Race and residential accessibility to shopping and services

Abstract

Predominantly black, upper‐income census tracts in the 10‐county Atlanta region have lower accessibility to certain personal consumption opportunities than comparable white tracts do; black residents are more likely to have to leave their neighborhoods to eat out (other than at fast food restaurants), grocery shop, or see movies. Accessibility is calculated as a function of travel time to providers of local goods and services. Such accessibility is a desirable attribute and contributes to neighborhood quality and housing value.

We find that differences in residential accessibility to shopping and services by race are not explained by income differences, but could result from real differences in consumption patterns, though these are more likely due to demographic differences between black and white populations of comparable incomes; inaccurate information on neighborhood attributes and personal consumption preferences; or racially biased business decisions. We conclude by summarizing the policy implications of our findings.     

“Free That Brown Eyed Man”: The United States v. Chuck Berry

As 1959 turned into 1960, amidst escalating national tension over both the growing Civil Rights movement and the controversial popularity of rock ‘n’ roll music, Chuck Berry was charged with transporting a teenage girl across state lines with the intent to engage in “immoral practices.” The public scandal that ensued fed into conservative fears that rock ‘n’ roll encouraged the racial integration of America’s youth, both through the airwaves and at live venues. The federal officials involved in Berry’s prosecution saw him in particular and rock ‘n’ roll more generally as posing the same main threats to the racial status quo as those posed by state-enforced integration: the breakdown of racialized spaces and the erosion of taboos against interracial sex. This piece situates Berry’s music and his 1960 trial and conviction within legal and musical histories shaped by the sexual as well as spatial mandates of white supremacy. Courtroom debate from the trial demonstrates how the perceived unity of gendered racial identity and individual intent dictates the attorneys’ interpretations of both Berry and the Apache teenage runaway on whose behalf the state is intervening; this racialization of sexual intent caters to the state’s investment in jointly regulating the sexuality and mobility of racialized subjects. Portrayed at various points in the proceedings as the lawless foil of a racially segregated Missouri, the Southwest, where Berry and his band were touring when the alleged crimes took place, becomes a racialized space in which delinquency and sexual deviance result from unregulated contact between nonwhite populations.     

A Mark for Peter

Abstract

This paper objects to certain forms of punishments, such as supermax confinement, on grounds that they are inappropriately contemptuous. Building on discussions in Kant and elsewhere, I flesh out what I take to be salient features of contempt, features that make contempt especially troubling as a form of moral regard and treatment. As problematic as contempt may be in the interpersonal context, I contend that it is especially troubling when a person is treated contemptuously by her political community's institutions—such as by certain forms of punishment. Punishment is contemptuous if it fails to respect offenders as moral persons, who as such are always capable of moral reform. Respect for offenders therefore requires, at least, that punishment not tend to undermine the prospect of offenders’ reform. I flesh out this constraint by considering various ways in which punishments may tend to undermine offenders’ reform. In particular, I discuss ways in which supermax confinement tends to violate the reform-based constraint. Finally, I address several potential objections to my account.     

防卫意图是正当防卫理论的短板

正当防卫理论中的防卫意图,对于认定防卫人的行为是否成立正当防卫以及认定防卫过当行为的性质具有重要意义。然而,防卫意图这个主观要件已经成为正当防卫理论中的薄弱环节,司法实践也长期忽视防卫意图的评价功能。防卫意图不要说具有重大缺陷,在认定行为人的行为是否成立正当防卫时,仍应将防卫意图作为必不可少的构成要件。应将防卫意图理解为对意志因素的表达,即指行为人主观上制止不法侵害的愿望或追求。当防卫人制止不法侵害的行为明显超过必要限度时,若防卫人对此有明确认识,则不成立防卫过当,应以故意犯罪认定;反之,成立防卫过当。正当防卫意图的本质决定了防卫过当的行为属性是过失犯罪而非故意犯罪。     

行政处罚权的相对集中:现实的范围及追问

集中行使行政处罚权的范围,用了"相对集中"表述。如何理解"相对"?要明确和确定哪些行政处罚权需要集中,就必须进一步完善行政处罚权集中的范围和调整配置制度。目前,各地对行政处罚权进行了调整和配置,在城市管理领域和文化等领域集中了有关行政处罚权,并形成了不同的模式。行政处罚权的集中范围和调整配置制度基本符合实际需要,有助于提高行政执法的质量和水平,深化行政管理体制改革。当然,这一制度尚存在一些问题。     

缓刑功能初探

就缓刑功能而言,从横向层次看,缓刑对犯罪人具有特殊机制威慑、非实质性剥夺、社会化矫正的功能;对被害人具有促进获得补偿、提供谅解渠道的功能;对社会其他成员则具有保护社区、重新整合社区的功能。从纵向层次看,缓刑在削刑阶段具有维持报应的功能,在量刑阶段具有恢复秩序的功能,在执行阶段则具有节约成本的功能。     

论司法对高校惩戒学生行为的合理审查

在我国走向法治的背景下,高校治理中的法律问题逐渐凸现,特别是对高校惩戒学生行为的司法审查问题成为我们必须关注的重要课题。在处理好"特别权力关系"理论与高校治理关系、"大学自治"与司法权关系的前提下,应建立起有效的司法监督机制,以保障学生免受高校惩戒行为的侵害;在综合考虑高校惩戒行为的主体、权力的属性、事务的性质等诸种因素的基础上,应在民事诉讼和行政诉讼之间选择合理的司法介入方式。     

How Employee Race Moderates the Relationship Between Non-Contingent Punishment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Test of the Negative Adaptation Hypothesis

The negative adaptation hypothesis states that Black employees, but not White employees, have psychologically adapted to the occurrence of interpersonal mistreatment in organizations because they experience more negative events across different domains of social life than Whites. Consequently, Blacks react less strongly to the same level of actual interpersonal mistreatment compared to Whites. The authors applied this prediction to the relationship between non-contingent punishment and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). As expected, in a field study among 456 manufacturing plant workers, the relationship between non-contingent punishment and supervisory-rated OCB was negative and significant for Whites, but not for Blacks. Implications for the study of race, interpersonal mistreatment, and the perpetuation of racial inequalities in organizations are discussed.

论中国死刑的保留与限制及其对故意杀人罪的适用

死刑问题不是一个纯粹的刑法问题 ,死刑的存废取决于主导性社会观念的支持。在中国刑法理论界 ,虽未一般地将废除死刑作为自己的目标 ,但严格限制死刑的适用却一直是中国刑法界的态度。现行中国的刑事法律从适用对象、适用程序和死缓制度三个方面来严格限制死刑 ,故意杀人罪是当今中国刑法中死刑的主要适用对象。     

我国死刑制度重刑化倾向及原因分析

我国 1 997刑法典仍存在重刑化倾向 ,表现在 :控制死刑适用未有重大突破 ,死刑罪种没有大幅度削减 ,绝对确定的死刑规定有增无减 ,死刑量刑幅度过大。我国刑法中死刑过多 ,与国际轻刑化趋势不相符合 ,不利于我国刑罚目的的实现 ,死刑不仅有较大的副作用还可能在刑事诉讼上造成难以弥补的损失。我国死刑居高不下的主观原因有封建重刑思想、传统价值观和刑罚观的影响 ,现阶段我国经济不发达、社会治安状况严峻和刑事立法体制的制约是其客观原因。