Law Commons^™

Who Owns This? Ways That Property Can Be Owned And Transferred In Nebraska, Jessica Groskopf, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Discusses ways that property can be owned and transferred in Nebraska in the context of farm management in Nebraska, United States.

The Torch (Summer 2022), Crtp

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

The Maine Office of the Attorney General administers the Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP). The CRTP’s mission is to increase the safety of elementary, middle school, and high school students by reducing bias-motivated behaviors and harassment in our schools. CRTP accomplishes this by supporting student civil rights teams in Maine schools. The CRTP and student teams are active in engaging school communities in thinking and talking about issues related to:

• Race and skin color
• National origin and ancestry
• Religion
• Disabilities
• Gender (including gender identify and expression)
• Sexual orientation

The Attorney General’s Office created the CRTP in 1996 as a pilot …

Cities Of God Under Occupation: Settler Colonial Practices And Pacification In The Favelas Of Rio De Janeiro And The Occupied Palestinian Territories, Amanda Pimenta Da Silva

Theses and Dissertations

The 2002 film ‘City of God’ tells an anecdotal story of violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and is a reminder that the societies we tend to take for granted can actually be a luxury. The film portrays the daily life of the peripheries of Rio and its relation with drug trafficking, crime, and poverty, and how it has deteriorated into a war zone so dangerous that anyone risk being shot to death. Thousands of miles away from the Brazilian slums there is another so-called city of God, or the city chosen by God to be the home’s …

The Apostrophic Impasse: Diacritical Remarks On The Stories Of International Law, Legal Decolonial Genealogy And Antony Anghie’S Historiography, Britt L.A.Q. (Haadiya) Hendrix

Theses and Dissertations

The (hi)stories of international law have strengthened the tentacles of coloniality in the legal regime as they continue to taunt the precarious lifeworlds of people, our planet and social imaginaries of an otherwise. The flow of coloniality has similarly rematerialized in decolonial legal theories and the postcolonial historiographical accounts of international law. I intend to demonstrate this colonial revival in the groundbreaking text of Antony Anghie Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Creation of International Law (2005) which challenged the (hi)stories of traditional jurisprudence. The latter was not necessarily a rejection nor negation of Western thought, because I argue that postcolonial historiography …

Misinformation And Disinformation: Detecting Fakes With The Eye And Ai, Victoria Rubin

Data and Test Instruments

How do we detect, deter, and prevent the spread of mis- and disinformationwith the human eye and AI? How does theory inform the practice, and how do theevidence-based research and best practices in lie-catching and truth-seekingprofessions—inform AI? The book looks into well-established human practicessuch as the routines and processes used in detective work, journalism, and scientificinquiry, and how they contribute toward innovative AI solutions. The book explainsthe principles, inner workings, and recent evolution of five types of state-of-the-artAI technologies suitable for curtailing the spread of mis- and disinformation:automated deception detectors, clickbait detectors, satirical fake detectors, rumordebunkers, and computational fact-checking tools.

Snitch. Snake. Mole. Books.: Examining Responses To “Insider/ Outsider” Researchers In Corrections, Talisa J. Carter, Chelsea Thomson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Qualitative researchers face unique challenges when conducting original data collection within facilities of confinement. These challenges are shaped by a range of factors including the study’s research design, researcher identity, and organizational climate of the facility. Although the barriers of data collection in corrections are known, literature providing context, nuance, and recommendations for overcoming these obstacles is sparse, especially for qualitative fieldwork. This work addresses this gap by examining responses of correctional employees to observational research. During data collection, correctional staff called the primary author “snitch,” “snake,” “mole,” and “Books.” This paper investigates these labels and offers suggestions on how …

“Leave Your Pain Here”: An Illustration Of Therapeutic Jurisprudence Through The Remarks Of Judge Rosemarie Aquilla From The State Of Michigan V. Larry Nassar, Leah Kaylor, Terri L. Weaver, Katherine Kelton

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Dr. Lawrence Nassar was the national medical coordinator of the United States of America Gymnastics (USAG), gymnastics team physician/assistant professor at Michigan State University, and the USAG artistic team physician who sexually abused many young women and children under the guise of medical treatments. In an unprecedented legal event, Judge Aquilina allowed anyone who had been impacted by Nassar’s abuse to participate in the pre-sentencing phase by reading a victim impact statement. Judge Aqualina listened to 156 impacted speakers and responded with personalized messages. This paper will examine Judge Aquilina’s responses to the victim impact statements through the lens of …

