Digital Commons Network^™

Covid-19 Impacts On Refugee-Serving Ngos In Clarkston And The Atlanta Metropolitan Area, Georgia, United States, Ghazal Khaksari

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This study provides a unique anthropological perspective on how technology, language, NGO staff, and culture intersect during emergency times, which can affect NGOs’ abilities to reach and help communities. Findings of this study emphasize the importance of equality in digital access and of available and culturally competent interpreters in reducing the gap between NGOs and refugee communities. The digital divide has played a fundamental role during the pandemic, often leading to other problems for both NGOs and refugees. This issue has taken a variety of forms in terms of access to education, language classes, community cohesion, and communication with and …

Upcycled Waste-Derived Triboelectric Nanogenerator For Sustainable Energy Harvesting, Archana Panda, Basanta Kumar Panigrahi, Subhendu Pati, Sunit Gourav Mohanty, Kushal Ruthvik Kaja

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The proliferation of disposable paper-based materials in laboratories has raised significant environmental concerns due to their rapid discard and accumulation. This study explores the upcycling of commonly discarded laboratory waste, specifically butter paper and polyurethane (PU) foam, into a single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for mechanical energy harvesting. The fabricated device employs butter paper as the positive triboelectric layer and PU foam as the negative layer, with an aluminium tape electrode. Electrical tests reveal a peak voltage of 21 V and current of 47 nA, reaching a maximum power of 438 nW at 500 MΩ load. The TENG demonstrates stable performance …

Capital Punishment, Crimmigration, And The Necropolitical Agenda Against Noncitizens, Erin R. Collins

Law Faculty Publications

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14164, Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety. This Order, one of twenty-six signed on Inauguration Day, directs the Attorney General to seek the death penalty for any “capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country,” and specifies the mandate applies “regardless of other factors.” In other words, the Order requires federal prosecutors to set aside their duty to determine what punishment comports with justice in an individual case, and instead seek the authority to kill anyone who is within the country without lawful status upon …

A Small Price To Pay For Better Mental Health Crisis Care: Why States Should Be Funding The New 988 Hotline Through Phone Fees, Katherine Menello

Law Student Publications

Mental health care in the United States is uncoordinated, underresourced, and overall insufficient. Mental health crisis care is much the same, but with much higher stakes. The lack of a comprehensive mental health crisis care system across the country has led to law enforcement involvement becoming the default system in most communities. Yet, an overwhelming majority of Americans want a better way; in a survey conducted in summer 2023, “85% of people sa[id] they want a mental health response to someone experiencing a mental health, drug or suicide crisis, not a police response.”...

Town Of Lempster, New Hampshire, Incorporated 1767, Annual Reports For The Year Ending December 31, 2024, Lempster Town Representatives

Lempster, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Promoting Public Health And Public Safety By Ending The Exclusion Of Incarcerated Children From Access To Medicaid, Eduardo R. Ferrer

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay is a response to Professor Den Houter's article entitled Children are Not Inmates in which she effectively calls eliminating the exclusion of indigent incarcerated children from Medicaid coverage pursuant to the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy (MIEP). This essay affirms and builds upon Professor Den Houter's recommendation. Part I of this response provides additional support for why ensuring system-involved youth receive timely, uninterrupted, high-quality behavioral health services is critical to improving both public health and public safety. Part II analyzes the benefits and risks attendant to excluding indigent incarcerated children from the MIEP. Part III proposes the implementation of …

Contextualizing Tree Defects And Risks In An Urban Tropical Campus, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, Sirintra Vanno

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

Tree failure poses a risk to property and people; however, there is limited data on tropical tree risk assessment, hindering effective risk management. Chulalongkorn University (CU) is an urban tropical forest campus in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The campus provides essential cultural, social, and ecological services but is subject to structural failure due to extreme weather and climate change that can cause severe consequences for property and public safety. This study aimed to carry out a tree risk assessment at CU using a form based on that of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).  Altogether, 4,255 trees representing 256 …

Reentry Realities: Examining The Role Of Aftercare Programs In Supporting Justice-Involved Youth, Lynda Girven

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study examined if aftercare and reentry programs helped to reduce recidivism among youth who have been involved in the juvenile system, and specifically, youth released from residential placement facilities. Different components of aftercare programs were also examined, such as the inclusion of mentoring or family support, how many services were offered, and if the program followed the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model. Through completing a systematic review of studies published since 2008, five studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All five studies found that the youth who received services through aftercare programs were less likely to reoffend than youth …

