The Nairobi Declaration: Redefining Reparation for Women Victims of Sexual Violence

This paper explores the contribution of the Nairobi Declarationon the Right of Women and Girls to a Remedy and Reparation tothe problem of delivering justice through reparation programmesfor women victims of sexual violence in conflict situations.It highlights that this civil society initiative is particularlysignificant because it gives voice to women and girls who aresurvivors of sexual violence. Placed in the context of the recentadoption by the United Nations' General Assembly of the BasicPrinciples and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparationfor Victims of Gross Violations of International Human RightsLaw and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law,the Nairobi Declaration redefines reparation and guides policy-makingto implement the right to reparation specifically for victimsof sexual violence. The concept of reparation as a transformativeand participative process put forward in the Nairobi Declarationconstitutes its most innovative and inspiring contribution.     

Disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system: An investigation of ethnic disparity in program referral at disposition

Historically, minority youth have experienced harsher punishments and more negative outcomes than White youth even when risk assessment is used. The current study investigated the role of ethnicity in an understudied dispositional decision–program referral–and the outcomes associated with said referral using a sample of juvenile offenders (N = 2,678). The study used the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) to determine (1) if ethnicity predicted program referral when accounting for risk assessment and (2) if program referral predicted recidivism. Results indicated that ethnicity predicted program referral, and program referral predicted recidivism. Future directions for Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) research and implications for court officials are discussed.     

Off-Label Prescribing by Psychiatrists: What is the Practitioner's Liability?

In psychiatry, the molecules available and the dosages recommended when a drug receives marketing authorization are not always adequate to treat patients with major behavioral disturbances. Off-label prescribing is frequent in this context, with regard to the indications and the dosages given as well as to the drug combinations used. However, if complications or death occur, the practitioner's liability may be engaged. The authors report three deaths attributed to off-label prescribing in psychiatry and which led to charges against the physicians. They review the precautions to be taken when prescribing in such conditions (no other possible treatment, existence of sound scientific evidence, consent obtained from the patient, or their legal representatives except in cases of force majeure) and the physician's liability if adverse events occur that could be attributed to off-label prescribing.     

Scholars and Radicals: Writing and Re-thinking Class Structure in Australian History

We wrote Class Structure in Australian History in a period of heightened social struggle. It grew out of collaborative research projects at Sydney's Free U in the late 1960s. The book was distinctive in both emphasising the socialist tradition of class analysis and trying to find new paths for it. Its first edition was ignored by mass media, and often mis-interpreted in professional journals. Nevertheless it circulated widely and has continued to be a point of reference for progressive scholarship. Its method tried to carry forward the Free U project of democratic knowledge making, linking documents with analysis and inviting shared interpretation. Its theory emphasised the reality of classes as historical formations, and the importance of understanding class structure as a whole, on both points reacting against influential frameworks of the time. Looking back, CSAH appears uncertain in its approach to race and gender, and inadequate in its handling of coloniality; it was written in isolation from similar projects in other parts of the postcolonial world. Yet its approach still has value in understanding the changing dynamics of class on a world scale, the class relations of the neoliberal era in Australia, and the current configuration of power in Australia.     

Men and Sex Equality: What Have They Got to Lose?

This paper explores the gains and losses that might be involved in a shift to greater sex equality. It argues that in addition to practical changes, genuine equality would displace men and their needs as the unquestioned standard of humanity. Men are likely to find this deeply threatening. They could, however, benefit in the long run. Some men might, therefore, support sex equality on the grounds of self-interest as well as justice; they will, however, also experience short-term losses, and women cannot rely on their support.     

Tax increment financing as a municipal revenue: helping the legislature get it right

Tax increment financing raises revenue for public infrastructure in a redevelopment district by capturing increased property tax revenue stimulated by the redevelopment. TIF has left a long trail of intergovernmental controversy. Cities in Washington State, which approved TIF in 1982, have yet to complete a project. After two failed constitutional amendment campaigns, a test case was initiated to validate TIF before the state supreme court. The cities lost. This article examines the technique, this case, and lessons for making tax increment financing available as a revenue source in Washington.