Legal Studies Commons^™

Shootings, Strain, And Safety On A College Campus: An Analysis Of Perceptions Of Safety And Concealed Carry, Amanda S. Bishop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School and campus shootings are a contemporary problem in the United States. Because of these shootings, colleges have enacted new policies to ensure safety on their campuses, including concealed carry on campus. The State of Tennessee has a unique law in place that allows colleges to create their own policies regarding concealed carry on campus, with the stipulation that only full-time faculty and staff can carry concealed weapons. East Tennessee State University is one campus with this policy. East Tennessee State University students, faculty, and staff were questioned via email survey about their perceptions of safety on campus and opinions ...

Mitigations: The Forgotten Side Of The Proportionality Principle, Paul H. Robinson

Faculty Scholarship at Penn Law

In the first change to the Model Penal Code since its promulgation in 1962, the American Law Institute in 2017 set blameworthiness proportionality as the dominant distributive principle for criminal punishment. Empirical studies suggest that this is in fact the principle that ordinary people use in assessing proper punishment. Its adoption as the governing distributive principle makes good sense because it promotes not only the classic desert retributivism of moral philosophers but also crime-control utilitarianism, by enhancing the criminal law’s moral credibility with the community and thereby promoting deference, compliance, acquiescence, and internalization of its norms, rather than suffering ...

Eyewitness Identification: Systemic Reforms, Gary L. Wells

Gary L. Wells

The vagaries of eyewitness identification are well known; the annals of criminal law are rife with instances of mistaken identification.

The Profile Of The International Cyber Offender In The U.S., Lora I. Hadzhidimova, Brian K. Payne

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

This study explores the characteristics of international cyber offenders prosecuted in the U.S. Our findings to a large extent correspond with general studies about cyber offenders with a few important exceptions. First, the average age of the offenders in our study is slightly higher than others that do not focus exclusively on international offenders. Second, while this research confirms that China is among the leading country in committing cybercrimes when it comes to committing particular types of cybercrimes, the offenders come from other countries as well such as Romania, Estonia, Ukraine, South Africa, and Nigeria. Third, our results show ...

Phishing And Cybercrime Risks In A University Student Community, Roderic Broadhurst, Katie Skinner, Nicholas Sifniotis, Bryan Matamoros-Macias, Yuguang Ipsen

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

In an exploratory quasi-experimental observational study, 138 participants recruited during a university orientation week were exposed to social engineering directives in the form of fake email or phishing attacks over several months in 2017. These email attacks attempted to elicit personal information from participants or entice them into clicking links which may have been compromised in a real-world setting. The study aimed to determine the risks of cybercrime for students by observing their responses to social engineering and exploring attitudes to cybercrime risks before and after the phishing phase. Three types of scam emails were distributed that varied in the ...

Awareness And Perception Of Cybercrimes And Cybercriminals, Hannarae Lee, Hyeyoung Lim

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Awareness is a starting point to recognize, understand, or know a situation or fact, and the perception makes a difference in how to deal with it. Although the term cybercrime may not be new to the most public and the police, not all of them are well aware of the nature and extent of cybercrimes, cybercriminals, and cyber-victims, which in turn affects their perceptions of matters. The four papers in this issue of the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime empirically examine these important topics and discuss policy implications.

Examining Perceptions Of Online Harassment Among Constables In England And Wales, Thomas J. Holt, Jin R. Lee, Roberta Liggett, Karen M. Holt, Adam Bossler

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The ubiquity of the Internet and computer technology has enabled individuals to engage in bullying, threats, and harassing communications online. Limited research has found that local line officers may not view these offenses as serious compared to real world crimes despite their negative physical and emotional impact on victims. The perceptions of officers can produce poor interactions with victims during calls for service, particularly victim blaming, which can reduce citizens’ confidence in police agencies generally. However, local law enforcement agencies are increasingly mandated to respond to these cases, calling to question how their views may impact the community. This study ...

