Using Dasymetric Mapping for Spatially Aggregated Crime Data

With availability of crime data to the public via sources such as the Uniform Crime Reports, and increasing geographic information system (GIS) capabilities for mapping crime, macro-level studies of crime have advanced knowledge of how crime is distributed over large areas. Choropleth mapping, commonly used in macro-level studies, visually displays data by assigning the number of crimes or crime rate to the corresponding spatial unit and using different shades or textures for each value or classified values creating a thematic map. However, crime incidents or crime rates are not dispersed evenly within spatial units, and choropleth mapping masks the underlying nuances of the distribution. Artificial boundaries, along with variations in the size of the unit of analysis, can further distort the true distribution of crime. Dasymetric mapping provides a methodology for refining the distribution of crime within a spatial unit. It does so by using additional data, such as land use and census data, to provide a realistic estimate of how crime may be distributed within the units of analysis. Dasymetric mapping is also useful in creating density maps to reveal clusters of crime normally masked with choropleth maps. This paper will show how dasymetric mapping can estimate the spatial distribution of aggregate level residential burglary within political boundaries in Massachusetts based on land use and housing data.     

GENDER BIAS IN THE U. S. BANKRUPTCY CODE

This article explores gender bias in the U. S. Bankruptcy Code and demonstrates how it is often used in family law by fathers seeking to escape their financial obligations. Also discussed is both statutory and case law pertinent to this issue.     

Complex linkages between forced labor slavery and environmental decline in marine fisheries

Recent media attention on human rights abuses in the fishing sector, precipitated by undercover investigations from nongovernmental organizations and investigative journalists (e.g., Environmental Justice Foundation [EJF] 2014 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION (EJF). (2014) Slavery at Sea: The Continued Plight of Trafficked Migrants in Thailand’s Fishing Industry (London, UK: EJF). [Google Scholar], 2015a Environmental Justice Foundation. (2015a) Thailand’s Seafood Slaves: Human Trafficking, Slavery and Murder in Kantang’s Fishing Industry (London, UK: EJF). [Google Scholar], 2015b EJF. (2015b) Pirates and Slaves: How Overfishing in Thailand Fuels Human Trafficking and the Plundering of our Oceans (London, UK: EJF). [Google Scholar]; Mendoza, McDowell, Mason, and Htusan 2016 MENDOZA, Martha, MCDOWELL, Robin, MASON, Margie, HTUSAN, Esther. (2016) Fisherman Slaves: Human Trafficking and the Seafood We Eat (New York: AP Editions). [Google Scholar]), has prompted calls from the scientific community for increased transdisciplinary and empirical research of fisheries’ social dimensions, such as labor (Kittinger et al. 2017 KITTINGER, John N., TEH, Lydia C. L., ALLISON, Edward H., BENNETT, Nathan J., CROWDER, Larry B., FINKBEINER, Elena M., HICKS, Christina, SCARTON, Cheryl G., NAKAMURA, Katrina, OTA, Yoshitaka, YOUNG, Jhana, ALIFANO, Aurora, APEL, Ashley, ARBIB, Allison, BISHOP, Lori, BOYLE, Mariah, CISNEROS-MONTEMAYOR, Andrés M., HUNTER, Philip, LE CORNU, Elodie, LEVINE, Max, JONES, Richard S., KOEHN, Zachary, MARSCHKE, Melissa, MASON, Julia G., MICHELI, Fiorenza, McCLENACHAN, Loren, OPAL, Charlotte, PEACEY, Jonathan, PECKHAM, S. Hoyt, SCHEMMEL, Eva, SOLIS-RIVERA, Vivienne, SWARTZ, Wilf, and WILHELM, T.’Aulani. (2017) Committing to socially responsible seafood. Science, 356(6341), 912–913.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Given views that social and ecological systems are interdependent (Ostrom 2009 OSTROM, Elinor. (2009) A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, 325(5939), 419–422. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the need for theory development to explicate pathways for how this interdependence occurs and the potential for using policy and practices for intervention and prevention exist. Integrating ecological data and economics and human rights theory, Brashares and colleagues’ (2014) wildlife decline and social conflict framework offered a hypothesis about the negative association between fish stock declines and child slavery. Yet, more precision in terminology, pathways, and feedbacks may be warranted. With the aim of exploring empirical, conceptual, and theoretical support for Brashares et al.’s (2014 BRASHARES, Justin S., ABRAHMS, Briana, FIORELLA, Kathryn J., GOLDEN, Christopher D., HOJNOWSKI, Cheryl E., MARSH, Ryan A., McCAULEY, Douglas J., NUÑEZ, Tristan A., SETO, Katherine, and WITHEY, Lauren (2014) Wildlife decline and social conflict. Science, 345(6195), 376–378.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) pathways, the revised theory developed in this article posits how forced labor slavery and environmental decline in marine fisheries may be linked.     

