At the Turning Point to Repression

The murder of Boris Nemtsov in February 2015 means that Russian activists know that they may be killed because their public activity is not to the liking of some powerful actor. As the Kremlin has increasingly painted Russia as a country at war, it has created an attitude of emergency state legitimacy in which criticism of the authorities has become a crime. The labeling of some NGOs as foreign agents is part of a continuing trend toward increasing restrictions on civil society. Defense of traditional values and morality has been part of this trend toward increasing repression, which may result in the loss of all protections for activism and free expression.     

Excuses, excuses

Justifications and excuses are defenses that exculpate. They are therefore much more like each other than like such defenses as diplomatic immunity, which does not exculpate. But they exculpate in different ways, and it has proven difficult to agree on just what that difference consists in. In this paper I take a step back from justification and excuse as concepts in criminal law, and look at the concepts as they arise in everyday life. To keep the task manageable, I focus primarily on excuses and excusing activities, distinguishing them from justifications as well as from other close relatives, in particular, forgiving and pardoning. I draw upon J.L. Austin’s classic “A Plea for Excuses,” but expand on his account, suggesting that we offer excuses for reasons besides those he mentions. My hope is that my examination of excuses and excusing activities will help us rethink our views on just how justifications and excuses differ, views which often are worked out without much attention to how these concepts function in everyday life and to the connection between offers of excuses and justifications and the “rules of civility.”

An International Comparison of the Incidence of Public Sector Whistle‐Blowing and the Prediction of Retaliation: Australia,Norway, and the US

We compare results of several large‐scale survey studies of whistle‐blowing by public sector employees, from samples in Australia, Norway, and the United States. Specifically, we review incidence rates of wrongdoing, whistle‐blowing and retaliation, as perceived by thousands of respondents employed by many government agencies in these countries. Despite differences in measurement in the studies and variation in results, findings suggest that wrongdoing was quite frequently observed and was reported in many cases. Retaliation resulted for far fewer than half of the whistle‐blowers, in all three nations. We also compare findings from the various studies concerning variables that predicted retaliation against whistle‐blowers in the different samples. Differences in results across the three countries add to existing evidence that country and workplace cultures can affect the whistle‐blowing process.     

"The red zone": temporal risk for unwanted sex among college students

The "red zone" usually refers to the first few weeks of the first semester at college, when female students are believed to be at greatest risk for experiencing unwanted sex. We tested this notion using data from a survey study of 207 first-and second-year students (121 women, 84 men) at a small, liberal arts university. Results demonstrated only one significant elevation in incidence rates of first- and second-year women's unwanted sexual experiences (sexual touching, attempted and completed anal, oral, and vaginal sex), between the end of the first month and fall break (mid-October) during the second year at school. Previous research and local information about the relevant behaviors of sorority and fraternity members is discussed in light of these findings to provide heuristic material for further empirical testing. Because risk may involve both temporal and situational factors, systematic collection and dissemination of local data are recommended.     

Prediction and preliminary standardization of fire debris constituents with the advanced distillation curve method

The recent National Academy of Sciences report on forensic sciences states that the study of fire patterns and debris in arson fires is in need of additional work and eventual standardization. We discuss a recently introduced method that can provide predicted evaporation patterns for ignitable liquids as a function of temperature. The method is a complex fluid analysis protocol, the advanced distillation curve approach, featuring a composition explicit data channel for each distillate fraction (for qualitative, quantitative, and trace analysis), low uncertainty temperature measurements that are thermodynamic state points that can be modeled with an equation of state, consistency with a century of historical data, and an assessment of the energy content of each distillate fraction. We discuss the application of the method to kerosenes and gasolines and outline how expansion of the scope of fluids to other ignitable liquids can benefit the criminalist in the analysis of fire debris for arson.     

Using resolution calculations to assess changes in capillary electrophoresis run parameters

Capillary electrophoresis is widely used in the forensic community for the analysis of Short Tandem Repeat DNA. The CE system used in most forensic laboratories allows the user to modify standard operational protocols to accommodate some samples that fall outside of interpretational guidelines. We have made operational changes and monitored system resolution and the ability of the software to identify alleles as a result of these modifications. Increased amount of amplified product in the injection preparation, lengthened injection times or repeated injections of the same sample were all investigated along with variations in run voltages. Certain protocol modifications offer some advantages to the analysis of STRs and may allow the analyst to avoid extraction of additional portions of crime scene samples to achieve interpretable results.     

State Tax and Expenditure Limitations: There is No Story

Out of the troubled economic atmosphere of the late 1970's grew a discontent with government in general and taxation in particular. The tax revolt took hold at the local level and placed limits on the growth of the property tax through celebrated citizen initiatives like Proposition 13 in California. At the national level, uneasiness with the role of government and a sense that taxation was too high culminated in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan. The electorate embraced promises of less government and lower taxes. For states, the tax revolt resulted in a number of state tax and expenditures limitations (TELS). Most had several things in common: they were adopted before 1983, they addressed state appropriations, and they were largely a western phenomenon spreading from California. The overall condition of state economies and structure of state tax systems, in combination with the sensitivity of policymakers to anti-tax sentiment, have done more to limit state spending than have imposed restrictions.