Digital Commons Network^™

Freedom To Pray, Not To Protest, Leah Reiss

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

The Supreme Court has never definitively ruled on the constitutionality of curfews that target political activity. Historically, curfews have been very difficult to challenge. They suffer from mootness issues because they tend to be temporary in nature, so associated harms are also temporary. Likely as a result, challenges to curfews more commonly take the form of a complaint regarding misconduct by a law enforcement officer during the curfew, rather than a facial challenge to the curfew itself. Further, courts are typically deferential to state claims of police power, which provides the authority for state and local governments to take action …

Nebraska’S Medico-Legal System: A Death Investigation Analysis, Ashley Novak

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A large part of the founding of the United States of America focused on the idea of state control over their internal affairs. For this reason, the United States is home to a largely decentralized medico-legal system. The State of Nebraska hosts a coroner-based death investigation system as is written into their legislation regarding the establishment of their medico-legal system. By studying legislation, federal and state reports, as well as publications by academics within the field, merits and weaknesses of the Nebraskan coroner system can be uncovered. Additional considerations and understandings that are needed to be understood include: understanding what …

How They See Me: Reentry Experiences Of Women With Mental Illnesses: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach, Mansi N. Patel

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

The reintegration of justice-involved people into the community has emerged as a key concern of the criminal justice system as prison populations have increased globally. High recidivism rates indicate that prisons have not adequately prepared many prisoners for life after prisons. Over one million women are released from US jails and prisons each year and reintegrate into society (National Institute of Justice, 2022). These women will reintegrate into society with disproportionately high rates of mental health issues and women who leave jails and prisons with mental health issues face increased risks of experiencing substance use, risky behaviors, homelessness, and recidivism …

Nymc Synapse Issue 38, School Of Medicine Student Senate, New York Medical College

The Synapse

No abstract provided.

Developing A Risk Assessment Instrument For Immigration Cases Under Federal Supervision, Mayra Eydie Pacheco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Women In Educational Leadership: An Embodied Narrative Inquiry, Pauline Avis

Dissertations

To meaningfully capture the lived experiences of women educational leaders working in American public schools, this study utilized the qualitative traditional research design and employed an embodied narrative inquiry to explore the primary research question: How do women educational leaders story their gendered experience of employment in the workplace? The purpose of this study was to describe and explore how female educational leaders in American public schools perceive the impact that gender identity construction has had on their ability to pursue successfully, attain, and retain educational leadership roles. Through a feminist semiotics theoretical lens, this study offers an examination of …

Vanet Applications Under Loss Scenarios & Evolving Wireless Technology, Adil Alsuhaim

All Dissertations

In this work we study the impact of wireless network impairment on the performance of VANET applications such as Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC), and other VANET applications that periodically broadcast messages. We also study the future of VANET application in light of the evolution of radio access technologies (RAT) that are used to exchange messages. Previous work in the literature proposed fallback strategies that utilizes on-board sensors to recover in case of wireless network impairment, those methods assume a fixed time headway value, and do not achieve string stability. In this work, we study the string stability of a …

Contrasting Public And Private Approaches To Private Land Conservation In The United States: Local Government, Land Trust, And Landowner Viewpoints, Anna Overby

All Dissertations

In the United States (US), low-density, non-contiguous development, termed sprawl, has long been of widespread concern. Since the 1970s, rural residential sprawl, or exurban sprawl, has grown faster than any other development pattern. Exurban sprawl is development beyond the urban/suburban fringe with ties to the urban environment, such as employment and consumption, rather than to rural economies. Exurban sprawl is highly consumptive of land and has implications for conservation, natural resource management, agriculture, and communities. This study explores two main avenues of exurban sprawl prevention in the US: voluntary conservation easements and local government growth management regulations. The use of …

A Review Of Nebraska Public School Active Shooter/Armed Intruder Preparedness Requirements Compared To Other States, Anna Hansen

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Approximately 17% of mass shootings which occurred between 2000 and 2013 took place in the public school K-12 setting. The incidence of school shootings is on the rise, with a particularly concerning increase in annual incidents beginning around 2010. A review of legal requirements for public school active shooter preparedness in FEMA Region VII, which includes the states Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, was conducted. While Iowa clearly requires an emergency operations plan including provisions for the active shooter scenario, Nebraska and Kansas do not clearly require such provisions in school emergency operations plans, and Missouri does not appear to …

Legitimate And Deceptive Media: An Analysis Of Sources Used In Conjunction With #Defundingthepolice Using Twitter Api, Isabel Tilford

