Street Outreach And Reentry: The Role Of Community Violence Intervention In The Reintegration Of Returning Citizens, Hilary Jackl

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Amidst ongoing efforts to reduce the nation’s prison population, as well as calls to defund the police and invest in civilianized public safety strategies following the murder of George Floyd, community-based violence intervention (CVI) strategies have been increasingly recognized as a critical means by which to ameliorate the United States’ enduring gun violence problem without exacerbating the harms of overpolicing and mass incarceration. However, most contemporary CVI research has assessed program impacts on neighborhood rates of gun violence and has produced conflicting findings, leading scholars to call for the need to examine a wider range of program-related functions and outcomes. …

Video Analytics And Fourth Amendment Vision, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

What does the Fourth Amendment have to say about video analytics running on citywide camera systems? Video analytics (also known as computer vision) involves hardware and software in cameras that turns video surveillance streams into useful data, identifying, categorizing, matching, and alerting police about objects, people, and incidents. Video analytics can identify objects (e.g., hat, backpack, person, car) and track that person or thing back in time and through the streets using video surveillance footage. For police officers conducting virtual patrols or retrospective investigations, video analytics lets police scan thousands of linked cameras for suspicious behavior or a particular suspect, …

Regulatory Sandboxes: One Decade On, Hilary J. Allen

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Regulatory sandboxes have spread like wildfire since the U.K Financial Conduct Authority launched its sandbox for financial technology businesses (fintech) one decade ago. Despite widespread adoption, however, there is little empirical evidence available to assess whether the signature sandbox policy com- bination of regulatory rollbacks and regulatory guidance is in fact good policy. The empirical evidence that is available suggests that regulatory sandboxes are beneficial for the tech firms that participate in them, but tells us nothing about how regulatory sandboxes have impacted the broader enterprise of regulation, or whether the innovation generated by sandbox participants is beneficial for any- …

Prioritizing Amd Impaired Watersheds For Watershed-Scale Restoration Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, James Nicholas Marino

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) remains a significant environmental challenge in coal-mining and hard rock regions like West Virginia, degrading water quality and ecosystem health. Traditional site-specific remediation efforts often prove inefficient in addressing AMD at large scale. This study explores watershed-scale restoration as a more effective solution, leveraging centralized treatment facilities and multi-source pollution management. This study will follow Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), specifically the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), to develop a structured rubric for grading watersheds. The process involves identifying critical criteria, organizing them into a hierarchy, and generating weights for clusters of criteria through collaboration with decision makers. …

News Mediated Reporting And Governmental Narratives About The Enforcement Of Elite Criminality: Exploring The Social Construction Of Financial Frauds And Discrepancies In Punishment, Dominic J. Zicari

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how financial crime enforcement decisions are socially constructed through a qualitative content analysis of news articles and government communications pertaining to two specific cases: the Enron scandal of 2001 and the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. The study was guided by a theoretical framework that utilizes Barak’s (2017) theory of state-routinized crime control. The rigorous analysis of 394 news articles and government communication documents revealed that the media and the state rarely framed the subprime mortgage crisis as a criminal issue. Although the Enron scandal was frequently described as financial crime, journalists and government communicators were often …

Hostos Community College Academic Bulletin 2025-2026, Hostos Community College

College Bulletins

This is the official college catalog for 2025-2026. It contains course descriptions as well as information on degree programs, college resources and services, financial aid, admissions, and the academic calendar.

