Law Commons^™

Mass Incarceration In America: Where's The Church?, Michael J. Wing

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Due to mass incarceration, correctional facilities in America are dealing with unprecedented levels of overcrowding, staff shortages, violence, suicide, and widespread mental illness among inmates. Budget cuts and the corresponding loss of vocational, educational, and treatment programs have exacerbated such problems. Mass incarceration and its deleterious consequences are challenging the very soul of America, and the church has largely stood by and watched this tragic situation unfold over the last fifty years. This research project has explored some of the barriers that have precluded churches from taking a more intentional, active, and impactful role in doing something about the national …

Res Communis Omnium V. Res Nullius In U.S. Space Mining Law & Policy: A Multilevel Theoretical Analysis Of U.S. Public Policy On Space Minerals Mining Under Title Iv, §51301- §403, U.S. 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (Public Law 114-90) & Its Implications For International Space Law Under Articles I & Ii, 1967 Outer Space Treaty, Samuel Chuks Japhets

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The outer space territory and celestial bodies are unfathomably rich in strategic mineral resources worth trillions of dollars such as water ice, helium-3, platinum, iron, cobalt, and ammonia. These space resources, distinct from their space territorial and celestial bodies loci, need to be located, characterized, captured, processed, concentrated, and transported to points of use in-situ or on Earth by capable state and private space investors, stakeholders, or national agencies, for private benefits. Investors in this embryonic space mining industry need legal certainty and predictability under unambiguous legal and policy frameworks that guarantee property interests over extracted minerals. The Problem is …

“Always Said To Be Of Indian Extraction”: Native/African American Freedom Suits In Virginia 1773-1853, Cress Ann Posten

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Freedom suits of enslaved people in Virginia who claimed liberty based upon matrilineal descent from a Native American woman provide a multi-dimensional lens into social, cultural, and legal aspects of colonial and antebellum considerations of race, kinship, and self-determination. Within records of depositions are detailed transcriptions of questions posed to neighbors, family members, acquaintances of enslavers, and slaveowners themselves. Answers reveal a nuanced and complicated set of opinions concerning who had a right to freedom. Local memory banks overflowed with detailed descriptions of the plaintiff and his or her native ancestress, including skin color, hair texture, and manners. Within isolated …

Mitigating School Violence Through The Lens Of School Officials In Southern States, Faith Derrick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the threats of school violence to children and school personnel employed in the South Central and Southeastern part of the United States and to identify strategies to mitigate these threats. The theory that guided this study was Clarke’s (2019) Situational Crime Prevention as it aims to improve the understanding of violence and the impact of potential strategies for the prevention of violence. Data for the thematic analysis were obtained directly from school personnel. The information from the findings could aid in understanding the process of threat assessment to determine if …

From Lau To Now: A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Secondary Educators With Monolingual Driven Language Laws, Brooke Elizabeth Boutwell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the influence of monolingually biased federal language policies on English language learners and secondary educators in a middle school in the Oceana School District. The theory guiding this study was Richard Ruiz’s Orientations in Language Planning as it pertains to ideology behind language policy. The transcendental phenomenological study was conducted in the Oceana School district at Waves Middle School. Participants included seven middle school content teachers, a school administrator, and two English as a second language specialists. All participants were chosen based on the criteria of having worked in the Oceana …

Dehumanization And Medical Abuse: Understanding Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy And Physician Liability, Michelle Deutsch

Senior Honors Theses

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP), according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is a relatively rare psychiatric disorder and form of child abuse wherein a caretaker will either purposefully induce real symptoms to make their child appear gravely sick or fabricate false medical symptoms, even in the absence of external rewards. It remains difficult to diagnose perpetrators of MSBP because the caretaker’s extreme concern for their child’s supposed ailments is rationalized as caring and devoted. However, the victim may suffer grievous physical and psychological damage, including death. Thus, it is pivotal that medical professionals and forensic evaluators …

Recidivism Among Rehabilitated Offenders With Mental Illness: A Quantitative Study, Robert Olando Walker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Offenders with severe mental illness (SMI) found a place within the criminal justice system (CJS) with its most crucial objectives including the reduction of recidivism among discharged offenders and their safe reintegration into a free community as rehabilitated offenders. Beyond the monetary costs of recidivism, the continued potential for criminality among offenders with mental illness (OMI) added enormous costs to all law-abiding citizens and their respective communities. However, no study was found in the literature that attempted to investigate the relationship between recidivism and the successful rehabilitation of patients with mental illness. Those found involved offenders without mental illness and …

