Busting the Myth of the Unavailability of Insurance Rule's Application to Loss Allocation for Pollution Liability Claims Since 1986

Tens of millions of dollars in pollution liability losses have been mistakenly allocated to general liability insurers under the “Unavailability of Insurance” rule in jurisdictions that employ it. Under this rule, a policyholder is not allocated losses for years when they claim that pollution liability was unavailable – mainly after the advent of the 1986 “absolute” pollution exclusion. Recent research has been compiled to include thousands of pages of evidence that by 1986 and to this date there was and has been a viable pollution liability insurance market that would not only underwrite a current year's risks, but also erase any prior pollution insurance coverage gaps by insuring decades of prior acts. This article looks at this rule and the enormous impact it could have on insurers' pollution liability reserves if it continues to be misapplied.     

Dismemberment and Mutilation: A Data-Driven Exploration of Patterns,Motives, and Styles

Classification of violent behavior, including dismemberment and mutilation, has become increasingly more significant. This study uses a data-driven classification system based upon knowledge drawn from the pertinent literature, and examination of cases of offenders who have dismembered or mutilated their victims. The latter were extracted from the Serial Killer Database, as well as media sources, and assessed for characteristics of the perpetrators and victim(s). An informational form was developed and used to establish quantitative parameters and objectively extract pertinent information that could be used for comparison and pattern analysis. Motives and styles, as well as the organized/disorganized dichotomy for murder and dismemberment/mutilation, were examined for each case. The majority of cases demonstrated defensive styles (60%), with the second most common being offensive styles (26%), which differs from previous studies that do not exclude older cases. Additionally, 68% of cases reflected organized patterns for both murder and the acts of dismemberment or mutilation. The results support a data-driven classification system that may serve as a foundational model for the investigation of specific motives of this type of deviant behavior in future research.     

EFFICIENCY VERSUS SOCIAL LEARNING: A RECONSIDERATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

In a complex society committed to democratic norms a social learning perspective on the implementation process is more useful and appropriate than an efficiency, productivity perspective. The norms and assumptions underlying the efficiency emphasis to the implementation process are not applicable; nor do they exist in reality. An alternative set of assumptions based on a social learning approach to implementation is offered.