Views from the Top and Bottom: Lawmakers and Practitioners Discuss Sex Offender Laws

The perceptions and attitudes that policymakers and criminal justice practitioners have about sexual offending and sexual victimization affects how state lawmakers respond to sex crimes, and how practitioners implement sex offender legislation. Policymakers continue to create new sex offender laws and, as such, the number of convicted sex offenders continues to rise. Thus, policymakers and criminal justice practitioners are increasingly important players in the public policy response to sexual criminals. To better understand the motivation, rationale, content, and purpose of statewide sex offender laws, and their role in the day-to-day management of convicted sex offenders, a non-probability sample of policymakers (n?=?61) and criminal justice practitioners (n?=?25) from across the country were interviewed. Results indicated that nearly all respondents from both groups were familiar/very familiar with their state-level sex offender laws. Policymakers and practitioners also mentioned the influential role that specific victimizations play in creating a perceived need for more sex offender legislation. The politicians and the practitioners view the laws as effective public safety mechanisms. Still, both groups noted serious problems with the laws. Furthermore, policymakers had a more negative attitude about the efficacy of sex offender therapy than criminal justice respondents. Suggestions for future research and policy implications are offered.     

Defining Defamation: Community in the Age of the Internet

The ability to instantly communicate with a global audience has created numerous legal uncertainties as jurists struggle to adapt age-old jurisprudence to modern-day technologies —and defamation jurisprudence is no exception. The definition of a plaintiff's community is critical to his or her ability to succeed in a defamation lawsuit, often determining whether the plaintiff is a public figure or whether the plaintiff's reputation has been injured in his or her community. This article examines federal and state defamation jurisprudence to compare the factors courts have used to define community in both traditional print and broadcast cases with the factors used in more recent Internet defamation cases. It then suggests three possible rubrics courts could employ to more uniformly define community in Internet defamation cases.     

Why negotiate a legally binding mercury convention?

The purpose of this paper is to explain how and why consensus was reached on a legally binding approach given the opposition of powerful actors. Why did the United States and key emerging economies change their positions? We apply tools from the regime formation literature—classical perspectives on power, interests and knowledge—and the use of different leadership tools to shed light on the issue. Knowledge-based intellectual leadership was exercised by the UNEP Secretariat, providing new information on the seriousness and scope of the problem. Power-based leadership through unilateral action was provided by the United States. When the United States changed position after change in domestic leadership, political costs increased for other opponents. Finally, interest-based instrumental leadership was provided by many proponents, with UNEP and among others the EU in the lead. Still, conflicts remain on control measures and the form of financial mechanism.     

Auditee Strategies: An Investigation of Auditees’ Reactions to the Norwegian State Audit Institution’s Performance Audits

This article contributes to theory on accountability—how it is played out and responded to. It uses the Norwegian State Audit Institution as an illustration. The responses of the audited entities to the SAI’s institutional pressure were identified through an analysis of four different cases. Four auditee strategies were identified. They indicate that the performance audit has impact when the auditees agree with the conclusions of the SAI. Sanctions from the control committee and the Parliament are equally important. Even though the extent of sanctions and conflict of opinion matter for the auditees’ responses, the effects are context dependent.     

Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age,by Alasdair Roberts

This article uses Ross Perot's campaign for president in 1992 as a case study in how two key political institutions—the conventional political press and the party system—mediate the effects of political communication. Reporters allocated positive and negative coverage to Perot according to the same rules that they normally follow, and voters were as responsive to this coverage as they were to media coverage of two earlier “outsider” candidates for president, Jimmy Carter and Gary Hart. Part I of this article, which appeared in the previous issue of Political Communication, dealt with the earliest, relatively unmediated phase of Perot's campaign and the takeoff phase of the mediated campaign. Part II deals with the remainder of the campaign, including the general election.     

FROM INFANTS TO ADOLESCENTS A Developmental Approach to Parenting Plans

Divorce and the resultant process of child custody decision making impact heavily on the lives of children. Increasingly, parents and professionals have realized the importance of encouraging shared responsibility in child rearing following separation and divorce. This shared responsibility must continue throughout a child's life and into young adulthood. This article introduces a comprehensive child-and family-focused model of decision making. The goal of this model is to assist professionals in their work with parents and to help parents formulate parenting plans that reflect the ever-changing developmental needs of each child and that specify how each parent will meet the particular needs of each child in the family. Through the use of educational parenting seminars and the completion of a Needs Assessment for each child, flexible parenting plans are created and positive co-parenting skills develop.     

Direct Analyte‐Probed Nanoextraction Coupled to Nanospray Ionization–Mass Spectrometry of Drug Residues from Latent Fingerprints

Here, we present a method of extracting drug residues from fingerprints via Direct Analyte‐Probed Nanoextraction coupled to nanospray ionization–mass spectrometry (DAPNe‐NSI‐MS). This instrumental technique provides higher selectivity and lower detection limits over current methods, greatly reducing sample preparation, and does not compromise the integrity of latent fingerprints. This coupled to Raman microscopy is an advantageous supplement for location and identification of trace particles. DAPNe uses a nanomanipulator for extraction and differing microscopies for localization of chemicals of interest. A capillary tip with solvent of choice is placed in a nanopositioner. The surface to be analyzed is placed under a microscope, and a particle of interest is located. Using a pressure injector, the solvent is injected onto the surface where it dissolves the analyte, and then extracted back into the capillary tip. The solution is then directly analyzed via NSI‐MS. Analyses of caffeine, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and ecstasy have been performed successfully.     

Juvenile recidivism and length of stay

Official data maintained by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice of 16,779 juveniles released from commitment programs to the community or aftercare between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 2000 were examined in this study. No consistent relationship between length of confinement and recidivism was found. The effects of length of stay were mediated based on the risk level of the commitment facility and gender. The length of confinement was only significant for juveniles released from high-risk facilities and male offenders. More research must be conducted to further examine the positive and negative impact of confinement on juvenile re-offending. Future research must include in its analysis the effect of program quality and treatment. Both factors may significantly mediate the relationship between confinement and recidivism.