Law Commons^™

Judging Our New Judges: Why We Must Remove Artificial Intelligence From Our Courtrooms Now, Kieran Duffy Newcomb

Honors Theses and Capstones

In this paper, I explore some of the ways in which artificial intelligence might enhance the sentencing process through recidivism prediction technology. Notably, this technology can increase the accuracy of risk predictions and the speed with which sentencing decisions are reached. I then show, however, that the recidivism prediction technology is likely to turn into what data scientist Cathy O’Neil calls a Weapon of Math Destruction. The potential harmfulness of this technology is due not to the inherent nature of the technology, but the symbiotic relationship it will have with our already harmful criminal justice system. I argue that the …

How Can Law Enforcement Use Technology To Protect Citizens Justly?, Zach Kantenwein

Emerging Writers

This paper explores the danger of emerging artificial intelligence technology perpetuating racial injustice in law enforcement and how police can ensure the protection of citizens amid this information age. We dissect a real-world case in which AI predictive policing technology resulted in alarming racial discrimination against American minority citizens. We discuss the possible explanations for this result and explore the limitations of artificial intelligence technology. Furthermore, we brainstorm methods for ensuring American citizens' just and constitutional protection as new technology is developed and tested. We propose implementing transparency laws that make the details about any policing technology and surveillance available …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Creating A Just System Of Civil Recourse – Articulating The Controlled Instrumentalist Approach For Marginalized People, Rukmini Banerjee

CMC Senior Theses

A system of civil recourse is a precondition for a just society. In this paper, I outline the ideal version of a system of civil recourse and analyze the accounts of various liberal philosophers to explain how a non-instrumental and mutual accountability theory of civil recourse best encapsulates its stated purpose. I analyze the American system of civil recourse, specifically tort law, and argue that it bypasses the threshold of tolerable injustice for marginalized people in the United States. Using Tommie Shelby’s framework in Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform, I argue that marginalized people are not obligated by …

The Juris Master: A Proposal For Reducing Excessive Public Defender Caseloads, Blake Comeaux

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

The US public defense system is underfunded, understaffed, and underdelivering on the Constitutional promises of the 6^th Amendment, the right to a fair and speedy trial. This state of our public defense system results in monstrous impacts for indigent defendants nationwide. Through indefinite delays in litigation, being abandoned in jail while sitting on waiting lists for public defenders, and being outright denied representation, indigent defendants are deprived of their rights. Beyond just defendant neglect, our current system puts immense strain on public defenders, prosecutors, and state budgets. In an attempt to combat this current state of affairs, this paper …

Combating Systemic Racism With Truth Commissions, Katherine E. Miles

Theses

The main form of justice practiced in the United States when it comes to criminal proceedings and individual wrongdoings is a form of justice called Retributive Justice. Retributive justice is committed to following these three principles, 1: that those who commit certain kinds of wrongful acts, morally deserve to suffer an equivalent punishment; 2: that it is intrinsically morally good—good without reference to any other goods if some legitimate punisher gives them the punishment they deserve; and 3: that it is morally impermissible to punish the innocent intentionally or to inflict disproportionately large punishments on offenders. From the three principles …

The Impact Of The Canva Program On The Learning Of The Ninth Grade Students In Jordanian Schools Of Html, Maha Abu Maizer

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This is a semi-experimental study that aims at measuring the impact of CANVA on the learning of ninth graders in a Jordanian school of HTML. 50 female ninth graders were randomly selected from 72 students in Aisha Bint Abi Baker school, and were distributed to two groups; control, which was taught traditionally, and experimental, which was taught with CANVA to learn HTML as a part of their computer curriculum. The researcher used a set of 20 multiple choice questions to test their knowledge achievement and skills. After checking the validity and reliability of the test. The results showed that there …

The Made And The Made-Up, Steven L. Winter Walter S. Gibbs Distinguished Professor Of Constitutional Law

Law Faculty Research Publications

Truth is an ethical relation. Facts, whether descriptions of the physical world or of historical events, are necessarily mediated by our frames of reference. This contingency opens a space for disagreement that cannot be adjudicated by an absolute standard of truth. For those seeking power or profit, the temptation to exploit this state of undecidability is strong. When many question the institutions that broker meaning – science, the professions, the media – rumors, misinformation, deliberate distortions and falsehoods all proliferate. In the digital age, the ‘made’ is swiftly supplanted by the made-up. The remedy for this predicament is not technological …

