Digital Commons Network^™

Sunset Provisions In The Local Tax Code: Perspectives Of City Leaders In Arkansas Cities Of The First Class, Sara R. Deuster

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Unlike their federal and state counterparts, local governments do not have someone to pass the buck to when it comes to carrying out public programs and have a limited means to generate their own source revenue to sustain non-enterprise government services. Taxation is the primary means local governments rely on to generate such revenue. With the responsibility to provide services, maintain infrastructure, and accommodate growth, municipalities must capitalize on the taxing authority allowed by their respective state. The purpose of this study was to seek understanding on how city leaders in Arkansas cities of the first class view the use …

Informing Choice: The Role Of Adoption In Women’S Pregnancy Decision-Making, Elizabeth R. Kirk, Ryan Hanlon

Scholarly Articles

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the authors of this Article offer a practical, collaborative response to a seemingly intractable, divisive issue. Kirk and Hanlon draw on their academic expertise in law and social science, respectively, to address the paradox of the general esteem for the institution of adoption alongside the rarity with which adoption is chosen. In this Article, they examine social science data and literature on women’s pregnancy decision-making in order to explain the need for laws and policies that promote informed choice. They introduce never-before-published survey data and …

Associational Rights Versus Nonprofit Transparency: Information Reporting In The Internet Age, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

For decades, the nation’s charitable and nonprofit organizations have been required to file an information return, known as the Form 990, with the Internal Revenue Service. Congress mandates that the return be made publicly available. Such information reporting, both to the IRS and to the public, is the cornerstone of the federal government’s approach to assuring that nonprofit organizations are legally compliant. The Supreme Court’s decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (APF), however, casts a shadow on the constitutionality of nonprofit reporting requirements. In APF, the Court held unconstitutional California’s effort to require charities to …

A More Luminous Beacon, William M.M. Kamin

Scholarly Articles

Over the Supreme Court’s past four Terms, federal post conviction habeas corpus has been placed on the chopping-block. Its fate hangs in the balance of an historical debate over the maxim, oft recited by the Court between 1830–1953, that post conviction habeas reaches only “jurisdictional defects” — as opposed to “mere error” — on the part of the convicting court. Justices Gorsuch and Thomas maintain that “jurisdiction” carried then the same narrow meaning it does now: power ab initio over the offense charged and the defendant’s person. Justices Kagan and Jackson contend that, in this context, “jurisdictional defect” was understood …

Punishing Violence, Shima Baradaran Baughman

American University Law Review

The American criminal justice system doles out the harshest punishments in the world. It is infamous for its protracted criminal sentences and prodigious criminal code. But what most scholars and policymakers overlook is that the United States punishes only a fraction of the total serious crime that occurs in the country—including violent crime.

Approximately twenty million serious crimes occur in America each year, but only about half of these are reported to police. Of those reported, the police make arrests for an average of only twenty percent of serious crimes, and only ten percent of arrests result in a conviction. …

Juvenile Record Expungement Policy In Illinois, Emma Kudelka

Res Publica - Journal of Undergraduate Research

This policy paper explores juvenile expungement policies and their broader social impact. Research suggests that lenient expungement laws help prevent discrimination in education, housing, and military service, aiding rehabilitation youth offenders' reintegration. The paper begins with a historical overview of Illinois juvenile law, highlighting its shift from punitive to rehabilitative approaches. It then examines key legislation, including the Juvenile Court Act, Juvenile Justice, and Delinquency Prevention Act, and Youth Opportunity and Fairness Act. Illinois's juvenile expungement laws are analyzed, covering eligibility, process, and timeline. A comparative analysis follows, contrasting Illinois' policies with those of California and Florida to emphasize differences …

States Should Legalize Online Casinos To Discourage Consumers From Playing At Offshore Cryptocurrency Casinos, Generate Tax Revenue, And Increase Consumer Protection, Cole Clark

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Validity Of Traditional Vulnerability Scoring Systems For Adversarial Attacks Against Llms, Atmane Ayoub Mansour Bahar, Ahmad Samer Wazan

All Works

This research investigates the effectiveness of established vulnerability metrics, such as the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), in evaluating attacks on Large Language Models (LLMs), with a focus on Adversarial Attacks (AAs). The study explores the influence of different metric factors in determining vulnerability scores, providing new perspectives on potential enhancements to these metrics. Approach - This study adopts a quantitative approach, calculating and comparing the coefficient of variation of vulnerability scores across 56 adversarial attacks on LLMs. The attacks, sourced from various research papers, and obtained through online databases, were evaluated using multiple vulnerability metrics. Scores were determined by …

