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Execution On The Ballot: Lessons For Judicial Review Of Ballot Measures From The Death Penalty Referendum In Nebraska, Kait Madsen

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction

II. Background ... A. Current Climate: Increased Voter-Led Ballot Measures ... 1. Recent Trend Toward Policy Creation Through Voter-Led Ballot Measures ... 2. Reasons for the Trend: Americans’ Heightened Distrust of Government and the Political Process ... 3. Voter-Led Ballot Measures Are Often Challenged in State Courts, Making Courts an Important Player in the Ballot Measure Process ... B. Judicial Review of Ballot Measures: Three Perspectives ... 1. Perspective One: Ballot Measure Policies Reflect the Will of the People, and Courts Should Therefore Be Highly Deferential to Voters’ Choice ... 2. Perspective Two: The Non-Legislative Origin of Ballot …

Removing Miranda From School Interrogations, Martin R. Gardner

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction

II. Miranda and Its Progeny ... A. Pre-Miranda Coerced Confession Doctrine ... B. Miranda v. Arizona ... C. “Custodial Interrogation”

III. Miranda and Juvenile Interrogation ... A. Supreme Court Cases ... 1. J.D.B. v. North Carolina ... 2. Fare v. Michael C. ... B. Lower Court Cases ... 1. Interrogations Solely by School Officials ... 2. SRO Involvement in Interrogations by School Officials ... a. Miranda Warnings Required ... b. Miranda Warnings Not Required ... c. Critique of the Agency Approach ... 3. Interrogations Dominated by SROs with School Officials Present ... 4. Police Dominated Interrogations

IV. …

Capital Punishment, Vanessa Mosqueda Ramirez

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Capital punishment: one of the most debated topics in the United States criminal justice policy. A system that has been called arbitrary many a time due to prejudice, discrimination, and innocence in death row. Some critics argue that the death penalty is applied in somewhat of an erratic fashion; two different offenders who commit the same crime may receive immensely different sentences like life imprisonment or death. There have been executions of innocent people, and there are people who managed to get free because they were wrongfully convicted.

Racial Bias And The Death Penalty In Nebraska (2005-2019), Natalie Bielenberg

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Ample evidence exists to suggest that the death penalty in the United States is affected by racial bias. Nebraska has a complex history with the death penalty, and in this study I investigate whether or not that racial bias is present in Nebraska’s capital punishment. Using a list of every Nebraska Department of Correctional Services inmate since 1982, I test for a relationship between race of inmate and sentencing outcome and a relationship between race of victim and sentencing outcome. No significant relationship was found between either race of inmate and receiving the death penalty nor race of victim and …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

Psychological Drivers Of Risk-Reducing Behaviors To Limit Human–Wildlife Conflict, Stacy A. Lischka, Tara L. Teel, Heather E. Johnson, Courtney Larson, Stewart Breck, Kevin R. Crooks

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Conflicts between people and wild animals are increasing globally, often with serious consequences

for both. Local regulations or ordinances are frequently used to promote human behaviors that minimize these conflicts (risk-reducing behaviors), but compliance with ordinances can be highly variable. While efforts to increase compliance could be improved through applications of conservation psychology, little is known about the relative influence of different factors motivating compliance. Using concepts from psychology and risk theory, we conducted a longitudinal study pairing data from mail surveys with direct observations of compliance with a wildlife ordinance requiring residents to secure residential garbage from black bears …

Evaluation Of An Interview-Based Internship Class In The Construction Management Curriculum: A Case Study Of The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Ali Karji, Stuart Bernstein, Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli, Arash Arash Taghinezhad, Arefeh Mohammadi

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

Internships have been shown to be impactful tools to connect students’ learning in academia with real-world industrial needs. To help the students to get more out of their internship experience, some universities provide a summer internship class in which students do class assignments based on their experiences during their internship. There have been numerous studies on the benefits of internships. However, the benefits of a potential internship class for students in construction management (CM) programs at universities have not yet been investigated. This paper demonstrates the structure of an interview-based internship class and investigates its effectiveness. We have focused on …

