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Evidence Summarized In Attorney’S Closing Arguments Predicts Acquittals In Criminal Trials Of Child Sexual Abuse, Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon
Evidence Summarized In Attorney’S Closing Arguments Predicts Acquittals In Criminal Trials Of Child Sexual Abuse, Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon
Stacia N. Stolzenberg
Evidence summarized in attorney’s closing arguments of criminal child sexual abuse cases (N = 189) was coded to predict acquittal rates. Ten variables were significant bivariate predictors; five variables significant at p < .01 were entered into a multivariate model. Cases were likely to result in an acquittal when the defendant was not charged with force, the child maintained contact with the defendant after the abuse occurred, the defense presented a hearsay witness regarding the victim’s statements, a witness regarding the victim’s character, or a witness regarding another witnesses’ character (usually the mother). The findings suggest that jurors might believe that child molestation is akin to a stereotype of violent rape, and that they may be swayed by defense challenges to the victim’s credibility and the credibility of those close to the victim.
Young Children’S Difficulty With Indirect Speech Acts: Implications For Questioning Child Witnesses, Angela D. Evans, Stacia Stolzenberg, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon
Young Children’S Difficulty With Indirect Speech Acts: Implications For Questioning Child Witnesses, Angela D. Evans, Stacia Stolzenberg, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon
Stacia N. Stolzenberg
Prior research suggests that infelicitous choice of questions can significantly underestimate children’s actual abilities, independently of suggestiveness. One possibly difficult question type is indirect speech acts such as “Do you know…” questions (DYK, e.g., “Do you know where it happened?”). These questions directly ask if respondents know, while indirectly asking what respondents know. If respondents answer “yes,” but fail to elaborate, they are either ignoring or failing to recognize the indirect question (known as pragmatic failure). Two studies examined the effect of indirect speech acts on maltreated and non-maltreated 2- to 7-year-olds’ post-event interview responses. Children were read a story …
Children's Memory For Conversations About Sexual Abuse: Legal And Psychological Implications, Thomas D. Lyon, Stacia N. Stolzenberg
Children's Memory For Conversations About Sexual Abuse: Legal And Psychological Implications, Thomas D. Lyon, Stacia N. Stolzenberg
Stacia N. Stolzenberg
No abstract provided.
Self-Determination, Subordination, And Semantics: Rhetorical And Real-World Conflicts Over The Human Rights Of Indigenous Women, Sam Grey
Sam Grey
Indigenous women have long been engaged in unambiguous advocacy for a human rights-based approach to gender injustice in their communities and nations. Indigenous nations, for their part, have repeatedly and passionately posited collective human rights as necessary for the protection of cultural distinction. These projects should be reconcilable – but this reconciliation requires the political will to critically engage with historical and contemporary colonialism, and to address the internalization of patriarchy and sexism in Indigenous societies today. With such a will in place, it becomes possible to operationalize a single Indigenous ‘self-determination’ project grounded in human rights, one that sees …
The Limits Of Debate Or What We Talk About When We Talk About Gender Imbalance On The Bench, Keith Bybee
The Limits Of Debate Or What We Talk About When We Talk About Gender Imbalance On The Bench, Keith Bybee
Keith J. Bybee
What do we talk about when we talk about gender imbalance on the bench? The first thing we do is keep track of the number of female judges. Once the data has been gathered, we then argue about what the disparity between men and women in the judiciary means. These arguments about meaning are not freestanding. On the contrary, I claim that debates over gender imbalance occur within the context of a broader public debate over the nature of judicial decisionmaking. I argue that this public debate revolves around dueling conceptions of the judge as impartial arbiter and as politically …
Freedom To Achieve: The Future Of Student-Led Organizations Within The Public School System, Braden W. Johnson
Freedom To Achieve: The Future Of Student-Led Organizations Within The Public School System, Braden W. Johnson
Braden W Johnson
On-campus religious organizations have received special protections according to their First Amendment rights and the Equal Access Act of 1984. As more controversial organizations have been incorporated within the public school system, school administrators have found it increasingly hard to control the effects of these groups. This article argues for a revision to the Equal Access Act which strengthen's a school's ability to place restrictions on the formation of controversial clubs.