Using A Trauma-Informed Practice Framework To Examine How South Australian Judges Respond To Trauma In The Lives Of Aboriginal Defendants, Katherine J. Mclachlan

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

This article uses a trauma-informed practice framework to examine how South Australian superior court judges acknowledge defendant trauma when sentencing Aboriginal defendants. Trauma-informed sentencing requires that judges realise the presence of trauma, recognise its relevance, respond in a way that is informed by trauma and act to avoid re-traumatisation. By analysing sentencing remarks of 42 defendants identified as Aboriginal, the presence of trauma-informed practice was explored, in terms of judicial decision-making, the sentencing process and the sanction imposed. While not holistic summaries of judges’ reasoning, sentencing remarks are intended to enable the parties and the community to understand sentencing logic. …

White Supremacy And The Future Of Liberal Democracy: The Case Of The Nordic Resistance Movement, Ida Oesteraas

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

In 2015, the largest neo-Nazi organization in Scandinavia, The Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) registered as a political party and entered electoral politics in Sweden. Utilizing qualitative content analysis, the current work explores changes in NRM’s rhetoric from before the party entered politics in 2010 and five years later in 2018. Focus centers on NRM’s ideology, what or whom they frame as their threat, and their suggested solutions for constructed problems. Results show fascist rhetoric in both time periods. An argument is made that there is no actual moderation in NRM’s politics by liberal democracy. Rather, far-right extremism is a threat …

Defense, Disrespect, And #Deadly: A Qualitative Exploration Of Precursors To Youth Violence Informed Through Hospital-Based Violence Prevention Program Follow Up, Katherine B. Snyder, Ashley Raposo-Hadley, Charity Evans, Ashley Farrens, Jennifer Burt, Gaylene Armstrong, Julie Garman, Lindsey Wylie, Mark Foxall

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Success of youth violence intervention and prevention effects, particularly for gun violence, will be enhanced when efforts are appropriately informed by the antecedents and context of violence. Youth violence is guided by social and cultural norms that are shifting with the rise of technology. Bullying, gang violence, and self-directed violence is increasingly found to occur in the online space influencing peer groups across contexts. Through focus groups with youth at risk for violence and victimization, this study finds three themes emerge as common precursors to violence: defense of self or others, disrespect of self or family occurring in traditional community-based …

Suspect Development Systems: Databasing Marginality And Enforcing Discipline, Rashida Richardson, Amba Kak

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Algorithmic accountability law—focused on the regulation of data-driven systems like artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision-making (ADM) tools—is the subject of lively policy debates, heated advocacy, and mainstream media attention. Concerns have moved beyond data protection and individual due process to encompass a broader range of group-level harms such as discrimination and modes of democratic participation. While a welcome and long overdue shift, the current discourse ignores systems like databases, which are viewed as technically “rudimentary” and often siloed from regulatory scrutiny and public attention. Additionally, burgeoning regulatory proposals like algorithmic impact assessments are not structured to surface important –yet …

The Effects Of “No Pro Homo” Policies On Lgbtq+ Perceptions In The American South, Isabella L. Brocato

Honors Theses

Five states in the American South currently have “no pro homo” policies in place, while an increasing number of bills targeting discussions about sexuality and gender identity in public schools are being introduced to House floors around the country. Although there is extensive research on the ways in which these policies put the physical and mental well-being of LGBTQ+ students at risk, there is little to no research about how they shape public perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community collectively. With inspiration from Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s social science study cited in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), this study works …

Online Legal Help-Seeking For Victims Of Intimate Partner Violence During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Christina S. Walker

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Legal, court, and criminal justice professionals regularly navigate court procedures and processes through online portals. They know where to locate applicable court rules, such as a specific section on a court website or a departmental contact. However, these tasks can be extremely daunting for laypersons seeking court assistance, especially for victims of violence who have limited time away from the abuser. To determine how state judicial branches make information available about protective order procedures and general information to a layperson, especially to victims of intimate partner violence, this study assessed court websites of five states where intimate partner violence (IPV) …

The Problem Of Blackness In America: Becoming When The Being Never Comes To Be, Nkiru Anyaegbunam

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The problem of Blackness in America is a consequence of the historical reality and continued legacies of colonialism, the triangular trade and chattel slavery that have been facilitated through violence and capitalism. This thesis will argue that this problem that is pronounced through racialized institutional systems of violence such as mass incarceration and housing inequality, which disproportionately negatively impacts Black Americans is part of a larger discourse on the human and (mis)recognition. This violence has created a quintessential incompleteness for Black Americans who neither are recognized as citizens nor human. The problem of Blackness will be continuously grounded in this …