Honors Theses

The idea of defunding the police has been circulating on social media for the past few years. This thesis seeks to analyze what types of sources people use in conjunction with the #DefundthePolice hashtag to define their understanding of defunding the police. Using Twitter API to search for #DefundthePolice, Tweets were analyzed and rated based on the credibility of links embedded within each post. Each link was assigned a credibility rating of one through three, one meaning not credible, two meaning somewhat credible, and three meaning credible. Each link was classified into one of eight categories: news, statements, advertisements, advertisements/propaganda, …

Medication Errors In Pediatric Care And Preventative Solutions, Tyler Tidwell

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The research presented extensively examines previous reports covering pediatric medication errors (PMEs). Utilizing specific studies into the frequency and types of medication errors along with public surveys and policy discussion, the data and suggestions here provide commentary on the scope of PMEs, suggested institutional reform, and most importantly, legislative recommended action necessary to stymie the tide of PMEs. A significant portion of the research contained fixates on the literature review to provide ample familiarity with the background and scope of PMEs, but the subsequent sections will discuss their implication. After providing details on the magnitude of the issue, regulatory and …

When I Think Of Home, Kayla Hall

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Debt And Dependence: Foreign Interference In Haiti And The Importance Of Non-State Actor Accountability, Sandra Wisner, Brian Concannon

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

Colonialist policies and lending practices by foreign states and non-state actors have led to serious and wide-spread violations of Haitian individuals’ fundamental human rights. In particular, a series of loan conditions imposed by international financial institutions and their members states left Haiti vulnerable to increased food insecurity and a severely diminished social sector. This paper proposes that the imposition of such loan conditions constitutes a violation of foreign actors’ obligations under international law respecting economic, social, cultural, and political rights, as well as their extra-territorial obligations (ETOs) to take joint and separate action to promote and respect human rights beyond …

How To Solve The Initial Appearance Crisis, Malia N. Brink, Pamela R. Metzger, Jiacheng Yu

Deason Center Reports

Across the United States, people are arrested and held behind bars for days, weeks, and sometimes even months, without ever seeing a judge or attorney. These delays violate the United States Constitution’s promise that an arrested person—who is innocent unless proven guilty—will have prompt access to the courts, the assistance of counsel, and a fair and speedy trial.

These due process milestones begin at initial appearance: the first time an arrested person sees a judge about their case. At an initial appearance, the judge should inform an arrested person of the charges against them. The judge should also make an …

Aging In Westborough: A Community Needs Assessment, Ceara Somerville, Caitlin Coyle, Mary Krebs, Holly Stockdale

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA) within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Town of Westborough. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Westborough’s residents age 55 or older by engaging the community regarding their experiences and needs relevant to the Council on Aging’s (COA’s) objective to identify and serve the needs of all Westborough citizens 55 and older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Town of Westborough, the Westborough COA, …

Fiscal Year 2021 Fhwa-536 Report For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Doug Kreis, Candice Wallace, Bryan Gibson, Sarah Mccormack

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Individual Differences On Influence Of Expert Testimony, Peyton Mosman

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

A significant percentage of wrongful convictions are a result of faulty eyewitness identifications. It is understood that jurors are quick to trust and eyewitness testimony, that eyewitness testimonies are reliable only in specific circumstances, and that jurors are rarely privy to importance of the factors that impact the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Although an expert testimony is sometimes a beneficial way to help compensate for this lack of knowledge in jurors, it can sometimes be counterintuitive and cause jurors to disregard all eyewitness testimonies rather than only disregarding the unreliable ones. This study considers four individual difference factors and looks …

Correcting Crooked Licensing Boards With A Revolving-Door Statute, Ronnie Thompson

Georgia State University Law Review

Contrary to conventional wisdom, occupational licensing restrictions do not serve a primary purpose of protecting consumers. They instead wage war on the market economy. This reality is unsurprising when one considers the makeup of a typical licensing board, which consists primarily of active market participants. These industry incumbents scheme to keep potential competitors out. Entrance exams for florists and onerous educational requirements for interior designers—absurd as they seem—become the rule rather than the exception. Despite their propensity for anticompetitive conduct, licensing boards elude review under the Sherman Act, the nation’s chief law regulating anticompetitive conduct. Licensing boards need not defend …

Civil War Journalism: Two Rough Drafts Of One History, Brianna Collora

History Honors Program

This paper addresses journalism in the Civil War by analyzing both Northern and Southern reporting. The severity of censorship changed throughout the duration of the war, with it less harsh in the Union by the end. Southern officials did not censor as much, both because their resources were scarcer, and their officials were more opposed to the use of censorship. While past historians have argued that the decrease in Northern censorship is because the Union began to have the upper hand in the war, I argue that the decrease in Union censorship was not only because the Union was now …

