Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Duty To Document, Marc Kosciejew

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Access to information is a bedrock principle of contemporary democratic governments and their public agencies and entities. Access to information depends upon these public institutions to document their activities and decisions. When public institutions do not document their activities and decisions, citizens’ right of access is ultimately denied. Public accountability and trust, in addition to institutional memory and the historical record, are undermined without the creation of appropriate records. Establishing and enforcing a duty to document helps promote accountability, openness, transparency, good governance, and public trust in public institutions. A duty to document should therefore be a fundamental component of …

Persona Non Grata: The Marginalization Of Legal Scholarship In Criminology And Criminal Justice Journals, Brenda I. Rowe, Wesley S. Mccann, Craig Hemmens

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recently, concern has been voiced within the academy regarding the marginalization of legal scholarship within the criminology and criminal justice (CCJ) discipline. Although conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence indicate that it is difficult to get legal scholarship published in CCJ journals, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the representation of legal scholarship in CCJ journals. The present study assesses the representation of legal scholarship in 20 CCJ journals from 2005 through 2015, examining both trends over time and variation across journals. Findings indicate legal scholarship comprises a very small portion of articles published, there has been a steep …

Effective Social Media Use By Law Enforcement Agencies: A Case Study Approach To Quantifying And Improving Efficacy And Developing Agency Best Practices, David T. Snively

Master of Public Administration Practicums

In the wake of protests against law enforcement for an array of reasons, law enforcement officers and agencies have a responsibility to recognize and utilize the available mediums of communication with which they may best develop a connection to the communities they serve. Furthermore, law enforcement agencies must be informed that established, traditional methods of news dissemination – such as press conferences and printed articles – are now both ineffective and under-utilized, replaced in large part by social media live-time reports. For that reason, law enforcement agency executives must address both the responsibility to provide appropriately timed updates to critical …

Book Reviews: Volume 8

Irish Communication Review

Chris Frost Media Ethics and Self Regulation, reviewed by Michael Foley

Damien Kiberd (ed.) Media in Ireland: The Search for Ethical Journalism, reviewed by David Quin

Peter Mason and Derrick Smith Magazine Law: A Practical Guide, reviewed by Eavan Murphy

University Of Rhode Island Presentations At Interdisciplinary Conference On Human Trafficking, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

Fall 2016 Newsletter: The Docket, Emma Wood

Law Library Newsletter

Copy of the Fall 2016 issue of the UMass Law Library Newsletter, The Docket.

Sex Trafficking Of Women Around U.S. Military Bases In South Korea: Impact Of New U.S. Laws And Policies Since 2000, Amy Levesque, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Econometrics In The Courtroom, Daniel L. Rubinfeld

Daniel L. Rubinfeld

No abstract provided.

Enforcing Wildlife Protection In China, Peter J. Li

Peter J. Li, PhD

Since China enacted the Wildlife Protection Law in 1988, its wildlife has been threatened with the most serious survival crisis. In the prereform era, wildlife was a neglected policy area. Serving the objective of reform, the Wildlife Protection Law upholds the “protection, domestication, and utilization” norm inherited from past policies. It establishes rules for wildlife management and protection. This law provides for penalties against violations. Yet, its ambiguous objectives, limited protection scope, and decentralized responsibilities have made its enforcement difficult. Political factors such as institutional constraints, national obsession with economic growth, shortage of funding, and local protectionism have made the …

Faith And Foreign Policy In India: Legal Ambiguity, Selective Xenophobia, And Anti-Minority Violence, Chad M. Bauman

Chad M. Bauman

Authenticity Key To Success In Life And In Legal Information, Susan Drisko Zago

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Authenticity is defined as something that is not false or an imitation. Savvy consumers pay a premium for an authentic product and treat with suspicion a product that does not ring true.

We have a system of trademark and copyright protections that protect a company’s intellectual property rights and brands and consumer protections to protect the consumer from counterfeit and unsafe products. Now, there is model legislation that will provide a systematic way to protect, preserve and provide better electronic access to the bread and butter of our legal profession: our official state legal documents."

