The Poetry of Negligence

Poetry and legal rhetoric are both forms of what the ancient Greeks called poēsis: the art of the word. Tradition nonetheless assigns poetry to the realm of art and beauty, and legal rhetoric to the different realm of law and truth. The late William Matthews' poem ``Negligence' transgresses the boundaries that we have erected between art and law, and beauty and truth. The poem presents a well-crafted piece of legal rhetoric in the form of art. This essay draws out the implications of Matthews' transgression, and suggests that in the end poetry and law have a lot in common: both are forms of manipulation by means of words. The essay develops this connection in order to join with Emmanuel Levinas in calling for a ``breakup in the omnipotence of the logos.' This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Detection of explosives in hair using ion mobility spectrometry

Conventional explosives 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), nitroglycerin (NG), and ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN) sorbed to hair can be directly detected by an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) in E-mode (for explosives). Terrorist explosive, triacetone triperoxide (TATP), difficult to detect by IMS in E-mode, was detected in N-mode (for narcotics). Three modes of sample introduction to IMS vapor desorption unit were used: (i) placement of hair directly into the unit, (ii) swabbing of hair and placement of swabs (i.e., paper GE-IMS sample traps) into the unit, and (iii) acetonitrile extracts of hair positioned on sample traps and placed into the unit. TNT, NG, and EGDN were detected in E-mode by all three sample introduction methods. TATP could only be detected by the acetonitrile extraction method after exposure of the hair to vapor for 16 days because of lower sensitivity. With standard solutions, TATP detection in E-mode required about 10 times as much sample as EGDN (3.9 mug compared with 0.3 mug). IMS in N-mode detected TATP from hair by all three modes of sample introduction.     

Physical restraint in polish psychiatric facilities

Physical restraint in the form of direct force, forced feeding and medication, mechanical restriction of bodily movement, or the threat of force was administered to close to 30% of patients admitted and hospitalized for a period of at least fourteen days. In transporting the patient to the admission room and then to his treatment ward, the dominant form of restraint used was direct force, or the threat of such force. During the following fourteen days of hospitalization, mechanical restraint and forced medication predominated. Restraint was applied most often, across each of the four phases of the study, to patients deemed dangerous to self or others. This relationship became significantly stronger as the period of hospitalization continued. Across the four phases, patients who protested their hospitalization were more likely to be restrained than patients who agreed to it or who did not object. During each of the four phases of the study, numerous patients who did not object to their hospitalization and who were not deemed dangerous were nevertheless subjected to restraint. The pervasiveness of physical restraint, the wide inter-hospital differences in its use, the apparent over-prediction of patient dangerousness, and the use of restraint with patients who were not deemed dangerous and who did not object to their hospitalization, confirms the need for legal and ethical regulation of physical restraint of psychiatric patients.     

Electoral formulas: A macroscopic perspective

Abstract The paper offers a macroscopic view of the legislative electoral formulas in force in 166 sovereign countries, whether democratic or not. The purpose is to determine which formulas are the most widespread, and whether the prevalence of a formula is correlated with geographical, historical, economic, and political factors. While plurality and PR systems are equally frequent, the former tend to be found in more populated countries. PR prevails in Europe and South America, and among the most democratic countries, while the plurality rule is more typical of Asia, Africa, and North America, and is especially popular among former British colonies. Large countries are more likely to opt for single–member districts. No significant correlation emerges between the level of economic development or French colonial background and any electoral formula. The study suggests that the selection of an electoral system is not merely the outcome of party interest, but is also strongly influenced by ideas about what is good, just, or efficient.