Public Opinion On Compensating Different Types Of Wrongful Convictions, Sishi Wu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

People who are wrongfully convicted are a unique vulnerable group. However, not all exonerees get compensated for their time in prison. This research explores public opinion on compensating wrongful convictions from erroneously rejected affirmative defenses and from false guilty pleas. Using a randomized survey experiment of 1,000 US adults, this research found that (1) most respondents supported wrongful conviction compensation, regardless of wrongful conviction types and plea status. (2) Wrongful conviction types matter. People supported compensating exonerees in the self-defense case as much as in the wrong person case. The amount of compensation people gave in the mistaken self-defense case …

Is It Good To Be Bad? The Potential Buffering Role Of Callous-Unemotional Traits On The Relationship Between Trauma And Juvenile Offending, Kathryn Anne Mcgill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Juvenile offending is prevalent, costly, and often difficult to intervene in. Although there are a multitude of factors previously studied that contribute to offending, researchers are still unable to pinpoint all possible variables contributing to juvenile offending. More so, of explored and accepted factors leading to juvenile offending, predictive ability of any specific factor leading to offending is still weak. Thus, study of specific predisposing factors leading to juvenile offending, as well as mediational or moderational variables, is needed. This study explores two previously studied variables in the pathway to juvenile offending: trauma and callous-unemotional traits. Novel study of the …

Tragedy Of The Digital Commons, Chinmayi Sharma

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Revenue, Race, And The Potential Unintended Consequences Of Traffic Enforcement Reform, Beth A. Colgan

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Left Behind, Again: Intellectual Disability And The Resentencing Movement, Katie Kronick

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan, Lauren Bruhl, Guinter Vogg, Gabe Hamburg, Shanu Sankara, Rohan Kansagra, Colin Page, Colette Vynerib

Sustainability Exchange Projects

Our team aimed to compile a greenhouse gas inventory for the St. Louis region. Partnered with OneSTL, Ameren, and the USGBC, we determined that St. Louis has a goal to reduce emissions 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels, and become carbon neutral in 2050. After analyzing the Ameren’s Integrated Resource Plan and factors such as the cost and scope of emissions, we researched funding sources to improve energy efficiency and increase renewables in the region. Our top funding sources are the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). From the IRA, we found the following credits most …

Rated T For Therapy: How Video Games Portray Mental Illness And Their Effects On Social Stigmas, Christine Wendell

All Theses

Mental illness has always been a tricky subject for us to tackle as a society due to the social stigmas surrounding it. Historically, people with mental illness were seen as violent and unstable and would often need to be committed for public safety; however, a large majority of people with mental illness do not fit that bracket and often don’t reach out for help due to that fear of being “othered” by society. As time went on, these tropes faded to purely entertainment mediums but the stigmas still remain. Many video games specifically hold onto these tropes for shock value …

Misapplication Of Inverse Condemnation Liability: A Legal Analysis Of The Application Of Inverse Condemnation Liability On Electrical Utilities, Nadra Mamou

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Demonstration Of A Virtual Reality Driving Simulation Platform, Mingming Wang

Theses

Modern autonomous driving is undergoing a period of rapid evolution. Image processing, computer vision, and remote sensing, among others, have played crucial roles in the creation of safe and reliable robotic automobiles. However, some robotic vehicles still have difficulties in their driving mechanisms even though the current mainstream autonomous driving approaches seem to be effective in fulfilling driving duties. There have been several high-profile incidents in the early years of testing that have prompted some to question whether or not all relevant domains have been explored in order to attain human-like driving. The current sensor technique based on machine learning …

Florida Gun Laws Weaken: Another Setback For The Mass Shooting Generation, Riley Kendall

Barry Law Review

While gun control has been a topic of controversy in the United States for decades, one area that has seemed undebatable is the protection of children from gun violence in our Nation’s schools. The methods of achieving this end goal vary from state to state. Some states have continued the longstanding tradition of designating schools as “gun-free zones,” while others have employed armed security guards. Florida has chosen the latter option for its public and charter schools. However, the Florida Legislature has taken a dramatic deviation from this path that will negatively affect students attending private religious schools: it passed …

County Finance, House Prices, And Financial Decision-Making, Kyle Kopplin

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This work is in three chapters. The first chapter investigates the extent to which county-level property tax changes are capitalized into house prices. The literature mainly focuses on specific tax events, but this chapter generalizes the context to large U.S. cities. The main findings suggest that county-level property tax capitalization occurs and varies along the distribution of house prices. The second chapter measures differences in county-aggregated self-assessed valuations of house prices and county- aggregated sale prices to determine whether there are trends in the level of misperceived house value. Factors like age, time of tenure in a house, and house …