The Stress Mechanisms Of Adolescent Physical, Mental, And Behavioral Health, Lisa Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although the mechanisms are complex, stress is a risk factor for compromised physical, mental, and behavioral health in adolescence. The stress paradigm posits a system of relationships among social structures, stressors, personal and social resources, and health outcomes, offering a framework for understanding how adolescents’ life problems and the means to cope with them affect well-being. This chapter reviews the theoretical underpinnings of the stress paradigm, drawing on the stress process model and general strain theory. The chapter briefly reviews the biological underpinnings of stress and the role of brain development. Then, the chapter focuses on the social aspects of …

Pols 332: Climate Change: Policy And Politics - A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Ursula W. Kreitmair

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark portfolio i) provides and overview learning objectives of and pedagogical techniques used in POLS 332 Climate Change: Policy and Politics; and ii) assesses student learning in the course. The course is an upper-level undergraduate course designed to provide students with the ability to follow and actively participate in current climate change policy debates. The course seeks to leave students well versed in both domestic and international policy settings, to provide them with the ability to identify critical assumptions that can alter policy outcomes, and to bestow students with significant understanding of current climate policy. The course is inter-disciplinary …

“I Did It, But . . . I Didn’T”: When Rejected Affirmative Defenses Produce Wrongful Convictions, James R. Acker, Sishi Wu

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction

II. Wrongful Convictions and Failed Affirmative Defenses

III. When Rejected Affirmative Defenses Produce Wrongful Convictions: Case Studies ... A. Exonerations in the Wake of Rejected Justification Defenses ... B. Exonerations in the Wake of Rejected Excuse Defenses

IV. What Went Wrong? Sources of Error in Failed Affirmative Defense Exoneration Cases ... A. Failed Self-Defense ... B. Failed Excuse Defenses

V. Compensation for Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration

VI. Conclusion

Crime In Televised Presidential Campaign Ads: The Making Of Visual Metaphor, Lisa A. Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In televised campaign advertisements, political rhetoric potently combines with visual metaphors. Drawing on a digital library of presidential campaign ads from 1952 to 2016, the qualitative media analysis scrutinized how crime rhetoric became visual metaphor. Crime images were positioned and manipulated alongside other content to craft a story about crime and the candidates. Across all ads, two tactics emerged: depicting crime as a problem akin to other social ills – a dark stain; and posing crime as the sinister side to an otherwise vibrant society – a lurking shadow. Candidates were branded as janitors and sheriffs who could rally against …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

Court Review: The Journal Of The American Judges Association Vol. 55, No. 4

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Court Review, the quarterly journal of the American Judges Association, invites the submission of unsolicited, original articles, essays, and book reviews. Court Review seeks to provide practical, useful information to the working judges of the United States and Canada. In each issue, we hope to provide information that will be of use to judges in their everyday work, whether in highlighting new procedures or methods of trial, court, or case management, providing substantive information regarding an area of law likely to be encountered by many judges, or by providing background information (such as psychology or other social science research) …

The Impact Of Veterans Treatment Courts On The Community, Daniela Mettos, Amanda Leingang

Cornhusker Economics

With the United States’ ongoing presence in the Middle East and the ever-present possibility of future conflict, the commitment to tend to the unique needs of veterans returning from combat is an essential one. The number of veterans suffering from mental health issues, substance abuse disorders, and physical trauma continues to rise. With this comes an increased risk of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), drug and alcohol abuse, and repeating criminal behavior, all of which increase the likelihood that veterans will find themselves involved in the criminal justice system at some point following their combat service.

Utilizing effective, reliable, and focused …

Inspiring Faculty Innovation: Open Educational Resources And Competency-Based Education As Pedagogical Change Models, Jody Carson, Kim Burns, Sue Tashjian

Instructional Leadership Abstracts

Every college has pockets of innovative faculty who are resourceful and skilled problem solvers. They come to you with solutions instead of complaints and when they leave your office you wish you could clone them. These faculty are your innovators. Academic innovation is currently getting a lot of attention. It is a concept that is trendy, as well as murky. What do we mean when we talk about innovation? In early 2018, a survey of academic administrators framed innovation as a tool for solving problems and driving overall improvement. When asked how to support innovation, Chief Academic Officers (CAOs) reported …

The Protective Influence Of Self-Compassion Against Internalized Racism Among African Americans, Alexandra Emery

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Racist experiences and internalized racism may lead to poorer mental health outcomes for African Americans born and socialized in the United States (Graham, West, Martinez & Roemer, 2016; Mouzon & McLean, 2017). Self-compassion has been shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes, but limited research exists with respect to African Americans specifically (Lockard, Hayes, Neff and Locke, 2014). The present study explored whether self-compassion could serve as a protective factor between the relations of internalized racism and racist experiences, and the negative mental health outcomes of anxiety, depression, and stress among (N = 230) African American adults. To …

Nebraska Transcript (University Of Nebraska College Of Law), Volume 52, Number 2, Fall 2019

Nebraska Transcript

1 Dean's Message

2 Faculty Notes

6 Lenich retirement — Lenich retires after 35 years of service: Professor John Lenich reflects on his 35-year career at the College of Law.

