The Figuring of Morality in Adjudication: Not so Special?*

Jurisprudential debate about the grounds of law often focuses on the status of morality. Given the undoubted fact of judicial engagement with morality in legal reasoning, the key question is whether morality legitimately counts as a ground of law. This article seeks to challenge the special status accorded to morality in debates about the grounds of law. The claim I seek to advance is that very often judicial engagement with morality is not different in kind to judicial engagement with other diverse objects of legal reasoning. What the comparison tends to show is that instances of “moral reasoning” in law do not obviously challenge our account of the grounds of law. Rather these instances can be viewed as central case examples of legal reasoning. Conventional grounds of law are left untouched.     

Supreme Court to Hear Landmark Case on Climate Change Emissions: Judgment Day Comes in Global Warming Litigation

The Supreme Court has historically been reluctant to involve itself in environmental matters, especially those relating to the regulation of releases or emissions of harmful substances. The court has typically been content to allow the legislative branch to fashion appropriate regulations to address environmental issues and for the executive branch to enforce those regulations. The acceptance of certiorari in the Second Circuit's Connecticut v. AEP case was a surprise because it not only involves environmental regulation, but also the common law applicable to public nuisance actions seeking redress for climate change damage allegedly caused by emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The AEP case is shaping up to be a blockbuster in the climate change debate in the United States, and the decision could have broad repercussions in not only future litigation involving climate change, but also GHG legislation and the insurance available to address damage due to weather-related events.     

Elasticity in evaluations of criminal evidence: Exploring the role of cognitive dissonance

Purpose. Previous experiments have demonstrated asymmetrical scepticism in investigators' judgments of criminal evidence – evidence inconsistent (vs. consistent) with the dominant hypothesis about a case is judged as less reliable. In addition, some types of evidence (e.g., witness testimony) are more susceptible to asymmetrical scepticism than others (e.g., DNA evidence), indicating varying degrees of elasticity. This article proposes that inconsistent evidence arouses cognitive dissonance, and that the dissonance can be reduced through either asymmetrical scepticism (for high‐elasticity evidence) or belief change (for low‐elasticity evidence). The hypotheses are tested in two experiments. Methods. In both experiments, law students made a preliminary judgment about the guilt of a suspect in a homicide case, and subsequently received a piece of DNA or witness evidence which was either consistent or inconsistent with the preliminary judgment. The extent to which participants changed their guilt judgments, judged the additional evidence as reliable, and felt dissonance served as the main dependent variables. Results. Inconsistent (vs. consistent) evidence did arouse stronger dissonance, but only for witness (and not DNA) evidence. Experienced dissonance (Experiment 1) and dissonance reduction (Experiment 2) accounted for the effect of the evidence on changes in guilt judgments, but not for the effect on reliability judgments. The greatest dissonance reduction was observed among participants who received inconsistent witness evidence but did not change their guilt judgments accordingly. Conclusions. It appears that dissonance plays a significant, although complex, role in investigative judgments of guilt and reliability. Alternative dissonance‐reducing mechanisms that can account for the findings and practical implications are discussed.     

EARLY INTERVENTION IN NEW ZEALAND FAMILY COURT CASES

In April 2010 the New Zealand Family Court introduced the National Early Intervention Process (NEIP) to diversify its previous unitary dispute resolution pathway into two tracks (standard and urgent). A “triage” model is now in use to assess and assign cases appropriately. This article outlines the key milestones in the Family Court's 30‐year history which have led to this new initiative to reduce delays and help avoid the escalation of family conflicts over the care of children into bitter and intractable disputes. NEIP represents the most overarching reform of the Family Court since the Court's inception in 1981.     

PARENTING AND CRIME: AN EVIDENCE‐BASED REVIEW WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY AND YOUTH COURT

This article explores the effect parenting can have on child development. It considers child attachment theory, various parenting styles, and specific child and family factors that contribute to a child's social and emotional development. The article concludes that good parenting and good outcomes for children do not happen by chance. The foundation must be planned and made secure.     

Stipends in Volunteer Civic Service: Inclusion,Retention, and Volunteer Benefits

What is the role of stipends as an institutional facilitator in volunteer civic service? By examining the relationship of stipend receipt to volunteer diversity, time commitment, and perceived benefits from a longitudinal study of older adults serving in Experience Corps, this article assesses stipend status relative to volunteer sociodemographic characteristics, motivations, intensity and duration of time served, and volunteers’ self‐reported benefits. The findings underscore how stipends may promote participant diversity. In particular, stipended older adult volunteers serve for longer periods of time, but their motivations for serving do not differ. Stipended volunteers report higher perceived benefits than nonstipended volunteers. The results suggest that stipends may leverage wider inclusion, increase retention, and contribute to other benefits, but additional research is needed using more controlled and comparative designs.