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Juvenile Life Without Parole: Exposing The Parallels Between Juvenile Offenders And Those Who Sentence Them, Autumn Fortenberry

Honors Theses

This thesis will discuss Juvenile Life Without Parole sentencing (JLWOP) from three perspectives: (1) the evolving standard of decency as developed through relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases; (2) the cognitive and psychosocial development of adolescents that creates reduced culpability in juvenile offenders; and (3) the justifications and implications of punishment as-applied to juvenile offenders. In my fourth chapter, I argue that JLWOP sentencing disregards the humanity and transformable nature of juvenile offenders. I will then draw a parallel between the implications of a juvenile offender's underdeveloped cognitive functions on their decision-making processes and the implications of a trial judge's underdeveloped …

The Spatial Associations Between Crime And Economy In Chicago 2015-2020, Hongtao Huang

Honors Capstones

The severity of the crime is often the most intuitive reflection of whether a region is safe and the top factor for the public when evaluating a region. Economist's list of the safest cities in seven major North American cities, Chicago was ranked at six, just above Dallas. Chicago scored the lowest in personal security, which is closely tied to the crime. Against the backdrop of higher unemployment and prices, this study is interested in how property-based crimes are related to the economic decline in Chicago geographically. The study used the heterogeneity analysis tool Geodetector to investigate the correlation between …

Why No Rallying Force? Factors Of Rassemblement National Underperformance In 2021 French Regional Elections, Amy Rhodes

Honors Theses

Marine Le Pen remains popular within national French politics. However, following the June 2021 French regional elections, her far-right party, Rassemblement National (RN), failed to win a single region. This thesis seeks to explore the factors behind the RN’s surprising lack of success through a comparative historical approach. This thesis also evaluates the applicability of the second-order model on these elections. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA) and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (PACA) serve as case studies for this research based upon their diverse electoral results. Regional newspaper articles, national newspaper articles, and candidates’ social media posts from the election cycles serve as the data …

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Ward, Bone, and Link, eds., The American South and the Atlantic World. by Kevin Dawson; Narrett, Adventurism and Empire: The Struggle for Mastery in the Louisiana-Florida Borderlands, 1762-1803. by J.C.A. Stagg; Rosen, Border Law: The First Seminole War and American Nationhood. by Andrew K. Frank; Rediker, The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom. by Ted Maris-Wolf; Weiner and Hough, Sex, Sickness, and Slavery: Illness in the Antebellum South. by David Torbett; Smith and Lowery, eds., The Dunning School: Historians, Race, and the Meaning of Reconstruction by Adam Fairclough; Corrigan, Conservative Hurricane: How Jeb Bush Remade Florida. by …

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Balsera and May, eds., La Florida: Five Hundred Years of Hispanic Presence. by Erin W. Stone; Little, The Origins of Southern Evangelicalism: Religious Revivalism in the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1670-1760. by Edward Bond; Murray, The Charleston Orphan House: Children's Lives in the First Public Orphanage in America. by Monique Bourque; Gleeson, The Green and the Gray: The Irish in the Confederate States of America. by Ian Delahanty; Harris and Berry, eds., Slavery and Freedom in Savannah. by Michael Benjamin; Monroe, Mary Ann Carroll, First Lady of the Highwaymen. by Paul S. George; Dorsey, Fourth Down in Dunbar. by Richard C. …

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Wright and Henry, eds., Early and Middle Woodland Landscapes of the Southeast. by Ramie A. Gougeon; Shaw, Everyday Life in the Early English Caribbean: Irish, Africans, and the Construction of Difference. by James Robertson; Blackett, Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery. by John Craig Hammond; Graham, Mr. Ragler's St. Augustine. by Henry Knight Lozano; Waters and Waters, The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida's Lindbergh Case. by Douglas M. Charles; Feldman, The Irony of the Solid South: Democrats, Republicans, and Race, 1865-1944. by Christopher Childers; Colley, Ain't Scared of Your …

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

Carr, Digging Miami. by Ryan J. Wheeler; Marotti, Heaven's Soldiers: Free People of Color and the Spanish Legacy in Antebellum Rorida. by Patricia C. Griffin; Beeby, ed., Populism in the South Revisited: New Interpretations and New Departures. by Evan P. Bennett; Brundage, ed., Beyond Blackface: African Americans and the Creation of Popular Culture, 1890-1930. by Valerie Babb; Hersey, My Work Is That of Conservation: An Environmental Biography of George Washington Carver. by Ellen Griffith Spears; Godfrey and Catton, River of Interest: Water Management in South Rorida and the Everglades, 1948-2010. by Chris Wilhelm; Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The …

