How Many Seats in Congress Is Control of Redistricting Worth?

How large a benefit is partisan control of the redistricting process? Do legal constraints on redistricting—such as the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act—alter this benefit? Are institutions designed to reduce the benefit to partisan control—such as redistricting commissions—effective? To measure the effects of partisan districting on the electoral fortunes of the parties, we collect data on the partisan composition of state government, House election outcomes, and moderating institutions over an 80-year period. Our results suggest that over time, both parties have benefited from unified control, with the effects largest in states where voters were evenly divided among the parties and smallest in states where the controlling party had a large advantage in the electorate. The effects have changed over time, with both parties having equally benefited from control during the middle of the 20th century, the benefit largely disappearing in the late part of the century, and the Republican Party seeing a moderate advantage from control in the current century. The benefits of partisan control were not diminished in states with redistricting commissions. The preclearance requirement appears to have hurt the Democratic Party except when its vote share was very low. The aggregate effects of partisan redistricting are moderate in magnitude—in the modern period, this effect has typically been less than 10 House seats, with the last election where control of the House would have flipped in expectation occurring in 1954.     

盗窃罪中“数额较大”的认定规则

“数额较大”的认定是盗窃罪定罪量刑中的关键问题之一。司法解释采用了数额属性多元化的认定方法,既缺乏理论基础,也难以有效指导实务。司法裁判虽倾向于重视处罚的实质合理性,但并未形成统一的认定规则。通过梳理不同立法例下“损失”要素的定位,可以形成“占有转移”与“财产损失”两种视角下“数额较大”认定的理论方案。基于整体财产保护理念的以客观实质损失作为认定基准的方案,存在忽视我国刑法不同条款对“数额性后果”表述上的差异、对司法实践的认识以偏概全、不能妥适处理轻微实施盗窃的出罪等问题。相对而言,立足个别财产保护思想、以占有转移数额为基础,同时考虑主观指向数额的方案凸显了主观要件对不法和责任的制约,能周延地应对各种案型,值得肯定。该方案的具体规则是:先确定基础性数额即占有转移的财物价值“较大”,以此作为数额上限,再考察故意、排除意思、利用意思等主观要件指向的数额,各数额均需达到“较大”,最终的“数额较大”,是经此多种数额共同认定的结果。     

德国近五十年刑事立法述评

自1969年德国刑法大改革至今的五十年间,德国的刑事立法活动非常频繁。在此期间,德国立法机关不但对《刑法典》总则犯罪论部分的规定进行了彻底的修订,而且针对犯罪的法律后果以及刑法分则乃至附属刑法中的诸多罪名进行了持续的改革,在恐怖主义犯罪、妨害公务犯罪、毒品犯罪以及保安监禁等领域尤其如此。整体而言,德国立法者在过往半个世纪中日趋侧重功能主义的积极刑事立法观,导致德国刑法逐步从传统法治国背景下的法益保护法和市民防御法转向以社会控制为主导的国家干预法和社会防卫法,造成了诸多难以与现有法律体系和学说理论相协调的象征性立法。我国应当从德国近五十年的刑事立法中吸收其先进经验,对其中的弊端也要引以为戒。     

Two-dimensional metric comparisons between dynamic bare footprints and insole foot impressions-forensic implications

Footwear may be found at crime scenes as physical evidence. Such footwear often has impression features of the wearer’s foot on the insole of the shoe. Scientific research and literature have established that footprints are distinct. This study compares two-dimensional measurements on bare footprints to foot impressions on insoles to determine if significant differences or similarities exist. Dynamic footprints were collected from 51 donors using the Identicator® Inkless Shoe Print Model LE 25P system. Seven foot length and width measurements were taken based on the Reel linear measurement method. Footprint measurements between bare footprints and foot impressions on the insoles were compared. Only two differences (p > 0.05) were observed between the various bare footprint and insole foot impression measurements on the right and left side for most of the measurements, CALC (p < 0.001) and A1 (p = 0.04). Bare footprint and insole A5 measurements on the left side were also significantly different (p = 0.015). The results of the study have implications in the forensic analysis of foot impression evidence on insoles in footwear in assisting with identifying the wearer of said footwear. Situations may arise in the forensic context when comparing the foot impression on the insole of footwear to a suspect’s bare footprint or a footprint from post-mortem remains. This study contributes to the scant literature available on the topic and to understanding the similarities and differences observed in the various linear measurements that may be utilized in the comparison process of footprint impressions on shoe insoles to bare footprints.     