My Dreaming - Boobera Lagoon - Gamilaroi Country, Phil Duncan, Thawun Birru, Gomeroi Nation

Indigenous Water Justice Symposium (June 6)

Presenter: Phil Duncan, Gomeroi Nation, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

2 pages (includes color illustrations)

The Prospects For Change: The Question Of Justice In A Law & Society Framework, Michael W. Raphael

Graduate Student Publications and Research

What is the law and society framework and where has it gotten us? A student in a classroom might raise their hand and offer "understanding legal pluralism" as a possible answer. However, the conceptual problem with legal pluralism is the coexistence of potentially conflicting bases of justification. Given this, desiring to understand how the law shapes the structural underpinnings of whichever "legal" phenomena and its "ongoing transformation", is nevertheless an immense achievement that stops short of its underlying goal – the achievement of human dignity through human rights. For example, to talk about 'multi-stakeholder consultations' and other pithy phrases that …

Statelessness And Human Trafficking: A Case Study Of Haitian-Dominicans, Anabel Reyes-Ovalles

Honors Theses

This thesis explores whether stateless persons are more vulnerable to human trafficking and why. My primary example will be the 2013 Dominican Republic Supreme Court ruling, which rendered Haitian-Dominicans stateless. To understand current Dominican Republic-Haiti relations, this thesis addresses contentious historical accounts of these countries’ relations, particularly from the 1960’s to 2015. This case study will focus on the vulnerable relationship of citizens to a state, specifically the vulnerability of defacto statelessness versus dejure statelessness. I argue that dejure statelessness is a particularly severe condition that contributes to human trafficking. This thesis draws upon both primary and secondary sources including, …

Divorce Devastates: Do State Divorce Laws Have An Effect On Women's Economic Well-Being?, Ann Cantwell

Honors Theses

Divorce devastates a family, and with over 40% of first marriages ending in divorce in the United States, it is important to analyze the effect divorce has on each member of the family. This paper aims specifically at the economic effect of divorce on women, and furthermore, if the implementation of a no-fault divorce clause in state law has negatively impacted women’s wellbeing. Women’s well-being is determined by annual income divided by annual need. The study looks at three different state divorce laws surrounding fault—fault-based, no-fault as the only option, and no-fault as grounds for divorce—as well as variance due …

Learning From Trayvon: Lessons And Implications For Police Organizations And Leaders, Megan Lepere-Schloop, Joseph H. Lumpkin Chief Of Police

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Critical incidents like the Martin-Zimmerman encounter prompt us to examine not only the specifics of a particular episode, but also broader questions that hopefully illuminate a path leading to meaningful change. This reflective piece draws on the professional experiences of a highly effective and respected African-American Police Chief to examine some of these broader questions. Chief Joseph H. Lumpkin is a 43-year law enforcement veteran who was recently appointed Chief of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department in Georgia. Before moving to Savannah he served as Chief of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, an agency that solves violent crimes at a …

Ri Should Target Sex Buyers, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

New Irish Research In Criminology, Law, Childhood, Family And The Community, Matt Bowden, Carmel Gallagher, Ann Marie Halpenny, Mairéad Seymour

Other resources

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Gender And Language Complexity On The Credibility Of Expert Witness Testimony, Darcy Egan

Undergraduate Theses

With the increased use in expert witness testimony in civil trials, the decisions that jury members have made based on those testimonies have become very controversial. Previous research indicates that when a testimony is particularly complex, mock jurors will rely on cues outside the content of the testimony in order to determine the credibility of the witness. Research shows that there are different cues that are associated with higher credibility the expert. Common cues include the gender, occupation, and level of language complexity of the expert witness. This study used these three different cues as the independent variables, with two …

Spring 2016 Newsletter, Emma Wood

Law Library Newsletter

Copy of the Spring 2016 UMass Law Library Newsletter.