Our Experience In The History Of The Middle District Of Florida And The Speedy Trial Clause Of The Sixth Amendment, William J. Sheppard

Florida Historical Quarterly

Marc Doggett was charged by indictment with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine. He called and made an appointment a few days after he had been arrested in Reston, Virginia. The case itself was in Jacksonville, Florida, so he came to Jacksonville and hired us. I'm not altogether clear how Mr. Doggett found me, but the minute I met him, I knew what his avenue of escape from the clutches of the United States might be. I recall meeting with Marc in the conference room in the afternoon and, during the course of our conversation, I had the folks in …

Early Jail And Prison Conditions Litigation In The Middle District Court, William J. Sheppard

Florida Historical Quarterly

Today, jails and prisons throughout the Middle District of Florida (Middle District) are hardly places a person would want to spend the night. However, those currently incarcerated in the Middle District have had many rights secured for them which did not exist prior to the existence of that Court. The story of prison reform in the Middle District illustrates the power hardworking, courageous pro se plaintiffs, attorneys, and judges can wield to ensure all inmates receive the constitutional liberties and protections to which they are entitled.

Extreme Circumstances Call For Extreme Measures: How United States V. Lyons' Radical Remedies Corrected A Grave Injustice, Samuel W. Wardle

Florida Historical Quarterly

Over the course of a decade, Antonino "Nino" Lyons appeared before the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida at least four times. In 2001, a jury convicted Lyons of crimes carrying a mandatory minimum sentence oflife in federal prison. In 2003, the Honorable Gregory Presnell ordered Lyons to be released on bail, only to be reversed by the Eleventh Circuit. A year later, in 2004, Judge Presnell again ordered Lyons' release, and this time, there was no appeal. Finally, in 2010, Judge Presnell took the extraordinary step of granting Lyons' petition for a certification of actual …

A Pioneer In Prison Reform: Costello V. Wainright And Its Paradoxical Legacy In Florida Prisons, Mariko K. Shitama

Florida Historical Quarterly

In 1972, prisoners Michael V Costello and Robert K Celestino filed separate pro se complaints in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida alleging overcrowded conditions and inadequate health care in Florida prisons. These claims were consolidated, amended by court-appointed counsel, and authorized by Senior United States District Judge Charles Ray Scott as a class action for declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of all present and future Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) inmates. In their amended complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that the overcrowding and inadequate medical care in Florida prisons constituted cruel and unusual punishment …

Creating The United States District Court For The Middle District Of Florida, James M. Denham

Florida Historical Quarterly

The creation of the Middle District was tied up in fundamental changes that, in the mid-1950s, were working social, cultural, political, and all manner of other revolutions in the Sunshine State. The Middle District was carved out of the Southern District of Florida, a huge district that spanned the entire peninsula from the Georgia border to the Florida Keys. The new district resembled a cross ways slash of territory running from the Georgia border as far south as Brevard County before it swung west and south all the way down the peninsula to the southern boundary of Lee County. After …

A Liberated Journalist And Yankee Women On The Florida Frontier, John T. Foster, Jr

Florida Historical Quarterly

Journalist Ellen Augusta Hill wrote an unusual newspaper column for two years in the 1880s- one that contains both her own extraordinary ideas and many of those of her rural readers. By tracing the journalist's effort and the response it helped to generate, a picture emerges of women who have received little attention in Florida history. Neither Hill nor her followers were native-born Floridians, or even Southerners. They were Yankee women who came from New York and, perhaps surprisingly, from both Ohio and Illinois. The topics covered by Hill and the dialogue engendered departed from earlier journalistic activities in Florida. …

Meet And Run, Gia M. Binner

Theses and Dissertations

A defense for Gia Binner’s MFA Thesis, Meet and Run, argues that accessible art, known in this paper as commercial dance, is a meaningful vehicle for social change and that it has the ability to dismantle the outdated, European concert dance dominance by modeling the interdependency of both worlds.

Shining A Light On Mental Health, Mark Christians, Jon W. Moeller, Leah Mouw, Melanie Wynja

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Each profession faces unique situations when it comes to serving those needing support with mental health, and it is important as Christians that we come together with a holistic approach."