Advanced 3d Lidar-Based Systems For Urban Traffic And Pedestrian Monitoring: Integrating Elevated Lidar, Data Collection, And Deep Learning For Precise Detection And Activity Classification, Nawfal Guefrachi

Masters Theses

"Accurate and real-time monitoring of urban traffic and pedestrian activities is crucial for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and smart cities. Traditional camera-based methods struggle with issues like lighting and privacy. This research leverages advanced three-dimension light detection and ranging (3D LiDAR) technology and computational frameworks to address these challenges, providing transformative solutions for urban traffic management and pedestrian safety. By strategically deploying elevated LiDAR sensors, detailed 3D point cloud data is captured, enabling precise monitoring of urban environments. Enhancements to LiDAR-based frameworks, such as fine-tuning the Point Voxel Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network (PV-RCNN), improve the detection of vehicles and pedestrians …

“This Is Everyone's Issue”: Policy Entrepreneurs, Issue Framing, And Coalition Building In The Passage Of Automatic Criminal Record Expungement, Elsa Y. Chen, Sarah E. Lageson, Ericka B. Adams

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Research Summary: Since 2018, at least 12 U.S. states have introduced policies to expunge certain eligible arrest and criminal conviction records through automated or algorithmic means. Drawing on interviews with governmental representatives and community stakeholders, this paper identifies strategies used to pass this legislation in Pennsylvania and Utah, the first two states to enact automated expungement policies. We frame our findings around three established theoretical frameworks of public policy making—policy entrepreneurship, issue framing, and coalition building—illustrating their combined strategic importance with data gathered from those involved on the ground in the passage and adoption of automated expungement legislation. The findings …

United States V. Rahimi: Setting Limits On The “Right To Bear Arms", Doni Gewirtzman

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Housing Justice Pipeline: Harnessing Housing Clinics To Transform The Right To Counsel Movement, Erica Braudy, Thomas Honan, Tuhfa Begum

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Secretive Sheriffs: Opacity And Variation In California's Jail Responses To Covid-19, Hadar Aviram, Aparna Komarla

Faculty Scholarship

Agnotology is the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data. In this Article, we draw attention to a disturbing site of agnotology: healthcare in California jails. Often obscured because of the attention to state prisons, jails were sites of opacity and misinformation, largely because of sheriffs’ refusal to collaborate with data collection efforts—both coordinated by the state and solicited through non-profits.

Building on the data collection effort of the Covid In-Custody Project and on public advocacy efforts of the #StopSanQuentinOutbreak coalition and its off-shoots, we show the chasm between data on …

Political Turbulence And Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis Of Political Stability's Effects On Aviation Accidents, Léa Faure, Lilliam Maria Cáceres Malachowski

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency. Political instability can indeed have profound effects on reducing overall public safety in a variety of domains through its influence on public policies. Reduced regulations and governance efforts can appear in contentious contexts for less-prioritized fields. This could influence the reemergence of technical aviation risk factors like crew training and performance, maintenance issues, infrastructure problems, human errors, etc. This would highlight a correlation between such political instability and weaker aviation safety regulations, investments …

Heat Camps: Juvenile Curfews, Extreme Heat & The Eighth Amendment, Norrinda Brown

Faculty Scholarship

For decades, in the summertime, America has confined certain of its youth in what are essentially open-air heat camps. In city after city, camp-form is established through the enactment of warm-weather juvenile curfews which keep the youth at home or in state-sponsored centers during summer nights and, increasingly, during days as well. Local governments justify these curfews with general notions of “public safety,” including to protect the youth they confine. But the laws are not benevolent. Reducing youth mobility by curfew results in exclusion, oversurveillance, and potentially lethal heat punishment of the youth, possibly in violation of the Eighth Amendment. …

Abolitionism, Artificial Intelligence, And Non-Reformist Reform, Youngjae Lee

Faculty Scholarship

Prison abolitionism has gained significant prominence in criminal law scholarship, while artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force across society. Two schools of thought have arisen regarding their intersection. Some scholars contend abolitionists should welcome AI technologies to reduce the carceral state’s reach. Critics view these tools skeptically, arguing that they lead to biased surveillance and incarceration practices. Using this debate as an example, this article seeks to illuminate the distinction between reformist and non-reformist reforms. The article argues that abolitionists’ criticism of reformists as agents of oppression risks alienating potential allies and discouraging progressive interventions in pivotal, …

“Digital Integrity”: Defending The Judicial Integrity In The Digital Age, Guy Alon, Doron Menashe, Guy Itzhak Sender

