Can electronic monitoring reduce crime for moderate to high-risk offenders?

Electronic monitoring (EM) of offenders has been in use for just over two decades and motives for using it remain diverse. Some agencies that use EM attempt to deliver humane and affordable sanctions while others seek to relieve jail crowding or to avoid the construction of new jails. Nonetheless, all EM programs aim to suppress the criminal behavior of offenders being monitored and its advocates have always hoped EM could be instrumental in reducing long-term recidivism. This review investigates the history of EM and the extent to which EM empirically affects criminal behavior in moderate to high-risk populations. All available recidivism studies that included at least one comparison group between the first impact study in 1986 and 2002 were considered for the review. Although variants such as GPS tracking and continuous testing for alcohol in perspiration have recently emerged, no studies of these technologies were found that met the review’s inclusion criteria. Studies are examined and combined for meta-analysis where appropriate. Given its continued and widespread use and the dearth of reliable information about its effects, the authors conclude that applications of EM as a tool for reducing crime are not supported by existing data. Properly controlled experiments would be required to draw stronger conclusions about the effects of EM.     

The influence of prisons on inmate misconduct: A multilevel investigation

This article presents the results of multilevel analyses of prisoners' misconduct for the population of over 120,000 federal prisoners incarcerated in June 2001. Prior research has focused on individual-level explanations of inmate misconduct, but this study explicitly examines whether prisons vary in their influence on such misconduct. The study demonstrates that model specification makes a difference in our understanding of which variables are related to misconduct, that the type of misconduct is important for understanding the effects of covariates of misconduct, and that results of multilevel models can easily be used to compare the performance of prisons.     

土地征收审批的正当程序改革

程序正当是土地征收理应遵循的原则,实践中的改革已使报批前的准备阶段包含正当程序要素,然而公告之前的征收审批是否也应遵循该原则却有争议。征收审批内部程序运作的技术性设置不能改变其具体行政行为的属性,而其在实质上还具有对土地权利变动进行裁决的功能。征收审批的行为属性和功能属性理论上均要求引入正当程序。现行征收审批是由申请机关单方主宰信息的封闭决策过程,这导致审批机关缺乏第三方信息对报批材料进行验证。提高审批实效的要求呼唤引入正当程序作为信息传导机制。审批机关可利用拟被征收人表达异议或抗辩的信息弥补无法观测到申请机关行为的局限,增强对报批材料的核实能力。     

注重考试环节提高教学质量

考试是教学的重要环节,不同的学科、不同的课程有不同的特点。命题应严格遵循全面考核,突出重点,理论联系实际,注重考查学生的实务操作能力这一原则。在试题内容上,应难易适度;在阅卷方式上,应根据题型的不同采用不同的判分标准;在应试技巧上,应教导学生要懂、吃透基础知识,学会总结典型题型。同时应加强学生考前模拟训练。     

Dating of Inkpad Seals Using the Extraction Rate Method: Preliminary Findings

Inkpad seals are often placed on important documents, and determining the date when a seal was affixed can be important to assess the authenticity of a document. In this study, three different brands of inkpads and four different types of paper were used to make diachronic samples of the seals. A double‐solvent extraction method was employed to date the inkpad seals by comparing extraction rates with inks of known age. Cyclohexane was selected as a weak solvent, and chlorobenzene was selected as a strong solvent. After testing, curves were created to show the relationship between the extraction percentage of ink and the date of the seals. The experimental results showed that the extraction rate method was applicable for the relative dating of inkpad seals in some cases where the seal was placed on the document within 6 months.     

非法证据排除程序再讨论

对于被告方提出的排除非法证据的申请,法院要进行专门的程序性裁判。作为一项基本原则,被告方一旦提出排除非法证据的申请,法院就要优先审查侦查行为的合法性问题,使程序性裁判具有优先于实体性裁判的效力。作为程序性裁判的两个重要部分,初步审查要求被告方承担初步的证明责任,具有过滤不必要的程序性裁判的功能;正式调查作为法院的程序性听证程序,具备基本的诉讼构造,偏重于职权主义的诉讼模式,并由公诉方承担证明侦查行为合法性的责任,且要达到最高的证明标准。对于一审法院就非法证据排除问题所作的决定,二审法院无法提供独立的司法救济,只能将其与实体问题一并作为是否撤销原判的依据。     

论法律硕士教育与职业资格考试衔接机制

当前我国法律硕士专业学位研究生教育难以满足法律职业发展需要。一方面,法律硕士专业学位研究生教育自身发展过程中存在弊端;另一方面,与法律职业资格考试制度缺少相互对接的制度设计。如何充分发挥法律职业资格考试制度的纽带作用,建立培育和选送优秀法律人才有效新路径,是当前亟需解决的现实问题。应根据我国法律硕士培养现状,对司法考试制度进行积极改革,在借鉴国外相关制度的基础上,构建具有中国特色的法律硕士专业学位研究生培养模式,并建立法律硕士研究生培养体制与法律职业资格考试制度相互衔接的高效机制。     

GC Analysis of Black Gel Pen Ink Stored under Different Conditions

In many criminal and civil cases in China, the most commonly questioned documents are those written with gel pen ink. An important task for forensic document examiners is to identify whether two or more ink entries in one or more documents were written with the same ink type. The identification of the age of gel ink entries made poses an important and difficult problem for forensic document examiners. In this paper, the volatile components of gel ink were determined and the gel ink was classified by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector. Calibration curves were created to express the relationship between the content of volatile gel ink components and the age of gel ink entries stored under natural and UV‐induced aging conditions. The correspondence between the natural and UV‐induced aging conditions was also established. The experimental results showed that GC was useful in the analysis of black gel ink and applicable for determining the relative age of gel ink entries under certain conditions.     

数字录音真实性司法鉴定研究现状

随着数字录音设备的普及,以及音频编辑技术的大众化趋势,传统的检验方法和技术在当前数字录音真实性司法鉴定实践中面临着极大的挑战。模式识别和人工智能等领域的最新进展为数字录音真实性鉴定提供了有效的检验角度。通过分析和总结当前机器学习和模式识别等研究领域在数字录音真实性研究方面的前沿探索性成果,结合对当前录音真实性司法鉴定实践应用中的关键技术和方法的论述,分析和探讨数字录音真实性司法鉴定领域研究所面临的问题、挑战及未来发展趋势。指出专家经验判断分析技术和统计量化检验方法的协作并存是数字录音真实性鉴定的必然趋势和高效解决方案。     

被伐树木整体分离痕迹检验中特殊特征和固有特征的运用

被伐树木形成的整体分离痕迹有其独特性,反映出特有的规律。本文介绍了在盗伐林木案件中,运用整体分离痕迹检验原理、方法,检验被伐树木分离面、分离缘的形态,检验其凸凹断茬特征、虫眼特征、裂纹特征、空心特征等特殊特征以及节子特征、年轮特征、木射线特征、树皮纹理特征等固有特征。特别是在两对应的锯断面之间木质完全缺失情况下,综合运用上述特征有针对性地检验,解决了部分被伐树木整体分离痕迹检验中分离痕迹能否作为同一认定证据、分离体是否原为同一整体的问题。文中所述对被伐树木上的特殊特征和固有特征的研究和运用,拓宽了被伐树木整体分离痕迹检验中特征标记的范围,为丰富被伐树木整体分离痕迹的检验方法提供了参考。