Democratization In The Arab World: A Moroccan Case Study Of Culture, Religion, And Governance, Marwah Al-Jilani

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Democracy and Islam are generally assumed as incompatible, which leads to further assumptions towards the notion that democracy in Muslim majority states can not be reconciled. The presence of a religious political culture appears as the main hindrance for sound democratic structures. However, it appears that the absence stems from other prominent factors. This paper extends the rhetoric that Islam and democracy can be compatible and a lack of democracy is dependent on specific authoritarian structures. Morocco, a Muslim majority state that is going through democratization offers data to gauge whether or not democratic practice is present within the general …

A Critical Analysis Of The Public Sphere: How The Lgbtq Movement Utilizes And Occupies Space In Morocco, Katherine Hirsch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the nature of the LGBTQ movement in Morocco in relation to the theoretical concept of the public sphere. Specifically, it explores what spaces LGBTQ organizations, which do not have access to the public sphere in Morocco, occupy in order to pursue activism. Theory surrounding the public sphere and collective social movements is very much based on a Western perspective, despite claims of universalism. Western theory defines modern social movements by collective action, a unified movement, occupying and the public sphere as a site of resistance. However, this fails to recognize the fact that many people in semi-authoritarian …

Conscience Collisions: The Search For Public Policy Solutions To The Problem Of Doctrine In Medicine, Christina M. Claxton

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Violent Crime Victim Turns Difficulty Into Service, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

At age 16, Jenna Ellis was the victim of a violent crime. The details of the incident aren’t something she shares much. But what’s happened in her life since is one of the more inspiring stories you’ll hear anywhere.

While the situation would be difficult to work through at any stage of life, Ellis purposed even at her young age to use her story to further the Gospel of Christ. That path has led to a successful career as an author, lawyer and college professor. But perhaps most importantly, her path has led to forgiveness and ministry.

Power, Economics And The 'Islamic Terrorism' Narrative, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Legislator Judges: The Warren Court And Justices' Use Of State Or International Policies In Criminal Procedure Cases, John Hermann

John Hermann

The Warren Court went to great lengths to expand criminal defendants' rights, and in doing so it frequently relied on state majoritarian institutions' policies or international norms to accomplish its goals. The Court and justices were almost twice as likely to use state laws than international policies in their reasoning. The Court was also almost two-and-a-half times more likely to use state or international policies in its rationale when deciding in favor of the criminal defendant in relation to the state's interest.

Associate Justice William O. Douglas, John Hermann

John Hermann

No abstract provided.

Richard A. Posner: A Study In Judicial Entrepreneurship, Sean J. Shannon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes the role of Richard Posner, one of the most prolific and innovative legal thinkers over the past forty years, as a judicial entrepreneur in his efforts to persuade the legal academy and judiciary to incorporate economic principles into the judicial decision making process in market and non-market areas of the law and legal discourse and thereby to re-examine the role of the judge. Though political scientists have explored the entrepreneurial activities of policy makers and political actors, they have given little attention to the role of judges as judicial entrepreneurs. This dissertation develops a comprehensive theoretical understanding …

Challenges Of Respecting Riparian Rights Around Hydroelectric Dams In Cameroon Since 1949, Séverin Nwaha

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The impact of electric energy on socio-economic development has attracted the attention of all categories of people in society. This is because of the role power plays in the economic and industrial sectors of any country. Public authorities seem to be more concerned with protecting capitalist interests at the detriment of the riparian population. Despite regulations and legal provisions, authorities are still not able to implement a rigorous policy in this sector in Cameroon due to administrative bottle necks, among other factors. Furthermore, the existence of multiple regulatory and management bodies creates confusion. Legislation related to this issue is usually …

Veterans Treatment Courts: Pure Pretextualism Or A Venue For Veterans' Needs?, John William Erickson Jr.

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

The intended goals of Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) are consistent with what drove the establishment of Drug Courts and Mental Health Courts in the ‘90s. That is, a recognition that the traditional criminal justice system is geared toward punitive court dispositions; not the unique characteristics of addicts and/or mental health defendants (G. Lerner-Wren, personal communication, January 12, 2015). For example, In Dade County, Florida, a former U.S. Attorney, then the Dade County State Attorney, recognized that reform was necessary to avoid the criminalization of drug addiction; given the high prevalence of cocaine abuse. Today, U.S. Military Veterans returning from Iraq …