Predictors Of College Student Support Toward Colin Kaepernick’S National Anthem Protests, Brooke Coursen, Nicole Peiffer, Sakira Coleman, Philip Lucius

VA Engage Journal

Racial discrimination and inequality have perpetuated within the U.S. since its inception. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick initiated the national anthem protests to oppose the oppression of people of color in America. This study was developed in 2018 to identify social determinants of health underlying discriminatory beliefs and behaviors. The objective was to investigate the impacts of college students’ race, gender, political ideology, socio-economic status [SES], NFL interest, patriotism, and general protest support on support for the national anthem protests. We administered paper-and-pencil surveys across locations on the James Madison University campus using a convenience sample. There were 408 participants included, …

Demons & Droids: Nonhuman Animals On Trial, Gerrit D. White

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Nonhuman animal trials are ridiculous to the modern sensibilities of the West. The concept of them is in opposition to the idea of nonhuman animals—entities without agency, incapable of guilt by nature of irrationality. This way of viewing nonhuman animals is relatively new to the Western mind. Putting nonhuman animals on trial has only become unacceptable in the past few centuries. Before this shift, nonhuman animal trials existed as methods of communities policing themselves. More than that, these trials were part of legal systems ensuring they provided justice for all. This shift happened because the relationship between Christian authorities and …

Degree Of Satisfaction Of Elderly About The Services Provided To Them In Social Care Houses In White Beds Association, Yousef Mohammed Al-Shurman, Ferdous Hasan Omari

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the degree of satisfaction of the elderly about the (social, health, entertainment, psychological) services provided to them in social care houses. The sample of the study includes all residents of the White Beds Association for the care of the elderly in Amman. The researcher designed a questionnaire to use in the interviews with the elderly. The questionnaire has four items, and each item includes a group of questions about the service provided to them. The researcher interviewed all the members of the White Beds Association, whose health condition allowed this, (75 elderly people: 44 men …

Bad Acts, Worse Responses: Reconsidering The Moral Foundations Of The Us Criminal Justice System, Christian N. Futch

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contemporary criminal justice system in the United States, offering moral and pragmatic critiques to its current construction, and proposing an alternative construction that is both more successful pragmatically and morally. In this paper, I first establish the connection between morality and the law through the consideration of jurisprudential theories of law. After arguing for this connection, I then offer critiques of the current criminal justice system in the United States. After this, I evaluate the four general theories of punishment using the scholarship of Thom Brooks, finding that retributive and deterrent …

Exceptional Driving Principles For Autonomous Vehicles, A. D'Amato, S. Dancel, J. Pilutti, L. Tellis, E. Frascaroli, J. C. Gerdes

Journal of Law and Mobility

Public expectations for automated vehicles span a broad range, from mobility for passengers, to road user safety, to compliance with the traffic code. In most ordinary situations, these expectations can be satisfied simultaneously. But these various expectations can also lead to exceptional scenarios where certain objectives, such as those related to safety, are in tension with road rules. Exceptional driving scenarios challenge motion planning algorithms in automated vehicles to find solutions that are legally grounded, ethically sound, and technically feasible.

The general public’s familiarity with exceptional driving scenarios comes from the classic "Trolley Car" problem in philosophy, asking who should …

Facultas Marginem: Assessing Disability Data And Public Aau Universities’ Affirmative Action Plans For Systemic Barriers Facing Faculty With Disabilities, Joseph Carlton Barry

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This dissertation contributes to education equity scholarship produced by academics seeking to develop understandings of disability, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), and how both are situated amongst faculty in institutions of higher education. As such, this dissertation centers on a study of public US universities belonging to the Association of American Universities (AAU). This study looks for institutional level associations between respective rates by which college and university faculty with disabilities (FWD) are employed, certain aspects of disability policy drawn from each institution’s 2020 Affirmative Action Plans (AAP), and various other instances of empirical disability data (EDD).

