A problem with empirical studies of party policy shifts: Alternative measures of party shifts are uncorrelated

Many recent cross-national studies analyse the causes and electoral consequences of party policy shifts, using party position measures derived from election manifestos, expert surveys or voter surveys. However few studies validate their findings by analysing multiple measures of party policy shifts. In this article, data on European parties’ position shifts on both European integration and left-right ideology is analysed, showing that this is problematic because, while alternative measures of party policy positions correlate strongly in cross-sectional analyses, alternative measures of parties’ policy shifts are essentially uncorrelated in longitudinal analyses. Suggestions are offered on how to address this problem.     

刑事诉讼专家辅助人的倾向性及界限

刑事诉讼专家辅助人的倾向性,指专家辅助人帮助委托方参与刑事诉讼鉴定意见的质证、提出专家意见所体现的一种职业上的偏向。新《刑事诉讼法》及其司法解释并未明确专家辅助人的倾向性,不利于其属性的完整。因此,应当比较外国为平衡专家制度属性所进行的相关制度设计,定位我国刑事诉讼专家辅助人的＂相对二元化倾向性＂及其法律界限、科学界限、道德界限,以及这些界限的制度保障。     

司法鉴定投诉与上访处理制度研究

司法鉴定投诉与上访处理制度是司法鉴定制度的内容之一。随着司法鉴定活动的范围与深度不断拓展，涉鉴上访逐年增加，其处理机制的重要性凸显，但是理论界对于这一内容的制度性研究较少。处理机制的研究应当在分析涉鉴上访的历史、特点、成因的基础上，以相关法律法规为依据，提出关于该制度的原则性建构、规则性建构、监督机制建构与责任机制建构等具体制度内容。     

学生工与高校国书馆建设新探

学生工参与图书馆建设既可以帮助大学生锻炼成材,又可以促进图书馆的建设,因此,是相互促进、互利共赢的。目前,学生工参与图书馆建设在平等相待、教育培训等方面存在问题。为更好地发挥学生工参与图书馆建设的作用,图书馆需要在更新馆员观念、加强学生工思想教育等方面采取措施,加以改进。     

The role of the sociologist as mitigation expert in a sentencing hearing

This paper examines Louisiana’s habitual offender statute and the role of a sociologist as a mitigation expert/criminologist in a specific case. The paper includes a summary of the habitual offender statute; the literature/theories used by the sociologist in his testimony; the trial judge’s decision; and the decision of the three-judge panel of the appellant court, particularly the minority opinion. The case has been returned to the district court for re-sentencing and the trial judge is under no obligation to accept the panel’s decision; but in practice must justify any lenient sentence. The use of sociology as mitigation in criminal cases generally is discussed. The author has worked in over 300 criminal cases since 1988, most of which were capital murder, but also include second-degree murder, manslaughter, armed robbery, rape, and habitual offender hearings.     

论法医临床鉴定中被鉴定人的知情同意权

临床医学中的知情同意权是医学实践中由基本伦理上升为受法律保障的患者权利,通过告知同意书的契约形式表达。法医临床鉴定中的被鉴定人与医疗体系中的患者具有类似的法律地位,但尚无相应的法律法规赋予被鉴定人知情同意权。笔者建议法医临床学鉴定中可赋予被鉴定人一定的知情同意权,在与鉴定机构的契约化关系下,参与鉴定过程,知悉必要的鉴定信息,并对鉴定意见有选择性同意权,从而实现司法鉴定程序的公平、正义。     

The Impact of Daubert on the Admissibility of Forensic Anthropology Expert Testimony

Forensic anthropologists anticipated a significant impact from the 1993 Supreme Court Daubert decision, which addressed the standard of admissibility for expert testimony. In response, many forensic articles cited Daubert in the search for objective techniques or a critique of established subjective methods. This study examines challenges to forensic anthropological expert testimony to evaluate whether Daubert has actually affected the admissibility of such testimony. Thirty cases were identified that addressed the admissibility of the testimony, including 14 cases prior to Daubert and 16 after Daubert. Examination of these cases indicates that post‐Daubert cases do not result in more exclusions. Yet, this lack of exclusions may instead be viewed as a manifestation of the field's overall surge toward more objective and quantifiable techniques in a self‐regulating response to Daubert.     

试论立法的有限理性及制度完善

立法的有限理性存在的根源表现为立法人员的知识或知识结构的偏失、立法人员的个人偏好、立法中信息源的不足以及立法信息传递的中间层级的失真，由此而可能造成立法质量较低、立法的可操作性不强以及立法成本大，立法效益降低等情况。对立洪的有限理性的制度完善方面主要要在立法中建立专家委员会咨询制度、立法助理制度以及立法听证制度。     

论对资助行政行为的控制

给付行政作为现代行政的一项基本职能,虽然不同于传统的规制行政,但亦应遵循法治主义的基本原则。给付行政大致可分为供给行政、资助行政和社会保障行政等领域。以资助行政为研究对象,在分析资助行政行为的一般理论的基础上,从资助资金、资助规则、资助程序以及对资助行政行为的司法审查等角度,分析对资助行政权力的制约机制,以促进该领域的法治建设。     

Evaluating the accuracy and precision of cranial morphological traits for sex determination

Sex determination is a key analysis that forensic anthropologists perform in order to construct a biological profile of human remains. The techniques used in forensic investigations must meet the Mohan or Daubert criteria, for admissibility in a court of law. In this study, the precision and accuracy of 21 morphological characteristics of the skull were tested on a modern sample of 50 adult crania of European White ancestry. The following craniofacial features are identified as high-quality traits, defined by intraobserver error or=80%: mastoid size, supraorbital ridge size, general size and architecture, rugosity of the zygomatic extension, size and shape of the nasal aperture, and gonial angle. Ninety-six percent accuracy and 92% precision were achieved using 20 traits in combination. Fisher's exact probability tests revealed no significant differences (p=0.05) in the levels of precision or accuracy between age categories. Sex-related bias in accuracy was found for the following cranial features: ramus symphysis (p=0.009), zygomatic extension (p=0.0016), and occipital markings (p=0.0013). These traits demonstrated a greater tendency to be scored male than female.