Missing pieces: Notes on crime,poverty, and social policy

A long and impressive criminological tradition links crime to what social scientists call ‘persistent poverty’-and, in particular, to the corrosive effects of inadequate labor markets on a variety of social institutions. But few anticrime policies have seriously confronted those conditions, even at the height of the Great Society of the 1960s. With only scattered exceptions, those policies have sought to enhance the individual capacities of children and youth without substantially altering the surrounding economic institutions. An anticrime strategy for the next century that is both more effective and consistent with what we know about the roots of crime must involve measures that more directly address the labor market itself. Among other things, these measures include direct public job creation, systematic efforts to up grade wages, and greater support for labor organization. This essay is a revised version of a background paper presented at The Social Science Research Council Policy Conference on ‘Persistent Poverty’ in Washington D.C., November, 1993.     

城市房屋拆迁制度中“公共利益”的合理界定

房屋拆迁制度目前是我国经济生活中争议最大、引起纠纷最多的一项制度。在房屋拆迁制度中促成拆迁行为顺利进行的唯一的合理合法的理由就是“公共利益”。在房屋拆迁制度中“公共利益”的界定极为必要。对“公共利益”进行合理界定,可通过立法做概括和列举式的规定。     

Supreme Court denies leave to appeal in medical marijuana charter challenge

As previously reported in this publication, in January 2002 the Ontario Court of Appeal denied Jim Wakeford's claim that Canada's laws prohibiting marijuana possession and cultivation infringe his constitutional rights to liberty and security of the person. On 22 November 2002 the Supreme Court of Canada announced that it would not hear his appeal from that decision.     

UN Commission on Human Rights adopts resolutions on access to medication, right to health

In April 2002, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted two resolutions that are important in the context of access to treatment. The Commission is the UN's leading body with respect to international human rights issues. It consists of 53 UN member states and meets annually. The Commission's resolutions can be found on the website of the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights via www.unhchr.ch/ by clicking on "Documents of Charter-based bodies".     

Update to international guidelines on HIV/AIDS and human rights

On 10 September 2002, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released a revised international guideline on "Access to prevention, treatment, care and support." The update to Guideline 6 of HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines reflects significant therapeutic, political, and legal developments in this area since the 12 guidelines were originally published in 1998. The new Guideline 6 significantly expands the guidance given to governments on what international human rights norms require of them in relation to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support.     

US: Supreme Court adopts narrow definition of "disability" under anti-discrimination law

In January 2002, the US Supreme Court issued the latest in a series of court judgments adopting a narrow interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The unanimous decision is fundamentally flawed in several important respects. It does not bode well for people with disabilities seeking protection from discrimination in employment.     

Ontario appellate court denies HIV-positive man's constitutional claim to medical marijuana

In January 2002, the Ontario Court of Appeal denied a claim by a Toronto man living with HIV/AIDS that Canada's laws prohibiting marijuana possession and cultivation infringe his constitutional rights to liberty and security of the person.     

法官的困惑:在判决与执行之间--对一起案件的判决与执行的法社会学思考

一起案件,对不同的当事人送达不同的判决书,不仅仅是法律上的玩笑,它透视着传统法观念的影响.判决要合法是法治的根本要求,同时判决又要合理,以符合民众的法意识,情理法忽视程序法的价值,司法泛行政化,导致法设而不用,司法官自由裁量权过大.判决与执行之间必须有合理衔接才能达到司法的实效.执行要有可能性,又要有妥当性.传统社会的社会组织以及行政权的泛化对于执行有效性而言是值得思考、借鉴的.行政对司法不应干预,但应加以配合.因加强社会组织的作用,使司法不至于在传统现念与现代法律之间无法应对.