. 10” x 7". Pp. xv+224. Map. Oxford University Press. 1933. 15s.

The Capitulatory Regime of Turkey: Its History, Origin and Nature. By Nasim Sousa. 8½” x 5¾”. Pp. xxiii+378. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.

Catalogue of Wall‐Paintings from Ancient Shrines in Central Asia and Sistan. Recovered by Sir Aurel Stein, K.C.I.E., described by Fred H. Andrews, O.B.E., under the orders of the Government of India. Delhi: Manager of Publications.

The History of Buddhist Thought. By Edward J. Thomas, M.A., D.Litt. 9½” x 6½”. Pp. xvi+314. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co., Ltd. 1933. 15s.

The Eclipse of Christianity in Asia. From the time of Muhammad until the Fourteenth Century. By L. E. Browne. 9” x 6”. Pp. 198. Map. Cambridge University Press. 1933. 10s. 6d.

Oriental Studies. Edited by Jai Dastur Cursetji Pavry, with a Foreword by A. V.Williams, in honour of Cursetji Erachji Pavry. 9¾” x 6½”. Pp. xv+503. Frontispiece. Oxford University Press. 1934. 50s. net.

A History of Exploration. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day. By Brigadier‐General Sir Percy Sykes, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G. 10” x 6”. Pp. xiv+374. Coloured frontispiece, plates, and maps. Routledge. 1934. 25s.

Peaks and Plains of Central Asia. By Colonel Reginald C. F. Schomberg. 8¾” x 5¾”. Pp. 288. Illustrations and three maps. London: Martin Hopkinson. 1933. 15s. net.

” La Croisière Jaune.” The Citroën‐Haardt Expedition through Central Asia. By Georges Le Fevre. Pp. xli + 342. 123 photographs. Plates. Maps. Paris. 1933. Edition de Luxe.

Le Pasteur de Tribus. Par Alexandre Syline. Paris: Librairie Gallimard. 1932.

First Russia, then Tibet. By Robert Byron. 9½” x 6¾”. Pp. xvi + 328. Illustrations. Macmillan. 15s.

The White Armies of Russia. The Chronicle of Counter‐Revolution and Allied Intervention. By George Stewart. 8” x 6”. Pp. xiii + 469. Maps and illustrations. New York: Macmillan Co. 21s.

Dans les Coulisses du Kremlin. By S. Dmitrievsky. Translated from the Russian into French by René le Grand. 7” x 4¾”. Pp. vii + 240. Paris: Lib Plon. 12 fr.

Foreign Investments in China. By C. F. Remer. 8¾” x 6”. Pp. xxi + 708. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1933. 25s.

Japan. By F. C. Jones, M.A. 7½” x 5”. Pp. viii+133. Maps. Modern State Series No. 1. General Editor, R. B. Mowat. Arrowsmith. 3s. 6d.

The Hundred Names. By Dr. Henry H. Hart. Published by the University of California Press and the Cambridge University Press. 1933. 11s. 6d. net.

Something Happened. By M. Cable and F. French. Pp. ii + 320. Illustrations. Map. Hodder and Stoughton. 5s.

The Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow. By F. W. Champion. 10” x 7¾”. Pp. xvi + 270. Illustrations. Chatto and Windus. 21s.

James Silk Buckingham, 1786–1855. A Social Biography. By Ralph E. Turner. 8½” x 5¾”. Pp. viii+463. Plates. Williams and Norgate. 21s.

On Hill and Plain. By Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, K.G. A Viceroy's Recollections of Delightful Days of Sport in India. 8” x 5¼”. Pp. xii + 110. Illustrations. John Murray. 1933. 7s. 6d.

Le Voyage d'Un Pelerin Chinois dans l'Inde des Bouddhas. Précédé d'un exposé des doctrines de l'Inde Antique sur La Vie et La Mort. By Henri Valentino. Paris. Editions G.P. Maisonneuve. 3 Rue de Sabot. 18 francs.

