Digital Commons Network^™

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: A Comparative Analysis Of Organized Crime Laws In The United States, Italy, Japan, And Ecudor, Christina M. Strompf

ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law

“[T]he ‘relative power’ of criminal networks will continue to rise, and some countries could even be taken over and run by these networks.”1 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines “organized crime” as “any group having some manner of formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities.

Global Insecurity: How Risk Theory Gave Rise To Global Police Militarization, Nicholas S. Bolduc

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Today, across the globe, police agencies are militarizing to confront modern-day threats. This gradual shift towards militarized policing stems from the concept of risk-risk has driven nations to amend their laws so that their law enforcement agencies may militarize to meet whatever risk they face. In the United States, the gradual shift towards militarized police occurred after the crippling of the Posse Comitatus Act in the face of the developing 'War on Drugs" However, America is a late development in this trend; the majority of the Western world militarized themselves through the concept of 'gendarmes", while the Chinese militarized their …

The Confluence Of Gender And Poverty: The Shameful History Of The Trafficking Of Poor Persons For Sexual Exploitation, Jody Raphael

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Illicit Trade As A Countervailing Effect: What The Fda Would Have To Know To Evaluate Tobacco Regulations, Mark Kleiman, James E. Prieger, Jonathan Kulick

All Faculty Open Access Publications

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act [P.L. 111–31] gives the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products, including placing restrictions on product composition, sale, and distribution. A complete accounting of the costs and benefits of any tobacco regulation includes harms from possible illicit trade in tobacco products (ITTP): costs of enforcement, violence, incarceration, etc. Indeed, the law instructs the FDA to take into account the “countervailing effects” of regulation on public health, “such as the creation of a significant demand for contraband or other tobacco products that do not meet the requirements.” While …

Perception And Policy: U.S. Sociological Attitudes And Policies Towards Guatemalans And Salvadorans In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries, Violeta Paredes

American Cultural Studies Capstone Research Papers

This paper looks into Guatemalan and Salvadoran history and immigration in the late 20^th Century and identifies how these patterns compare to and continue to affect present day immigration policy. By examining the difference between how immigration policy was handled prior and after the events that occurred on 9/11, the reader will be able to distinguish how social perception of immigrants in the U.S. changed drastically with the span of a few months. By examining the history of immigration policy post-WWII, the reader will be able to identify that aid such as providing asylum has historically contributed to systematic …

The Victim/Perpetrator Continuum: Understanding The Roles And Experiences Of Female Combatants In Colombia’S Armed Conflict, Savitri Restrepo Alvarez

Honors Thesis Collection

In December 2015, supported by the Schiff fellowship, I traveled to Colombia to interview recently demobilized female FARC guerillas participating in state reintegration programs. Estimates suggest that 40% of the combatants in Colombia’s decades-long conflict are women. However, the complex role that women have played has largely been overlooked. Much of the literature on conflict resolution assumes a dichotomy in which women are either ‘victims’ or ‘perpetrators.’ In reality, the distinction between these absolute categories is never entirely clear. The purpose of my trip was to examine women’s particular experiences as combatants, looking at the circumstances that led them to …

When Heads Roll: Assessing The Effectiveness Of The Mexican Military’S Decapitation Strategy Throughout The Course Of The Drug War, Delia Arias De Leon

Honors Thesis Collection

In this thesis, I analyze the effects of the decapitation strategy utilized to target the cartels during the course of the Mexican Drug War. While most scholars have been critical of this strategy, I contend that, by some accounts, it has actually yielded positive results, as evidence by increased governability following cartel fragmentation.

Profile In Public Integrity: Drew Sullivan, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Drew Sullivan is currently an advising editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Program (OCCRP) in Sarajevo, which he co-founded in 2006. Previously, he founded the Center for Investigative Reporting in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Journalism Development Network. He has received many honors for his investigative reporting on issues of transnational crime and corruption, including the Global Shining Light Award and the Online Journalism Award.

Alvaro Uribe Velez: Maintaining Popularity Despite Significant Government Scandals, Juliana A. Canas Baena

Scripps Senior Theses

Despite the scandals and the increase in violence towards vulnerable communities, Uribe and his government still had an extremely high approval rating. His popularity may be explained as a result of the majority of citizens benefitting from his policies because while they violate human rights, they function as mechanisms that support and enhance his success in delivering stability to Colombia’s middle and upper-classes. Moreover, Uribe did not address critics of his government or the media, instead he created a discourse that his government and its policies were responsible for successfully combatting the guerrillas and cartels and improving the economy. Thus …

Afroreggae And Grupo Cultural Afro Reggae: A Study Of The Early Years, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

