Two-dimensional metric comparisons between dynamic bare footprints and insole foot impressions-forensic implications

Footwear may be found at crime scenes as physical evidence. Such footwear often has impression features of the wearer’s foot on the insole of the shoe. Scientific research and literature have established that footprints are distinct. This study compares two-dimensional measurements on bare footprints to foot impressions on insoles to determine if significant differences or similarities exist. Dynamic footprints were collected from 51 donors using the Identicator® Inkless Shoe Print Model LE 25P system. Seven foot length and width measurements were taken based on the Reel linear measurement method. Footprint measurements between bare footprints and foot impressions on the insoles were compared. Only two differences (p > 0.05) were observed between the various bare footprint and insole foot impression measurements on the right and left side for most of the measurements, CALC (p < 0.001) and A1 (p = 0.04). Bare footprint and insole A5 measurements on the left side were also significantly different (p = 0.015). The results of the study have implications in the forensic analysis of foot impression evidence on insoles in footwear in assisting with identifying the wearer of said footwear. Situations may arise in the forensic context when comparing the foot impression on the insole of footwear to a suspect’s bare footprint or a footprint from post-mortem remains. This study contributes to the scant literature available on the topic and to understanding the similarities and differences observed in the various linear measurements that may be utilized in the comparison process of footprint impressions on shoe insoles to bare footprints.     

虚开增值税专用发票罪若干问题探析

虚开增值税专用发票罪是我国新刑法规定的一个新罪名。由于本罪具有较强的专业性,刑法的规定也不很清晰,所以,与本罪相关的一些问题在司法实践中引起了争议。比如,虚开增值税专用发票又以此骗取国家税款的行为应如何定性、对虚开增值税专用发票罪是否可以适用死刑等。对此,只有在综合分析后才能得出正确的结论。     

犯罪现场反常情况的成因

犯罪现场反常情况是侦查初期开展侦查工作的一大障碍;但只要找准其成因,并运用正确的方法加以识别和排除,据此展开侦查反而会成为侦破案件的一条捷径。犯罪现场反常情况的形成原因一般包括犯罪人的伪装、偶然因素的介入、环境因素、犯罪人的特殊犯罪目的、犯罪分子的附带作案心理等方面。     

对诉讼欺诈行为的刑事法定化考量

诉讼欺诈行为具有严重的社会危害性,且在现实生活中有愈演愈烈之势,仅靠民事制裁力量显然已不足以抑制其发生。因而应当将其作犯罪化处理,在刑法分则中单独设立罪名,配置法定刑,以有效遏制其蔓延之势。至于对法院因诉讼欺诈行为作出错误判决而对诉讼相对人造成损害的,应视具体情况确定是否进行国家赔偿。     

故意杀人罪的死刑裁量基准——“丁汉忠案”的文本梳理和法理审视

目前我国有关故意杀人罪中死刑裁量因素的审查难有真切、统一的基准,而在司法实践中对相关刑法条文含义的理解和阐释较为草率;最高人民法院的指导性案例体现的裁判趣旨未得到充分领会;各量刑因素的作用莫衷一是、标准不一,“估堆”量刑的困境萦绕其间,因而须探索故意杀人罪中相对合理的死刑裁量基准。具体而言,须区分各量刑因素的轻重、位阶,建构以责任刑为主、预防刑为辅的死刑裁量基准。至于是否入围死刑圈主要是仰仗责任刑阶段的判断。若责任刑阶段均是从严因素,基本会入围死刑圈的审查。死刑圈内的三种准刑种如何抉择,取决于对行为人的人身危险性判断。在预防刑阶段若均是从宽因素,一般死缓的判决即可满足要求;若从宽因素和从严因素交错,死缓限制减刑的判决基本可满足要求;若只有从严因素,则有判决死刑立即执行的可能。     

Similarities and Differences in Victimization Risk Factors for Nonoffending and Offending Substance Users

In this cross-sectional study of substance users in Norway, the authors describe the patterns of victimization and investigate the factors associated with victimization, for nonoffenders and offenders separately. Recent victimization was reported by 59%, and the victimization rate was higher among offenders compared with nonoffenders (69% and 43%, p < .001). Women, regardless of offender status, experienced more victimization. Unstable housing was associated with victimization among nonoffenders, whereas markers for more severe substance use and indicators for poor mental health were associated with victimization in both groups. Addressing these factors may be important in reducing victimization and its negative outcomes among substance users.     

