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The Effect Of Prior Consensual Sex Between The Victim And The Offender On The Prosecutor's Decision To File Charges In Sexual Assault Cases., Kimberly Brooke Hollifield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that both legal and extra-legal factors are used by the prosecutor in a sexual assault case when making the decision to file charges in the case. However, no study on sexual assault prosecutorial discretion, at this time, has examined the effect of prior consensual sex between the victim and the offender and the affect that it has on the prosecutor’s decision to file charges. Using data from a National Institute of Justice Study on sexual assault case processing, this study tests whether evidence of prior consensual sex between the victim and the offender plays a role in …

The International Criminal Court: A Contextual Study Of A Nascent Court Within The International Criminal Legal System, Ronald Ian Mackay Rennie

LLM Theses

The 'Rome Statute' of the International Criminal Court (ICC) represents an exciting and revolutionary development in the field of international law generally and international criminal law specifically. Unfortunately there are many ways in which academics, the media and political decision-makers misinterpret its intent and its nature. This thesis considers these traps and embarks upon an analysis of international criminal law by considering the content of the Statute and how it proceeds to establish an International Criminal Court, capable of bringing those most serious perpetrators to account. The subject matter of the ICC reveals a Court with a very limited jurisdiction, …

The Boynton Beach Juvenile First Offender Program: Does It Really Work?, Andrew M. Rosenberg

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

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Women's Equality In The Canadian Criminal Justice System: Something Less Than A Fair Shake, P. Michael Cantlon

LLM Theses

This thesis examines the issue of gender equality in the Canadian criminal justice system. It dissects two specific issues, the disclosure of a sexual assault complainant's therapeutic or counselling records and the prosecution of domestic assault charges. Within these two issues it is argued that the criminal justice system has failed to treat female victims of violent crime fairly and equally. Moreover, it is suggested that this failure is anchored in a neglect of the appreciation of the unique gender issues connected to these matters within a contextual framework. With regards to the disclosure issue, a fundamental tenet, the presumption …

Sexual Misconduct Of Educators: A Comparison Of Decisions Of Courts And Tribunals In British Columbia, Nova Scotia And Ontario, Barbara J. Murray

LLM Theses

This thesis examines the genesis of society's awareness of the problem of child sexual abuse as well as changes in the legal system to the prosecution of child sexual offence cases and then situates the problem within the educational system in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario. Thereafter, there is an examination of the panoply of remedies that the legal system provides to victims of sexual misconduct by educators. Conversely, it also analyses whether it is fair that educators who engage in such conduct should be faced with a multiplicity of proceedings before many different institutions. Further, the efficacy of …

Is Capital Punishment A Deterrent To Crime?, Greg Warren Colyer

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Racial Differences In Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Women, Lekeshia M. Washington

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the racial differences in rape myth acceptance among college women. There has been little research on the topic of rape which examines solely the opinions of women. Black and white college women {N=623) completed a survey which measured the degree of acceptance or rejection of false beliefs about rape, rape victims, or rapists. These false beliefs were termed rape myths. The myths demean the victim and support stereotypes about rape. Past research suggests that blacks accept rape myths more than whites, and that victims accept rape myths more than nonvictims. This study's analyses suggest that women as …

The Effects Of Inadequate Mental Health Resources On The Operation Of The Mental Disorder Provisions, Giuseppa Bentivegna

LLM Theses

In this thesis, I focus on whether adequate mental health resources exist and are available to a category of persons in the forensic mental health system--those found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder of an offence under the mental disorder provisions, Part XX.1, of the 'Criminal Code '. I argue that adequate mental health services which address the needs of accused persons are necessary for the proper functioning of the mental disorder provisions of the 'Code'. I argue that these provisions were designed to foster the release and re-integration into society of persons within this system as quickly …

The Supreme Court Of Canada, Parliament And The Charter: Exploring The Limits Of The Judicial Function In Criminal Law, Patricia A. Fricker

