Suggestive Eyewitness Identification Procedures and the Supreme Court’s Reliability Test in Light of Eyewitness Science: 30 Years Later

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling concerning suggestive eyewitness identification procedures (Manson v. Braithwaite, 1977, 432 U.S. 98) has not been revisited by the Court in the intervening 30+ years. Meanwhile, scientific studies of eyewitnesses have progressed and DNA exonerations show that mistaken identification is the primary cause of convictions of the innocent. We analyzed the two-inquiry logic in Manson in light of eyewitness science. Several problems are discussed. Ironically, we note that suggestive identification procedures (determined in the first inquiry) boost the eyewitnesses’ standing on three of the five criteria (used in the second inquiry) that are used to decide whether the suggestive procedures were a problem. The net effect undermines safeguards intended by the Court and destroys incentives to avoid suggestive procedures.

从执法警官的视角看警方对患有精神疾病人士的处置方式（三）

2．互动与交流。精神疾病患者、他们的朋友和家庭成员,以及受训警官们之问的直接交流是培训的一个重要内容。想要取得的一个成果是提高警官们在这些互动中的舒适程度,以及他们对精神疾病患者的理解。表七显示了危机干预小组培训在这个领域的成果。有稍高百分比的警官们报告说在培训之后的一个时期与精神疾病患者的互动中感觉舒适。     

Gender awareness,symptom expressions and Irish mental health-care provision

Irish mental health policy and care provision is criticised for being gender-neutral despite gender being present in almost every aspect of illness; from risk to protection; symptom interpretation; diagnosing, ideology and knowledge of illnesses. The aim of this paper was to present the views of Irish service users and providers in relation to symptom expressions, gender awareness and care provision. A qualitative social realist design was used using Layder's (1998) adaptive theory and social domains theory. In-depth interviews (n = 54) with 26 service users and 28 service providers were conducted within one mental health service in Ireland. Dominant societal expectations for men and women are described in response to symptom expressions that reflect ‘categorical’ and ‘performative’ understandings of gender. A return of interest to symptoms-based research and practice from a gendered perspective is argued for.     

To What Extent Can the January 25 Revolution Be Seen as a “Bifurcation” in the Life Stories of Egyptian Migrants in France?

ABSTRACT

The revolutionary process initiated in Egypt in 2011 triggered a surge in Egyptian-led organizations in the public arena in Paris. This article examines the issue of the “biographical impacts of commitment” and applies the “life history approach” to these Egyptian activists. Our basic hypothesis is that the opening up of political perspectives in Egypt may be understood as a bifurcation process in such individual trajectories. It may have entailed a series of disruptions in everyday life to the extent of causing these Egyptian migrants to reconsider their positions within the French context.     

Forensic genetic analysis of insect gut contents

Entomological evidence is most often used for estimating the postmortem interval, but fly larvae can also be a source of vertebrate DNA. Forensic analysis of DNA recovered from a larva's gut can be used to identify what the larva had been feeding on. During our previous research studies, we used the same DNA extraction for the dual purpose of identifying the insect species and associating a maggot with its last meal. In our experience, we have encountered several situations where this method for associating a maggot with a corpse would have been useful, such as removal of remains from a suspected crime scene, an alternative food source is nearby the scene or the body, and a chain-of-evidence dispute. However, since maggot gut content analysis is a quite brand-new area of study, many of the limitations of the technique have not yet been explored. The results of our most recent research studies suggest that third-instar larvae actively feeding on the corpse can be considered the best source of human DNA, better than postfeeding or starved larvae. In this paper, the state of the art of forensic genetic analysis of maggot gut contents is reviewed.