Cybercrime And Digital Forensics: Bridging The Gap In Legislation, Investigation And Prosecution Of Cybercrime In Nigeria, Kabiru H. Mohammed, Yusuf D. Mohammed, Abiodun A. Solanke

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) opens new avenues and ways for cybercriminals to commit crime. The primary goal of this paper is to raise awareness regarding gaps that exist with regards to Nigeria’s capabilities to adequately legislate, investigate and prosecute cases of cybercrimes. The major source of cybercrime legislation in Nigeria is an act of the National Assembly which is majorly a symbolic legislation rather than a full and active legislation. In perusing these avenues of inquiry, the authors seek to identify systemic impediments which hinder law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and investigators from properly carrying out ...

Criminal-Justice Apps: A Modest Step Toward Democratizing The Criminal Process, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Challenges In Measuring Firearm Prevalence: A Test Of Cook's Index Across The Rural–Urban Continuum, Noah R. Cypher

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cook's Index is the most commonly used proxy for firearm prevalence. This research uses New York's Pistol Permits to measure legitimate firearm prevalence and compare it to Cook's Index. In this study, Cook's Index predicted impossible values for several counties that together contained a clear majority of New York State citizens. Cook's Index was also shown to be unreliable across types of counties. Rural and Urban counties had significantly different ratios of Cook's Index to Pistol Permits in New York. The models show a general finding that the relationship between Cook's Index and ...

"All The Flowers May Die, But The Thistles Will Live": Sex Trafficking Through The Eyes Of A Police Officer-Researcher, Robert Chrismas

Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence

This article is a description of the research I conducted on the sex industry in Manitoba, Canada, from 2016-2017. I interviewed 61 people, of which six were political leaders, 23 were social workers, 24 were police officers, and eight were sex industry survivors. About half of the practitioners I interviewed are also sex industry survivors. As a veteran police officer with 35 years of law enforcement experience, my research journey was unique from conducting the interviews to reporting my findings. These are some of my experiences and the lessons I learned about gathering and sharing the stories of sex industry ...

Special Issue, December 2018

International Journal on Responsibility

Contents:

5 – 7 Terry Beitzel, Gjylbehare Muharti, and Hysen Nimani, Responsibility in the Balkans: Justice, Media and Arts.

8 – 22 Mujë Ukaj and Qendresa Jasharaj, International Criminal Responsibility in Kosovo: Establishment of the International Criminal Court - de lege lata, de lege ferenda.

23 – 41 Avdullah Robaj and Sabiha Shala, Responsibility in Building Rule of Law: Kosovo Challenges.

42 – 54 Mujë Ukaj, The Irresponsible Persons: the Imposition and Execution of the Mandatory Treatment Measures on Criminal Procedure of Kosovo.

55 – 64 Gani Asllani, Bedri Statovci, and Gentiana Gega, Development and Protection of Economic Competition in Kosovo.

65 – 87 Saranda Leka and ...

Judging Well, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Washington University Jurisprudence Review

Can judges interpret the law in a manner that is objectively verifiable, or do judges necessarily – even if unconsciously – inject their own predispositions and biases into their decisions? It is difficult to decide whether such a question is frivolous in the post-Realist age, or whether it is the is the single most important question that we can ask about our legal system. I endorse both responses. The question, as phrased, is both vitally important and unanswerable on its own terms. Rather than seeking an elusive objective standard by which to measure the correctness of “a judgment,” I argue that we ...

Against Life Without Parole, Judith Lichtenberg

Washington University Jurisprudence Review

We have many good reasons to abolish life without parole sentences (LWOP, known in some countries as whole life sentences) and no good reasons not to. After reviewing the current state of LWOP sentences in the United States, I argue that the only rationale for punishment that can hope to justify them is retributivism. But even if retributivism is a sound principle, it in no way entails life without parole. One reason is that unless one believes, like Kant, that appropriate punishments must be carried out whatever the circumstances, we must acknowledge that other considerations are relevant to determining punishments ...