Exploring Public Support For Prison Labor, Omar Morris

Honors College Theses

Prison labor has long been a central component of the U.S. correctional system, evolving from early penitentiary models to contemporary labor practices that remain legally sanctioned under the Thirteenth Amendment. This study examines the historical development, key legislation, and modern realities of prison labor, emphasizing its economic, ethical, and rehabilitative implications. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample, the study assesses public attitudes toward mandatory prison work, fair wages for incarcerated individuals, and financial obligations such as medical copays and communication fees. Findings reveal that while the public generally supports prison labor, opinions diverge on compensation and economic burdens …

Philosophers On Prison Abolitionism: Theory Versus Practice, Piero Moraro

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Philosophers have long been debating the moral justifiability of punishment. However, they have seemingly ignored the adjacent question concerning the moral justifiability of incarceration, as demonstrated by the dearth of philosophical work on prison abolitionism. This silence is puzzling, given that, on closer examination, many philosophers implicitly (or even explicitly) endorse the core assumptions of prison abolitionism. By discussing some examples in the recent literature in philosophy of punishment, I argue that philosophers support prison abolitionism in practice, but not in theory. They endorse the practical strategies in the abolitionist agenda, yet refuse to engage with the normative assumptions that …

Bouncing Back Or Forward? Two Approaches To Democratic Resilience After Extremist Attacks, Selen A. Ercan, Jordan Mcswiney, Emily Beausoleil, Claire Fitzpatrick, Andrea Felicetti

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Violent extremist attacks pose a serious threat to democracy, undermining its institutions, norms and practices. This article examines the disruptive impact of violent extremism on the public sphere and considers the role of political leaders in responding to these challenges. Leaders are widely recognised as the key actors shaping the public discourse after extremist attacks, by either reinforcing or resisting the division intended by these attacks. Yet, their role in building democratic resilience – that is, fostering the public sphere’s ability to respond to extremist attacks without compromising its democratic commitments – remains underexplored. Drawing on a range of case …

Investigating The Environmental Awareness And Attitudes Among Fisher Folks In Ghana: A Sustainability Threat, Nana Akua Okyerewa Djandoh, Enock Swanzy-Impraim

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Environmental concerns, such as human alteration, pollution, and the effects of climate change, have had a significant impact on the survival of beaches worldwide. In Ghana, beaches face numerous threats stemming from human activities, such as deforestation, construction, sand mining, open defecation, and disposal of waste into the sea. Moreover, other factors such as strong winds, high waves, and the effects of climate change contribute to beach vulnerability. This paper is part of a broader study that investigated the environmental attitude and behavior of the Fisher Folks along coastal beaches in the Winneba Municipality in Ghana. Although the broader study …

The Combined Role Of Sexual Selection And Socioeconomic Environment In Explaining Everyday Risk-Taking Behavior In Human Males, Hannah Goodman, Cyril C. Grueter, David A. Coall

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Sexual selection theory predicts that males, especially in their prime reproductive years, are more risk-prone than females. Risk-taking is a means to convey mate quality or “good genes” to members of the opposite sex or competitive ability to members of the same sex. Therefore, risk-taking should be more common in the presence of potential mates (intersexual selection or female choice) or in the presence of male competitors (intrasexual selection or male–male competition). Risk-taking can also be situated within a life history/ecological perspective, according to which environmental unpredictability promotes more present-oriented and risky behavioral strategies. Therefore, people living in areas of …

The Eu Versus The Platforms And The First Amendment: Regulating Online Hate Speech, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

What speech should be allowed on social media platforms—and what speech should be prohibited—is a pressing and timely question. Given the recent changes in major social media platforms’ moderation of harmful speech—with the tacit blessing of a 2024 Supreme Court decision and the Trump Administration—and the European Union’s increased regulation of hateful speech and platform content moderation, a clash of these titans is inevitable.