The following study of AfroReggae and Grupo Cultural Afro Reggae (GCAR) calls attention to Brazilian presence and community organizing in the field of Hip Hop studies with a long memory framework: placing AfroReggae and GCAR in a long history of Africana resistance through music in Latin America. !990s GCAR group arises when reggae and Hip Hop music had become new global forms of solidarity among urban marginalized youths worldwide, making use of old and new strategies of social healing (Fernandes 2011). A close look at lyrics from the Hip Hop fusion band and the associated nonprofit organization shape the concepts …

A Cross-National Study Of The Association Between Natural Resource Rents And Homicide Rates, 2000–12, Paul B. Stretesky, Michael A. Long, Michael J. Lynch

Criminology Faculty Publications

Countries that rely on natural resource rents (that is, the revenue generated from the sale of natural resources) may suffer from a variety of social problems. This exploratory study reviews the natural resource extraction literature to derive a ‘natural resource rents–homicide’ hypothesis. Data for 173 countries for the years 2000 to 2012 are examined to determine if there is a correlation between natural resource rents and homicide rates. Multilevel growth models suggest that natural resource rents are positively correlated with homicide rates within countries (level 1) but not between them (level 2). Importantly, the correlation between natural resource rents and …

A Meta-Architecture Analysis For A Coevolved System-Of-Systems, George Anthony Muller Iv

Masters Theses

"Modern engineered systems are becoming increasingly complex. This is driven in part by an increase in the use of systems-of-systems and network-centric concepts to improve system performance. The growth of systems-of-systems allows stakeholders to achieve improved performance, but also presents new challenges due to increased complexity. These challenges include managing the integration of asynchronously developed systems and assessing SoS performance in uncertain environments.

Many modern systems-of-systems must adapt to operating environment changes to maintain or improve performance. Coevolution is the result of the system and the environment adapting to changes in each other to obtain a performance advantage. The complexity …

International Environmental And Resources Law 2015 Annual Report, David Hunter

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Corruption And Development: The Need Of International Investigations With A Multijurisdictional Approach And The Involvement Of Multilateral Development Banks With National Authorities, Juan Ronderos, Michelle Ratpan, Andrea Osorio Rincon

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

The authors argue that while both Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and national governments have mechanisms to fight corruption, the outcomes of these enforcement mechanisms diverge. MDBs are interested in the causes and effects of corruption from a development perspective and, as such, tend to sanction Small and Medium Enterprises and individuals, while national governments are focused on a more punitive outcome, targeting larger multinational corporations. The article examines the enforcement objectives articulated in national legislation, namely the American Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act and its Canadian counterpart (the CFPOA) as well as several Canadian cases, on the one hand, and …

International Environmental And Resources Law 2015 Annual Report, Kristen Hite, Lynn A. Long, Stephanie Altman, Derek Campbell, David Gravallese, Richard A. Horsch, David Hunter, Erika Lennon, Thomas Parker Redick, Matt Oakes

The International Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Judicial Ethical Integrity: Challenges And Solutions, Morris A. Ratner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Think Of The Children: How U.S. Domestic Policy Undermined Good Foreign Policy And Contributed To The 2014 Central American Migration Crisis, Rebekah D. Vermillion

CMC Senior Theses

Why was the United States caught completely unprepared for the Central American refugee crisis during the summer of 2014? Although thousands of unaccompanied children from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador streamed across the southwest U.S. border in unprecedented numbers, the systemic problems plaguing the region stem back decades, and recent data clearly shows a trend of increasing yearly migration flows to the United States from these countries. Even in the face of the crisis, the U.S. government’s response was targeted more towards mitigating the symptoms of the crisis while insufficiently addressing its underlying causes.

This is largely due to U.S. …

Judicial Ethical Integrity: Challenges And Solutions, Morris A. Ratner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

J. D. Course Descriptions, Nova Southeastern University

Shepard Broad College of Law Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Online Sex Slaves: The Internet's Powerful Role In Sex Trafficking, Daizchane Baker

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Sex trafficking, often referred, as "modem day slavery" is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises on the Internet. Sex trafficking occurs when a victim, typically a female, is traded for the purpose of commercial sex. Fueled by global economic conditions and increased international mobility, the trading of human beings is expanding rapidly. Classified advertisements on the Internet and social media websites have help aid in the advancement of the industry because traffickers are hidden behind the shield of anonymity and protection known as the web. Victims are sold numerous times to multiple buyers on a daily basis. Sex trafficking …

