Kids are Different: The United States Supreme Court Reforms Youth Sentencing Practices for Youth Prosecuted in the Criminal Justice System

In a series of decisions issued between 2005‐2016, the United States Supreme Court relied on emerging scientific research detailing the developmental differences between children and adults to revamp its juvenile sentencing jurisprudence under the Eighth Amendment. The research established that youth’s developmental immaturity reduces their culpability for their criminal conduct, while also demonstrating their heightened capacity for change and rehabilitation. The Court focused on the most extreme sentences for youth, banning the imposition of the death penalty on youth under the age of eighteen in Roper v. Simmons (2005), and severely limiting the availability of life without parole sentences even for youth convicted of murder, in Graham v Florida (2010) and Miller v Alabama (2012). This article traces the Court’s evolution in reviewing sentences for youth in our justice system, and considers how the Court’s reasoning in these cases may influence further reforms in the justice system’s treatment of youth looking ahead.     

Consequences of mental and physical health for reentry and recidivism: Toward a health‐based model of desistance*

During the last few decades, criminologists have identified several adult roles and statuses, including employment, positive family relations, and economic stability, as critical for promoting successful reintegration and desistance. Very few researchers, however, have investigated the conditions that serve to bring about these transitions and successes crucial for behavior change. As a complement to a burgeoning amount of literature on the impact of incarceration on health, we emphasize the reverse: Health has important implications for reentry outcomes and reincarceration. Informed by multiple disciplines, we advance a health‐based model of desistance in which both mental and physical dimensions of health affect life chances in the employment and family realms and ultimately recidivism. Investigating this issue with longitudinal data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) and structural equation models, we find overall support for the health‐based model of desistance. Our results indicate several significant pathways through which both manifestations of health influence employment, family conflict, financial problems, and crime and reincarceration. The findings highlight the need for implementation of correctional and transitional policies to improve health among the incarcerated and avert health‐related reentry failures.     

De Novo Advanced Adult‐Onset Offending: New Evidence from a Population of Federal Correctional Clients

Adult antisocial behavior is almost always predated by delinquency during childhood or adolescence; however, there is also evidence of adult‐onset criminal offending. This study examined this controversial subgroup of offenders using self‐reported and official data from a total population of federal correctional clients selected from the Midwestern United States. Difference of means t‐tests, chi‐square tests, and logistic regression models found that 11.7% of clients had an adult onset of offending and 2.7% of clients (n = 23) had an onset occurring at age 60 years or older. This group—introduced as de novo advanced adult‐onset offenders—had high socioeconomic status, mixed evidence of adverse childhood experiences, and virtually no usage of drugs with the exception of alcohol. These offenders were primarily convicted of social security and white‐collar crimes and evinced remarkably low psychopathology and criminal risk. More research is needed to replicate the phenomenon of de novo advanced adult‐onset offending.     

Cybercrime is whose responsibility? A case study of an online behaviour system in crime

Drawing on Sutherland’s theory of behaviour systems in crime, this study investigates social media fraud (SMF) facilitated by botnets to understand the onset and maturation of this new online offending behaviour. We find legitimate actors in the system – Internet of Things manufacturers, online social networks, hosting companies and law enforcement agencies – share a way of life that prioritises private gains and avoids implicit responsibility for security. They arrive at a Nash equilibrium that provides a weak and disorganised social response to crime. SMF providers, on the other hand, are cleverly organised and exploit weaknesses in security, adapting to change and developing working relationship with those who benefit from their activities and share their lenient behaviour towards fraudulent activities. We conclude that the rise in cybercrime is a result of the behaviours of all actors in the system, not just those who offend.     

