Use of Xylazine in Drug‐Facilitated Crimes

Human xylazine poisoning is uncommon. This report describes the use of xylazine for intentional poisoning with criminal intent. Two incidents occurred within 3 weeks: the first involved one victim, and the second involved two victims. The clinical presentations were brief coma, bradycardia, hypotension, and hyperglycemia. The victims recalled having been given a drink from a stranger in a hospital waiting room before loss of consciousness. In the first case, general drug screening by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (MS) revealed xylazine in the gastric contents, but liquid chromatography–tandem MS (LC‐MS/MS) of serum did not. In the second incident, LC‐MS/MS screening of both victims’ urine and serum samples revealed an unknown peak in the total ion chromatograms, which a molecular mass database identified as morantel or xylazine. The latter was confirmed by comparison with a xylazine standard. Based on this report, we suggest that xylazine should be classified as a controlled drug.     

Gault's Promise Revisited: The Search For Due Process

Fifty years ago, due process was introduced into the juvenile courts, but today children still do not have the guiding hand of counsel at every stage of the proceedings. In assessing the pre‐Gault world, Chief Justice Fortas observed that “[a] child receives the worst of both worlds:…he gets neither the protections accorded to adults nor the solicitous care and regenerative treatment postulated for children.” 1 Fortas opined that “Then as now good will and compassion were admirably prevalent. But recent studies have entered with surprising unanimity, sharp dissent to the vitality of this gentle conception. They suggest that the appearance as well as the actuality of fairness‐ impartiality and orderliness‐ in short the essentials of due process may be a more therapeutic attitude so far as the juvenile is concerned.” 2 The prescience of his observation has found resonance and reinforcement with the 2013 publication of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach 3 which was commissioned by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention (OJJDP). Reforming Juvenile Justice's emphasis on encouraging not only the perception but the actuality of fairness in all domains 4 connects directly to the essence of Gault's message. “Treating youth fairly and ensuring that they perceive that have been treated fairly and with dignity contribute to positive outcomes in the normal processes of social learning, moral development, and legal socialization adolescence.” 5 The research also demonstrates that public health oriented alternatives to traditional court processing promote social connection and positive youth development. 6 The OJJDP report provides a road map for promoting positive youth development and social engagement by demonstrating that supporting such policies improves public safety outcomes by reducing recidivism. In exploring whether Gault's promise of due process has been realized or is still aspirational, this article suggests that our inquiry requires us to think contextually by considering how children and families are treated in and out of the courtroom. This entails consideration of educational, child welfare and mental health services, as well as the scope of legal entitlements. Equity and fundamental fairness, euphemisms for due process, are what will truly effectuate Gault's promise and should be the benchmark for all courts and systems that engage with children.     

European national news

This article tracks developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications and provides a concise alerting service of important national developments. It is co-ordinated by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe. This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to complement the Journal's feature articles and briefing notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.     

Preventing discrimination in the automated targeting of job advertisements

On the background of the increasing amount of discriminatory challenges facing artificial intelligence applications, this paper examines the requirements that are needed to comply with European non-discrimination law to prevent discrimination in the automated online job advertising business. This paper explains under which circumstance the automated targeting of job advertisements can amount to direct or indirect discrimination. The paper concludes with technical recommendations to dismantle the dangers of automated job advertising. Various options like influencing the pre-processing of big data and altering the algorithmic models are evaluated. This paper also examines the possibilities of using techniques like data mining and machine learning to actively battle direct and indirect discrimination. The European non-discrimination directives 2000/43/EC, 2000/78/EC, and 2006/54/EC which prohibit direct and indirect discrimination in the field of employment on the grounds of race or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, religious belief, age and disability are used as a legal framework.     

Asia Pacific news

This column provides a country-by-country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications’ industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

Asia pacific news

This column provides a country-by-country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications’ industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

GC和GC/MS技术在毒品来源推断中的应用

目的应用气相色谱(GC)和气相色谱/质谱联用(GC/MS)技术,定性、定量分析毒品案例,推断毒品来源。方法采用GC/MS法定性分析毒品样品中的主成分、痕量杂质、掺假剂和稀释剂,并选择GC/FID和外标法定量分析上述各组分,通过定性和定量数据的统计比对,并用SPSS10.0数据统计分析软件对分组结果进行验证,推断毒品样品之间来源的区别与联系。结果用GC/MS定性分析、GC/FID定量分析和SPSS10.0数据统计分析软件将12个案件的毒品按来源分成7组,其中1、6、7、11号样品和10A、10B样品分成两组,2、3、5、9号样品各成一组,4号和8号样品分成一组。上述12起案件的毒品来源分析和比对结果,经送检部门反馈的破案信息证明,与案件的真实情况十分吻合。结论应用GC/MS、GC/FID技术分析毒品,可准确推断毒品来源。     

For Better or Worse? The Europeanisation of the Conflict of Laws

From its very beginnings the European Union(EU) has taken an interest in that area of legal activity known as the conflict of laws or private international law. The purpose of the conflict of laws is to determine how a national court should behave when confronted with a legal dispute that involves a foreign element. A state's conflict rules will provide the answer to three basic questions: in what circumstances their courts may assume jurisdiction over cases involving a foreign element, what system of municipal law to apply (their own or that of some foreign legal system) and which foreign judgments are capable of recognition and enforcement within their national system. The very fact that the EU exists in order to bring states together to form a single internal market would seem likely to provoke conflict of laws situations. It, therefore, appears unremarkable that the EU has agreed a variety of measures with a bearing on the conflict of laws. The purpose of this article, however, is not to give a detailed account of the EU's interventions on this topic. Instead the intention is to offer some thoughts upon and to raise some questions regarding the implications of the EU's engagement with the conflict of laws. In particular this article aims to provide an overview of the direction in which the EU is taking the conflict of laws and how this has affected the focus and character of the subject in one Member State, namely the United Kingdom. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Socioeconomic Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Among White, Black, and Hispanic Couples in the United States

This study assesses the relative influence of various SES measures on the probability of intimate partner violence (IPV) among a national sample of White, Black, and Hispanic married and cohabiting couples. Participants were interviewed in conjunction with the 1995 National Alcohol Survey. Sociodemographic, psychosocial, and alcohol consumption data were obtained from both members of the couple. IPV was measured through the Conflict Tactics Scale, Form R. Bivariate tests were employed to investigate the association between SES and IPV. Deviance statistics, based on contrasting transformed likelihood measures obtained through multivariate logistic regression models, were computed to assess the relative influence of SES on the probability of IPV. Results indicate that annual household income had the greatest relative influence on the probability of partner violence. Future research is needed to explore the pathways by which SES contributes to the risk of partner violence.     

度冷丁在豚鼠毛发中的分布研究

目的探讨度冷丁在毛发中的分布状况。方法通过动物实验-给豚鼠持续腹腔注射度冷丁,探讨度冷丁在豚鼠毛发中出现与消失的时间过程及注射剂量与毛发中的含量关系。结果给豚鼠隔日连续腹腔注射度冷丁7次,第4天可在豚鼠毛发中检出度冷丁,第8天达浓度高峰,停止注射后第5天检不出度冷丁;豚鼠毛发中度冷丁含量与度冷丁的注射剂量有关,但无明显的线性关系。结论研究结果为实际案例分析结果的评价提供依据。