Disposable Immigrants: The Reality Of Sexual Assault In Immigration Detention Centers, Valerie Gisel Zarate

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

A Systemic Approach To Understanding Burnout Through The Lens Of The United States’ Professional Art Therapy (And Mental Health) Community: A Literature Review, Mary Welch

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Burnout among mental health counseling and art therapy professionals has long been an issue (Meyerson 1998; Prins et al., 2015; Yang & Hayes, 2020; Zeira 2021). While previous research into the causes and reduction of burnout have focused primarily on individual burnout, both in terms of psychology and workplace habits (Rollins et al. 2021), very few studies have been done examining the systemic, institutional, and cultural contributions to burnout in these professions. This paper aims to explore the connection between community standards and the current systems that intersect professional art therapy practice in the United States and the areas in …

Degree Of Satisfaction Of Elderly About The Services Provided To Them In Social Care Houses In White Beds Association, Yousef Mohammed Al-Shurman, Ferdous Hasan Omari

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the degree of satisfaction of the elderly about the (social, health, entertainment, psychological) services provided to them in social care houses. The sample of the study includes all residents of the White Beds Association for the care of the elderly in Amman. The researcher designed a questionnaire to use in the interviews with the elderly. The questionnaire has four items, and each item includes a group of questions about the service provided to them. The researcher interviewed all the members of the White Beds Association, whose health condition allowed this, (75 elderly people: 44 men …

Where The Rainbow Ends: The Hidden Humanitarian Crisis For Members Of The Lgbtqia+ Community In International Business, John R. Krendel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Before pursuing an international career, members of the LGBTQIA+ community must be aware of the hardship that may be exacerbated by living and working abroad. This study addresses the trends in laws, including employment and anti-discrimination laws, that provide and restrict certain rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community in eight countries. These nations, both progressive and discriminatory, include the United States, England, Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Kazakhstan. Eight LGBTQIA+ business professionals spoke on their experiences living and working in each of these countries and provided advice to members of the community wishing to pursue an international …

America: The World’S Police—How The Defund The Police Movement Frames An Analysis For Defunding The Military, Anya Kreider

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In this article, the author examines the tenets of the Defund the Police movement and applies them to the American military to make the argument that not only should the police be defunded, but so should the American military. The purpose of this piece is to push the conversation regarding policing beyond American borders to examine American influence internationally. The article incorporates various Critical Race Theories to explore the intersection of policing and the military. The Defund the Police Movement also provides a framework for critiquing the American military because the American police and military are inextricably connected. Part I …

On The Intersections Of Childhood Maltreatment, Self-Control, And Behavioral Outcomes Across The Life-Course, Ameleigh Bippen

Honors Theses

Childhood abuse and neglect are highly deleterious experiences that a number of children continue to encounter. The purpose of the current discussion is to examine the impact of childhood abuse and neglect on the growth and development of self-control in early childhood. In service of this goal, several methods were employed, including a review of the historical and current research on the development of self-control. In addition to this, specific scientific theories and their advancements were analyzed to provide further insight into the connection between poor impulse regulation (and decision-making) and downstream linkages with criminal offending. Perhaps not surprisingly, evidence …

Planning For An Aging Population: The Sustainability Conundrum, Sandi Rosenbloom

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

By 2030 more than one in four Americans will be 65 years of age or older. What role do city planning academics and practitioners play in planning for the inevitable and increasing aging of society? I examined original research and reviewed articles published in three major planning journals, reviewed the websites of ten Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) accredited planning programs, and evaluated the websites of the American Planning Association’s divisions and special interest groups to determine how each demonstrated or portrayed the value and importance of aging issues in planning scholarship, pedagogy, and practice. I found that these key pillars …

Defund The Police: Snappy Slogan Or A Viable Solution? A Case Study Of Savannah, Georgia, Michayla F. Knox

Honors College Theses

The notion of defunding the police remains a hot-button political topic since the protests of Summer 2020. The forefront of the debate concerns how defunding the police will impact crime rates. Still, the topic has scarcely been investigated empirically. This thesis provides an early examination into the relationship between "defunding the police", reallocating funding, and crime rates in Savannah, Ga. Several experiments are performed to answer three research questions that involve comparing and manipulating the budget provided for policing and the budgets for neighborhood vitality and poverty reduction. The findings show that Savannah allocates significantly more money to the policing …

Diagnostic Featural Detection Or Filler Siphoning: A Red Box Study, Brynn Schuetter

