Validation study of the TrueAllele automated data review system

The New York State Convicted Offender DNA Databank is the first U.S. lab to complete an internal validation of the TrueAllele expert data review system. TrueAllele is designed to assess short tandem repeat (STR) DNA data based on several key features such as peak height, shape, area, and position relative to a standard ladder and use this information to make accurate allele calls. The software then prioritizes the allele calls based on several user-defined rules. As a result, the user need only review low-quality data. The validation of this system consisted of an extensive optimization phase and a large concordance phase. During optimization, the rule settings were tailored to minimize the amount of high-quality data viewed by the user. In the concordance phase, a large dataset was typed in parallel with the ABI software Gene Scan and Genotyper (manual review) and TrueAllele (automated review) for comparison of allele calls and sample state assignment. Only one significant difference was discovered out of 2048 samples in the concordance study. In this case, TrueAllele revealed a spike in the profile that was interpreted as a DNA peak by the analyst in Genotyper. TrueAllele was designed to focus the review on poor data and to eliminate the need for complete reanalysis technical review. This validation project proved TrueAllele to be dependable for use at the NYS Convicted Offender DNA Databank.     

Just Cognition: Scientific Research on Bias and Some Implications for Legal Procedure and Decision‐Making

Common law judges have traditionally been concerned about bias and the appearance of bias. Bias is believed to threaten the administration of justice and the legitimacy of legal decision‐making, particularly public confidence in the courts. This article contrasts legal approaches to bias with a range of biases, particularly cognitive biases, familiar to scientists who study human cognition and decision‐making. Research reveals that judges have narrowly conceived the biases that threaten legal decision‐making, insisting that some potential sources of bias are not open to review and that they are peculiarly resistant to bias through legal training and judicial experience. This article explains how, notwithstanding express concern with bias, there has been limited legal engagement with many risks known to actually bias decision‐making. Through examples, and drawing upon scientific research, it questions legal approaches and discusses the implications of more empirically‐based approaches to bias for decision making and institutional legitimacy.     

New Directions in Intersections,Inequality, and Sentencing

Intersectional approaches to sentencing move beyond simply predicting disparities to consider the ways in which social characteristics such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, and class combine to create even more pronounced inequalities. The current review examines research on intersectionality within the context of criminal sentencing. We identify some of the most promising recent trends in this literature, such as attention to family status in the context of focal concerns as well as the inclusion of immigration status in studies of federal sentencing outcomes. Moving beyond the sentencing stage, we also suggest that an intersectional approach can be extended to decision making within the context of postsentencing outcomes, such as gender-specific and culturally sensitive programming and treatment of offenders in institutional and community corrections settings.     

Gender and “Other People's Money”: An Analysis of White-Collar Offender Sentencing

Although the female share of white-collar crime arrests (e.g., fraud, forgery, and embezzlement) continues to increase, little is known about the nature of women's involvement in these offenses, or the extent to which the legal treatment of white-collar offenders differs by gender. Using national survey data on employee crime, the present research addresses these voids in the literature. Consistent with prior research, women's roles in fraud offending are restricted by their positions in the organizational hierarchy. In support of the focal concerns perspective, results show that the decision to incarcerate and length of sentence are primarily shaped by indicators of offender blameworthiness. Findings reported here contribute to the literature on gender and white-collar crime, and also extend the growing body of focal concerns research to a previously unexplored sentencing context.     

The effects of legal and extra-legal characteristics on organizational victim decision-making

A variety of factors influence decisions to mobilize formal social control. With few exceptions, studies considering the effects of legal (e.g., case specific) and extra legal (e.g., offender and victim characteristics) variables have concentrated on sentencing under criminal law, an outcome subject to sample selection bias given that the majority of cases never reach this stage. Analyses of earlier decision points (e.g., victim calls for service, police use of force, and arrest), have focused on street crime and single jurisdictions. A neglected research context is the organizational victim’s response to employee fraud. Using a sample of 663 fraud cases, this study applies Black’s (The behavior of law, San Diego, Academic, 1976) theory of law to victim organizations’ decisions to mobilize formal social control. Results demonstrate that extralegal characteristics weigh heavily on decisions to initiate both criminal and civil outcomes. Specifically, offenders’ education and age decreased the odds of criminal legal mobilization. Mobilization of criminal law was also more likely by government agencies. Implications for Black’s theory and directions for further research are discussed.     

A Coordinated Community Response to Intimate Partner Violence on the College Campus

Recent statistics indicate that intimate partner violence is magnified on college campuses. In the university setting, victims of intimate partner violence may encounter numerous agencies (e.g., campus police, local courts, victim advocates) following reporting of victimization. The need for a coordinated community response to intimate partner violence of college students has been emphasized in recent years, yet little research has been conducted. This qualitative, exploratory study examines perceptions of 15 service providers in a recently implemented, campus-based, coordinated community response. Narrative data from semistructured interviews indicate that service providers are generally satisfied with the current response, but report a need for increased training and resources. Implications for future research, education, and public policy are discussed.     

The Consequences of Identity Theft Victimization: An Examination of Emotional and Physical Health Outcomes

Identity theft—one of the fastest growing crimes—results in considerable financial losses as well as time spent to restore credit and prevent future attacks. While scholars have begun to devote more attention to identifying the factors that increase risk of identity theft, little is known about the aftermath for victims. Using data from the Identity Theft Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, we address this gap in the literature. Results indicate that, in addition to financial losses and loss of time, victims also experience emotional (e.g., depression) and physical (e.g., poor health) symptoms. The implications of these findings for theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

Rooted displacement: the paradox of belonging among stateless people

Abstract

Stateless people are noncitizens everywhere. Yet, unlike many noncitizens, they are not border crossers. Despite the majority’s physical rootedness in the countries of their birth, the stateless are nonetheless forcibly displaced. Their peculiar form of noncitizenship displaces them in situ as they lack the right to choose to belong to the specific communities within which they were born and raised. Using The Bahamas and the Dominican Republic as case studies, this article illustrates how the stateless are either forcibly cast into liminality or made to take on the nationality of a country with which they do not identify when the State can no longer tolerate their noncitizen status.