Therapists' obligations to report their patients' criminal acts

The law governing the obligation of therapists to report their patients' previous criminal acts was reviewed. Most often, discussions of this subject fall under the general category of "misprison of a felony," that is, the presumed general obligation of all citizens to report felonies that come to their attention. Review of federal law revealed that the courts have consistently interpreted the federal misprision statute as requiring active concealment of a crime, not a mere failure to report, in order to convict for the offense. State law is more diverse. Only one state has a general misprison statute labeled as such, and several states have recently repealed such statutes. The strong trend in states without statutes is to reject misprison as a common law crime, because of its incompatibility with modern notions of justice. Most states, however, have limited reporting statutes, such as for child abuse or gunshot wounds, that impose similar obligations. Therapists' reporting of past crimes may be affected by clinical and ethical concerns, as well as by obligations to protect future victims. In almost all jurisdictions, however, the fear of prosecution for failure to report a past crime should not be a factor in deciding on a course of action.     

An unusual shotgun injury pattern produced by an intermediate target

Discharge of a shotgun with a shotgun casing in its muzzle as a "dust cover" produced a pattern of injuries suggestive of combined intermediate- and distant-range wounds.     

The "empty heart" sign

Approximately 15% of victims of instantly lethal central nervous system trauma have an empty or nearly empty heart at autopsy. This article defines and discusses the "empty heart" sign.     

Economic Considerations and Reagan's New Federalism Swap Proposals

Upon coming to office, President Ronald Reagan proposed a numberof programs collectively referred to as the New Federalism.These programs were designed to alleviate some of the problemswhich the president saw as plaguing the intergovernmental systemand to accomplish Reagan's goal of decentralizing authority.One of the most highly publicized and debated— indeed,probably the most controversial—aspect of the President'sNew Federalism package was the "Big Swap" plan. Both versionsof this plan, however, were bad deals for the states and theircommunities, and it would appear that several interrelated economicconcerns played a role in the opposition of many state and localofficials to these proposals. To demonstrate just how bad theseproposals were, the article documents the effect that inflationand recession had had on the fiscal health of state and localgovernments, and the projected impact that these plans wouldhave had on state and local revenue and tax systems.     

Book reviews

Handbook of Legal Information Retrieval Edited by J Bing, Norwegian Research Centre for Computers and Law, Oslo, in co‐operation with T Fjeldvig, T Harvold and R Svoboda North‐Holland 1984, US $96.25

Information Technology: The Challenge to Copyright. James Lahore, Gerald Dworkin and Yvonne Smyth Sweet & Maxwell and The Centre for Commercial Law Studies 1984, £12.00

Data Processing and the Law Edited by Colin Campbell Sweet and Maxwell 1984, £20.00

Le droit des Contrats Informatiques — Principes — Applications Centre de Recherches informatique et droit des Facultes Universitaires de Namur Maison Ferdinand Larder (Brussels), 1983, 45 FB

Computer Insecurity Adrian R.D. Norman Chapman and Hall 1983, £14.95

The Data Protection Act Richard Sizer and Philip Newman Gower Publishing, 1984, £16.95

The Data Protection Act 1984 Professor Bryan Niblett Oyez Longman Publishing, 1984, £18.00

The Data Protection Act 1984 — A Guide to the New Legislation J. A. L. Sterling CCH Editions, 1984, £15.00

Privacy and Data Protection — An International Bibliography Professor David H. Flaherty Mansell Publishing, 1984, £23.50

Computer Contracts R Morgan & G Stedman Oyez Longman Publishing 1984, 2nd Edition, £27.50

Computer Contracts Handbook Michele Rennie Sweet & Maxwell 1984, £15.00

Computer Contracts — An International Guide to Agreements and Software Protection Hilary Pearson Financial training 1984, £14.95     

Order in the Steinhaus case

In April 1986, one-month-old Lance Tyler Steinhaus sustained serious injuries, attributed to abuse by his father, that left him comatose. His mother and his physicians agreed that he should not be treated aggressively. The Redwood County (Minnesota) Welfare Department obtained a temporary order restraining withdrawal of Lance's antibiotic therapy. Lance's mother and Dr. David Steinhorn, a pediatrician, appealed to the County Court to dissolve the temporary injunction. Judge George I. Harrelson in this decision denied their request on the grounds that both state and federal law establish that infants with life-threatening conditions have a right to medically-indicated treatment and that Lance Steinhaus had such a right because he was in a "vegetative state" rather than technically "comatose." [Editor's note: After conducting another hearing on Lance's neurological status, the court ruled on 18 October that Lance was irreversibly comatose and ordered only "comfort care."]     

Repairing the Crack in New Orleans' Black Vote: VRA's Results Test Nullifies "Gerryduck"

In 1982, Section 2 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act was amendedto allow plaintiffs to prevail in voting rights litigation ifthey demonstrate that a challenged law or practice has a discriminatoryresult. One of the first applications of this new statutoryprovision invalidated a congressional districting plan for theNew Orleans metropolitan area, a plan that had divided the city'sblack population virtually in half. This article reviews boththe making and the unmaking of that plan, derisively known asthe "gerryduck." Although the judicial action invalidating thisexercise in racial cartography demonstrates the potential importanceof this new section of the VRA as a legal weapon against minorityvote dilution, the results test provides federal judges withenormous discretion, and the application of the test may thereforebe quite capricious.     

Development assistance: Ruined hopes and great expectations in Africa

This paper highlights the difficulties and complexities of development assistance projects through an analysis of 2 Urban Functions in Rural Development projects conducted by the US Agency for International Development (AID) in Upper Volta and northern Cameroon in 1977-82. The general objectives of the Upper Volta project were to carry out urban function studies, develop a plan for strengthening the contributions of urban centers to rural development, develop a list of investment priorities for facilities and services, and increase the capacities of the Ministry in planning processes and methods. The 2-year project was hindered by a 1-year delay in initiating assistance due to difficulties in locating a contractor. In addition, the contractor and other team members felt there was little justification for studies of spatial organization in a country with so much evident need; rather, they focused on a small rural works program and establishment of effective local government, producing an inconsistency between team activities and the original project agreement. A request by the team to extend the project 1 year beyond its official completion date to compensate for early delays was rejected by USAID. Nonetheless, there was agreement that the project had a small positive impact in Upper Volta. Key lessons from Upper Volta were transferred to the Cameroon project. Although this project was judged to have achieved its objective of preparing a regional plan and of identifying programs for facilities, services, and small-scale enterprises, it was beset by problems of inexperience and technical underqualification of team members, poor communication, inconsistency of USAID guidelines, and methodological confusion. It is suggested that a central challenge for such programs is to create a body of qualified Americans who can work with their local counterparts in meeting the challenges of development. A measure of the success or failure of these projects should be the degree to which learning contributes to improved performance.     

Competence to consent to treatment as a psycholegal construct

The issue of whether civilly committed patients should be extended the right to accept or refuse treatment has generated much controversy and litigation during the past 15 years. In general, the current rule is that in nonemergency situations, individuals who are competent to give informed consent to treatment should be extended the right to refuse it. Obviously, the manner in which this rule is implemented partly depends on how competence to consent to treatment is defined and measured. Most researchers have implicitly assumed that an understanding of treatment information is the sole criterion of competence. It is argued that such a definition may be incomplete and is in need of reexamination. Following a review and analysis of the relevant legal and psychological literature, a comprehensive construct of competency to consent to treatment is proposed and future directions for research are discussed.