Digital Commons Network^™

From Tulsa To Ferguson: Redefining Race Riots And Racialized Violence, Hesley R. Keenan

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Prosecutorial Accountability 2.0, Bruce A. Green, Ellen Yaroshefsky

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Voices On Innocence, Lucian E. Dervan, Richard A. Leo, Meghan J. Ryan, Valena Elizabeth Beety, Gregory M. Gilchrist, William W. Berry

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In the summer of 2015, experts gathered from around the country to sit together and discuss one of the most pressing and important issues facing the American criminal justice system – innocence. Innocence is an issue that pervades various areas of research and influences numerous topics of discussion. What does innocence mean, particularly in a system that differentiates between innocence and acquittal at sentencing? What is the impact of innocence during plea bargaining? How should we respond to growing numbers of exonerations? What forces lead to the incarceration of innocents? Has an innocent person been put to death and, if …

Sexual Assault As A Law Of War Violation & U.S. Service-Members’ Duty To Report, Chris Jenks, Jay Morse

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This Essay considers when U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan are obligated to report allegations of sexual assault by Afghan security forces against Afghan nationals to the U.S. military. The answer requires applying a longstanding Department of Defense policy for reporting law of war violations and hinges on whether there is a nexus between the sexual assault and the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Although recent attention on this topic has brought much-needed visibility to sexual assault in conflict zones, the overbroad assertions of the media and the military have unfortunately fostered more confusion than clarity. This Essay does not attempt …

A Rose By Any Other Name: How The United States Charges Its Service Members For Violating The Laws Of War, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This chapter examines the US practice of not charging its service members with war crimes. The chapter briefly explains how the United States asserts criminal jurisdiction over its service members before turning to how the US military reports violations of the laws of war. It then sets out the US methodology for charging such violations as applied to its service members, and compares this methodology to that applied to those tried by military commissions. The chapter then discusses the varied meanings of the term ‘war crimes’ and the way in which the 1949 Geneva Conventions can provide a benchmark against …

Evidence Laundering In A Post-Herring World, Kay L. Levine, Jenia I. Turner, Ronald F. Wright

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The Supreme Court’s decision in Herring v. United States authorizes police to defeat the Fourth Amendment’s protections through a process we call evidence laundering. Evidence laundering occurs when one police officer makes a constitutional mistake when gathering evidence and then passes that evidence along to a second officer, who develops it further and then delivers it to prosecutors for use in a criminal case. When courts admit the evidence based on the good faith of the second officer, the original constitutional taint disappears in the wash.

In the years since Herring was decided, courts have allowed evidence laundering in a …

Plea Bargaining And Disclosure In Germany And The United States: Comparative Lessons, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article analyzes recent trends in plea bargaining and disclosure of evidence in Germany and the United States. Over the last two decades, a number of U.S. jurisdictions have adopted rules requiring broader and earlier discovery in criminal cases. This development reflects a growing consensus that, in a system that resolves most of its cases through guilty pleas, early and extensive disclosure is necessary to ensure fair and informed outcomes.

The introduction of broader discovery in criminal cases in the United States aligns our rules more closely with German rules on access to the investigative file. At the same time, …

Peer Review: Navigating Uncertainty In The United States Jury System, Anna Offit

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This Article examines American prosecutors’ approaches to uncertainty during voir dire. At different points during trial preparation— and during jury selection itself—lawyers draw on multiple interpretive systems to make sense of ordinary citizens. Taking Assistant United States Attorneys in a federal jurisdiction in the Northeast United States as a case study, and drawing on ethnographic research, I focus on three systems prosecutors alternately (and sometimes simultaneously) use to evaluate jurors: (1) probabilistic and evaluative analogies, (2) juror-types generated from the details of criminal cases, and (3) local knowledge stemming from prosecutors’ relationships and experiences outside of the courtroom. I show …

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (Stem) In Higher Education From The Perspective Of Female Students: An Institutional Ethnography, Laura Parson