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The current study is a replication and extension of previous research by Colloff and Wixted (2020). In their study, they created a novel identification procedure called the simultaneous showup. They found support for the diagnostic feature detection theory over the filler siphoning theory. The current study was interested in seeing if covert filler siphoning was still occurring in their novel procedure by asking participants how photos of fillers influenced their identification decision. Participants of the study viewed two crime videos and completed an identification task. If they were assigned to the simultaneous showup task, they were asked if and how …

An Iterative Theory Of The Legislative Process : A Case Study Of The New York State Commission On Prosecutorial Conduct, Kimberly M. Bernstein

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Prosecutors wield the power of the criminal justice system (Medwed, 2014) and the ability to deprive a person of their constitutional rights (Imbler v. Pachtman, 1976). With such power, it is unsurprising that a leading cause of miscarriages of justice is prosecutorial misconduct (e.g., Joy, 2006; Ridolfi & Possley, 2010). New York State became the first state in the country to respond to this issue with a specialized Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct (CPC). The goal of the CPC is to serve as an official mechanism for holding District Attorneys and Assistant District Attorneys accountable by challenging convictions and handing down …

The Dark Figure Of Wrongful Convictions : How Intake Decisions Impact Exonerations, Jennifer Weintraub

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Innocence organizations contributed to 45% of exonerations in the year 2020, and account for nearly 25% of all U.S. exonerations. Yet little is known about these organizations, including a review of their intake criteria and procedures, how they select their intake criteria and procedures, or how those choices influence the landscape of known wrongful convictions. The contents of these intake decisions as well as how they are chosen have implications for what is currently known about wrongful convictions nation-wide. In this study, 19 innocence organizations represented by 24 innocence organization staff and leaders completed qualitative interviews to address this gap …

Ideological Preferences Of Supreme Court Justices: The Shift Throughout Tenure, Amelia Ver Woert

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

For this thesis, I will analyze the tenure of five Supreme Court justices across the decades, ranging from the year 1940 up to the present year of 2022. The analysis will examine the variation between the justices' decisions at the beginning of their term compared to the decisions near the end of their term. The purpose of this study is to properly distinguish whether Supreme Court justices who have served on the bench for more than a decade are impacted by ideological drift and preference shifts throughout their career. The importance of this analysis is to determine the impact of …

Historical Underpinnings And Consequent Effects Of Labor Exploitation Of Mexican And Central Americans In The United States, Andrew Elkins

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

The experience immigrants have today working and living in the southern United States is defined by systems that have developed out of lingering racist attitudes and reactions toward these individuals. The flow of people across the U.S.-Mexico border has a long history, and it is characterized by patterns that have continued from early guest worker programs to the present-day flow of migrants, both legal and undocumented. Also continually present is the racialization of these migrants, which has often forced them to work and live as marginalized members of American society. This project will explore the establishment of Mexican American citizen …

Tribal Identity And The Rise Of The American Indian/Alaskan Native Population, Angel M. Stevens

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Today, most tribal nations in the United States identify by federal recognition, yet on the American Community Survey, American Indian/Alaskan Native respondents can self-identify as a member of a specific tribal nation. Most researchers argues that this tribal identification fortifies the reflection of the American Indian/Alaskan Native identity. There are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States today. Between 2000-2020, the US Census Bureau and the American Community Survey noted a significant surge in the American Indian/Alaskan Native population. This population growth went from a mere 2 million to almost 10 million in a 20-year time span. In this …

Factors Influencing The Credibility And Believability Of Victims Of Sexual Assault, Stephanie Carlson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this research is to answer the question of which factors that influence the believability of a woman who comes forward to disclose a sexual assault are the most impactful. My methodology consisted of conducting interviews with attorneys who have participated in both the defense and prosecution of criminal sexual conduct cases to evaluate whether the trends revealed in the literature on a macro scale apply to the micro-scale in northern Minnesota. Findings showed that the majority of patterns revealed in the literature did in fact influence the credibility of victims of sexual assault in Beltrami County, Minnesota …

Do Voter Id Requirements Impact Voter Turnout In Minnesota And Wisconsin?, Jacob Berg

Political Science Theses and Capstones

After the 2020 General Election there was wide disagreement over the process of how elections are administrated specifically related to voter ID laws. Prior research that attempts to answer the question has mixed results and there has been controversy over how to approach the research. The use of demographic data from the American Community Survey, turnout data from the Minnesota Secretary of State office, and the Wisconsin Election Commission. I made use of different statistical tests to evaluate if there was a connection between voter ID and voter turnout. Preliminary results are mixed for the relation between voter ID and …