对我国民事抗诉制度的反思与重构

关于民事抗诉制度,学界和司法界长期存在“废”、“立”两种针锋相对的观点。本文认为,现行民事抗诉制度的确存在不少问题,但这些问题的根本原因在于,现行民事抗诉程序是由两个性质完全不同的程序——民事抗诉程序和民事再审程序——“组装”而成的,严重违反了法理和程序设计的规则。本文认为,要使民事抗诉制度摆脱目前的困境,必须将民事再审程序从现行民事抗诉程序中剥离出去,并对民事抗诉程序进行重新设计。     

论信息社会环境下的刑事侦查工作

本文就刑事侦查工作信息化和侦查破案机制的转变进行了论述。文章分析了当前我国刑事侦查工作所面临的巨大挑战,探讨了与刑事侦查信息化相关的一些问题,并提出了一些建议。     

未来二十年辽宁流动人口犯罪的发展变化预测

未来二十年,辽宁流动人口犯罪将继续保持增长势头,上升比率会随政府相关政策调整有所下降;侵财类案件仍在各类案件中处于高发势头,伤害类案件会有所上升;团伙犯罪及重大、恶性案件的构成比例将有所增加。面对这种发展趋势,形势不容乐观。     

关于破坏监管秩序罪的认定

破坏监管秩序,是罪犯在监狱及其他监管场所服刑期间时有发生的行为,破坏监管秩序,情节严重则构成犯罪。我国《刑法》第315条规定了破坏监管秩序罪的构成及其刑事责任。破坏监管秩序罪,是指被依法关押在监管场所服刑的罪犯,殴打监管人员,组织其他被监管人破坏监管秩序,聚众闹事,扰乱正常的监管秩序,殴打、体罚或指使其他人殴打、体罚其他被监管人,情节严重的行为。破坏监管秩序罪,处3年以下有期徒刑。     

再析侵占罪的几个问题

自新刑法颁布以来,刑法学界对侵占罪的相关问题一直有较大争议,司法实践中在认定侵占罪时标准也各不相同。     

Matching goods and people: aid and human security after the 2004 tsunami

This article asks why, despite an abundance of aid materials and the good intentions of various relief agencies, tsunami-relief efforts in Thailand after the Great Sumatra Earthquake of 2004 resulted in complaints and skewed aid distribution. Beginning with an analysis of how relief goods are distributed in practice, the focus of the article shifts to forces that cause certain types of goods to be concentrated in certain communities. It concludes by identifying the limits of the goods-based relief approach, introducing intangible resources and identity as more foundational dimensions in the study of distribution.     

Does gang membership pay? Illegal and legal earnings through emerging adulthood*

Gang membership is believed to impede success in the legitimate economic market while simultaneously supporting success in the illegal market. We extend the study of the economic effects of gang membership by using a within‐ and between‐individual analytic design, decomposing gang membership into multiple statuses (i.e., entering a gang, continuously in a gang, leaving a gang, and inactive gang membership), examining legal and illegal earnings simultaneously, and accounting for factors endogenous to gang membership that may contribute to economic achievement. By using panel data from 1,213 individuals who participated in the Pathways to Desistance Study to conduct a multilevel path analysis, we find that active gang membership status is unrelated to legal earnings. Alternatively, entering a gang is associated with increased illegal earnings, attributable to changes in delinquent peers and drug use, whereas leaving a gang has a direct relationship with decreased illegal earnings. Our results indicate that the positive economic effect of gang membership (i.e., illegal earnings and total earnings) is short‐lived and that, on balance, the sum of the gang membership experience does not “pay” in terms of overall earnings.     

The Moderating Effect of Criminal Thinking on Certainty of Apprehension in Decisions to Engage in Antisocial Behavior: Replication and Extension

This study explored whether the rational (certainty of punishment) and nonrational (criminal thinking) aspects of antisocial decision‐making interact. A convenience sample of 319 undergraduates (106 men, 213 women) completed a measure of criminal thinking and responded to three fictional vignettes (i.e., cheating on a final examination in a class they were in jeopardy of failing, stealing $50 off a table in a dorm room, and selling marijuana for a friend) at three different levels of risk or certainty of apprehension (50%, 10%, and 1%). Results indicated that participants reported that they would be more likely to engage in antisocial behavior when the certainty of getting caught was low and the level of proactive (P) or reactive (R) criminal thinking was high. An interaction between certainty and criminal thinking was also observed in which the gap between lower and higher criminal thinking respondents grew as the probability of getting caught fell.     

A Preliminary Investigation into the Accuracy of 3D Modeling and 3D Printing in Forensic Anthropology Evidence Reconstruction,

There is currently no published empirical evidence‐base demonstrating 3D printing to be an accurate and reliable tool in forensic anthropology, despite 3D printed replicas being exhibited as demonstrative evidence in court. In this study, human bones (n = 3) scanned using computed tomography were reconstructed as virtual 3D models (n = 6), and 3D printed using six commercially available printers, with osteometric data recorded at each stage. Virtual models and 3D prints were on average accurate to the source bones, with mean differences from ?0.4 to 1.2 mm (?0.4% to 12.0%). Interobserver differences ranged from ?5.1 to 0.7 mm (?5.3% to 0.7%). Reconstruction and modeling parameters influenced accuracy, and prints produced using selective laser sintering (SLS) were most consistently accurate. This preliminary investigation into virtual modeling and 3D printer capability provides a novel insight into the accuracy of 3D printing osteological samples and begins to establish an evidence‐base for validating 3D printed bones as demonstrative evidence.     

A Comparison of Four Presumptive Tests for the Detection of Blood on Dark Materials

Detection of blood on dark materials is difficult for crime scene examiners so presumptive tests are used to assist. This study compared the ability of luminol, leuko crystal violet, tetramethylbenzidine, and Combur Test®E to detect whole, diluted blood (1:100) and a key‐shaped blood transfer stain (1:10), on dark cotton sheeting, tea towel, socks, synthetic carpet, and car mats. Powdered bleach was used to evaluate specificity of the blood detection tests. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and overall misclassification rate (OMR) assessed the quality of the blood tests. Luminol was the preferred test for diluted blood having the highest sensitivity (79%–96%), NPV (66%–93%), and the lowest OMR (3%–15%). Luminol was also found to be most efficient with a testing time on 25 items of 2 h 50 min compared with up to 8 h. Overall, luminol was the most effective method, also providing information on bloodstain patterns.