10 Moberly named interim executive vice chancellor

11 Shavers named College's acting dean — Shavers appointed acting dean: Professor Anna Shavers serves as acting dean during Richard Moberly’s time as UNL’s interim executive vice chancellor

12 Jessica Shoemaker spends year as a Fulbright Chair in Canada— Shoemaker reflects on her year as a Fulbright Scholar: Professor Jessica Shoemaker spent the 2018-2019 academic year as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in …

Change In Motherhood Status And Fertility Problem Identification: Implications For Changes In Life Satisfaction, Arthur L. Greil, Julia Mcquillan, Andrea R. Burch, Michele H. Lowry, Stacy Tiemeyer, Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objective: To determine whether the association between changes in life satisfaction and becoming a mother (or not) depends on fertility problem identification status.

Background: Evidence and symbolic interactionist theory suggest that, for women who initially perceive a fertility barrier, gaining the valued identity “mother” should be associated with increases and continuing to face a blocked goal (i.e., not becoming a mother) should be associated with decreases in life satisfaction.

Method: This study used the nationally representative two-wave National Survey of Fertility Barriers to conduct a change-score analysis with chained multiple imputation. The focal dependent variable was change in life satisfaction. …

Picturing Teacher Agency: Developing Upstanding Heuristics In A Middle Grades Social Studies Methods Course, Jennifer L. Gallagher, Jennifer Farley

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This paper presents a multi-case study of teacher candidates in a pre-service middle grades social studies methods course. The study aimed to understand how middle grades teacher candidates viewed their future as upstanders with agency in middle grades settings. The focus of the research was on heuristic representations that the teacher candidates created to illustrate how they understood their role in supporting the democratic aims of middle grades social studies. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed through chordal triad of agency theory (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998). The findings indicate that preservice teachers best understand their future as change agents through …

Creating A “Good” Olmstead Plan For People With Serious Mental Illness: An Empirical Evaluation Of The Legal Frameworks, Andrea Avila

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel Zimring (1999) was a landmark US Supreme Court decision holding that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities is impermissible discrimination; specifically, if the clinician and client believe community integration to be appropriate, the state must have reasonable accommodations in place for the client to be in the community. Enforcement of the Olmstead decision for people with serious mental illness has taken many shapes, from the DOJ’s settlement agreements requiring substantive development of community mental health services and aggressive community integration protocols, to the Third Circuit approach which requires only lower census numbers in the state …

The Prosecution Paradox: How The International Criminal Court Affects Civil War Peace Negotiations, Julia Reilly

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Since the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s inception, observers have disagreed about how it would affect prospects for peace when it is involved in situations of ongoing conflict. Therefore, I ask, why do some of the civil war peace negotiations involving the ICC end with full peace agreements, while others end with resumed violence? I argue that how the Court affects the occurrence and outcome of peace negotiations is largely a function of the role that it plays in the situation. Due to its institutional design, the Court has the capacity to play either an oversight or a prosecutorial role in …

Increasing Students’ And New Professionals’ Knowledge Of Child Sexual Abuse Outcomes: An Evaluation Of An Online Intervention, Kate Theimer

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Following disclosure, support from professionals (e.g., mental health clinicians, social workers, health care providers, teachers) can help increase resiliency in youth who experience child sexual abuse (CSA). Particularly, those who respond compassionately and competently, believe and report the abuse, do not blame the victim, and increase the family’s protective factors are best suited to decrease negative outcomes. Yet, research shows that many professionals are not adequately prepared to support families due to insufficient knowledge and misinformed beliefs (Pelisoli, Herman, & Dell’Aglio, 2015). Moreover, few assessments measure knowledge specific to the aftermath of CSA and few interventions aim to increase professional …

Analysis Of Error Within Forensic Measurements And Photogrammetry Programs, Amy Douglas