Theses and Dissertations

A persistent disadvantage for females is systemically embedded in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in postsecondary institutions. As a result, undergraduate women majoring in STEM fields face a uniquely difficult path; yet, for the most part, recommendations made and supported in the literature have focused on recruitment of women to STEM fields or on ways to make women more successful and comfortable in their STEM major. These recommendations have so far proved to be insufficient to remedy a gender gap and serve to replicate the existing male hierarchy. In order to truly make the STEM classroom one in …

Restoring The Civil Jury In A World Without Trials, Dmitry Bam

Faculty Publications

Early in this nation’s history, the civil jury was the most important institutional check on biased and corrupt judges. Recently, concerns about judicial bias, especially in elected state judiciaries, have intensified as new studies demonstrate the extent of that bias. But the jury of Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson is nowhere to be found. In fact, the civil jury is virtually dead. It is used in less than 1% of all civil cases, and even when it makes a rare appearance, the jury’s powers have been significantly curtailed.

This article argues that we must reimagine the civil jury to match the …

Response To Keeping Cases From Black Juries: An Empirical Analysis Of How Race, Income Inequality, And Regional History Affect Tort Law, Jennifer Wriggins

Faculty Publications

Issues of race and racism in the U.S. torts system continue to deserve much more attention from legal scholarship than they receive, and Keeping Cases from Black Juries is a valuable contribution. Studying racism as it infects the torts system is difficult because explicit de jure exclusions of black jurors are in the past; race is no longer on the surface of tort opinions; and court records do not reveal the race of tort plaintiffs, defendants, or jurors. Yet it is essential to try and understand the workings of race and racism in the torts system. The authors pose a …

Social Work Ethics: Decision Making And Accountability, James J. Clark, Molly Malany Sayre

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

Book accompanies course that examines the interplay of social work, values, ethics, and decision-making processes. Through the use of practice scenarios, social workers will learn how to approach risk management and thorny ethical dilemmas that are common to many practice areas. The course discusses the role of laws and regulations in regard to ethics, highlights the importance of the distinction between legal and moral problems, and describes the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics.

Counsel In School Exclusion Cases: Leveling The Playing Field, Julie K. Waterstone

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Small Constellation: Risk Factors Informing Police Perceptions Of Domestic Abuse, Amanda L. Robinson, Gillian M. Pinchevsky, Jennifer A. Guthrie

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

Police in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) now routinely use risk assessment tools to identify common risk factors for re-abuse and lethality when responding to domestic abuse. Nevertheless, little is known about the extent to which officers understand and perceive the importance of factors commonly included on risk assessment tools for predicting future abuse. This study attempts to shed some light into this area of research by exploring the responses of 720 British and American police officers to questions regarding how important and how essential various risk factors are for evaluating the level of risk or …

Prison And The Bible: Current Practices And Reflections From Isaiah, Edward Allen Jones Iii

Faculty Publications - George Fox Digital

There is wide agreement today that our prison system is fraught with problems. Opinion associates prisons with overcrowding, racism, human debasement, and with an inability to accomplish the reduction of crime. Further, there is also a partial antipathy ascribed to the general populace. Practically, citizens want governmental systems to provide for our security. Ideologically, there is a sense that leniency is foolhardy. However, as religious communities often equate crime with sin writ large, there is also a need to pursue wholeness in society. One way to do this is by reflecting on how punishment, prison in this case, can relate …

Soft Misogyny: The Subtle Perversion Of Domestic Violence "Reform", Justine A. Dunlap

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Women's Research Institute Of Nevada Newsletter, Joanne Goodwin, Women's Research Institute Of Nevada

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Classifying Violent Offenders And Gang Members : A Consideration Of Childhood Variables And Future Time Perspective, Lauren T. Bradel

