Digital Commons Network^™

Future Of Criminal Justice In America, Andrew Karanikolis

Senior Honors Projects

Throughout history, a civilization’s attitudes toward the law, crime, and punishment have served as indicators of its morality and commitment to progress. What then, I wonder, will history say about the American Civilization? Might they ask why the wealthiest nation in the world also has the highest incarceration rates?

This is but one of the critical questions I was left with after my internship at the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office. America currently houses over 2.5 million inmates in state and federal prisons across the country. Despite the noticeable decline in crime (particularly violent crime) over the past decade, prison …

America In Recovery: Tracking And Analyzing The Obama Stimulus During 2009, Gregory Cassel

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper tracks and analyzes the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, better known as the Obama stimulus plan during the 2009 year. As one of the most expensive public policies in history, the ARRA was designed to turn around an ailing economy by creating and preserving jobs, investing in key areas, providing relief to States and individuals, and tax cuts. Thus, it is important and useful to track the policy in order to see if it is doing what it is supposed to. Using federal agency Financial and Activity Reports, I create detailed graphs showing where the …

The Commodification Of The Modern Black Man: Examining The Effect Of Drug Law On The New York State Prison Industrial Complex, Alexis Kinney

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This Capstone project examines the effect of New York State’s prison industrial complex on local economies. The prison industrial complex is a system of imprisonment that, through various methods, transforms prisoners into commodities. The complex involves endorsing legislation to create more crimes and longer sentences for those crimes, thus increasing the number, and term length, of incarcerated citizens. In New York, the creation of the Rockefeller drug laws resulted in a revitalized diligence in the war against drugs, leading to the promotion of prisoner-based upstate economies. Through engagement with United States drugs laws, historical accounts of drug use and addiction, …

Dna And Due Process, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. Supreme Court in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne confronted novel and complex constitutional questions regarding the postconviction protections offered to potentially innocent convicts. Two decades after DNA testing exonerated the first inmate in the United States, the Court heard its first claim by a convict seeking DNA testing that could prove innocence. I argue that, contrary to early accounts, the Court did not reject a constitutional right to postconviction DNA testing. Despite language suggesting the Court would not "constitutionalize the issue" by announcing an unqualified freestanding right, Chief Justice Roberts's majority opinion proceeded to carefully fashion an important, …

Reunifying Privacy Law, Lior Strahilevitz

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

In the years since Samuel Warren and Louis Brandies proposed a unified theory of invasion of privacy tort liability, American information privacy law became increasingly fragmented and decreasingly coherent. William Prosser's 1960 article, Privacy, which heavily influenced the Restatement of Torts, endorsed and hastened this trend toward fragmentation, which spread from tort law to the various statutory branches of information privacy law. This paper argues for the reunification of privacy law in two connected ways. First, Prosser's fragmented privacy tort should be replaced with a unitary tort for invasion of privacy that looks to the private or public nature of …

Illinois Courts And The Law Of Miranda Waivers: A Policy Worth Preserving, Timothy P. O'Neill

Northern Illinois University Law Review

For the last several decades, Illinois courts have followed a wise policy of refusing to accept Miranda waivers from suspects whose mental deficiencies have prevented them from knowingly understanding their rights. Yet, it is possible that the United States Supreme Court may be ready to reject this position and hold as a matter of federal law that a suspect's waiver cannot be found invalid based merely on the suspect's subjective state of mind without some objective showing of coercive police action. Regardless of what the Supreme Court may eventually decide, this essay urges Illinois courts to retain its current procedure …

The Opeb Tsunami: Riding The Wave Of Public Sector Postemployment Health Benefits, Jenna Amato Moran

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

2010 Baccalaureate & Graduate Commencement, Lindenwood University

Commencement Programs

Lindenwood University Commencement program.

2010 Undergraduate Commencement, Lindenwood University

Commencement Programs

Lindenwood University Commencement program.

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2010 - 2011, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Human Trafficking From An International Protection Perspective: Probing The Meaning Of Anti-Trafficking Measures For The Protection Of Trafficking Victims, With Special Regard To The United Kingdom, Hannah Simon

Penn State International Law Review (1982 - 2011)

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT) entered into force in the U.K. on the 1 April 2009. This event led to the belief that Britain's adherence will considerably improve the protection of trafficking victims in the country. In light of such expectations, this study examines which implications anti-trafficking measures may have on the legal protection of trafficking victims, while concentrating on new legal developments in the U.K. The paper analyses first the response of the anti-trafficking framework to international protection needs, and second, considers the scope of an alternative protection regime, namely, of …

Meaningful Parental Involvement In The Migrant Education Program: A View Through The Lens Of Six Migrant Parents, Mary Ellen Good

Dissertations

Meaningful parental involvement is an important component of the academic success of all children; however, little is known about how this construct plays out in the lives of migrant farm worker families. To gain a deeper understanding of the research problem, a qualitative case study was conducted to address the primary research question: How do migrant parents understand and construct meaning in parental involvement? Grounded in an epistemological foundation built on constructionism, this inquiry was guided by a critical theory framework and was informed by case study and portraiture methodologies.