This Article will examine the underlying forces that brought about these conflicts—including First Amendment, CDA Section 230, international, and EU law governing free expression, hate speech, and platforms’ rights and duties regarding content moderation. It will …

An Exploratory Attempt To Incorporate Social Criteria Into Spent Nuclear Fuel Site Screening And Relocation, Julie M. Sorfleet

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Spent nuclear fuel, also known as nuclear waste, is the byproduct of nuclear power generation. The need for safe and responsible long-term storage and disposal of radioactive fuel presents significant technical and social challenges. These challenges are compounded by several factors, including the emerging nuclear renaissance in the United States, climate and coastal hazards, and the lack of consolidated interim or permanent storage. This research explores perceptions of risk, relocation, and siting spent nuclear fuel, predominantly focusing on Humboldt County, California. I used online surveys, the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and geographic information systems (GIS) analysis to inform how social and …

Snag Failure And Fuel Recovery Following Stand-Replacing Fire In The Klamath Mountains, Joseph R. Nicholas

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

High-severity wildfires can produce extensive patches of standing dead trees (snags), which later contribute to surface fuel loading and present a hazard as they decay and fall. In the Klamath Mountains of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, recent increases in the occurrence of large stand-replacing wildfires have raised concerns about fuel and vegetation recovery trajectories, the likelihood of future fires, and resulting impacts to local communities. Nevertheless, the post-fire environment may offer opportunities to enhance ecological and community resilience. Estimates of snag failure and fuel loading can support land management planning and risk assessment following wildfire, though such work is …

Sex Work And Covid-19: An Intersectional Discussion Of U.S.-Based Sex Worker Experiences During The Pandemic, Sabrina M. Grandia

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted all forms of industry, including that of sex work. Between October 2020 until November 2022, I did field research and interviews with nine U.S.-based sex workers throughout those months of the pandemic. Using a grounded theory approach, I asked open-ended questions about their entrance into the industry, business practices, and personal experiences before and during the pandemic. Their stories allow us to gain insight into the impact the pandemic had on them as individuals and their broader communities. My analysis highlights a prominent influence of anti-trafficking policy, politicization of the virus, and the impact of Black …

Rejecting The Racialization Of Indianness, Andrea J. Martin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Border Decriminalization As A State Project: Lessons From Marijuana And Assisted Suicide Legalization Across The United States, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

My prior work argued for the decriminalization of border crossings without proof of specific intent to violate another law (like drug trafficking), which is even less likely to happen now than it was when the piece was published, given the current presidential administration’s zealous deportation strategy and Congress’s seeming acquiescence. As such, I advocate for a second-best solution involving federal-state cooperative agreements wherein border states abutting both Mexico and Canada are given the option by the federal government to pass local legislation decriminalizing border crossings into their states as their communities desire. To the extent that the current presidential administration …

Ai-Bms: Ai Battery Management System For Safe Uas Operations In High Electric And Magnetic Fields And Uncertain Conditions: Wind, Battery Drain, Temperature, And Payload, Tanzim Jim Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned aerial systems/vehicles (UAS/UAVs) are increasingly utilized for inspecting high-voltage (HV) transmission (Tx) lines. However, operating in the vicinity of electric (E) and magnetic (H) fields can affect UAV control and battery performance. Pilots unfamiliar with high E/H field environments often struggle to accurately estimate remaining flight time, resulting in either premature mission terminations or crashes due to depleted batteries. To address these challenges, this thesis focuses on developing an intelligent Battery Management System (BMS) for UAVs to ensure safe and reliable surveillance operations under various uncertain conditions, such as wind gusts, temperature variations, E/H fields, battery drain, and payload …

The Social Processes And Integrated Theory Of The Credible Messenger, David C. Brotherton

Publications and Research

The phenomenon of the credible messenger in anti-violence interventions in the United States has expanded greatly during the last decade or more. While the number of credible messengers has mushroomed along with their roles, there has been little attention paid to the agency of the subjects that makes these projects possible. In 2023-4 I led an evaluation study of such an intervention in New York City. Using an inductive analysis to discover emergent themes from qualitative interviews with credible messengers that centered on their: (i) life stories, (ii) training, (iii) field experience and (iv) professional trajectories, I propose an integrated …

A Structurationally Informed View Of Emergency Medical Services Professionals’ Work-Related Communication And Behaviors While Off Duty, Susan J. Burnett

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Work-life interrelationships and boundaries are common areas of study in communication research. While some scholars maintain that the domains of work and personal lives and their boundaries are static and exist in designated times and spaces, others argue that domains are constructed around situated contexts and through the performance of situated activities that not only produce a time and place for the domain but call upon enactment of an identity appropriate for managing the domain and the boundaries around it. The people who work in emergency medical services (EMS), emergency medical services professionals (EMSPs) face special challenges in managing work-life …

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. …

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.

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.

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.

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

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.