TEACHING CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS

This essay, based on a presentation at the 2009 Future of Family Law Education conference at the William Mitchell School of Law, discusses strategies for teaching controversial topics, focused on reproductive rights and related gender issues.     

DRIVING WHILE BLACK: BIAS PROCESSES AND RACIAL DISPARITY IN POLICE STOPS*

We estimate the degree of racial disparity in police vehicular stops separately for local and state police in North Carolina in the year 2000. We introduce four mechanisms that might produce racial disparities in police stops—racial profiling, race sensitive police deployment, cognitive bias and stereotyping, and prejudice. We then model the relative odds of police vehicle stops as a function of race, driving behavior, and other demographic statuses separately by police organization type, with controls for omitted variable bias at both the driver and spatial level. We find only weak evidence of racial disparity in stops by officers of the state highway patrol but stronger evidence in those made by local police officers.     

Intermediation environments and election in Hong Kong

The new Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) held its first election in 1998. Based on data from a post‐election survey, this article charts the pattern of intermediation environments and their impact on electoral participation. An intermediation environment is a network of communicating information or points of view. This study focuses on the environments of primary social networks, secondary associations and the mass media. They are found to be influential in the diffusion of political knowledge and in mobilizing electoral participation. However, the majority of Hong Kong citizens are unembedded in these environments, thereby carrying negative implications for the democratic transition in Hong Kong.     

Formulae for Estimating Skeletal Height in Modern South‐East Asians

Estimating stature in human skeletal remains of Asian ancestry is problematic for forensic anthropologists due to the paucity and uncertain suitability of regression formulae. To address this issue, our study analyzed 64 individuals from a modern skeletal collection of South‐East Asian origin and developed population‐specific ordinary least squares regression formulae to estimate skeletal height from each of the long bones of the upper and lower limbs, as well as from trunk length. Results indicate that the most accurate estimates of skeletal height from a single bone (as measured by standard error of the estimate—SEE) are from tibial length in males (SEE = 2.40 cm) and from humeral length in females (SEE = 2.59 cm), followed by femoral length (SEE = 2.84 cm). When multiple elements are considered, the combination of femoral and tibial length yields the best estimates in both sexes as well as combined sex samples (male SEE = 2.40 cm; female SEE = 2.77 cm; combined sex SEE = 2.54 cm).     

Possible Fatal Acetaminophen Intoxication with Atypical Clinical Presentation

Acetaminophen or paracetamol, a commonly used over‐the‐counter analgesic, is known to elicit severe adverse reactions when taken in overdose, chronically at therapeutic dosage or, sporadically, following single assumptions of a therapeutic dose. Damage patterns including liver damage and, rarely, acute tubular necrosis or a fixed drug exanthema. We present a case of fatal acetaminophen toxicity with postmortem blood concentration 78 μg/mL and unusual clinical features, including a visually striking and massive epidermolysis and rhabdomyolysis, disseminated intravascular coagulation and myocardial ischemia. This case is compared with the most similar previous reports in terms of organ damage, clinical presentation, and cause of death. We conclude that a number of severe patterns of adverse effects to acetaminophen are emerging that were previously greatly underestimated, thus questioning the adequacy of the clinical spectrum traditionally associated with acetaminophen intoxication and leading to the need to review this spectrum and the associated diagnostic criteria.     

Experimental Effect of Shots Caused by Projectiles Fired from Air Guns with Kinetic Energy Below 17 J

Pursuant to the Polish Weapons and Ammunitions Law (Legal Gazette No 53/1999 item 549 with subsequent amendments), air guns with kinetic energy of the fired projectiles below 17 J are not regarded as weapons. The aim of the study was to assess the potential effect of shots caused by projectiles of various mass and structure fired from air guns with kinetic energy below 17 J on human soft tissues. As a model of soft tissue, we used 20% gelatin blocks. After shooting, we measured the depth of gelatin block penetration by pellets fired from various distances and compared these results with autopsy findings. The results demonstrated that examined pneumatic guns may cause serious injuries, including damage to the pleura, pericardium, liver, spleen, kidneys, femoral artery, and thoracic and abdominal aorta. Experiment shown that gelatin blocks do not reflect fully the properties of the human body.