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Research suggests there are various types of violent offenders, but little research has explored how factors linked to violence perpetration, such as childhood variables and future time perspective, may distinguish between offenders. These factors have also been linked to gang membership, but again, little research has explored how they distinguish between gang members and non-gang members. The current study investigated how delinquency, academic attainment, parents' criminal histories, relationship with parents, and future time perspective may differentiate between the different subtypes of violent offenders as well as differentiate gang members from non-gang members. This study employed archival data from a sample …

The Age Of Racial Profiling In The Context Of Terrorism, Amanda L. Smith, Susan E. Mason

Modern Psychological Studies

Racial profiling refers to the law enforcement practice of using only race or ethnicity as probable cause to search or arrest an individual. The public has found racial profiling to be unjustified in the context of common crime, but tends to support the practice in the context of terrorism. The current study uses an explicit judgment survey to examine the expression of prejudice and factors that influence stereotyping. The study found that participants aged 18 to 24, and those who identified with a political party, were the participants most likely to racially profile individuals with stereotypical Middle-Eastern features to be …

Response To Tuerkheimer: Rape On And Off Campus: The Vulnerable Subject Of Rape Law: Rethinking Agency And Consent, Stu Marvel

Emory Law Journal Online

Tuerkheimer's article for the Emory Law Journal, Rape On and Off Campus, extends her earlier work on sexual agency, consent, and the inadequate nature of U.S. rape law to examine the disconnect between widely acknowledged cultural norms around sex, and the stubborn recalcitrance of rape laws to social reform. This response applies some of the insights of vulnerability theory to Tuerkheimer's piece with the goal of extending these important conversations into new analytical fields. The theory provides a useful vantage upon the systemic and historical patterns of inequality that lead to violence against women, as well as the legal and …

Boundary Construction And Identity Maintenance In Institutionalized Versus Non-Institutionalized Women Methamphetamine Users, Megan Elisabeth Webb

All ETDs from UAB

Since the late 1990s there has been an increase in the use of methamphetamine (meth) across the United States. Concerns about the physical, mental, and societal effects of the drug have been fueled by the media and anti-drug campaigns and have contributed to the demonization of meth and its users. People who use meth construct symbolic boundaries in an attempt to navigate the stigma associated with their drug use and in an attempt to maintain a positive self-identity. Symbolic boundaries are the distinctions, or social categories, that individuals make in attempt to categorize certain people and behaviors. One way that …

From The Mouths Of Mentors: A Qualitative Case Study Exploring The Perspectives Of African-American Men Who Mentor Secondary School-Aged African-American Males, Tonya Michelle Wheeler-Anthony

All ETDs from UAB

High profile deaths of unarmed African-American males caused much discourse in the years 2012 through 2015. Embedded in the news and on the minds of people of all ages were these deaths and the circumstances that surrounded them. Documentation of actions by some of the young males indicated that questionable behaviors existed prior to their demise. However, little documentation exists regarding attempts to assist these African-American male youths in changing these undesirable behaviors. One traditional approach to meeting the needs of African-American male students occurs through mentoring. Although, the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative launched by President Obama’s administration sparked an …

How Much Punishment Is Enough?: Embracing Uncertainty In Modern Sentencing Reform, Jalila Jefferson-Bullock

Journal of Law and Policy

This article examines federal sentencing reform and embraces the principle of uncertainty in this process. In order to properly reapportion federal criminal sentencing laws, reformers must account for the impracticality of determining appropriate incarceration lengths at sentencing. Thus, this article proposes an alternative federal sentencing model that includes a sentencing effectiveness assessment tool to help lawmakers implement rational sentences that appropriately punish offenders, prepare them to successfully reenter society, and reduce recidivism rates. Modern sentencing reform should adopt constant review and evaluation of sentencing to measure effectiveness and ensure that appropriate sentences are implemented to avoid the pitfalls of an …

Trying To Fit A Square Peg Into A Round Hole: Why Title Ii Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Must Apply To All Law Enforcement Services, Michael Pecorini

Journal of Law and Policy

Police use of force has been subject to greater scrutiny in recent years in the wake of several high-profile killings of African Americans. Less attention, however, has been paid to the increasingly routine violent encounters between police and individuals with mental illness or intellectual and development disabilities (“I/DD”). This is particularly problematic, as police have become the de-facto first responders to these individuals and far too often police responses to these individuals result in tragedy.