State V. Liverpool, 314 A.3d 948 (R.I. 2024), Ryan Claudino

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

2024 Rhode Island Public Laws

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Integration Over Institutionalization: Addressing Rhode Island’S Institutionalization Of Developmentally Disabled Children Through An Olmstead Compliance Framework, Anna Macgillivray

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vcu's Yellow Brick Road: Connection, Safety, & Navigation, Karen Bjork, Robert Chisley, Samuel Kessler, Taylor Mackillop, Sarah Midkiff

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

Yellow Brick Road is an initiative designed to strengthen the connection between Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and downtown Richmond by promoting outdoor activity, sustainable mobility, and shared community experiences. The project aims to enhance the health and well-being of students, faculty, and staff through walking meetings and a proposed VCU-branded e-bike fleet, while also deepening VCU’s engagement with the urban community through events such as the UNCOMMON Street Festival. Together, these efforts reflect VCU’s vision as a university fully embedded in the city, guided by the question: How can VCU thrive with Richmond, not apart from it?

State V. Ortiz, 317 A.3d 737 (R.I. 2024), Samantha Barnes

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fourth Amendment's Hidden Intrusion Doctrine, Laura Ginsberg Abelson

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The Fourth Amendment’s concept of probable cause is the linchpin of legal standards governing law enforcement actions such as arrests, searches, and seizures. This article challenges the assumption that the same quantum of evidence can meet the probable cause standard regardless of whether law enforcement seek to conduct a search, to seize evidence, or to make an arrest, and regardless of the intrusiveness of such search or seizure. This paper demonstrates that the Supreme Court implicitly considers the degree of intrusion into privacy or liberty, not just the quantum or quality of evidence, when determining whether probable cause exists. In …

Who Decides: The Role Of Parental Rights In Abortion And Gender-Affirming-Care Decisions For Minors, Joanna L. Grossman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The American legal system presumes that children’s interests are best protected by their parents and, secondarily, by the state’s parens patriae authority. Yet this structure falters when parental authority and state power are infused with political and ideological agendas. This Essay examines how these dynamics have distorted decision-making authority in two contexts—minors’ access to abortion and gender-affirming medical care—and allowed children’s welfare and autonomy to be sacrificed to partisan aims. The law is inconsistent on the role of parental rights—typically empowering parents to grant or withhold consent to a minor’s abortion but categorically stripping them of the power to consent …

“People [Are] Not Dying Because Officers Aren't Following Their Training. ‘It's Because They Are.”: The Construction Of Police De-Escalation Of Individuals In Mental Health Crises In Canadian Media, Renée Haddock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Police are often assumed to be the "de facto" response to people in mental health crises. Contact between police and Canadians with mental illness and in crisis is routine and on the rise (Livingston, 2016). Police responses to these incidences have been criticized after several, highly publicized and tragic encounters between police and people in mental health crisis and the overrepresentation of people of colour in these instances. Media outlets determine which stories are prioritized, how they are framed, and which information to include or omit (Fawzi, 2018). Notably, public knowledge of police activities greatly impacts community perceptions of police …

Leadership In Behavioral Health, Rebecca Mccoy

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Leadership in healthcare is difficult when dealing with human contact in its most raw and vulnerable way. Leadership in behavioral health is just as challenging as direct practice practitioners tend to be the ones who move up into these roles. This study will exam “Identifying factors that promote successful leadership and challenges that cause barriers to having successful leadership in behavioral health.” This includes soft and hard skill knowledge, growth opportunities and the strengths and struggles in moving into leadership roles in this industry.

The study is based on phenomenological research to gain an understanding of the individual experience …

Examining Disparities In Pre-Conviction Detention: A Race And Gender Analysis Of Criminal Charging And Detention Practices In Ramsey Countyention Practices In Ramsey County, Gabriel P. Exman

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Race and gender disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system are well documented, primarily in sources of national post-conviction data. However, localized and pre-conviction studies remain limited. This study examined race and gender disparities in pre-conviction detention outcomes and charge severity in Ramsey County, Minnesota, between 2017 and 2019. Using a descriptive, exploratory quantitative design and a retrospective single-cohort analysis, the researcher analyzed trends in arrests, charge severity, and pre-conviction incarceration duration across race and gender groups. Findings indicate disparities in both charge rates and pre-conviction detention durations, with Black men and Native American women experiencing longer periods of incarceration. …

The Artificial Intelligence Trolley Problem: Governance In The Post-Chevron World, James M. Cooper, Kashyap Kompella