虚开增值税专用发票罪若干问题探析

虚开增值税专用发票罪是我国新刑法规定的一个新罪名。由于本罪具有较强的专业性,刑法的规定也不很清晰,所以,与本罪相关的一些问题在司法实践中引起了争议。比如,虚开增值税专用发票又以此骗取国家税款的行为应如何定性、对虚开增值税专用发票罪是否可以适用死刑等。对此,只有在综合分析后才能得出正确的结论。     

犯罪现场反常情况的成因

犯罪现场反常情况是侦查初期开展侦查工作的一大障碍;但只要找准其成因,并运用正确的方法加以识别和排除,据此展开侦查反而会成为侦破案件的一条捷径。犯罪现场反常情况的形成原因一般包括犯罪人的伪装、偶然因素的介入、环境因素、犯罪人的特殊犯罪目的、犯罪分子的附带作案心理等方面。     

对诉讼欺诈行为的刑事法定化考量

诉讼欺诈行为具有严重的社会危害性,且在现实生活中有愈演愈烈之势,仅靠民事制裁力量显然已不足以抑制其发生。因而应当将其作犯罪化处理,在刑法分则中单独设立罪名,配置法定刑,以有效遏制其蔓延之势。至于对法院因诉讼欺诈行为作出错误判决而对诉讼相对人造成损害的,应视具体情况确定是否进行国家赔偿。     

Audit for Whom? Time to Review Roles of Independent Auditors in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong government has been reforming its laws regarding accounting practices in recent years, to pre-empt problems similar to that of Enron. It correctly recognizes an opportunity to enhance and distinguish the financial system in Hong Kong and create a competitive advantage for Hong Kong. The sixty-five billion dollar question is: what is the right approach for accounting practice reform? One obvious approach is to model reform after the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). The SOX increases personal liabilities of senior management and introduces extremely cumbersome compliance processes (s 3 (b)(ix) of Minutes of Bills Committee of Financial Reporting Council Bill. (19 July 2005)). While this approach may be the right move for the United States, because rescuing investor confidence is paramount, a similar approach may not be optimal for Hong Kong. Hong Kong relies, to a great degree, on foreign investments and a heavy-handed approach may scare investments away (Charles E. Schumer &; Michael R. Bloomberg To Save New York, Learn from London, Wall Street Journal 1 Nov 2006). This paper, argues that failure of independent auditors was mainly caused by bad incentives. In particular, auditors were hired by and responsible to the management of companies. Thus, there is no surprise that auditors were less diligent in finding problems caused by management. Furthermore, proposing of an alternate to the SOA’s approach. Specifically, a new legal approach should be enforced that allows shareholders to sue auditors when failure to uncover accounting issues causes loss of shareholders’ values.     

故意杀人罪的死刑裁量基准——“丁汉忠案”的文本梳理和法理审视

目前我国有关故意杀人罪中死刑裁量因素的审查难有真切、统一的基准,而在司法实践中对相关刑法条文含义的理解和阐释较为草率;最高人民法院的指导性案例体现的裁判趣旨未得到充分领会;各量刑因素的作用莫衷一是、标准不一,“估堆”量刑的困境萦绕其间,因而须探索故意杀人罪中相对合理的死刑裁量基准。具体而言,须区分各量刑因素的轻重、位阶,建构以责任刑为主、预防刑为辅的死刑裁量基准。至于是否入围死刑圈主要是仰仗责任刑阶段的判断。若责任刑阶段均是从严因素,基本会入围死刑圈的审查。死刑圈内的三种准刑种如何抉择,取决于对行为人的人身危险性判断。在预防刑阶段若均是从宽因素,一般死缓的判决即可满足要求;若从宽因素和从严因素交错,死缓限制减刑的判决基本可满足要求;若只有从严因素,则有判决死刑立即执行的可能。     

民国时期集体劳动合同立法述论 —— 以 1930 年《团体协约法》为中心

民国时期,通常将个别劳动合同称为劳动契约,而将集体劳动合同称为团体协约。中国劳工立 法较迟,团体协约立法则更晚。国民政府有关团体协约的立法最早可以追溯至 1929 年《劳动法典草案》的编纂, 其后在《工会法》起草过程中也有团体契约权的规定。延至 1930 年,国民政府正式颁行《团体协约法》,这是 中国历史上第一部有关集体劳动合同的专门法律。《团体协约法》的出台因应了当时中国工业化过程中劳资冲 突的实际需求,但也不可避免地存在历史局限。