Theoretical and Empirical Work on the Relationship Between Unemployment and Crime

Part of the ongoing debate between Cantor and Land and Greenberg centers on differing opinions about the question of interest in Cantor and Land (1985). We begin this article with our opinion that Cantor and Land's theory relates changes in the business cycle to changes in the aggregate rate of crime. We then question whether year-to-year changes adequately reflect changes in the business cycle, which last on average 4 years, and we refer to an article by Cook and Zarkin (1985) which presents an alternative method of measuring business cycle changes. We also discuss how Greenberg's use of cointegration provides an alternative way of addressing the difficult statistical problem of nonstationarity without resorting to first differences. Our final contribution involves noticing that opportunity and motivational theories of crime can be structurally identified by focusing on different types of crime rather than temporal lags. We demonstrate this idea by splitting car theft into joyriding and theft for profit. We show that joyriding appears to be driven by opportunity, while the causal structure of theft for profit is less clear.     

划分盗窃犯罪圈的基本规律

定性盗窃须依据实体标准,《刑法修正案(八)》扩大盗窃犯罪圈却有收紧制裁圈之效;司法解释虽在立法基础上具体定性规则,数额的经年不变却可能令犯罪圈隐性扩张;为此,个案情节的适用能够起到内敛犯罪圈的作用。定性盗窃还须经程序控制,因为出罪案件未经刑事诉讼程序的过滤,相关立法及司法解释之疏漏可能被遮蔽,因动机、赔偿情节豁免出罪的理由可能不甚清晰。     

O.J.'s defense: A reductio ad absurdum of the economics of Coase and Posner

A reductio ad absurdum takes the principles of a doctrine, applies them exactly as their creators did only to an entirely different subject and with horrendous results, and thus shows what absurd conclusions are logically compatible with the original thesis. This article applies the tenets of the Chicago law and economics tradition, as adumbrated by two of its most distinguished practitioners, Coase and Posner. It shows that on the basis of this canon a case can be made out for freeing O.J. Simpson—even if he did indeed kill his wife. The article is an attempt to show that the libertarian reliance on personal and private property rights is a much more robust thesis than the Chicago precept of wealth maximization.     

论铁路旅财案件的特点及侦查对策

铁路不仅是社会的主要交通运输工具 ,也是一个社会人财物高度聚集的流动的开放性的公共场所。旅客财物被盗窃 (以下简称旅财 )是铁路上的最多发案件 ,直接侵害广大旅客的财产安全 ,不仅给广大旅客造成了非常大的经济损失 ,而且损害了铁路企业的声誉 ,有时甚至对国家的军事、科技、外交等产生重要影响。无论是从案件构成的规律特点 ,还是案件的管辖上来看 ,铁路旅财案件都有着很强的特殊性。铁路旅财案件的主要特点 :(一 )犯罪主体的多样性 ;(二 )作案时空的选择性 ;(三 )作案手段的多样化与技术性 ;(四 )现场痕迹易被破坏 ,现场多有目击者。铁路旅财案件的主要侦查对策 :(一 )调查访问 ;(二 )追击堵截 ;(三 )通报协查 ;(四 )现场勘验 ;(五 )以物找人 ;(六 )利用情报资料 ;(七 )使用特情 ;(八 )抓获现行。     

提高盗窃案件现场勘查质量的几点认识

盗窃案件具有发案高、现场多、情况多变、痕迹物证分布复杂、现场容易被破坏和伪装等特点。因而盗窃案件现场勘查质量的高低 ,往往直接影响案件的侦破工作。针对当前盗窃案件现场勘查中存在的问题 ,文章提出 :1 加强对现场勘查重要性认识 ;2 规范现场勘查的各个环节 ;3 不断增强技术人员的业务素质 ;4 建立现场勘查信息系统 ;5 建立更加合理的激励机制。     

两高司法解释“曾因盗窃受过刑事处罚”规定解读

两高于2013年4月4日下发了《关于办理盗窃刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释》,其中第2条第1款"曾因盗窃受过刑事处罚"的规定在司法实践中引起一定争议,包括对该规定时间效力的把握、盗窃前科的界定和受过刑事处罚范围的理解。检察机关在适用该款规定时,应当站在刑法体系整体协调的高度,严格遵循从旧兼从轻的刑事法律时间效力原则,运用正确的法律解释方法,坚持刑法谦抑和有利于犯罪嫌疑人的司法理念,有理有据、不枉不纵,确保检察工作法律效果和社会效果的良好统一。     

Examining the risk reduction strategies of actors in online criminal markets

Research examining offender risk reduction strategies within illicit markets focus primarily on those operating in the real world for drugs and stolen goods. Few have considered the strategies that may be used by individuals in virtual illicit markets that are hidden from public view. This study addresses this gap through a grounded theory analysis of posts from 10 Russian and three English language web forums selling stolen data to engage in identity theft and fraud. The findings indicate that buyers employ multiple strategies to reduce their risk of loss from unreliable vendors, along with resources provided by forum administrators to manage relationships between participants. The implications of this study for law enforcement and offender decision-making research are also discussed.     

Risky remote purchasing and identity theft victimization among older Internet users

The low self-control/risky lifestyles perspective posits that people deficient in self-control engage in certain risky behaviors that increase their exposure to motivated offenders in the absence of capable guardianship, which in turn elevates their risk of victimization. Using survey data from telephone interviews conducted in Florida and Arizona with individuals aged 60 and over, the current study tests whether this theoretical framework partially explains risky remote purchasing and identity theft victimization among older Internet users. Results from the two-stage probit models conform to expectations: Individuals with lower levels of self-control have a significantly higher probability of making a purchase after receiving an unsolicited email from a vendor with whom they have not previously done business. What is more, making a risky remote purchase significantly increases the probability of identity theft victimization. The findings not only speak to the generality of the low self-control/risky lifestyles perspective, but also indicate that older Internet users can reduce their victimization risk by taking specific precautions.     

Identity theft and the care of the virtual self

Abstract

This paper analyses how major institutions are publicly responding to the crime of identity theft. It concentrates on how individuals are encouraged to responsibilize themselves against this potentiality, and what they should do in the event they are victimized. These two distinct discourses (prevention and victimization) aim to fashion a hyper-vigilant citizen whose daily routines, home environment, consumption patterns and sense of self are being brought into accord with wider power dynamics. These measures can be understood as encouraging a care of the virtual self – a wider social project characteristic of an informational age that encourages individuals to reduce the risks and maximize the potentialities related to their data double. In the context of identity theft, however, institutionally promoted methods for the care for the virtual self transcend what is reasonably practicable for most citizens and mask the role played by major institutions in fostering the preconditions for identity theft.     

入户盗窃未遂的理论分析和实践认定

入户盗窃未遂是认定盗窃罪还是非法侵入住宅罪之争随着《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）》颁布实施已经尘埃落定。但是,由于新修订的入户盗窃取消了时间和次数的限制,因而确有必要从法理和实践角度,对新修订的入户盗窃是否存在未遂形态、如何判断行为人以盗窃故意进入房屋、入户盗窃着手的标准认定以及入户盗窃未遂是否一律定罪处罚等等一系列问题进行分析探讨。