Constructing loyalism: politics,communications and peace in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland peace process has provided the space for the emergence of an articulate loyalist politics which has had implications for the traditionally obstructive and negative representations of unionist discourse. During talk and negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, leaders of the Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Democratic Party (both political wings of loyalist paramilitary groupings) voiced positions which assisted the possibilities for building constitutional change based along more moderate lines than those associated with dominant unionism. However, have the news media been receptive to such articulations and, if not, what problems have they created for the communication of loyalist positions? By considering such questions, this article explores the development of loyalism and loyalist communications in the early years of peace in Northern Ireland.     

Problem-Solving Courts in China: Background,Development, and Current Status

ABSTRACT

As a judicial system, the Chinese problem-solving courts are more deeply rooted in traditional judicial approaches than in therapeutic jurisprudence that fueled the movement in the West. Nevertheless, they share many similarities with problem-solving courts developed elsewhere in the world. To provide a better understanding of the courts, the authors first introduce the cultural and legal tradition that served as background for the judicial innovations. They then review the social and economic conditions that provided the impetus for the judicial reform. Next, they examine the two most common forms of the problem-solving court—the juvenile court and the family court—and identify their key functions and procedures. Last, the authors discuss the significance of the legal reform, the challenges it confronts, and improvement it can achieve.     

Regulation of Legal Service Plans

Legal service plans, widely regarded as the key to better availability of legal services for Americans of moderate incomes, have not yet found their proper place in the legal and regulatory framework. Uncertainty about regulatory requirements threatens to hold up progress. This article presents the results of a three-year study of alternative approaches to the regulation of legal service plans. It analyzes the inherent dangers of various types of plans and suggests ways of providing adequate protection for consumers while preserving maximum freedom and flexibility for experimentation with new delivery systems. Specifically, the authors recommend the existing and time-tested system of insurance regulation as the most suitable model for plans having a significant risk-carrying element, subject, however, to appropriate amendments to accommodate the unique features of some kinds of plans, such as bar-sponsored nonprofit organizations, and with special procedures to ensure close cooperation with disciplinary authorities as far as the conduct of lawyers is concerned.
A volume containing all the principal and background papers prepared in this study, including a modified version of the present article, will be published by the American Bar Foundation as Legal Service Plans: Approaches to Regulation .     

An unusual autoerotic death: asphyxia with an abdominal ligature

A case of accidental death resulting from an autoerotic episode involving a high abdominal ligature is reported. Pathologic findings, physical evidence, and the psychological investigation are discussed.     

An Update on the Hazards and Risks of Forensic Anthropology,Part II: Field and Laboratory Considerations

This paper focuses on potential hazards and risks to forensic anthropologists while working in the field and laboratory in North America. Much has changed since Galloway and Snodgrass published their seminal article addressing these issues. The increased number of forensic practitioners combined with new information about potential hazards calls for an updated review of these pathogens and chemicals. Discussion of pathogen hazards (Brucella, Borrelia burgdorferi, Yersinia pestis, Clostridium tetani and West Nile virus) includes important history, exposure routes, environmental survivability, early symptoms, treatments with corresponding morbidity and mortality rates, and decontamination measures. Additionally, data pertaining to the use of formaldehyde in the laboratory environment have resulted in updated safety regulations, and these are highlighted. These data should inform field and laboratory protocols. The hazards of working directly with human remains are discussed in a companion article, “An Update on the Hazards and Risks of Forensic Anthropology, Part I: Human Remains.”