While this study contributes …

Calls For Change: Seeing Cancel Culture From A Multi-Level Perspective, Tomar Pierson-Brown

Articles

Transition Design offers a framework and employs an array of tools to engage with complexity. “Cancel culture” is a complex phenomenon that presents an opportunity for administrators in higher education to draw from the Transition Design approach in framing and responding to this trend. Faculty accused of or caught using racist, sexist, or homophobic speech are increasingly met with calls to lose their positions, titles, or other professional opportunities. Such calls for cancellation arise from discreet social networks organized around an identified lack of accountability for social transgressions carried out in the professional school environment. Much of the existing discourse …

Righting Health Policy: Bioethics, Political Philosophy, And The Normative Justification Of Health Law And Policy, D. Robert Macdougall

Publications and Research

In Righting Health Policy, D. Robert MacDougall argues that bioethics needs but does not have adequate tools for justifying law and policy. Bioethics’ tools are mostly theories about what we owe each other. But justifying laws and policies requires more; at a minimum, it requires tools for explaining the legitimacy of actions intended to control or influence others. It consequently requires political, rather than moral, philosophy. After showing how bioethicists have consistently failed to use tools suitable for achieving their political aims, MacDougall develops an interpretation of Kant’s political philosophy. On this account the legitimacy of health laws does …

Witnessing Anew: Human Rights Advocacy For Migrants At The U.S. Southern Border In Covid-19 Times, Ellen Maccarone

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In this paper I provide a case study of transnational migrant advocacy done by the Kino Border Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly before the pandemic I spent a week with KBI for an immersion experience part of which focused on the ideas of human rights advocacy and witnessing. “Witness” in this context has both a spiritual/moral dimension and an experiential one that can form a foundation for advocacy. Using accounts of migrants to inform and humanize changed when interpersonal witnessing became impossible during the pandemic. This increased the levels of human rights abuses experienced by migrants and limited the …

Linguistic Branching Of Semantics In Arabic: A Social Approach, Hanan Ismael Amayreh, Mohammad Ismael Amayreh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

Linguist Branching is appropriate for Arabic Language as words branch out mostly from roots, and every root becomes a tree, which is different from others, not because of the tree itself, but because of what society uses. Language branching expresses the controversial relationship between the language and the rules that govern it from one side, and society’s preference of certain terms over others from the other side. This study tries to answer the following questions: does the language impose the used words, or does it offer options for society to choose what suits it? The study reaches a conclusion that …

The Reality Of Applying Governance Within The Criteria Of Quality Assurance At Schools Of Sport Science At Jordanian Universities, Sari Ahmad Hamdan, Fatima Marof Al-Khrisat

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study examines the reality of applying governance within The Criteria of Quality Assurance at schools of Sport Science at Jordanian Universities from their members perspective. It also aims at finding out the differences in the schools' members perspective. The sample of the study consisted of (86) school members who work in (University of Jordan, Yarmouk University, Mu'tah University, Hashemite University, and Al-Ahliyya Amman University). To achieve the objectives of the study, the Descriptive approach was used. The results showed that the reality of applying governance came to a high degree, and they were statistically significant in the perspective of …

The Image Of The Andalusian Woman In Love And Adored In The Muwashahat Of The Sixth Century Ah In Andalusia, Ali Mosa A-Masha’Leh, Nawal Abd Rahman Al-Shawabkeh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This research aims at exploring the image of the Andalusian woman in love and adored in the sixth hijri century of Andalusia. It explores the real image of women through Andalusian muwashahat and books of literature, translations and others. This research displays the image of the beloved woman and her relationship with her mother where washaheen discuss her beauty. As for the beloved woman, washaheen believe that she has the right to flirt with men, so she was given the chance to express herself using the last section of muwashat. The woman searches for her lover, so she goes to …

The Degree To Which The Use Of Modern Educational Technologies On The Quality Of Education And Its Development In Al-Ahliyya Amman University From The Viewpoint Of Faculty Members, Sawsan Badrakhan, Hafizah Muhammad Mahmoud, Feda Ghnaim, Suleiman Alnaimi

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The study aims at identifying the degree to which the use of modern educational technologies on the quality of education and its development in al-ahliyya Amman university from the viewpoint of faculty members by developing a questionnaire consisting of (20) items which were distributed to a random sample consisting of (198) faculty members. The results of the study showed that the most important modern technologies used in university education are: first, information network (the Internet) with a rate of (18.70%), and second, social networking sites, with a rate of (15.9%). The degree of impact of the use of modern technologies …

The Obstacles Faced By The Middle School Leaders Who Apply The Initiative Of Transition Towards Digital Learning, Amal Ibrahim Aldhafar

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the obstacles faced by the middle school leaders when they apply The Initiative of Transition Towards Digital Learning as well as determining the degree of responses of middle school leaders to these obstacles according to variables such as; (years of experience and school size). In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the descriptive method and the questionnaire method were used. The above methods were applied and distributed amongst the (25) school leaders who applied The Initiative of Transition Towards Digital Learning. The study concluded that obstacles of the application of middle school leaders …