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

This Essay addresses a growing Constitutional challenge in public governance: the increasing delegation of consequential decisions to algorithmic systems that encode value trade-offs between liberty and security, equity and efficiency, and expression and control, without visibility, legal justification, or institutional oversight. We view this hidden normative choice an example of the “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trolley Problem.” Like the classic moral dilemma, it involves unavoidable sacrifices among competing goods. Unlike its philosophical counterpart, however, algorithmic trade-offs occur silently. They are embedded in data proxies, optimization logic, and model design, and insulated from scrutiny by claims of technical neutrality. This Essay argues …

Terrorizing Who? Luigi Mangione's Terrorism Charge And The Threat To Capital, Julia Hopkins

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Ignored By The Legislature, Failed By The Courts: The Uncertain Path Toward Relief For Youth Sex Offenders In Illinois, Lindsay Nicholas

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Disposability And Survival: The Legal And Social Marginalization Of Black Transwomen, Rachel Still

Public Interest Law Reporter

The criminalization of Black transwomen emerges not as an incidental consequence of law but as a deliberate, structural process intertwined with a long history of racial, gendered, and class-based oppression. From the horrors of slavery to contemporary policing, the state has consistently defined and regulated Black trans bodies through a lens of disposability. This article explores the historical and contemporary forces that contribute to the marginalization and criminalization of Black transwomen, emphasizing how race, gender, and socio-economic status intersect to create a landscape of legal violence that continues to shape their lives and deaths.

The experiences of Black transwomen reveal …

2025 Commencement Program, Seattle University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

College-Specific Policies And Procedures: Dr. Kiran C. Patel College Of Allopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University

Health Professions Divisions Course Catalogs and Course Descriptions

No abstract provided.

The Artificial Intelligence Trolley Problem, James Cooper, Kashyap Kompella

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay addresses a growing Constitutional challenge in public governance: the increasing delegation of consequential decisions to algorithmic systems that encode value trade-offs between liberty and security, equity and efficiency, and expression and control, without visibility, legal justification, or institutional oversight. We view this hidden normative choice an example of the “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trolley Problem.” Like the classic moral dilemma, it involves unavoidable sacrifices among competing goods. Unlike its philosophical counterpart, however, algorithmic trade-offs occur silently. They are embedded in data proxies, optimization logic, and model design, and insulated from scrutiny by claims of technical neutrality. This Essay argues …

Exempt But Not Immune: Why The Section 501(C)(3) Tax Exemption Amounts To Federal Financial Assistance And Demands That Private Schools Comply With Title Ix, Ellen Bart

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance and ensures that federal funds are not used to support discriminatory practices. Independent, non-public, educational institutions try to escape compliance with Title IX, claiming they do not receive federal financial assistance and are not subject to Title IX. While they may not receive a direct federal grant or loan, many of these independent schools are organized as nonprofits and are exempt from federal income taxes pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal …

Legalized Surveillance: The Historical To Modern Policing Of Black Life, Nile Blass

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Our Progressively Brutal Constitution: A Legal Expressivist Account Of The Excessive Force Doctrine, Danielle C. Jefferis

Emory Law Journal

The Constitution forbids some forms of physical violence. However, the scope of its protection depends on the legal status of the person subjected to the violence. The Fourth Amendment protects a person outside the criminal legal system from a state actor’s “objectively unreasonable” force. A pre-trial detainee has a similar, though weaker, right under the Due Process Clause. But after conviction, a person’s right of protection from state violence has nearly vanished: the Eighth Amendment prohibits only force applied “maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.” Rather than meaningfully limiting state violence, this doctrine constructs a constitutional …

Playing Politics: Social Media, Censorship, And Speech Gamification, Khaled A. Beydoun

Emory Law Journal

Forty percent of Americans self-censor their speech online. While staggering, the hidden phenomenon beneath this figure reveals a more dystopic outlook for the future of free speech. The powerful predictive technologies driving social media platforms, which the Supreme Court dubbed “the most important spaces for the exchange of views,” control the terms of modern speech and the scope of political discourse. The Supreme Court’s laissez-faire posture toward online speech moderation has only empowered digital dominion over modern expression and citizenship to the detriment of free speech principles.

As such, the primary threat to free speech today is not the state …

Ensuring A Future For The Past: Balancing Heritage Tourism And Historic Preservation, Kyra Frew Sexauer

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Savannah’s historic city plan, Charleston’s colonial architecture, and New Orleans’ Creole and Cajun culture and cuisine all have a commonality: they tangibly and intangibly connect the past to the present. Each city has a distinct and recognizable landscape, shaped by its built environment, history, and culture, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) – the most prestigious recognition a historic district can receive in the United States. Heritage tourists are drawn to these places by their history, culture, and authenticity. In 2022, a combined 42,320,000 million tourists poured into the streets of Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans. …