The Price is Light: Socializing the Cost of Wildfires in California

Abstract

The effects of climate change have caused catastrophic wildfires in California to become perennial occurrences, claiming numerous lives and contributing to billions of dollars in property damages. As a result, California’s existing capacity to absorb an ever-growing financial burden is under immense strain. This article proposes mitigating and spreading these costs across the government, private utility companies, and residents alike. To effectuate this goal, this article recommends three key reforms: re-interpreting tort liability law for private utility companies, establishing a state-backed reinsurance program to assist victims of wildfire damage, and re-thinking the continuing expansion of human development in fire-prone regions.     

Developing a Public Interest Mandate for the Governance and Use of Administrative Data in the United Kingdom

This article addresses the legal and ethical uncertainties surrounding the use of administrative data for research. Drawing upon best practices developed by the authors in previous data initiatives and engagement with research communities, the article suggests a problematic organizational culture as the most significant barrier to proportionate and good governance of administrative data. Accordingly, it offers a novel means for data custodians to identify key considerations by introducing a decision‐making template that supports public authorities' assessment of preparedness for data reuse through identification of challenges faced, related to sector‐specific practices. As a catalyst for change, the authors advocate a public interest mandate – commitment to safely and ethically use administrative data when it is in the public interest to do so. This is delivered through implementation of the decision‐making template, overt commitment to principles of public interest and proportionality, and engagement with stakeholders to address remaining areas of uncertainty.     

THE PRESS AND THE JUDICIARY： COURT AND JUDICIAL REPORTS IN THE PREss IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Western scholars have argued that image making and image management are a preoccupation of the judiciary. Images of the judiciary may take a variety of forms and be produced for kinds of audiences. One form of judicial image making and image management is live performances in the courtroom and other court settings. Another is the written judgment where the preoccupation is the style of the written text. Press and other mass media reports of judicial activity are another. The audience for judicial images is equally diverse, from fellow judges, lawyers in the courts and the wider legal community, the litigants before the courts to the executive, legislature and the public both in the courtroom and beyond. The image of the judiciary that is available to the public has a particular significance in Western rule of law democracies. As a general rule courts and the judiciary are required to operate in public and their activities must be open to public scrutiny. A recent policy manifestation of this goal is debated about confidence in the justice system and initiatives designed to improve confidence. In the majority of cases public scrutiny of judicial activity and public confidence in the judiciary relies upon the media. Objective and accurate press and media reports play a key role in shaping public understanding of the judiciary and generating or undermining confidence in that institution. Reports in regional and national newspapers have long been an important source of information, shaping public knowledge and facilitating public scrutiny of the justice system. In the UK, there is almost no scholarship on these representations past or present. The result is little known about the representation of the courts and the judiciary in press reports. Little is known about what the diligent reader of these reports can learn about judicial activity. The aim of this article is to take a first step towards changing that state of affairs. It uses a data set made up of 205 contemporary domestic newspaper reports of court and judi