Reconciling The Rule Of Law: Rights And Punishment, Benjamin L. Apt

Washington University Jurisprudence Review

There is an intractable paradox in the relation between rights and criminal punishment. Criminal punishment frequently conflicts with rights; people typically have identical rights within a legal system, yet the punished are unable to exercise the rights to the same extent as other people. But criminal punishment, in conjunction with criminal laws, also operates to protect rights. To clarify the tension between rights and punishment, I start by analyzing the content and purpose of rights. Next I discuss the nature of rules and the particular types of rules that make up a typical “systems of rules.” I then argue that ...

A Clash Of Principles: Personal Jurisdiction And Two-Level Utilitarianism In The Information Age, Wesley M. Bernhardt

Washington University Jurisprudence Review

Utilitarianism provides the best analytic framework for “minimum contacts” analyses in multi-state mass tort litigation. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist ethical philosophy contending that one should act in a way that maximizes utility; that is, act in a way that maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain. This is often referred to as the “felicific calculus.”1 To maintain a civil lawsuit against a defendant, a court must have “personal jurisdiction” over that defendant, meaning that the defendant must have minimum contacts related to the suit such that maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice ...

Political Speech In The Armed Forces: Shouting Fire In A Crowded Cyberspace, Elliott Hughes

Washington University Jurisprudence Review

A staple of the American version of democracy is civilian control of the military: we are uncomfortable with politicization of the Armed Forces, and military and other federal laws restrict the political expression of servicemembers (“SMs”) in the Armed Forces, whether they are active- duty members or National Guard or Reserves serving on active duty. These restrictions, while well-intentioned to prevent actual or apparent political partisanship or bias within the military, have the undesired effect of deterring SMs from otherwise healthy political expression. With the advent of the internet and proliferation of social media use, questions regarding SM status and ...

Ethnic Studies As Antisubordination Education: A Critical Race Theory Approach To Employment Discrimination Remedies, Theanne Liu

Washington University Jurisprudence Review

This Note will use a critical race theory lens to argue that most trainings on equal employment opportunity (“EEO”), diversity, or implicit bias operate as a restrictive remedy to Title VII race discrimination violations, and that incorporating an ethnic studies framework into these trainings can further an expansive view of antidiscrimination law. A restrictive view of antidiscrimination law treats discrimination as an individual instead of structural or societal wrong and looks to addressing future acts of discrimination instead of redressing past and present injustices. An expansive view of antidiscrimination law sees its objective as eradicating conditions of racial subordination. Ethnic ...

The Use Of Compassionate Release Policies For Elderly Offenders, Lindsey Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research examined the use of compassionate release policy in response to the fastest-increasing segment of the prison population- elderly offenders. Though this policy is an approach to this problem, there was little available research regarding which correctional organizations in the United States adopt compassionate release and how it is used. The purpose of this nonexperimental comparative quantitative study was to examine the use of the policy in neighboring and distant state correctional systems relative to those organizations that used the policy more frequently to determine if the leader-laggard theory of policy diffusion was an effective policy-implementation framework. The research ...

Optimizing Methods For Separation Of Adhesive Tape From Fabrics And Obtaining Latent Prints From Adhesive And Non-Adhesive Sides, Elizabeth Vosburgh

Forensic Science Theses

Fingerprinting is a valued part of forensic science analysis. It has been around for decades, and has advanced with the passing of time. There have been numerous studies of the different ways analysts have encountered fingerprints in the field—but none on those deal with the removal of tape from fabric. To investigate this, eight fabric types (a cotton/polyester mix, spandex, denim, jeans, fleece, flannel, polyester, and vinyl), three commercially available tapes (duct tape, black electrical tape, and packaging tape), have been stuck together and separated with four different techniques (manual pulling apart, Un-Du commercial adhesive remover, liquid nitrogen ...