LLM Theses

Two constitutional principles--constitutional supremacy and parliamentary supremacy--should not be treated as antagonistic. The task for the Supreme Court of Canada since its elevation as constitutional arbiter has been to find the balance between these two constitutional doctrines. It must do so within the limits prescribed by the judicial function. What are those limits in the context of criminal law? The definitional elements of the offence; the political and legal theory of classical liberalism; the Charter's constitutional, as opposed to statutory, character; the primacy of either crime control or due process values in judicial decision-making; the fluctuating balance in the criminal …

An Exploratory Inquiry Into Community Policing Using Focus Groups: Perspectives From Social Service Providers, Tanya Leigh Ostrogorsky

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Portland, Oregon's community policing policy by using focus groups to discuss the development and effectiveness over one year, Spring 1994 to Spring 1995. The group discussed included management level social service providers and was one piece of a large scale program evaluation. The collected data developed into six major categories: 1) personnel policies and institutional memory; 2) training; 3) consistency; 4) community involvement and responsibility; 5) partnerships or relationships, and 6) change over time. The most highly discussed issue was the discrepancy between the philosophy of the Bureau, community policing, and the …

An Examination Of Factors Influencing The Definition Of Rape, Connie Sue Minton

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the concept of rape and factors which influence the definition of rape. A survey consisting of demographic and attitudinal questions and rape scenarios was administered to college students at two middle-sized universities in the southeast. The results indicate that as the level of intimacy between the victim and the rapist increases the likelihood of a situation being defined as a rape decreases. In this study religion and political attitudes were two independent variables which did not influence the definition of rape while race, gender, relationships with women, and attitudes toward women were …

Race, Aggravated Murder, And The Death Sentence In Multnomah County, Oregon, 1984-1990 : A Descriptive Analysis And Review, Patrick Arthur Jolley

Dissertations and Theses

Criminal justice administrators in the United States have been challenged by a highly visible accusation of racial discrimination. This perception has weakened the confidence in, and support of, our judicial process. This study attempted to clarify this perception by examining the effect of race on certain judicial decisions related to the death penalty. The variables chosen for analysis focused on the persons involved in the homicide, the circumstances of the crime, and decisions made during the processing of capital cases.

In Favor Of Capital Punishment: A Blending Of Philosophical Perspectives, James Charles Donnelly

Institute for the Humanities Theses

There has been little intellectual support for the average American's view of the proper relationship between L' crime and punishment. This text is an effort to philosophically define and defend this view. Chapters one and two deal with teleological theories and justification for systems and rules of practices. I first discuss the historical relationship of man to the state, showing the necessity of and providing a basis for civil authority and law and showing both to be based on social utility. This accomplished, a teleological justification of a system of punishment is presented. Chapter three discusses retribution as the deontological …

An Analysis Of Prison Sentence Disparity In West Virginia, Deanna J. Shields

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The sentencing of individuals is a very important stage in the Criminal Justice System in the United States. The sentence is the basic decision which determines how, where, and for how long an offender should be dealt with by the state (LaBeff, 1978, p. 1). This study will focus on the question of whether or not sentence disparity exists in West Virginia.

Sentencing processes in our Criminal Justice System today are in keeping with the “Treatment Model” of Corrections . According to Fogel (1975) in We Are The Living Proof, the treatment model has three main goals: (1) diagnosis …

Former Jeopardy, David Joyce

Historical Theses and Dissertations Collection

No abstract provided.

Criminal Intent, Harry Austin Yetter

Historical Theses and Dissertations Collection

Presented for the Degree of Bachelor of Law.

Admissibility Of Evidence Of Intoxication As A Defense To Crime, Harrison Foster Johnson

Historical Theses and Dissertations Collection

No abstract provided.

Insanity As A Defence In Criminal Law, P. Holmes Reed

Historical Theses and Dissertations Collection

No abstract provided.