Indian India. By C. W. Waddington, C.I.E., M.V.O. London: Jarrolds. 1933.

Indo‐China: A Sportsman's Opportunity. By Archibald Harrison. 8½” x 5½”. Pp. 7+157. Plates and maps. Plymouth: Mayflower Press.

Secrets of the Red Sea. By Henry de Monfreid. Translated by Helen Buchanan Bell. 8½” x 5½”. Pp. vii + 317. Sixteen pages illustrated. Faber and Fabcr. 1933. 12s. 6d.

Into the Sun. By Frieda Das. 7½” x 5”. Pp. 312. Dent. 7s. 6d.

The Assyrian Tragedy. Annemasse, February, 1934.

The Naked Mountain. By E. Knowlton. Putnam.

First over Everest. By Air Commodore Fellowes, D.S.O., L. V. Stewart Blacker, Col. P. T. Etheton, Marquis of Clydesdale. Foreword by John Buchan, and account of the filming by G. Barkas. 9¾” x 6½”.Illustrations, maps, diagrams. Pp. xix + 279. Lane, Bodley Head. 12s. 6d.     

Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

This article explains why the United States has not fought a preventive war against North Korea despite that country’s moves to arm itself with nuclear weapons. I argue that the absence of war is mainly attributable to military strategies that the US military has with regard to North Korea. With only attrition strategies available, the United States neither expects to lose a precious military opportunity nor anticipates grave future vulnerabilities vis-à-vis North Korea. The prospect of a costly attritional campaign deters both Washington and Pyongyang from resorting to military force. Straightforward attrition strategies also allow little chance for miscalculation, thereby making inadvertent escalation to war unlikely. The research finds sufficient evidence for my argument, whereas conventional explanations offered by international relations theory fall short when applied to this case.     

What's the Problem in Public Sector Workforce Recruitment? A Multi-Sector Comparative Analysis of Managerial Perceptions

Public sector workforce recruitment is problematic, but the nature of that problem is not clearly defined. Workforce recruitment is essentially a matching problem that requires managers to recruit desired employees in available labor pools. This research asks whether sectoral differences and competition for labor affect whether public managers frame the major problem of workforce recruitment as the size, qualifications, or work ethic of the labor pool. Using survey data from about 2,300 managers from two US states, problem attributions are modeled using multinomial logit. The findings suggest that the public and nonprofit sectors find it more problematic to recruit qualified employees than the private sector, but public and nonprofit agencies hold a comparative advantage over the private sector in recruiting employees with sufficient work ethic. Therefore, public and nonprofit managers should emphasize retention and training to leverage their comparative advantage in recruiting employees with work ethic while addressing a comparative disadvantage in recruiting qualified employees.     

Economics of State-Owned Enterprises

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) account for a substantial proportion of gross domestic product, employment, and assets in many countries. Based on a review of the theory and empirical evidence, we develop a novel five-step framework that can guide policymakers and economic advisors in making decisions about maintaining and/or creating SOEs. The framework suggests that the use of SOEs should be limited to circumstances in which a market failure exists, less invasive forms of intervention such as regulation/taxes/subsidies and private-sector contracting are ineffective or not possible, and the welfare loss of the market failure exceeds the costs, distortions, and inefficiencies of SOEs.     

Human rights violations and genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The massacres that took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 1996 and 2003 have posed an interesting challenge to the global community, specifically to its more powerful members. Ironically, the Tutsi-dominated government of Rwanda enjoys international recognition and benefits based on the genocide, Rwanda suffered in 1994, but continues to deny the same benefit to Hutus as they were accused of leading a counter-genocide campaign then in the DRC. While the people of the DRC, as well as human rights activists, call for justice for all who were affected, the government of Rwanda, strongly backed by a number of powerful international powers, opposed attempts by the international community to pin charges of genocide perpetrated by its army in the DRC on it. Because of the clear negation of the genocide report by the Rwandan government, the nature of human rights, human rights violations, and genocide criteria proposed and defended by key members of the international community in relation to the mass killings in the DRC are examined.