Blood alcohol concentration determined from urine samples as a practical equivalent or alternative to blood and breath alcohol tests

The value of urine tests for determining an equivalent blood alcohol concentration in driving under the influence (DUI) enforcement cases is reviewed from a historical, theoretical, and practical perspective. The limits of precision and accuracy that can be ascribed to urine alcohol results are demonstrated through an evaluation of actual case results wherein both a first void and a subsequent urine sample were analyzed and converted to an equivalent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) using a urine to blood conversion factor of 1.3:1.     

Analysis of Positive Control STR Experiments Reveals that Results Obtained for FGA,D3S1358, and D13S317 Condition the Success Rate of the Analysis of Routine Reference Samples

About 120,000 reference samples are analyzed each year in the Forensic Laboratory of Lyon. A total of 1640 positive control experiments used to validate and optimize the analytical method in the routine process were submitted to a multivariate exploratory data analysis approach with the aim of better understanding the underlying sources of variability. The peak heights of the 16 genetic markers targeted by the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® STR kit were used as variables of interest. Six different 3130xl genetic analyzers located in the same controlled environment were involved. Two major sources of variability were found: (i) the DNA load of the sample modulates all peak heights in a similar way so that the 16 markers are highly correlated, (ii) the genetic analyzer used with a locus‐specific response for peak height and a better sensitivity for the most recently acquired. Three markers (FGA, D3S1358, and D13S317) were found to be of special interest to predict the success rate observed in the routine process.     

Abetting a Crime: A New Approach

Law and Philosophy - In “Abetting a Crime,” Husak puzzles over what, exactly, abettors are held liable for. Having (correctly) dismissed the proposal that derivative liability can...     

Constructive “Consent”: A Problematic Fiction

The law and society occasionally impute consent to an agent despite a clear lack of actual consent. A common type of such ‘fictitious consent’ is constructive consent. In this practice, we treat an agent as if she consented to Φ because she did Ψ. By examining how constructive consent operates in law (monitoring inmate phone calls and blood alcohol concentration testing on unconscious drivers) and daily life (physical contact in public spaces), I show that our treatment of agents in these cases bears no normatively relevant resemblance to consent because it is grounded in values and concerns other than autonomy. Thus, the practice may diminish the very autonomy consent proper seeks to promote. Hiding this potential for conflict creates the risk moral concerns will not be appropriately balanced when deciding on the permissibility of an action. We thus ought to be explicit that such cases don’t involve consent and its common justification.     

Protecting the reproductive health of workers: problems in science and public policy

This paper first reviews the scientific problems involved in assessing the effects on reproductive health of toxic substances in the work environment. It then describes the current status of regulatory policies designed to control workers' exposures to toxins believed to affect reproduction. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between scientific uncertainty and regulatory strategies. Because demonstrating reproductive health effects is extremely difficult, the assessment of the health risks of exposures, as well as of the economic costs of regulation, is probabilistic. Therefore, uncertainty is inherent in any regulatory decision in this area. And the case of reproductive risks is illustrative of the more general problem of protecting the health of workers within a context of scientific uncertainty, and within a highly charged political environment characterized by anti-regulatory sentiment and industries in economic decline.     

Licensing,Accreditation and Quality Improvement

This article provides an explanation of why consideration is needed of historical practice issues when designing new regulatory regimes. It also suggests some practice techniques that can be applied both to existing and new regulatory regimes to enhance the effectiveness of the regulation. It does so by exploring the problems faced by existing service providers and regulators following the introduction of a new regulatory regime intended to raise the standard of out‐of‐home care services in NSW. This involved agencies making the transition from a licensing regime based on minimum standards under the Children (Care and Protection) Act 1987 to accreditation, employing optimum practice standards, under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.