JUDICIAL ROTATION AS CENTRIPETAL FORCE: SENTENCING IN THE COURT COMMUNITIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA*

Courts as communities theory emphasizes the sentencing differences that can arise between localities within a single state. The results of published studies have highlighted how local differences emerge based on informal sociological and political processes defined by the communities perspective. The findings from recent quantitative studies from South Carolina have revealed notably less county variation in sentencing than has been observed elsewhere. I use qualitative interviews with 13 South Carolina trial judges to investigate sentencing processes and to shed light on these findings. The interviews explore the state's legal structure and culture, including the practice of circuit rotation in which judges travel among counties holding court. The results suggest rotation serves as a centripetal force of sentencing culture, homogenizing what might otherwise be a more varied collection of county‐specific norms. Rotation leads to increased uniformity through judge shopping and the cross‐pollination of ideas and norms. Defendants can strategically judge shop and plead in front of a lenient judge—a process that gives rise to the term “plea judge,” which is a label for the most lenient judges who sentence a large number of defendants. Rotation also increases the interactions among judges and prosecutors, expanding networks and grapevines, and leading to cross‐pollination and the sharing of ideas.     

关于建立一警双机三管控的调查与思考

推行一警双机三管控机制,主要是通过以社区(责任区)民警为轴心,以社区(责任区)为单位投入户协员、保安员、巡防队员管控辅警力量,可以使松散的群防群治队伍变成具有内在紧密联系的整体,从而构成完整的社区(责任区)治安防范网络。     

Understanding juror perceptions of forensic evidence: investigating the impact of case context on perceptions of forensic evidence strength

The most widely accepted model of juror decision making acknowledges the importance of both the case-specific information presented in the courtroom, as well as the prior general knowledge and beliefs held by each juror. The studies presented in this paper investigated whether mock jurors could differentiate between evidence of varying strengths in the absence of case information and then followed on to determine the influence that case context (and therefore the story model) has on judgments made about the strength of forensic DNA evidence. The results illustrated that mock jurors correctly identified various strengths of evidence when it was not presented with case information; however, the perceived strength of evidence was significantly inflated when presented in the context of a criminal case, particularly when the evidence was of a weak or ambiguous standard. These findings are discussed in relation to the story model, and the potential implications for real juries.     

论回避宪法判断原则

作为"权利的宣言书",宪法最明快地保护人权,理当在实践中发挥作用.但即使在宪法审查制度发达的国家,法院在引用宪法上也恪守消极主义立场,尽量回避宪法性判断,在法律层面上处理案件,充分尊重普通法律的稳定和立法权的独立.然而法律的制定常受现实的影响,从而忽略宪法的基本原则,如果盲目坚持回避宪法判断的原则,就会姑息纵容损害基本权的立法行为.所以当基本权受到明显的、持续的、严重的侵犯时,各国法院仍会积极适用宪法判断.这一点也值得国内实务界和学术界适当借鉴,以应付以宪法为诉讼依据的案件和事件.     

由双边契约到习惯规范：一种演化机制的阐释

对于习惯规范产生问题的阐释,除了＂法的确信＂理论外,另有＂契约机制＂理论。于契约机制而言,习惯规范的产生是一个由双边契约演化而生发的过程。在双边契约的演化机制中,主要包括两个部分,即双边契约的扩散机制和前置模式。其中,扩散机制是演化的主体,而前置模式则是必不可少的组成部分。     

法律监督在适用社区矫正中的形式构造

在许多国家,适用社区矫正的人数大大超过监禁人数,并取得了良好的社会效益。社区矫正作为一种新型的行刑执行模式,对于维护社会秩序的稳定,改革我国的刑罚制度,降低刑罚执行成本,提高罪犯改造质量,都具有重要的价值。对于执行权的监督是宪法和法律赋予检察机关的一项重要职能。我国现有30个省（区、市）相继开展了社区矫正工作,但对于相关的社区矫正现存的一些适用条件,许多人并不很熟悉,尤其是对适用社区矫正如何进行法律监督,在社区矫正适用中则更为＂生疏＂。为减少在适用社区矫正的执行过程中发生适用不当,防止执行权滥用和异化、维护公平正义,应当强调在适用社区矫正中的法律监督作用,并设计一套科学的运作规范,以合理寻求在适用社区矫正合理性与合法性的合理平衡。     

Cascading Bias of Initial Exposure to Information at the Crime Scene to the Subsequent Evaluation of Skeletal Remains,

Thirty‐eight participants took part in a study that investigated the potential cascading effects of initial exposure to extraneous context upon subsequent decision‐making. Participants investigated a mock crime scene, which included the excavation of clandestine burials that had a male skeletal cast dressed either in female or gender neutral clothing. This was followed by a forensic anthropological assessment of the skeletal remains, with a control group assessing the same male skeletal cast without any clothing context. The results indicated that the sex assessment was highly dependent upon the context in which participants were exposed to prior to the analysis. This was especially noticeable in the female clothing context where only one participant determined the male skeletal cast to be male. The results demonstrate the importance of understanding the role of context in forensic anthropology at an early stage of an investigation and its potential cascading effect on subsequent assessments.     

A Validation Study of the Langley et al. (2017) Decision Tree Model for Sex Estimation

Langley et al. (2017) developed a sex estimation decision tree utilizing two traditional cranial traits (glabella and mastoid) and a new trait: zygomatic extension. This study aimed to test the reliability of their zygomatic extension scoring method and validate their sex estimation method. Ordinal score data were collected from 281 male and female U.S. White and Black individuals. The five traditional cranial traits were collected from physical specimens, while zygomatic extension was scored from 3D cranial models. Intra‐ and interobserver analyses carried out on a subsample of 30 individuals indicate good agreement between zygomatic scores. The decision tree correctly sexed 71.5% of the sample, but a strong sex bias (94.2% correct for females, 49.3% correct for males) severely limits the utility of this method. The Walker (2008) and Stevenson et al. (2009) methods produced higher accuracy rates (80.8% and 82.6%, respectively), although these methods also produced sex and ancestry biases.