From Usages Of Merchants To Default Rules: Practices Of Trade, Ius Commune And Urban Law In Early Modern Antwerp, Dave De Ruysscher
From Usages Of Merchants To Default Rules: Practices Of Trade, Ius Commune And Urban Law In Early Modern Antwerp, Dave De Ruysscher
Dave De ruysscher
In sixteenth-century Antwerp, commercial contracts were supported with refined government-made rules that brought techniques, usages and customs practised by merchants to the level of sophisticated law. Because no body of unwritten substantive law on commerce existed and because commercial practices were often too rudimentary from a legal perspective, in the 1500s detailed and balanced normative precepts on contracts of trade came to be crafted. When in the first decades of the sixteenth century more and more foreign merchants visited Antwerp, its rulers gradually started supplementing and upgrading practices of merchants to default rules regarding contracts, with materials and concepts drawn …
Labour Trafficking: Prosecutions And Other Proceedings, Fiona M. David Ms
Labour Trafficking: Prosecutions And Other Proceedings, Fiona M. David Ms
Fiona David
In Australia, three defendants in two cases have been charged and prosecuted for ‘slavery’ or ’trafficking in persons’ under the Criminal Code (Cth), in circumstances where the crimes have allegedly occurred in contexts other than the sex industry. These cases tend to be described as instances of ‘labour trafficking’, even though the parameters of this phrase are far from settled (see further AIC 2009). This brief describes the progression of these two cases through the Australian court system, with varying outcomes.
Building The Infrastructure Of Anti-Trafficking: Information, Funding, Responses, Fiona M. David Ms
Building The Infrastructure Of Anti-Trafficking: Information, Funding, Responses, Fiona M. David Ms
Fiona David
No abstract provided.
Labour Trafficking: Key Concepts And Issues, Fiona M. David Ms
Labour Trafficking: Key Concepts And Issues, Fiona M. David Ms
Fiona David
At the international level, there is no single, clear definition of ‘labour trafficking’. Arguably, the expression can be used to describe those forms of trafficking in persons of which the exploitative purpose relates to a person’s labour. There are, however, debates over the scope and meaning of these terms. This brief provides an introduction to key terms and notes some of the issues that remain less settled.
Prosecuting Trafficking In Persons: Known Issues, Emerging Responses, Fiona M. David Ms
Prosecuting Trafficking In Persons: Known Issues, Emerging Responses, Fiona M. David Ms
Fiona David
This paper is the second in a series that examines the different components of the criminal justice response to trafficking in persons. Specifically, this paper seeks to identify some of the practical issues that may affect trafficking prosecutions, such as unclear legal frameworks, the transnational nature of trafficking, and reliance on often traumatised victims as witnesses who may also be unwilling or unable to participate in prosecutions. Proposed strategies to support or improve prosecution practice include legal reform, protection of witnesses and specialist training for prosecution units.
Law Enforcement Responses To Trafficking In Persons: Challenges And Emerging Good Practice, Fiona M. David Ms
Law Enforcement Responses To Trafficking In Persons: Challenges And Emerging Good Practice, Fiona M. David Ms
Fiona David
In recent years, the Australian Government has committed significant resources to combating trafficking in persons. Within this larger anti-trafficking effort, the community sector, law enforcement, prosecutors, health professionals and members of the community all have an important role to play. As each sector comes to terms with the reality of trafficking in Australia, it is important that emerging challenges and possible solutions are identified. This paper focuses on the challenges that may confront law enforcement officials in any country in their efforts to detect trafficking, identify victims, investigate offences and contribute to the successful prosecution of offenders. Drawing on international …