Prisons And Power : Carceral Coloniality In Hybrid Post-Neoliberal Venezuela, Cory Fischer-Hoffman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines contemporary Venezuela’s dual prison system--in which half of the prison population is incarcerated in internally controlled prisons run by armed inmates, and the other half are locked up in the Bolivarian Government’s restricted “New Regime” prisons. The Venezuelan state formation is conceptualized as ‘hybrid post-neoliberal,’ demonstrating how rationalities of a liberal rentier state and neoliberalism, combined with anti-neoliberal logics all act together in competing yet co-existing ways in the post-neoliberal era, which was initiated by the 1999 Bolivarian Revolution. The central question examines the “work” of the prison in the (re)production of power relations and how policies, …

Balancing Judicial Independence And Accountability In A Transitional State: The Case Of Thailand, David Pimentel

Articles

Balancing judicial independence against judicial accountability is a classic problem, but the debate has often taken place without reference to specific legal cultures and traditions, and there is compelling reason to believe that the “right” balance may be different in different societies. Thailand is in transition, so the models of established Western democracies may be ill-suited to the problems and issues of the Thai judiciary. Moreover, independence and accountability are not ends in themselves, but means to the same end: that of fair, impartial, and effective justice. Independence can help, primarily by bolstering the “judicial courage” exercised by judges called …

The Rise Of Private Actors Along The United States-Mexico Border, James M. Cooper

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is about the proliferation of private actors playing a role at the “broken border.” The Introduction of this Article sets out the conceptual framework for the Article and provides the roadmap for each part. Part I examines which private actors and corporations have increased their role at the US-Mexico border. These actors include multinational corporations including Mexican-sited factories (maquiladoras) and US government contractors engaging in national security work, as well as criminal organizations like human smugglers (polleros and coyotes) and drug cartels (narcotraficantes) from the Mexico side, and the border vigilantes, such as the Minutemen and American Border …

The Role Of A National Intelligence Estimate In Advancing U.S. Interests And Principles: A Case Study Of Human Trafficking In Brazil, Audrey Mooney

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the role National Intelligence Estimates [NIEs] in a current world scenario—human trafficking in Brazil, and the value NIEs add to the Intelligence Community [IC] and US policy makers. The IC uses NIEs as a tool to assess future implications that actions could have on the United States and how those actions can impact U.S. interests. NIEs became prominent when the National Security Act of 1947 was established, which highlighted the need for new and alternative analysis within the IC. This thesis will also investigate how approaches known as Structured Analytic Techniques [SATs] …

Neutering Neoliberalism: Masculinities And Gore Capitalism In Rubem Fonseca’S Crime Novels, David William Hancock

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents close readings of Rubem Fonseca’s Agosto (1990), A grande arte (1983), Bufo & Spallanzani (1985), and O seminarista (2009), to suggest they condemn Neoliberalism’s role in creating a global culture of violence, as they problematize its rhetoric of domination and uncover its heteropatriarchal, consumerist ideology, disguised as fact or ‘common-sense.’ The four chapters are divided according to the different theoretical concepts that accompany the four principal texts’ common critique of Neoliberal masculinity, as it functions to uphold the interdependent hierarchies of race, class and gender. Fonseca’s texts also imply the reader's’ complicity in a global culture of …

Left Behind: The Dying Principle Of Family Reunification Under Immigration Law, Anita Maddali

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

A key underpinning of modern U.S. immigration law is family reunification, but in practice it can privilege certain families and certain members within families. Drawing on legislative history, this Article examines the origins and objectives of the principle of family reunification in immigration law and relies on legal scholarship and sociological and anthropological research to reveal how contemporary immigration law and policy has diluted the principle for many families — particularly those who do not fit the dominant nuclear family model, those classified as unskilled, and families from oversubscribed countries — and members within families. It explores the ways in …

The Rise Of Human Trafficking In Central America, Iris Ventura

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Mexican Drug Cartels And Their Australian Connections: Tracking And Disrupting Dark Networks, A Mccarthy-Jones, D Baldino

Arts Papers and Journal Articles

For Australia, the emergence of Mexican drug cartels presents significant policymaking, intelligence and strategic challenges. The size of these operations, their resource base and the fluid nature of dark network structures makes these enterprise syndicates a highly versatile and resilient opponent. This paper will provide an analysis of the organisational levels of dark networks in dealing with Mexican drug cartels and explores how these profit-seeking transnational actors form and operate including their motivations and modus operandi. It will also address the problematic nature of dark networks and the importance of robust intelligence collection and analysis capabilities to better prioritise border …

A Comparative Approach To Economic Espionage: Is Any Nation Effectively Dealing With This Global Threat?, Melanie M. Reid

Melanie M. Reid

The Anatomy Of The Russian Elite, Peter Rutland

Peter Rutland