LYNCHINGS,RACIAL THREAT,AND WHITES’ PUNITIVE VIEWS TOWARD BLACKS

Disparities in historical and contemporary punishment of Blacks have been well documented. Racial threat has been proffered as a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. In an effort to understand the factors that influence punishment and racial divides in America, we draw on racial threat theory and prior scholarship to test three hypotheses. First, Black punitive sentiment among Whites will be greater among those who reside in areas where lynching was more common. Second, heightened Black punitive sentiment among Whites in areas with more pronounced legacies of lynching will be partially mediated by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks’ criminality and of Black‐on‐White violence in these areas. Third, the impact of lynching on Black punitive sentiment will be amplified by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as threatening more generally. We find partial support for these hypotheses. The results indicate that lynchings are associated with punitive sentiment toward Black offenders, and these relationships are partially mediated by perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as threats to Whites. In addition, the effects of lynchings on Black punitiveness are amplified among White respondents who view Blacks as a threat to Whites. These results highlight the salience of historical context for understanding contemporary views about punishment.     

日本成年人监护制度的最新发展及对我国立法的启示

成年人监护制度及其与之配套的社会保障制度已成为市场经济国家不可缺少的重要制度,是社会稳定的安全网和经济发展的调节器,日本已形成了一套相对完善的体系。针对我国高龄化的社会背景,在引进任意监护制度和辅助制度,引进“平常化”和“对自我决定的尊重”等外国的先进理念时;同时也要注重法律体系的和谐,发挥本土法律优势。     

论双重犯罪原则之实质类似说

双重犯罪原则是引渡制度的重要内容 ,对于引渡请求所指向的行为只要依请求国与被请求国两国法律达到实质类似 ,就以为符合双重犯罪原则。从国际刑法学的角度 ,论述了在对国际犯罪进行引渡的过程中 ,双重犯罪原则之实质类似说的具体适用需要把握的若干问题 ,认为实质类似说与罪刑法定主义并无冲突 ,也不会造成对政治犯不引渡原则的背反 ,它与普遍管理原则所引申出的或引渡或起诉原则能够达成协调。另外 ,认为实质类似说体现在定罪和刑罚两方面 ,各国对可引渡之罪的标准从列举式到淘汰式的演变也表明了国际刑事立法对该说的确定     

痰热清注射液联合抗生素治疗非重症成人社区获得性肺炎疗效观察

目的 探讨痰热清注射液联合抗生素治疗非重症成人社区获得性肺炎（community acquired pneumonia,CAP）的临床疗效。方法 将60例非重症成人CAP患者随机分为观察组和对照组,每组30例,对照组采用青霉素类/酶抑制剂复合物（哌拉西林舒巴坦）或三代头孢菌素（头孢唑肟）进行抗感染治疗,观察组在对照组基础上采用痰热清注射液静脉滴注。两组患者均连续治疗10 d后,比较两组临床疗效、临床症状改善情况、白细胞计数、中性粒细胞比值、C-反应蛋白（c-reactive protein,CRP）的变化情况及不良反应。结果 观察组临床疗效优于对照组（P<0.05）;观察组退热时间及啰音消失时间均短于对照组（P<0.05）;两组治疗后白细胞计数、中性粒细胞比值、CRP水平均低于同组治疗前,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）;观察组在降低白细胞计数、中性粒细胞比值、CRP水平方面优于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论 痰热清注射液联合抗生素治疗非重症成人CAP能够有效改善患者的临床症状,降低白细胞计数、中性粒细胞比值以及CRP水平。     

Low self-control and imprudent behavior

Gottfredson and Hirschi'sA General Theory of Crime contends that individual differences in involvement in criminal and analogous behavior are due largely to individual differences in the personality trait they call low self-control. Among the various behaviors considered analogous to crime are imprudent behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and gambling. This research explores the generality of Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory by examining the link between low self-control and these imprudent behaviors. The results are mixed. In support of the theory, the data reveal a modest but significant effect of a scale designed to capture the various components of low self-control on an index of imprudent behavior. A more detailed analysis, however, reveals that some of the components of low self-control, specifically those probably linked to low intelligence, detract from the scale's predictive power. In fact, one of the components, risk-seeking, is more predictive than the more inclusive scale. Furthermore, one of the imprudent acts, smoking, appears to be unaffected by low self-control. These contradictory findings suggest the need for theoretical refinements.     

用系统论思想指导成人高校管理体制改革

成人高校的内部管理体制改革应以系统论的思想为指导 ,按照系统的整体性、结构性、层次性、开放性的要求设计改革方案和实施改革