Touro Law Review

Recent revelations have shown that the protection of the Fourth Amendment in the digital age is inadequate. Despite well-known exclusionary rules regarding evidence obtained by illegal search and seizure, current trends in the digital age and the law of evidence resulted in courts that tend to include such evidence, and by doing so, create significant risk of both substantive and procedural errors and hence increase the potential for wrongful convictions. To address the matter and try to empower and modernize the protection given by the Fourth Amendment, this article suggests performing a revolution in the law of evidence in the …

Legislatively Erased: The Failure Of Privacy Legislation To Protect People Connected To The Criminal Legal System, Kate Weisburd, Chaz Arnett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Fixing Fixed Term Recall An Insights Paper: February 2025, Miranda Shanks, Katie Mcbride, Zoë James

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This Insights Paper seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the application of fixed term recall (FTR) within the criminal justice system (CJS) and their impact on the rehabilitation and resettlement journeys of individuals on licence. The paper explores how FTR are currently being applied, examines the experiences of those subject to them, and identifies strategies to reduce the use of FTR while improving their effectiveness in managing non-compliance of low-risk individuals.

Human Trafficking In The Er: Will You Recognize The Signs?, Lauren Neff

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Current data reveals that 88% of human trafficking (HT) victims seek some form of health care while being trafficked. More specifically, 63% seek care in the emergency department setting (McAmis et al., 2022). A recent literature review indicates that regarding human trafficking and healthcare, there is a lack of awareness and knowledge on the issue. Healthcare team members often have little to no education or knowledge of potential signs and symptoms of a victim in a trafficking situation. The purpose of this DNP project was to increase healthcare staff knowledge of human trafficking (HT) and, more specifically, nurses in an …

Design And Simulation Of An Ai-Powered Autonomous Quadrotor Framework For Search And Rescue Operations, James J. Shope

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly quadrotor platforms, have proven to be indispensable tools for search and rescue (SAR) teams due to their maneuverability, rapid deployment, and affordable operation. The current SAR use cases of quadrotors span from aerial surveillance to mission planning and strategic deliveries. However, most SAR applications remain passive or semi-autonomous, such that they rely on human-operated control or data assessment. Advancements in autonomous control strategies bring about a future where a single SAR operator can program and deploy several UAVs. This thesis details the development and simulation of a fully autonomous, AI-powered quadrotor framework capable of detecting …

What Does It All Mean? Differences In Self-Defining Memories Between Community And Adjudicated Youth, Hannah Elias

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Identity development is driven in large part by self-defining memories, or memories though which we base our definition of who we are (Habermas & Bluck, 2000). In adolescence, cognitive skills are gained that allow us to make meaning, or learn lessons and gain insight, from self-defining memories (Bluck & Habermas, 2001; McLean & Thorne, 2003). To determine whether there are differences in their ability to make meaning from their self-defining memories, this study compares narratives of self-defining memories between community youth and adjudicated youth. Additionally, the ability to be specific in self-defining memory recollection may differ between these groups, which …

Police Abuse In America And The Search For Remedy, Howard Ryan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The dissertation contends that, despite many diligent efforts—from mass protests to a presidential task force—America is not yet on path to remedying its outsized patterns of police abuse. The abuse problem is broadly characterized herein through a “triad” of over-enforcement, excessive force, and racial discrimination. The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” database, covering the years 2015 through 2024, is offered as a bellwether of American progress in addressing its police abuse; and, it is observed, the nation’s yearly count of fatal police shootings of civilians has been increasing, rather than decreasing.