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Digital images and photography have been considered commonplace in forensic science since the late 1990’s. Photogrammetry is a tool used in forensic science to measure objects within photographs that contain a scale or programs that are able to measure items in 3D images. Items at crime scenes often need to be measured and forensic scientists may not know what the best option is for their situation. This research will be conducted to show which type of measurement technique is most accurate, calculated against NIST traceable measurements, at various sizes of objects. The measurement techniques that will be tested are standard, …

Batman’S Animated Brain(S): Paper Presented To The Batman In Popular Culture Conference, Lisa Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Presentations

I was in the beginning stages of a project on the social story of the brain (and a neuroscience more broadly), when a Google image search brought me a purchasable phrenology of Batman, then a Batman-themed Heart and Brain cartoon of the Brain choosing the cape-and-cowl.1 A quick search of “Batman brain” yielded something interesting: various pieces on the psychology of Batman (e.g., Langley 2012), Zehr’s (2008) work on Bruce Wayne’s training plans and injuries, the science fictions of Batman comics in the post-World War II era (Barr 2008; e.g., Detective Comics, Vol. 1, No. 210, 1954), going back to …

Bat Meets Girl: Adapting The Dark Knight’S Love Life To The Big Screen, Brandon Bosch

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

It is no secret that Hollywood loves a good romance. What is perhaps sometimes overlooked however is how important romance and female characters are to male-dominated action films. Esma Kartal argues women and romance are deliberately placed into action films to create “romantic relief” and attract female viewers for greater crossover appeal.¹ In addition to romance, Yvonne Tasker observes how women in action films serve as a witness for “the hero’s suffering” and humanity in action films.² Finally, a classic use of women and romance in action films is that of the damsel-indistress, which continues to this day …

Taking On The Challenges Of Diversity And Visibility: Thoughts From A Small Honors Program, Kathryn M. Macdonald

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The Monroe College Honors Program, located in New York, enjoys an extremely diverse student body, which can be attributed to its location within and proximity to New York City. Data about the Monroe College Honors Program are presented. More importantly, this essay presents the strategies that the honors program uses to meet the needs of a diverse student body. Our students face many challenges, including difficult family situations and economic hardship, and so the honors program has created a rigorous but flexible curriculum and co-curriculum to meet their needs. The approaches used to serve this population focus on getting to …

(Mis)Communicating With Geographic Information System Mapping: Part 1--Choosing Units Of Representation, Rodrigo Cantarero, Maria Deguzman, Sarah Taylor, Soo-Young Hong, Jeong-Kyun Choi

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Extension professionals are increasingly using geographic information system (GIS) technology to develop and inform programs and services. In this article, we use a mapping exercise to demonstrate how the unit of data can be applied and inadvertently misrepresented in GIS mapping. We contrast the use of counts, percentages, and location quotients with the same data and the resulting divergence in maps. The discussion addresses ideal circumstances for using each unit of data. Overall, the article illustrates the need for Extension professionals to be cognizant of the benefits and limitations of various units of data to avoid miscommunication when using GIS …

Density And Mass Effect On The Development Of Phormia Regina, Brandon H. Strauss

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Forensic entomology is the application of the study of arthropods to the criminal justice system. This is primarily done through the development of a post mortem interval (PMI) based the insect evidence present. A practitioner must be able to determine the age of the insect through temperature data. One factor influencing the temperature dependent development is gregarious behavior. Current literature describes a faster development rate due to an increase in feeding efficiency and temperatures produced by this aggregate. However, there is very little literature defining a minimum number needed to induce this effect and little to none on it for …

Evolving Narratives About College: Immigrant Community College Students’ Perceptions Of The Four-Year Degree In The Great Plains, Moises Padilla, Justin Chase Brown, Elvira Abrica

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

A significant percentage of the enrollment growth in higher education can be attributed to the recruitment of more diverse students, including those from immigrant households. Although research on immigrant students is growing in light of changing U.S. demographic shifts, this literature is inchoate. This paper examines evolving perspectives of the value of a four-year degree among immigrants and children of immigrants. Thus, in this paper article we synthesize current dominant narratives of immigrant students about the utility and viability of a four-year degree (and the changing impact on community college enrollment) and how they have shifted over time. We observe …

Parent Engagement And Perceptions Of Fairness In The Douglas County Child Welfare System: A First Court Program Evaluation, Rebecca Human

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

No abstract provided.