Posting about care for individuals with mental health crises in the various professions from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/shining-a-light-on-mental-health/

Wgss Queer Theories And Politics: A Blog Post, Cassidy Vogel

Feminist & Queer Praxis

"Political education is the practice of using knowledge for action, whether its serving and educating the community or taking personal action. This is central Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, but in Dr. Klinker’s Queer Theories and Politics (WGSS 374) students were able to engage in political education beyond the class." Winona State University (WSU) student Cassidy Vogel blog post discusses and shared their experiences engaging in political education beyond the classroom.

This blog post was intended for the WSU Academic Blog which showcases the exciting and challenging work that WSU Student do.

Lg Ms 111 Fortuna, Henderson, Prizer Collection, Caitlin E. Corrigan

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

Donated collectively by Stan Fortuna, Susan Henderson, and Peter Prizer, early activists in Maine’s LGBTQ+ history, this collection of research material spans from 1974 to 2014, with the bulk of material from the mid-1970s.

This collection documents the development and activities of the Maine Gay Task Force, including the creation and publication of a newsletter from 1974 to 1980. It opens with planning materials and news coverage of the first statewide gathering for gay people, the Maine Gay Symposium held at the University of Maine’s Orono campus, an event which sparked statewide organizing efforts, including the creation of the Maine …

Developing Policies And Procedures For Restorative Accountability At Southwestern Assemblies Of God University, W. Lance Meche

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project was designed to address a lack of policies and procedures at Southwestern Assemblies of God University that support its restorative accountability approach in addressing student conduct violations. The student handbook provides rights and responsibilities afforded each student as well as the procedures that appointed staff members are to follow in the event that campus policies are violated; however, the language used in the student handbook did not address modern student culture, nor did it procedurally assist staff members in helping students to develop spiritually. The project intervention involved staff members who address student violations with grace as well …

Women's Timeless Fascination With True Crime And Horror, Sarah Victoria Di Carluccio

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis examines society’s interest in gothic literature, horror, and true crime. Beginning with the first gothic works, and ending with modern true crime media, a focus of this exploratory piece will be on women because women have always been, and remain, the primary consumers of the gothic, and of true crime. The question is: Why? To examine the possible reasons, I will be examining the success of original gothic writers, namely, Ann Radcliffe. Other authors who influenced the development of the Gothic genre will influence our modern understanding of these origins. I will examine Poe’s “The Mystery of Marie …

Genres, Communities, And Practices, Evan Malone

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In this dissertation, I defend a communitarian, practice-based, theory of genre and aesthetic value. I argue that theories of aesthetic value and art ontology within analytic philosophy have been too focused on the intentions of individual artists, the features of individual works, and the aesthetic experience of individual audience members. Accordingly, philosophical accounts of genre also follow this model. However, taking genre seriously means recognizing that they are social categories. If this is right, then philosophy of art ought to pay closer attention to the ways in which genres (as social categories) mediate aesthetic practices, values, and concepts. By thinking …

As Seen On Screen: American Ambivalence Shown Through Death Penalty And Vigilante Films, Lisette Donewald

Honors Scholar Theses

The United States is one of the last western nations still practicing capital punishment. A history of and commitment to vigilantism and its ideals offers an explanation of America’s retention of capital punishment. Employing scholarship on law and popular culture and vigilantism, this thesis finds that pro-death penalty frames are prevalent in vigilante films while anti-death penalty frames are prevalent in films that focus specifically upon capital punishment. Since the 1960’s however, there has been a gradual shift towards anti-death penalty frames and away from pro-death penalty frames as well as changes in the themes presented in the two genres …

Art Curriculum Lesson Plan: Horace Pippin’S World War I Journal, Tracie Dana Sykes

Theses

This report contains a detailed curriculum plan for a ninety-minute, eleventh grade Art class. The purpose is to provide the students with a thorough study of Horace Pippin’s World War I journal, while implementing two assignments to test their understanding of the areas which will be emphasized in the lesson. The students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of Pippin’s War journal by presenting a detailed slideshow about the artist and his journal. The students' foundational knowledge of Naive art will be recognized through the creation of his/her unique piece of art which will implement the mannerisms of Naive …

Policing Sin City: The Creation And Impact Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, 1973-1985, Richard Kim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines the creation of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 1973 and its impact on the War on Crime. The first chapter examines the significance of race and policing in Las Vegas from the early twentieth century until the consolidation of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Las Vegas Police Department in 1973. Chapter 2 then analyzes how the federal government’s so-called War on Crime played out at the local and state level in Nevada from 1973 to 1985. The thesis argues that this period witnessed a punitive turn in policing that had long-term consequences for Las …

