Prison sentences: last resort or the default sanction?

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the sentencing purposes for penal penalties, judges’ perceptions of sentencing purposes and prison sentences, and the effects of penal sanctions. We examine judges’ positions towards different penalties, with a focus on imprisonment, since their views on the different penalties are related to their sentencing decision-making. Understanding these views is then critical for several practical and political purposes, including bridging the gap between academic discourse and legal practice. We accessed judges’ views on penal sanctions through a questionnaire and an interview. Our sample is compounded by the judges of the criminal courts from the three major cities in Portugal. Despite the most recent criminological empirical knowledge, judges valued imprisonment as the most adequate sentence, both for different crimes and for different judicial purposes. This result is not consistent with viewing imprisonment as a ‘last resort’ solution. Indeed, we did not find this ‘last resort’ position in our data, and it is not apparent in the judicial statistics on imprisonment rates. Our data highlight the importance of increasing judges’ training on criminological and sociological issues as well as the importance of changing the influence of their personal beliefs regarding penal sanctions into research-based positions.     

Do Changes in the Labour Market Take Families Out of Poverty? Determinants of Exiting Poverty in Brazilian Metropolitan Regions

Abstract

Using survival models, we test whether short-term changes in the labour market affect poverty duration. Data are from the Brazilian Monthly Employment Survey. Such a monthly dataset permits more accurate estimations of events than using annual data, but its panel follows households for a short period. Then methods that control for both right- and left-censoring should be used. The results are as follows: households with zero income are not those with the lowest chances of exiting; changes in aggregate unemployment do not affect poverty duration; and increasing wages in the informal sector has a negative effect on poverty duration.     

Oligarchy and royal power: The Castilian Cortes and the Castilian crisis 1248–1350

Summary

In the early sixteenth century it was usually assumed that the first meeting of the English parliament took place in 1116, under King Henry I. By the later seventeenth century, scholarly research was beginning to reveal that the true origins of parliament lay after 1265. However, between these two periods, the view took hold in Elizabeth's reign that the institution was of extreme antiquity, dating from before the Norman Conquest and possibly even before the Anglo‐Saxon invasions. The most remarkable treatise on the subject was written for the Society of Antiquaries by John Doddridge, one of the leading lawyers of his generation, and achieved wide circulation. However, with the accession of James I, such positions became contentious, since the king in his writings and speeches repeatedly asserted the historic primacy of monarchy over parliaments. In 1614, knowledge of the king's displeasure led the remaining members of the Society to abandon their attempts to refound the Antiquaries. The article outlines the evolution of views on the antiquity of parliament, pointing out the political impact of these beliefs in the early seventeenth century, when the Stuart monarchy seemed far less favourable to the role of parliament than the Tudors had been. It links these unhistorical but powerful treatises to Koenigsberger's argument that ‘a strong and living myth of parliaments’ was necessary wherever effective representative institutions survived in seventeenth‐century Europe.     

The sociopathic police personality: Is it a product of the “Rotten Apple” or the “Rotten Barrel?”

The “Rotten Apple” theory states that deviant police officers are those who psychological testing fails to screen out. This concept is favored by police administrators because it offers a quick and easy solution to police deviant behavior. However, there is a growing body of literature that suggests that it is the stressful occupation that is policing that is the fertile soil from which police deviant behavior springs otherwise known as the “Rotten Barrel” theory. This article shall explore police deviant behavior from the perspective that it is the “Rotten Barrel” that leads to police deviant behavior.     

Equality before the Law and Precedent

The paper explores the nature of the principle of equality before the law, understood as the formal justice criterion that like cases must be treated alike, as a rationale of the rule or system of precedent. The first part discusses and rejects Kelsen's thesis on the conceptual insignificance of that principle in the sphere of the application of the law, identified uniquely with a logical criterion related to generality of rules and simple legality. The second part argues for the ethical relevance of equality before the law as a reason for a legal system to have a rule of defeasibly binding precedent.     

At the end of a fairy tale: romantic relationships in female juvenile offenders

This study explores romantic relationships among female juvenile offenders. The entire female population of a juvenile detention center at the moment of the study participated in a semi-structured interview. Using a semi-structured interview, the girls answered questions on four main topics: (a) available dating partners before entering the detention center; (b) dating partner preferences; (c) intimate relationships within the center; and (d) romantic relationships. A 34-item scale was also used to assess their dating partner preferences. Most girls depicted dysfunctional families and a reduced range of dating options, many involving male offenders. Most participants had also been precocious in their relationships and experienced victimization at the hands of their intimate partners. Implications to prevent female involvement with criminal and violent men are discussed.     

Population data of five STRs in three regions from Portugal

Allele and haplotype frequencies of five chromosome STR loci (CD4, TPO, FES, TH01 and VWA) were determined for unrelated males throughout Portugal. This report presents STR data for three separate regions of Portugal, being the first time that data on the south of the country is presented. This study reveals that the three regions from Portugal are not genetically homogeneous. The north of Portugal presents significant differences in the CD4 locus, when compared with the other two populations. When compared with Madeira and A?ores, the three regions show a different behavior at TPO and VWA loci.