The Strategy of Tension: Understanding State Labeling Processes and Double-Binds

Critical Criminology - Criminologists can enhance their theoretical grasp of their subject through an understanding of contemporary political economy because this provides insights into politics,...     

Drug markets in the community: a London borough case study

This paper explores the characteristics of local drugs markets through the examination of a single London borough case study. The picture that emerges in a borough not known for having a ‘drugs problem’ is of an entrenched, thriving and widespread drugs economy. Crucially, it is embedded within the local communities. Most worryingly, crack cocaine is being dealt in 15 out of 16 wards, with the front-line dealing predominantly carried out by youths as young as 15. Indeed, there are signs that the market has reached saturation point, while law enforcement merely scratches the surface. These findings reinforce the view that studies of organised crime must be sensitive to the local impacts of global markets, and that public policy debates about the responses to illegal drugs markets must be renewed and refreshed.     

Analysis and Discrimination of Single‐Layer White Architectural Paint Samples,

Comparative analyses of 50 single‐layer white architectural paints were conducted to determine the discrimination power using standard techniques and to provide a basis for assessing significance when paints with limited features are not discriminated. Utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 68 undifferentiated pairs resulted, yielding a discrimination of 94.45%. Adding stereomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and backscatter electron (BSE) imaging, and pyrolysis‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py‐GC/MS), the overall discrimination was 99.35%. The study included blind verification replicates, which resulted in the only pairs without indications of physical or chemical differences. The remaining groups of undifferentiated samples contained subtle differences by at least one technique, but were considered undifferentiated for the discrimination power evaluations. This study demonstrates a high degree of discrimination of single‐layer white architectural paints using methods of analysis often encountered in forensic science laboratories.     

The Road to Uluru: Constitutional Recognition and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have campaigned for reform to the Australian state for generations. Over the last decade, debate over constitutional recognition has assumed mainstream prominence as a series of parliamentary and expert bodies designed to raise awareness of the need for change, propose options for that change, and build a community consensus around those proposals, have been established. This article assesses the five public processes undertaken between 2010 and 2017. It explains that constitutional reform has been hampered by state ambivalence towards the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). However, it argues that that same state ambivalence created space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to eventually take control of the debate, reframe it along their own priorities, and re-energise the movement for constitutional recognition. Even if prospects for a referendum remain uncertain, the Uluru Statement from the Heart has succeeded in building community consensus for a clear proposal because the UNDRIP informed and influenced its development.     

Constitutionalism and Presidential Prerogative: Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian Perspectives

Scholars, the courts, and the public have been ambivalent about prerogative, the power of presidents to take extraordinary actions without explicit legal authorization in emergencies, because it seems to defy core principles of liberal constitutionalism. This article examines the relation between prerogative and liberal constitutionalism by comparing the approaches of two Founders with different conceptions of executive power, Jefferson and Hamilton. Although they both endorsed a Lockean conception of prerogative that makes it possible to secure vital substantive ends that might be imperiled by strict adherence to ordinary legal forms in an emergency, they disagreed over the constitutionality of prerogative. Whereas Hamilton located the authority for prerogative within the implied powers of the Constitution, Jefferson expected presidents to admit wrongdoing and seek post-hoc approval from the public, a difference with important implications for both democracy and constitutional practice that can be traced back to ambiguities in Locke's theory of prerogative .     

1998 NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF THE LEGAL STATUS OF PARENT EDUCATION

This article reports the findings of a legislative survey conducted to determine the legal status of parent education in the United States. Specifically, this survey reveals that since 1994. the number of states that enacted legislation authorizing or mandating attendance at parent education programs has more than quadrupled. The article features a state-by-state analysis of the various legal models currently in effect, including the source of authority, attendence model, and legal circumstances giving rise to participation. A capsule summary describing specific characteristics of the governing law of each state is also provided for reference.     

Multivariate analysis for estimating the age of a bloodstain

Our objective is to provide crime laboratories with a technique for estimating the age of a bloodstain. Toward that goal, we have used multiplexed, real-time RT-PCR (or qPCR) to determine the relative stability of different-sized segments of the same RNA species as well as differences in stability between two different RNAs' change over time in bloodstains. Our results indicate that a multivariate analysis of the changing ratio of the different RNA segments can be used to differentiate between samples of different ages in the defined population. Bloodstains from 29 of 30 donors could be partitioned into different ages using this technique. Although further improvements will be required before this approach can be implemented in crime laboratories, the multivariate analysis holds promise of providing a reliable approach for temporally linking a bloodstain to the commission of a crime or excluding a bloodstain as being irrelevant to the case in question.