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Full-Text Articles in Law

Behavioural Genetics In Criminal Cases: Past, Present And Future, Nita A. Farahany, William Bernet Jan 2006

Behavioural Genetics In Criminal Cases: Past, Present And Future, Nita A. Farahany, William Bernet

Faculty Scholarship

Researchers studying human behavioral genetics have made significant scientific progress in enhancing our understanding of the relative contributions of genetics and the environment in observed variations in human behavior. Quickly outpacing the advances in the science are its applications in the criminal justice system. Already, human behavioral genetics research has been introduced in the U.S. criminal justice system, and its use will only become more prevalent. This essay discusses the recent historical use of behavioral genetics in criminal cases, recent advances in two gene variants of particular interest in the criminal law, MAOA and SLC6A4, the recent expert testimony on …


When Bad Things Happen To Good Intentions: The Development And Demise Of A Task Force Examining The Drugs-Violence Interrelationship Symposium On Drug Crimes, Deborah W. Denno Jan 1999

When Bad Things Happen To Good Intentions: The Development And Demise Of A Task Force Examining The Drugs-Violence Interrelationship Symposium On Drug Crimes, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

Between 1994-1996, I was one of twenty-eight members of a Drugs-Violence Task Force, created to report to the United States Sentencing Commission specific findings, conclusions, and recommendations concerning the interrelationship (if any) between drugs and violence. Much of the controversy concerning how to approach the drugs-violence problem reflects two conflicting and long-held views of drugs and crime: the criminal justice view, which emphasizes detecting and punishing drug offenders, and the public health view, which advocates treating the drug addiction that leads some individuals to commit crime. Traditionally, the criminal justice view is associated with a “tough on crime” attitude that …


The Underfederalization Of Crime, A. Kimberley Dayton Jan 1997

The Underfederalization Of Crime, A. Kimberley Dayton

Faculty Scholarship

This article contends that judicial and academic complaints about the overfederalization of crime largely have matters backwards. The image of a runaway national government increasingly taking away the enforcement of the criminal law from the States is essentially false. The available evidence indicates that the national government's share in the enforcement of criminal law has been actually diminishing for more than the last half century. The national government does have concurrent authority over a greater range of criminal activity now, including much violent street crime. But, contrary to Lopez and the conventional wisdom it embraces, this expanded authority does not …


Violence As Regulation And Social Control In The Distribution Of Crack, Jeffrey A. Fagan, Ko-Lin Chin Jan 1990

Violence As Regulation And Social Control In The Distribution Of Crack, Jeffrey A. Fagan, Ko-Lin Chin

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter examines violence and aggression among crack and other illicit drug sellers in New York City. Few studies have addressed the origins of drug selling, specifically whether such drug violence reflects generalized violence or violent behaviors contingent on drug selling. Aggression in crack selling appears to be commonplace and severe (Goldstein et al., unpublished manuscript; Goldstein 1989; Johnson, et al. 1990; New York Times 1989b) and is the focus of this study. Aggression evident in nondrug criminality is compared for crack sellers and other seller types. If violence in drug selling is a distinct behavior that reflects the contingencies …