Stigma Towards Sex Workers In The Clinical Setting: Sixteen Guidelines For Therapists To Improve Their Practice And Provide Ethical Mental Health Services To Sex Workers, Alessandra Lanti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study qualitatively investigates therapists’ attitudes toward their clients who work in the sex industry and assesses sex workers’ perception of these attitudes in therapy. Two separate surveys are used to assess attitudes. One is distributed to mental health professionals, and it uses clinical vignettes to evaluate the approaches used in therapy where the variable of “profession” is manipulated. The second survey is distributed to sex workers to evaluate their experiences in therapy. Then, indicators of persistent attitudes in the narrative responses are identified, organized into groups, and surveys are compared. Results suggest that participants in the survey distributed to …

Medical Ethics: From The Perspective Of Undergraduate Pre-Health Students, Hannah Im

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The burden of ethical decision-making is a significant contributor to compassion fatigue in healthcare professionals. Due to the impact of moral conflicts, it may be beneficial to reassess the effectiveness of current ethics education and training. While previous studies have surveyed a range of medical professionals and students, it remains unclear if exposure to ethics topics during undergraduate education could better prepare future healthcare workers. Thus, there is a need to identify the necessity of introducing ethics courses into the required pre-health curriculum. The following study took the first step to gauge this by surveying undergraduate pre-health students on their …

Promoting Paradise: The Recruitment Of Volga German Immigrants To The American Midwest, 1870-1900, Kassidy N. Whetstone

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1762 and 1763, Russian tsarina Catherine II issued manifestos encouraging foreign immigration throughout Russia, and received an overwhelming response from German farmers. These farmers, who would later be known as Russian Germans, Mennonites, or Volga Germans, quickly gained a reputation for their successful farming skills. As a result, following the Homestead Act of 1862, United States recruiters used promotional land advertisements to entice the farmers to migrate to the Midwest. The posters often depicted “open,” abundant lands in paradise. Upon arrival, however, the Volga Germans faced a reality starkly different from what the advertisements had promoted. This paper analyzes …

Rape, Consent, And The U.S. Military, Siris Fernandez

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The military’s sexual assault prevention and response program is unable to effectively eliminate or even minimize occurrences of sexual assault in the service. This program focuses primarily on the elimination of sexual assault through yearly mandatory education on the current policies and procedures that occur when a victim comes forward. The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program is reactionary and unequipped to tackle a culture that continues to promote a climate in which sexual assault and harassment exist without fear of retaliation. This thesis explores these issues and provides suggestions for changes in future revisions of the SAPR program. …

Blood Lead Levels In Minority Children: A Case Of Environmental Racism, Erick Rivera

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Racial minorities in the United States have suffered from being disadvantaged. Among these disadvantages is environmental racism. This includes minority communities being ‘sacrifice zones’ for toxic waste and being exposed to lead poisoning. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in blood levels between white children and children of color. This research will follow a bivariate model for the first research question, “Do youth of color (under the age of 18) have higher BLLs than white children?” The bivariate model will look at the relationship between ethno-racial group and BLLs. Specifically, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be …

Ecologies Of (Domestic) Trauma, Ecologies Of (Domestic) Violence: A Rhetorical Procession Toward Mourning, Charlotte E. Lucke

All Dissertations

In this dissertation, I posit that intimate partner violence is entrenched in an often-overlooked historical and rhetorical legacy of patriarchal cultural, structural, and direct violences. Many scholars in and outside of rhetorical studies have analyzed and critiqued public representations of trauma and violence, including intimate partner violence. Joining this conversation, I focus on the limitations in the ways influential rhetorical domains both represent and respond to people who abuse their intimate partners. Often, mass media represents people who abuse their intimate partners as individuals void of contexts. Similarly, the criminal justice system holds individuals responsible through law enforcement and incarceration. …

Poetic Justice: Connecting The Modern American Prosecutor To Her Rhetorical Roots, Michael Caves

All Dissertations

Poetic Justice: Connecting the Modern American Prosecutor to her Rhetorical Roots explores the gap between rhetoric and the American prosecutor, to eventually advocate for a more creative, inventive trial practice for prosecutors that embraces the spirit and methods of narrative, poetics, and Ulmeric mystories, with the prosecutor’s unique ethical obligations forming the basis of a new prosecutor’s rhetoric. This research opens with an autoethnographic account of the author’s own path to criminal prosecution, to give the reader a sense of the author’s ethos, to identify the shortcomings of rhetorical training in law school pedagogy, and to outline the rhetorical …