The right to commemoration and “ideal victims”: the puzzle of victim dissatisfaction with State-led commemoration after 9/11 and 3/11

This article explores the puzzle of victim dissatisfaction with State-led commemoration following 9/11 and 3/11 by offering a cross-national case study through which to view key areas of theoretical debate in the sociology of human rights, cultural trauma and collective memory, and the politics of victimhood. Although State-led commemorative processes are often highly contested, we would expect them to be less so in the cases of 9/11 and 3/11, given broad social consensus about the victims’ right to commemoration and the traumatic nature of the events, and especially the “ideal nature” of the victims who as symbolic representatives of the State are conferred with great moral authority. Drawing on primary and secondary data on the commemoration of the attacks of 11th September 2001 and 11th March 2004 we find that despite sharp differences between commemorative processes, three common key areas of contestation and dissatisfaction for victims emerge: political instrumentalisation, hierarchies of worth and exclusion. We show how the status of ideal victimhood for victims of transnational terrorism carries within it an inherent paradox which provides the key to their dissatisfaction, namely the moral authority conferred on them as representatives of the State simultaneously depersonalises them, excluding them as individuals with rights and needs.     

'More Intimate Than Violence': Sexual Violation in Sarah Dunant's Transgressions

Horeck looks at what happens when a feminist author attempts to rewrite one of culture's most powerful narratives: the story of female victimization and male sexual violence. Exploring the controversy surrounding Sarah Dunant's 1997 thriller Transgressions , a novel accused of being 'anti-feminist' for its alleged depiction of female sexual arousal in a rape scene, she asks after feminism's fictional investment in images of rape. What kind of cultural work are images of sexual violence being made to perform for feminist crime writers? Her contention is that Dunant's novel exemplifies the purchase that rape holds for feminism as a scenario for working through questions of female agency and male-female sexual relations. Through her represenation of the female translator's attempt to rewrite a dominant cultural narrative of male brutality and female victimization, Dunant is thematizing the difficult work of the feminist crime writer. But while the novel's fictional representation of sex and violence can be read as an attempt to unsettle governing gender codes, Horeck argues that it also inadvertently shows up the limitations of the female crime writer's attempt to fight 'fantasy with fantasy'.     

在华的印尼新娘:商品化婚姻、人口贩卖与骗婚

印尼在华的合约新娘问题引起了中国、印尼政府与社会的广泛关注。中印尼经济发展的差距、非法中介谋求暴利和印尼新娘对富裕生活的向往,成为在华印尼新娘群体日益扩大的动因。在华的印尼新娘问题并不是单一的社会问题,其中杂糅了商品化婚姻、人口贩卖和婚姻诈骗等问题,处理起来千头万绪,十分棘手。稍有不慎,极有可能成为第二个"印尼的中国劳工问题"。因此,在解决在华的印尼新娘问题时,中国应完善涉外婚姻法,加强与印尼的合作,严厉打击从事非法涉外婚姻介绍的个人或组织,严厉惩治人口贩卖,及时解救被贩人员,建立健全跨国婚姻纠纷应对机制,尽快形成两国婚姻信息的互通机制及查询制度,共同扩建自由婚姻领域,促进跨国婚姻的和谐稳定。     

Self-Control and Deviance: A Test of the General Theory of Crime in Argentina

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime (GTC) has been one of the most cited and tested theories in criminology. It posits to be in effect transcultural in its application and relevant for any norm-violating behaviors. As most empirical work has been completed in English speaking countries, the current study tested some of the main theoretical postulates in a sample of 214 Argentinean male adolescents, both offenders and non-offenders. More specifically, it tested the relationships between parental practices, self-control, criminal opportunities, and deviance. Findings provide evidence that offenders reported more deviant behaviors and more risk factors than non-offenders. They also provide partial empirical support for the main theoretical propositions. Maternal closeness, support. and monitoring had different effects on self-control and on deviance; both low self-control and opportunities had direct effects of deviant behaviors. Theoretical, research, and practical implications of study findings are discussed.