THE FUTURE OF POLICE AUTHORITIES: MEMBERS VIEWS

Part of the argument about police accountability concerns the role of police authorities, their membership and powers. The Conservative, Alliance and Labour Parties have developed policies which are broadly retentionist – leave things as they are – reformist – change the membership – and radical – empower police authorities to determine policy. The evidence suggests that police authority members' views, though broadly consistent with their party policies nationally, differ in some important respects. Conservatives are increasingly unhappy about the statutory co-option of magistrates. Alliance members appear not to favour an increase in the proportion of nonelected members. And many Labour councillors entertain doubts about the control model.     

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum–The Hidden Epidemic in Our Courts

This article discusses the basics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAS/E): the history, nature, prevalence, causes, and effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol. Some of the unique features of FAS/E are explored, particularly those that make it so hard to spot and those that predispose people to nonproductive or criminal activity. The presentation of FAS/E in Juvenile Court is discussed and put in the context of the multiplicity of factors pertaining to delinquency; finally, innovative interventions, approaches and resources are laid out. Issues surrounding FAS/E as they appear in Family Court are then explored, with emphasis on the intergenerational transmission of this array of conditions and how we might interrupt such transmission.     

THE IMPACT OF REAPPORTIONMENT ON POLICY EXPENDITURES: A Quasi-Experimental Time-Series Analysis

While there is little question that court-ordered reapportionment has changed the composition of state legislative personnel, it is still unclear whether reapportionment has had any significant impact on public policies. Evidence to date has been both contradictory and methodologically suspect. Using time-series regression in a quasi-experimental design, we examine the effects of reapportionment on expenditures in three policy areas within eight states—four control (states well apportioned before 1964) and four experimental (states egregiously malapportioned before 1964). Contrary to recent time-series analyses on this topic, we find that the implementation of the "one man, one vote" ruling had little significant effect on the distribution of state expenditures believed beneficial to urban interests.