“She's Way Too Good to Lose”: An Evaluation of Honolulu's Girls Court

This research evaluates the efficacy of a gender-specific, problem-solving court for girl offenders. Official statistics, interview data, and focus group data are utilized to determine whether the court is achieving its stated goals of reducing recidivism, risky behaviors, and confinement for the girls who attend this court program. The present research demonstrates that the program does seem to be effective in terms of reducing both recidivism and risky behavior as well as increasing the development of prosocial and healthy relationships. The article concludes with some lessons learned from the implementation of this court program as well as ideas for future research.     

劳役制度的历史嬗变及人文思考

劳役制度是统治集团凭借国家强制力为后盾,在拘束、限制犯人人身自由的基础上,强制犯人进行劳役,形成的制度.该制度作为一项重要的监狱管理制度,历经了一个由产生、发展到逐步完善的过程,具有丰富的内涵及特征.探讨劳役制度,对劳动教育改造人犯,有着重要的借鉴价值和现实指导意义.     

The rise of the penal state in Latin America

The recent work of Loïc Wacquant identified the emergence of the penal state as a core feature of the global expansion of neoliberalism and the neoliberal government urban marginality. Drawing on Wacquant’s theoretical and conceptual reflections, this article analyses the emergence of a Latin American form of penal statecraft. By taking an in-depth look at the increasing criminalization of urban marginality in contemporary Latin America as well as the related developments in the local prison system, the single most important institutional expression of the Latin American penal state, important commonalities and differences between the penal statecraft experiments throughout Latin America and the countries of the ‘developed world’ are highlighted.     

简易程序公诉人出庭问题研究

新修订的《刑事诉讼法》规定,适用简易程序审理的公诉案件,公诉人应当出庭.这对于构建合理的庭审结构、实现公诉职能的全面履行、遏制公诉权滥用以及提高检察机关的法律监督能力具有重要意义.借鉴外国检察官的出庭经验,吸收本土不同地区的试点探索成果,构建繁简不同的简易案件公诉人出庭程序,同时衔接配套的简易程序庭审模式、倡导简案专办,充分利用庭前整理程序,并辅之以人财物的支持和出庭技能培训,检察机关必将能够践行本次新刑诉法之立法目的,推动公诉工作向更高水平发展.     

检察机关应对证人出庭作证若干问题探析

证人证言作为八种法定证据类型之一,在刑事诉讼中占据着重要地位。但长期以来,证人出庭难是我国司法实践中不可回避的顽症。新《刑事诉讼法》对证人出庭制度做出了完善,在明确证人出庭作证范围的基础上,规定了强制证人出庭作证、证人补偿制度和证人保护制度。可预见的是,随着新《刑事诉讼法》的实施,证人出庭将成为常态,检察机关势必要在保证证人出庭、应对证人翻证、有效出庭支持公诉、公诉人才建设等方面建立健全相应的制度和措施,方能有效地履行指控犯罪职能,应对新《刑事诉讼法》实施给检察机关带来的各种挑战和风险。     

THE “TRUE” JUVENILE OFFENDER: AGE EFFECTS AND JUVENILE COURT SANCTIONING

Age is the only factor used to demarcate the boundary between juvenile and adult justice. However, little research has examined how age guides the juvenile court in determining which youth within the juvenile justice system merit particular dispositions, especially those that reflect the court's emphasis on rehabilitation. Drawing on scholarship on the court's origins, attribution theory, and cognitive heuristics, we hypothesize that the court focuses on youth in the middle of the range of the court's age of jurisdiction—characterized in this article as “true” juveniles—who may be viewed as meriting more specialized intervention. We use data from Florida for court referrals in 2008 (N = 71,388) to examine the decision to proceed formally or informally and, in turn, to examine formally processed youth dispositions (dismissal, diversion, probation, commitment, and transfer) and informally processed youth dispositions (dismissal, diversion, and probation). The analyses provide partial support for the hypothesis. The very young were more likely to be informally processed; however, among the informally processed youth, the youngest, not “true” juveniles, were most likely to be diverted or placed on probation. By contrast, among formally processed youth, “true” juveniles were most likely to receive traditional juvenile court responses, such as diversion or probation.     

The blurred vision of Lady Justice for minors with mental disorders: Records of the juvenile court in Belgium

Purpose

This study examined (1) the information present in juvenile court records in Belgium (Flanders) and (2) whether there are differences in information between records that mention a mental disorder and those that do not.

Method

The file study sample included 107 court records, and we used a Pearson's chi-square test and a t-test to analyze the information within those records.

Results

Information in juvenile court records varied considerably. This variability was evident when we compared juvenile court records with and without mention of a mental disorder. Significantly more information about school-related problems, the functioning of the minor, and the occurrence of domestic violence was included in records that mentioned a mental disorder compared with records that did not.

Conclusion

The content of the juvenile court records varied, particularly with regard to the mental health status of the minor in question. We suggest guidelines to standardize the information contained in juvenile court records.     

The impact of judge–defendant communication on mental health court outcomes

Previous research has shown that mental health courts have been successful in reducing the rates of recidivism among mentally ill offenders. However, none of these studies, to date, have examined exactly what aspects of the courts reduce these rates of recidivism and what makes them successful. The current study utilized a sample of 291 mentally ill criminal offenders participating in a mental health court to examine whether those participants who were addressed by and communicated with the judge had a reduction in recidivism rates and the severity of new charges in comparison to those who did not. The hypotheses regarding greater judge–defendant communication and recidivism were not supported. This suggests that communication in and of itself is not sufficient to reduce recidivism. Future research of a qualitative nature is essential to identify if the frequency, tone, and valence of the communication results in improved outcomes. In addition, these results may indicate a necessity for more stringent training and guidelines for the maintenance of Mental Health Courts. Results of the current study suggested differences between genders, such that females were spoken to by the judge more frequently than were men.     

新刑事诉讼法与侦查、鉴定相关规定的理解与实施探讨

修改后刑事诉讼法对侦查、鉴定制度作出了许多新规定,正确理解和实施这些规定具有重要意义。但法律增加规定的技术侦查措施,与常规侦查技术手段并不等同,将鉴定结论改为鉴定意见,并不是降低科技证据的地位和鉴定要求;规定鉴定人有必要出庭作证,并不意味着此种情况下鉴定意见一定有错误,使用有专门知识的人同时代表鉴定人和专家辅助人两个不同主体,值得进一步研究。