The 'Taking Liberties' Exhibition at the British Library

The British Library is currently staging an exhibition, Taking Liberties, on the history of liberty and democracy in Britain. This article reviews the exhibition. Its verdict is that the BL has done an outstanding job. As well as displaying a wide range of original documents, and providing an enticing means of interaction for visitors, the exhibition reminds us that liberty continues to evolve and its meaning continues to be contested. By showing how the evolution of liberty in Britain has taken centuries, rather than decades, it also reminds us that when we rightly criticise newer democracies for their imperfections, we should remember that the liberties of their citizens have evolved at a far faster rate than we ever achieved.     

Children as Victims and Witnesses of Domestic Homicide: Lessons Learned from Domestic Violence Death Review Committees

Domestic Violence Death Review Committees (DVDRCs) are interdisciplinary teams dedicated to examining domestic homicide and recommending how to prevent future tragedies by comprehensively examining individual cases. This article summarizes the findings of 15 DVDRCs concerning children as victims and witnesses. The findings reflect that an alarming number of children are victimized by domestic violence. Themes in the recommendations are grouped in relationship to: (1) training and policy development; (2) resource development; (3) coordination of services; (4) legislative reform; and (5) prevention programs. The recommendations are critical for criminal and civil courts as well as enhancing collaboration between the justice system and community partners in preventing domestic homicide.     

The Ideologies of Mediation: The Movement's Own Story

This paper has three aims. First, it describes the ideologies of six organizations that have been and continue to be prominent in the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) movement in the United States. These organizations all feature the use of mediation as a central component of their work and as a solution to larger social problems.
Second, it elaborates some points of similarity and difference in these ideologies in light of a debate that emerged in the late 1970's between "community" and "agency" models of mediation, that is, between programs that chose to closely affiliate with the formal justice system and those that chose not to. Several years after the start of this debate, we believe there are important points of convergence and divergence that have not received enough attention by those who advocate for or against alternative dispute processing.
Finally, the authors wish to use the opportunity this study provides to speculate more openly on the contemporary meaning of legal informalism and the ways in which formal and informal legal structures now seem to be linked.