This Note argues that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires law enforcement to provide reasonable accommodations during their interactions with and seizures of individuals with …

Not Yet Enough: Why New York's Sexual Assault Law Does Not Provide Enough Protection To Complainants Or Defendants, Nicolo Taormina

Journal of Law and Policy

Title IX requires colleges to investigate and adjudicate allegations of sexual assault between students. New York State has recently passed a new law called “Enough is Enough,” which strengthens Title IX’s requirements. However, neither Title IX nor “Enough is Enough” provides strict guidelines for the procedures colleges must use when adjudicating complaints. This means that colleges across New York employ different procedures and offer different sets of rights to their students. After examining federal and state law, some examples of college procedures and the effects they have on students, this Note concludes that “Enough is Enough” must be amended to …

Law & Neuroscience: What, Why, And Where To Begin, Owen D. Jones, Jeffrey D. Schall, Francis X. Shen

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This provides the Summary Table of Contents and Chapter 1 of our coursebook “Law and Neuroscience” (forthcoming April 2014, from Aspen Publishing). Designed for use in both law schools and beyond, the book provides user-friendly introductions, as well as detailed explorations, of the many current and emerging issues at the intersection of law and neuroscience.

One part of the book lays general foundations by exploring the relationships between law and science generally, and by comparing the views from law and from neuroscience regarding behavior and responsibility. A later part explains the basics of brain structure and function, the methods for …

Parsing The Behavioral And Brain Mechanisms Of Third-Party Punishment, Owen D. Jones, Matthew Ginther, Richard J. Bonnie, Morris B. Hoffman, Francis X. Shen, Kenneth W. Simons, Rene Marois

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The evolved capacity for third-party punishment is considered crucial to the emergence and maintenance of elaborate human social organization and is central to the modern provision of fairness and justice within society. Although it is well established that the mental state of the offender and the severity of the harm he caused are the two primary predictors of punishment decisions, the precise cognitive and brain mechanisms by which these distinct components are evaluated and integrated into a punishment decision are poorly understood.

Using a brain-scanning technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we implemented a novel experimental design to …

An Examination Of Domestic Violence Perpetration: A Further Look Into The Gender Symmetry Debate., Michelle Parra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The influences of certain social changes and social movements, such as the feminist movement, in society introduced a violence gendered stereotype model that promoted the social idea that males are more violent than females. From the limited research, it appears that domestic violence perpetration among women differs from male domestic violence perpetration; however, research has not clarified the extent of female domestic violence perpetration and the severity of their abusive behaviors. The current research examines gender-specific intimate partner violence perpetration to determine whether attitudes toward social gender role expectations, income contribution and production, and division of labor in the household …

Female Student Services Staff Perceptions Of Safety On A State College Campus: An Exploratory Study, Catherine Chimera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions of female student services staff members' perceptions of safety on a state college campus. Through the lens of social construction theory, six staff members were interviewed about their views of safety both on and off campus. The goal of this study was to better understand how female staff members formed their perceptions of safety on campus, through social, political and cultural processes. The results of this study were that although the informants all were aware of the same threats and dangers on campus, they each had differing views …

Keeping Their Distance: A Comparison Of 2009 And 2013 Domestic Violence Cases In Seminole County That Utilized Gps Technology To Determine Effectiveness Of Program, Rachel Rados

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the implementation and effectiveness of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office Global Positioning System (GPS) when ordered by the court for "no contact" in Domestic Violence cases, specifically Intimate Partner Violence. The research evaluates violations, which occurred while arrestees were assigned to GPS in 2009 and 2013; the programs first year and the most recent with complete data available. The results found limited factors that could be identified as predicting violations for those who violated the GPS, but the qualitative interviews shed much more light on the value of the program. The qualitative interviews were conducted with various …