Webster and women's equality

The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and the Women's Legal Defense Fund (WLDF) co-authored an "amicus curiae" brief in "Webster." The brief was written for 77 organizations who believe in equality of women. The brief said that constitutional protection of a woman's right to choose is guaranteed by the right to privacy. The brief said that if abortions were illegal, women would not be able to take place in society equally with men. Liberty would be taken away from women. If the state interferes with abortion, the principle of bodily integrity is violated. In "Winston v. Lee," the Supreme Court found that the state could not compel a criminal to undergo an invasive surgical procedure to retrieve a bullet necessary for the state to prosecute with. 1 in 4 women have a cesarean section, which requires a larger incision in the abdomen, and has many risks. Bearing and raising children often puts a damper on women's employment opportunities. Therefore, if the Supreme Court denied women the right to bear children when and where they wanted, women would not have the right to plan their futures. If the Supreme Court were to agree that "interest in potential life outweighs" a woman's tight to procreate autonomously, states could declare all abortions illegal, investigate them to see if they were induced on purpose, and murder women who induced them. Contraceptive devices could be declared illegal. Laws could be used to force women to submit to cesarean sections and other fetal surgery. Pre-viability abortion restrictions should be rejected because they have old-fashioned notions of women's role in society. They reinforce stereotypes. Missouri's law stresses aiding "potential," rather than actual life.     

Homogeneity of jurors

A dissenting juror faces considerable social pressure from the majority to acept their position. This article postulated that whether the dissenter conforms or not should be dependent, in part, on attributions made about the cause of the majority's behavior. Specifically, it was hypothesized that to the extent the majority jurors are perceived to be independent of one another, their credibility should be high and the dissenter will likely adopt their position. On the other hand, agreement among homogeneous jurors may be attributed to mutual influence or similar personalities and, therefore, discounted as a reliable source of information about the case. Two studies investigated the relationship between both attributions of independence and social influence, and the homogeneity of the jurors attempting influence. Overall, findingsfrom the studies indicate that the manner in which jurors are initially categorized into social groups affects their perceived independence and persuasive impact.This research was supported, in part, by the NIH under grant No. 29807 and by the Rutgers University Research Council. I thank John Carroll and Daniel Perlman for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Afterschool Youth Program Design and Structural Quality: Implications for Quality Improvement

This study examined quality and afterschool program designs with a focus on conditions of persistent low quality. Using an action science case study method, data from a quality-improvement project were examined to explore circumstances and reasons for low quality. Four identified program designs varied by emphasis on academics, school alignment, physical space, resources, and grouping strategies, as well as by the operationalization of youth choice. These program design features were found to be dynamically interrelated and key elements of structural quality yet were not found to be targets of state, funder, or agency quality improvement interventions guided by the current broad theory of change for quality initiatives. Structural quality, conceptualized as dynamic and interdependent, may be a prerequisite condition for self-directed quality improvement or a focus of targeted quality interventions.     

Inside Quality: Examination of Quality Improvement Processes in Afterschool Youth Programs

Using a case study method, afterschool site leader experiences and organizational factors related to youth program quality improvement processes were examined. Responding to issues identified by site leaders, external technical assistance targeted both program structure and content. Staff beliefs of internal program quality standards, such as a mandatory focus on academics, affected learning and quality improvement processes. Hierarchical organizational program standards and supports, including internal self-assessments, did not appear to foster buy-in, learning, or site-based problem-solving for quality improvement. Results indicated the need for further examination of the theory of change and pedagogical approaches to quality technical assistance.     

Strangers at the gate: the role of multidimensional ideas,policy anomalies and institutional gatekeepers in biofuel policy developments in the USA and European Union

Policy Sciences - This article contributes to scholarly understanding of how policy ideas and institutions interact to affect policy change by investigating why legislation mandating the use of...