Type D Personality, And The Levels Of Anxiety And Depression In A Sample Of Cardiac Patients In Comparison To Their Non-Patient Counterparts, Fatma Faris Najjar, Wisam Breik

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The present study aims at exploring the prevalence of type D personality (distressed personality) and the levels of anxiety (trait) and depression in a sample of cardiac patients in comparison to their non-patient counterparts in Jordan. To achieve the objectives of the study, an adapted form of type D personality scale-DS14, Trait Anxiety Scale and Beck Inventory were utilized. The study sample consisted of 309 individuals; 306 of which cardiac patients (73 males and 83 females) whose illness is not due to congenital causes and 153 non-patients (83 males and 70 females) as a comparative group, who were chosen from …

Textual Consistency Mechanisms In The Poem "Lost Nostalgia" By Abu Alqasim Alshabbi, Esa Slah Al Tarawneh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The research addresses a significant topic related to (Text Linguistics) based on analyzing poetry speech textuality. The research tracks a textual occurrence as the base of assessing the text quality, which is "Textual Consistency”. The research will study the Textual Consistency mechanism in Abu Alqasim Alshabbi's poem, "Alashwaq Altae'ha", unfolding the consistency of its phonetics, vocabularies, and structural contents, highlighting the significant role of these mechanisms on this outstanding text in maintaining its unity, coherence and cohesion. The research adopted the Descriptive approach, using literary analysis. Key words: Textual Linguistics, Text, Consistency, Abu Alqasim Alshabbi, "Alashwaq Altae'ha”.

The Doctrine Of Functus Officio And Its Exceptions Under The Arbitration Law Of Jordan, Mosleh Ahmad Al Tarawneh, Jalal Mahmoud Al-Qhaiwi

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study examines the doctrine of Functus Officio and its exceptions under the Jordanian Arbitration Law and its relation with the doctrine of res judicata. We will first shed the light on on the doctrine and the awards to which it apply. Then, we will examine the exceptions of the doctrine that alleviate the potential harshness of the doctrine. These exceptions are: correction of clerical error in the award, interpretation of ambiguities or obscurities in the text of the award and supplementation or the issuance of an additional award on matters or claims presented in the arbitral proceedings but omitted …

Addressing The Harms Of Pornography, Gillian Allison

Honors Theses

Within this paper I look at the existing philosophical work on pornography, from scholars like Catherine MacKinnon, Ronald Dworkin, and Rae Langton to show the current state of the pornography debate that I intend to enter by presenting my own argument about the morality of pornography. I argue that while pornography is harmful, these harms are best resolved through increased sexual education and the popularization and production of more inclusive pornography. The harms pornography causes are so great because pornography is where a lot of people learn about sex. Pornography was never designed to depict an average sexual experience. If …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Civil Disobedience From A Biblical Perspective, Gabriel Reed

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

To say that civil disobedience is a complicated topic is to severely understate the topic. It is a subject matter that has derived many different and disparate opinions, points of view, and public policies. Specifically, within America today, we observe calls for civil disobedience from both sides of the political spectrum, over several divergent political ideals. These issues are, primarily, driven from both sides’ desire to provide protection and provision for the oppressed and those who cannot necessarily speak for themselves. The definition of who is necessarily oppressed and whom their oppressors are varies from person to person, regardless of …

Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Benefit To Climate-Displaced And Host Communities, Gül Aktürk, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Climate change is borderless, and its impacts are not shared equally by all communities. It causes an imbalance between people by creating a more desirable living environment for some societies while erasing settlements and shelters of some others. Due to floods, sea level rise, destructive storms, drought, and slow-onset factors such as salinization of water and soil, people lose their lands, homes, and natural resources. Catastrophic events force people to move voluntarily or involuntarily. The relocation of communities is a debatable climate adaptation measure which requires utmost care with human rights, ethics, and psychological well-being of individuals upon the issues …

Sovereign Authority And Rule Of Law: The Effect Of U.S. Use Of Torture On Political Legitimacy, Sydney Bradley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Governmental sovereignty is created and maintained by mutual respect for the rule of law by the government and citizens. To maintain legitimacy, a government must act within the bounds of the contract that created it. Otherwise, the relationship founded by said contract would be nullified, as would the duties and obligations that flow from that relationship. Torture exemplifies an ultra vires act used by the United States to show the consequences of over-extended authority on political legitimacy and the rule of law. Founded on the philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, and Christine Korsgaard, this research investigates the nature of …