Participants were 6 migrant parents purposefully selected to include mothers …

Blameworthiness And Dangerousness: An Analysis Of Violent Female Capital Offenders In The United States And China, Courtney Brooke Lahaie

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The United States and China represent two of the leading nations that retain the death penalty in both law and practice. Research suggests that judges' sentencing decisions are based primarily on two factors, blameworthiness and dangerousness. Studies involving gender and sentencing in capital punishment cases tend to provide inconsistent findings. The current study uses case narratives to examine the direct and conjunctive effects of various factors on the sentencing decisions of violent female capital offenders in the United States and China. The findings suggest that the concepts of blameworthiness and dangerousness are distinctly defined in the United States and China. …

Sex, Drug Courts, And Recidivism, Doria Nour Dandan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research studies have identified gender differences in the drug abusing patterns and treatment needs of men and women. Even so, studies on the drug court model have not assessed drug court effectiveness across sex. Using secondary data collected from the Ada County Drug Court, the recidivism rates of drug court participants (n=259) and probationers (n=235) were analyzed. Drug court participants were found to be less likely to recidivate compared to probationers, which supports previous research on drug court effectiveness. Regression analyses failed to find an interaction between group membership and sex, thereby indicating that the effect of the drug court …

Assessing The Impact Of Police Order Maintenance Units On Crime: An Application Of The Broken Windows Hypothesis, Steven Andrew Pace

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

High levels of violent crime and disorder area concentrated within certain neighborhoods of northwest Las Vegas, Nevada. In April 2009 a police order-maintenance unit designed to reduce minor and major offenses was initiated in these areas. Drawing on the Broken Windows Hypothesis, the unit combined detailed crime analysis with extensive police efforts to address specific community problems. This paper discusses the implementation and impact of the police order-maintenance unit during its operation.

Employee Theft: Determinants Of Motive And Proactive Solutions, David Langner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Theft in the workplace, specifically performed by the employees, is a daunting situation for American business - both corporate and small proprietorships. This paper calls upon available literature to provide an in-depth analysis that focuses on employee's motive to steal from their employer and the potential proactive solutions organizations can implement to deter theft by improving morale and trust in the workplace. The topic will be examined from a linear fashion that looks at the concept of employee theft and common motivational determinants such as employer resentment, animosity, and the perception of fairness. Next, numerous organizations have adopted theft detection …

Displacement Or Diffusion: A Secondary Analysis Of The Las Vegas Safe Village Initiative, Daniel Duane Swanson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Police initiatives have been implemented by many agencies in an attempt to curtail growing crime rates. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department implemented the "Safe Village Initiative" to address this issue in west Las Vegas. This deterrence based model reduced calls for service in the target area with a diffusion of benefits to the surrounding neighborhoods.

The current study will analyze two research questions pertaining to the "Safe Village Initiative". The first will assess the possibility that a displacement of crime occurred as a result of the treatment. The second research question will address whether, if no displacement occurred, there …

The Effects Of Expectations On Performance: Generalizing Galatea, Brittany Day

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Galatea effect occurs when self-efficacy is intentionally raised yielding an increase in performance. The study focused on generalizing the Galatea effect to the historically under researched populations of Blacks in the workforce. To raise self-efficacy, the participants in the experimental condition were presented with a scenario designed to increase specific self-efficacy through verbal persuasion. This study used a diverse sample of male and female college students. The dependent variable was performance on Sudoku – a cognition puzzle. The Sudoku puzzle is a test of deductive reasoning which can be related to cognitive performance. Cognitive ability is often used in …

Bias, Batson, And "Backstrikes": Snyder V. Louisiana Through A Glass, Starkly, Bruce Hamilton

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

Booklet, Altrusa International District Three Conference Information, Ocala, April 29 - May 1, 2010, Altrusa International

Altrusa International of Tampa Bay, Inc. - Records

An information packet for the Altrusa International Inc. District Three Conference held in Ocala, Florida, from April 29 - May 1, 2010.

Peacebuilding In Northern Ireland: The Past, Present And Future, Stephen Ryan

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article explores the reasons for the slow progress being made in the Northern Ireland peace process. It examines complications that exist in dealing with the past, present, and future of the conflict between the two main communities whilst also arguing that it is hard to separate these time frames in practice. In terms of the present, some well known difficulties with the consociational approach are identified. Recent studies have also demonstrated a failure to address sectarianism at the grass-roots level and there has been a resurgence in activity by spoilers and rejectionists. When thinking about the future the two …

