First Report of Blaesoxipha plinthopyga (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) from a Human Corpse in the U.S.A. and a New State Geographic Record Based on Specimen Genotype

Carrion flies in the taxonomic family Sarcophagidae are often recovered from a human corpse. However, because such specimens are difficult to identify, the forensic literature on this taxon is quite limited compared with that of the commonly employed Calliphoridae. Faced with a sarcophagid larva that could not be identified microscopically from a death investigation in the state of Idaho, we generated cytochrome oxidase one DNA sequence data from the specimen. Comparison to a reference data set of forensically significant sarcophagids from Canada and the U.S.A. confirmed that this was the first discovery of Blaesoxipha plinthopyga in a human corpse in the U.S.A. and the first record of this species in Idaho. Because B. plinthopyga occurs from the Northern U.S.A. to the Neotropics, it is potentially useful for estimating time since death at many locations.     

Divergence and Convergence in the Law of Contractual Penalties and Liquidated Damages Clauses in England,Singapore, and Malaysia

Liverpool Law Review - Contracts often make provision for the remedies available upon breach, i.e., by providing for a sum or stipulation available to either party upon breach by the other (an...     

Evolution,uncertainty, and the asymptotic efficiency of policy

Public Choice - Politics, like any social system, involves selection mechanisms. This paper presents a model of politics as an evolutionary process. Our model yields three main results. First, the...     

A New Look into Broken Windows: What Shapes Individuals’ Perceptions of Social Disorder?

Purpose

This study compares perceptual and observational measures of social disorder to examine the influence of observable levels of disorder in shaping residents’ perceptions of social problems on their street.

Methods

This study uses regression models utilizing data from a survey of residents, systematic social observations and police calls for service to explore the formation of perceptions of social disorder.

Results

We find little correspondence between residents’ perceptual and researchers’ observational measures of social disorder, suggesting that residents form perceptions of social disorder differently than do outsiders to their community. However, researchers’ observations of physical disorder were found to strongly influence residents’ perceptions of social disorder. Findings also suggest that people with different demographic backgrounds and life experiences may perceive the same social environment in very different ways.

Conclusions

The results add to a growing literature suggesting that social disorder is a social construct, rather than a concrete phenomenon. Moreover, we suggest that the linkage between physical disorder and residents’ perceptions of social disorder might provide an avenue for police to address residents’ fear of crime while avoiding some of the criticisms that have been leveled against programs targeting social disorder.     

Cross Pressure Scores: An Individual-Level Measure of Cumulative Partisan Pressures Arising from Social Group Memberships

Early studies of voting behavior hypothesized that the degree to which an individual was “cross-pressured” might affect how she participates in politics. However, attention to this topic waned before returning in recent years, mainly within the narrower confines of social networks analysis. In an effort to encourage broader consideration of the role of cross-pressures in political behavior, we present a new approach to estimating cross-pressures that (1) is individual-specific, (2) reflects the cumulative cross-pressures faced by an individual from her many intersecting social strata and group memberships, irrespective of the mechanism by which those pressures are experienced, and (3) can be estimated using widely-available data in party systems of any size, thus making it easier to study the effect of cross-pressures cross-nationally and over time. We demonstrate that these estimates are robust to many estimation choices, correspond well to existing measures of cross-pressures, and are correlated with patterns of political engagement and participation predicted by extant theories.     

Few and far between: understanding the role of the victim in federal environmental crime prosecutions in the United States

Efforts to gather systematic data and undertake empirical studies on the extent of environmental crime, the magnitude of environmental victimization, and the punishment of environmental offenders in the United States remains elusive in the criminological literature. We take a novel approach to studying these gaps in the literature, by examining federal environmental crime prosecutions. While not all encompassing, this approach advances the literature by providing valuable insights into what types of human victimization occur, the role victims play in prosecutions, and how offenders are punished. What is the nature and extent of case-documented environmental victimization with regard to human victimization in the U.S. over the past decade? We address this question through a content analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) criminal investigation cases, 2001–11. Out of 972 total criminal cases, we find that only 3 % of cases involve acute or identifiable victimization. Environmental crime victims, unless immediately harmed, are not likely to play a major role in environmental crime cases; thereby limiting potential political and public attention to victims of environmental crime.