Latent Profile Approach to Duration of Stalking

Abstract: Stalking behavior and victim–stalker relationship are often the principal known factors in a stalking case. Thus, they are of great importance when trying to identify factors contributing to stalking duration. The present study aims to identify distinct subgroups of stalking victims based on measures of behavioral stalking dimensions. These victim subgroups, stalking dimensions, and victim–stalker relationship are examined in relation to stalking duration. Using a sample of 137 university students, latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed five distinct victim subgroups based on stalker behavior dimensions: surveillance, low‐profile, social lurker, wide scope, and baseline stalkers. The subgroups were significantly related to stalking duration and explained a considerable amount of the variance along with the stalking dimensions and victim–stalker relationship. Connections to stalking literature and utility of person‐orientated methods in stalking research are discussed.     

Speech Watermarking: An Approach for the Forensic Analysis of Digital Telephonic Recordings*

Abstract: In this article, the authors discuss the problem of forensic authentication of digital audio recordings. Although forensic audio has been addressed in several articles, the existing approaches are focused on analog magnetic recordings, which are less prevalent because of the large amount of digital recorders available on the market (optical, solid state, hard disks, etc.). An approach based on digital signal processing that consists of spread spectrum techniques for speech watermarking is presented. This approach presents the advantage that the authentication is based on the signal itself rather than the recording format. Thus, it is valid for usual recording devices in police‐controlled telephone intercepts. In addition, our proposal allows for the introduction of relevant information such as the recording date and time and all the relevant data (this is not always possible with classical systems). Our experimental results reveal that the speech watermarking procedure does not interfere in a significant way with the posterior forensic speaker identification.     

Partial Agonist Therapy in Schizophrenia: Relevance to Diminished Criminal Responsibility

Abstract: Pathological gambling (PG), classified in the DSM‐IV among impulse control disorders, is defined as inappropriate, persistent gaming for money with serious personal, family, and social consequences. Offenses are frequently committed to obtain money for gambling. Pathological gambling, a planned and structured behavioral disorder, has often been described as a complication of dopamine agonist treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease. It has never been described in patients with schizophrenia receiving dopamine agonists. We present two patients with schizophrenia, previously treated with antipsychotic drugs without any suggestion of PG, who a short time after starting aripiprazole, a dopamine partial agonist, developed PG and criminal behavior, which totally resolved when aripiprazole was discontinued. Based on recent advances in research on PG and adverse drug reactions to dopamine agonists in Parkinson’s disease, we postulate a link between aripiprazole and PG in both our patients with schizophrenia and raise the question of criminal responsibility.     

Legislators and Administrators: Complex Relationships Complicated by Term Limits

State legislators' relationships with administrators have received scant attention in the literature despite the importance of these relationships for delivery of public services. We explored whether or not the legislator‐administrator relationship in one professional state legislature resembles Congress's oversight of federal agencies. We also assessed whether or not term limits changed this relationship. Our findings indicate that monitoring state agencies was a low priority for this legislature, and it dropped even lower after term limits were implemented. More specifically, we found some institutional roles to be associated with legislators placing a higher priority on monitoring, especially before term limits, whereas some individual motives were associated with a lower priority, especially after term limits. Legislators exhibited more confusion about the process of monitoring after term limits.     

Reconciling Constitutionalism with Power: Towards a Constitutional Nomos of Political Ordering

Drawing upon Hannah Arendt's and Carl Schmitt's theories on the relationship between nomos and boundary, this paper revisits how constitutionalism and political power are reconciled as constitutional ordering. It first analyzes constitutionalism in the light of political modernity. Indicating that political power grounded by constitutions is omnipotent, complementing and completing constitutionalism, the paper contends that an omnipotent constitutional ordering is anything but an unleashed Leviathan. It is argued that constitutional omnipotence is framed and thus constrained by a constitutional nomos, the matrix of which is a dual delimitation of boundaries, generational, and jurisdictional.     

REPRESENTATION DISPARITIES AND IMPARTIALITY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF PARTY PERCEPTION OF FEAR,PREPARATION, AND SATISFACTION IN DIVORCE MEDIATION WHEN ONLY ONE PARTY HAS COUNSEL

While other authors have regarded both the presence and the absence of attorneys in family law mediation as cause for concern, little attention has been given to the questions raised when one party is represented and the other is pro se. This article presents data on mediating parties' premediation concerns, fears, and feelings of preparedness, as well as their postmediation satisfaction with the mediation process. The mediating parties are grouped based on each couple's representation status, for example, both represented by attorneys, both pro se, or one attorney‐represented party and one pro se party (mixed representation cases). The data show that mixed representation cases are the most likely to report concern, fear, and unpreparedness. Mixed‐representation cases also reported the lowest levels of satisfaction after the mediation. Some implications for mediation practice are discussed, as are suggestions for future research.     

Comparison between Temperature Gradient Gel Electrophoresis of Bacterial 16S rDNA and Diatom Test for Diagnosis of Drowning

When a body is discovered in water, it is difficult to conclude whether the cause of death was drowning, even today. Although diatom testing by the digestive method is classical, we hypothesized that aquatic bacteria, as well as diatoms, might be detected in drowned bodies, and conducted temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE)‐targeting 16S rDNA. DNA was extracted from the site water, and from heart blood and liver samples from 27 bodies concluded as drowning deaths by autopsy and subjected to TGGE after amplification of 16S rDNA by polymerase chain reaction. We observed whether the feature point of each 16S rDNA from the site water and blood or liver samples matched. Considerably higher correspondence was observed in drowned bodies, and the rate was higher than that achieved with the digestive method. Moreover, TGGE is safer than the digestive method. Our study suggests that this method can aid diagnosis of drowning.     

One Myth of the Classical Natural Law Theory: Reflecting on the “Thin” View of Legal Positivism

Much controversy has emerged on the demarcation between legal positivism and non‐legal positivism with some authors calling for a ban on the ‐as they see it‐ nonsensical labelling of legal philosophical debates. We agree with these critics; simplistic labelling cannot replace the work of sophisticated and sound argumentation. In this paper we do not use the term ‘legal positivism’ as a simplistic label but identify a specific position which we consider to be the most appealing and plausible view on legal positivism. This is the view advocated by Gardner in his paper 'Legal Positivism: 5½ Myths’ (Gardner 2001 , 199), where he carefully scrutinises the most convincing and unifying postulates of legal positivism, which he calls “the thin view”. The study shows that this thin view presupposes an empirical conception of action that is untenable and implausible since it makes acts of engagement with the law unintelligible to an observer of such acts.     

A Prototype of Mathematical Treatment of Pen Pressure Data for Signature Verification

A prototype using simple mathematical treatment of the pen pressure data recorded by a digital pen movement recording device was derived. In this study, a total of 48 sets of signature and initial specimens were collected. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to compare the data of the pen pressure patterns. From the 820 pair comparisons of the 48 sets of genuine signatures, a high degree of matching was found in which 95.4% (782 pairs) and 80% (656 pairs) had rPA > 0.7 and rPA > 0.8, respectively. In the comparison of the 23 forged signatures with their corresponding control signatures, 20 of them (89.2% of pairs) had rPA values < 0.6, showing a lower degree of matching when compared with the results of the genuine signatures. The prototype could be used as a complementary technique to improve the objectivity of signature examination and also has a good potential to be developed as a tool for automated signature identification.