To help make sense of our lack of national progress, …

Framework To Guide The Review And Update Of Wvdoh Schedule Review Practices And Specifications, Myles Joshua Avery

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Roadway and bridge construction projects are often complex, necessitating high quality schedules to ensure the work is completed on time and within budget. The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) utilizes scheduling procedures and policies outlined within the Prosecution and Progress section of its Standard Specifications for Roads and Bridges to ensure timely and cost-effective project deliveries. Recently, concern has risen that the existing language within this section is outdated and fails to cater to modern scheduling techniques, technologies, and industry practices. In turn, WVDOH personnel question whether schedules that follow the existing specifications align with the complexities, types, values, …

Criminal Procedure Without Consent, Kate Weisburd

Faculty Scholarship

Scholars and advocates have long argued that a person’s consent to a warrantless police search is often so inherently coerced, uninformed, and shaped by race, class, gender, citizenship status, and disability that to call it a “choice” is fiction. This critique is not limited to police searches based on consent. Waiving rights and consenting to otherwise unconstitutional state action permeates criminal procedure. The definition of a seizure, the third-party doctrine, custodial confessions, plea bargains, and agreements to alternatives to incarceration (such as GPS ankle monitoring) all hinge on the idea of voluntary choices—choices that are often just as coerced and …

Innocent Until Proven Newsworthy: Reviving The Tort Of Publication Of Private Facts In The Media Ride-Along Era, Hanna Doudican

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remediating Public Health Crises Through Litigation: Lessons From Oklahoma In The Tobacco And Opioid Epidemic Litigations, Caroline Beckworth

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

If Memory Serves: Navigating Cognitive Impairment Within Congress, Gracemary R. Zizzo

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Automated Methods For Estimating Blood Alcohol Concentration Level From Facial Cues, Ensiyeh Keshtkaran

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates different approaches for detecting alcohol intoxication in drivers by analysing facial video data. Tackling this issue necessitates the creation of a novel dataset to overcome the limitations of existing datasets. The dataset constructed in this study is the first to include RGB video recordings of individual faces at varying levels of alcohol intoxication during simulated driving, featuring 60 participants with BAC levels ranging from 0 to 0.165 g/100ml. The constructed dataset not only supports this thesis, but also offers the broader scientific community a valuable resource for further study and development.

Building on this, this thesis presents …

Mitigating Burnout In Illinois Human Services Nonprofits: Exploring Leadership Strategies And Human Resource Practices, David Rivers

All Capstone Projects

In this qualitative study, the researcher sought to explore how nonprofit leaders perceive and respond to employee burnout through answering the research question, “What strategies do leaders of human service nonprofits within the Chicago area implement to reduce the burnout risk and mitigate its consequences, and do the servant leadership practices explain the organizational approaches towards the burnout issue?” The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with five leaders of Chicago-based human services nonprofit organizations to explore the prevalence of burnout, challenges that burnout presents to organizational mission, how they address burnout in their specific contexts, and what lingering challenges that threaten …

Policy Considerations For Golf Cart Transportation: Assessing Safety, Regulation, And Community Impact In Bradley, Illinois, Oscene Barrett, Latonya Forrest, Natasha Thomas

All Capstone Projects

The goal of this practical project is to determine whether introducing or expanding golf cart transportation in the Village of Bradley is feasible, beneficial to the community, and poses any hazards. The objective is to promote sustainable transportation options, increase mobility, and foster community ties for both locals and tourists.

The Village of Bradley seeks to determine whether a comparable program is feasible, publicly supported, and safe. This capstone explores three primary research questions:
1. Can golf carts function as a viable mode of local transport in Bradley?
2. How do residents perceive the risks, benefits, and desirability of a …

Human Masters/Robot Servants: Highly Automated Vehicle Design, Intoxicated Drivers & Vicarious Liability, William H. Widen, Marilyn C. Wolf

Articles

A traditional engineering role is to design a safe product. Safety engineering is an exercise in harm avoidance ex ante. In contrast, liability attribution is an exercise to compensate for loss post hoc — traditionally viewed as a legal matter. We observe that, when a natural person incurs liability for a loss that exceeds insurance coverage, economic ruin can follow. Neither engineering nor law focus on the loss suffered by defendants considering law as a "safety risk." The highly automated vehicle (HAV) design space, however, provides an opportunity to prevent this kind of economic harm from occurring ex ante just …