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines: A Misplaced Trust In Mechanical Justice, Evangeline A. Zimmerman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In 1984 the Sentencing Reform Act was passed, ending fully discretionary sentencing by judges and allowing for the creation of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines ("FSG" or "Guidelines"). This Note proposes that the Guidelines failed not only because they ran afoul of the Sixth Amendment, as determined by the Supreme Court in 2005, but also because they lacked a clear underlying purpose, had a misplaced trust in uniformity, and were born of political compromise. Moreover, the effect of the FSG was to blindly shunt discretionary decisions from judges, who are supposed to be neutral parties, to prosecutors, who are necessarily partisan. …

The Impact Of Civilian Aggravating Factors On The Military Death Penalty (1984-2005): Another Chapter In The Resistance Of The Armed Forces To The Civilianization Of Military Justice, Catherine M. Grosso, David C. Baldus, George Woodworth

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In 1984, the U.S. Armed Forces amended its capital punishment system for death eligible murder to bring it into compliance with Furman v. Georgia. Those amendments were modeled after death penalty legislation prevailing in over thirty states. After a brief period between 1986 and 1990, the charging decisions of commanders and the conviction and sentencing decisions of court martial members (jurors) transformed the military death penalty system into a dual system that treats two classes of death eligible murder quite differently. Since 1990, a member of the armed forces accused of a killing a commissioned officer or murder with a …

Job Satisfaction Of University Chief Student Conduct Administrators And Their Intent To Stay Or Leave The Position, Suzie Nagel-Bennett

Dissertations

Chief student conduct administrators within higher education are responsible for administering and enforcing standards of student conduct, and navigating the vast legal, political and developmental components to fortify the ethical climate and academic integrity of institutions. Although some previous research regarding these individuals and their role does exist, no research to date could be found regarding their job satisfaction at four year public institutions in the United States. This study serves as the first research to examine overall job satisfaction, the level of satisfaction on stated intrinsic and extrinsic variables within the framework of Herzberg's (1966) dual-factor theory, and the …

Professors With Criminal Records: Criminology & Criminal Justice Students Views On Former Convicts As Professors, John Frana

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As America’s incarceration binge begins its fourth decade, one unintended consequence of this social policy has been a growing number of criminologists/sociologists who have personal experience with incarceration as many former convicts have been pursuing education as an avenue for successful re-entry. Some of these ex-convicts have begun to secure PhD’s and have been conducting research as well as teaching various university courses in Sociology and/or Criminology and Criminal Justice. Within this thesis the myths maintained by society surrounding crime and prisoners will be discussed. Using survey research, students majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice (n = 186) at ISU …

Development Of An Outcomes-Based Undergraduate Curriculum In Homeland Security, James D. Ramsay, Daniel A. Cutrer, Robert Raffel

Security Studies & International Affairs - Daytona Beach

As a professional discipline, homeland security is complex, dynamic, and interdisciplinary and not given to facile definition. As an academic discipline, homeland security is relatively new and growing, and its workforce aging. As such, there is an acknowledged need to develop academic homeland security programs to try and meet anticipated workforce needs. However, the lack of an accreditation system or a set of available published outcomes (or standards) have complicated efforts towards homeland security program development. At present, determining which courses to teach and which outcomes in each course to pursue must be left to anecdotal conversations, reviews of the …

Regional Jail Feasibility Study, Clay, Fentriss, Overton & Pickett Counties, Tennessee, Tennessee. Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental Relations.

Miscellaneous Reports

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing Attitudes Towards Prostitution, Brian Robert Brehman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influence attitudes towards prostitution. Students from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of British Columbia (N=591) were compared based on their responses to the Attitudes Towards Prostitution (ATP) Scale and by demographic differences. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) identified significant differences in ethnicity, religiosity, and certain sexual experiences. Regression analysis revealed location of students and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes.

Crime Is Not Just A Man's World: Perceptions Of Female Offenders Through A Feminist Lens, Marianne Hudson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Using the scale on feminist views developed by Henley et al. (1998), this study adapted and created two survey instruments to measure views on feminism and female offenders: 1) the Societal Perspectives Scale, which measures a respondent’s views of feminism; and 2) the Female Offender Perspectives Scale, which measures a respondent’s views of female offenders. Using these survey instruments and convenience sampling, the current study examined college students’ perceptions of feminism and female offenders. This study sought to investigate the following hypotheses: 1) the reliability of the survey instruments, especially the Female Offender Perspectives Scale; and 2) the predictive value …

How Do Idaho’S Lineups Line Up? An Exploratory Study On Congruence To Nationally Recommended Practices In Eyewitness Identification Procedure, Nichole Jolein Gerhard

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The following research is an exploratory study into the level of congruence of Idaho law enforcement agencies to nationally recommended best practices in eyewitness identification procedure. Based on a series of questions relating specifically to the use of recommended procedures in eyewitness identification, law enforcement agencies were graded and assessed an individual score within two different levels of congruence: overall and functional. With three possible groups, desirable, average, and poor, the majority of Idaho departments received scores placing them in average standing for both overall and functional congruence. Three dominant themes in the research (agency type, written procedure, and officer …