The Impact Of Juvenile Transfer Laws, Kerina Lynn Ibarra

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study will examine the relationship between juvenile transfer laws, certified juveniles, the criminal justice system, and the potential collateral consequences juveniles face when subjected to juvenile transfer laws. To obtain a deeper understanding of the impact of juvenile transfer laws and their potential collateral consequences, a qualitative study will be conducted utilizing several methods of data collection to include interviews; observations; and textual analysis of adult 1, adult 2, and criminal justice practitioners, to include, jail administrator, corrections officer, police, probation and parole officer, prosecuting attorney, and DOC staff. In the interview process, information will be gathered to contribute …

Strengthening Community Trust: A Qualitative Exploration Of College-Aged African American Males' Perceptions Of And Experiences With The Police, Craig Vernon Vanclief

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The researcher of this phenomenological qualitative multiple case study aimed to examine how community trust between the police and the community they serve is strengthened based on the perspectives of college-aged African American males. The following research questions that guided this study included what do college-aged African American males see as the most significant opportunities to strengthen the relationship between the police and the community they serve? What do college-aged African American males believe are the most essential steps law enforcement can take to increase community trust and confidence in the police? How can law enforcement foster more community engagement …

Challenges Law Enforcement Faces In Utilizing Community Policing To Counter Violent Extremism, Steven Brett Beams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There has been a rise in violent extremist attacks throughout America since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. However, law enforcement has been challenged in developing means and methods to combat the rise in terrorist activities. Using and enhancing community policing strategies have shown promising results in identifying terroristic individuals. A literature review shows that community policing strategies have been effective in combating and reducing violence and may be effective in mitigating terrorist activities. Community policing can be a necessary means for identifying radical individuals involved in terrorist activities. This research proposes to discover an effective and …

Antitrust For Dominant Digital Platforms: An Alternative To The Monopoly Power Standard To Restore Competition, Jordan Ramsey

Senior Honors Theses

Antitrust law is meant to promote competition by prohibiting anticompetitive business practices such as mergers and acquisitions as well as exclusionary conduct. Judicial interpretation of antitrust law has allowed dominant digital platforms to undertake anticompetitive actions without prosecution. The Sherman Antitrust Act should be amended to remove the monopoly power standard that allows firms to engage in anticompetitive conduct as long as the conduct does not create or uphold monopoly power. The amendment would make anticompetitive conduct illegal regardless of monopoly power, as long as six proof requirements are met. This would result in lessened market concentration, which would benefit …

Reforming Illinois K-12 Public Education Through A Four-Pronged Approach, Seth Brooks

Senior Honors Theses

Public education in the United States has produced lackluster results in the past decades. Various forms of school choice have emerged in recent years to combat the poor results seen in the public education system, but these private schools are financially unattainable for many Americans. Bureaucratic overload, city corruption, inequities in funding, and frequent teachers’ strikes have certainly contributed to the destitute state of Illinois’ public education. In this thesis, the attainability of fiscal relief for Illinois families who choose alternative education and the necessity of the state in permitting such alternatives is discussed.

Current school choice policies in the …

Law Enforcement Officers And The Domestic Violence Advocacy Referral Process, Aaron Allen Cubbage

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Domestic violence incidents impact the daily activities of the law enforcement agencies responsible for responding to these calls for service. Legislators and law enforcement leaders have expended countless hours, staffing, and finances to adequately protect the victims of domestic violence. In Virginia, an essential component of protecting victims of domestic violence involves the referral process, used by law enforcement officers to connect victims of domestic violence to domestic violence advocacy groups. The Code of Virginia and law enforcement agencies receiving accreditation through the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission (VLEPSC) require these referrals. There is available research regarding the referral …

Defending The First Premise: Why Prenatal Life Is Not The Exception, Jessica Buchanan

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis frames the abortion debate by dividing the pro-life position into two premises: that the government must protect human beings’ right to life, and that an unborn human organism is a human being. It briefly describes the proposition that the unborn are moral persons. It then proceeds to examine philosophical, legal, and practical objections to the first premise, concluding that if the unborn are established as human beings, the government must uphold their right to life. While this thesis is intended to argue in favor of restricting elective abortion, it does not put forth an opinion on what should …

Federal Law Enforcement Reform: Depoliticization Into A Constitutional Framework To Restore Public Confidence, Christopher J. Boosey

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis proposes that there is a lack of public confidence in federal law enforcement agencies and that this is because these agencies have become political weapons, investigating individuals rather than crimes, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Following multiple scandals, from the historical targeting of the Civil Rights movement to present attempts to designate parents critical of school administrators as domestic terrorists, wholesale reform of these agencies is urgent. Therefore, this thesis will address the issue of politicization, political corruption, and the lack of adherence to constitutional principles through the problem, significance, and solution method. This thesis will first …

The Dark Web And Human Trafficking, Jamie Kay Graham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This is a quantitative-comparative analysis that focuses on Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms that assist law enforcement agencies as they combat human trafficking. Human trafficking is a Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) which means it can impact every country in the world, and in doing so, impact every person in the world. AI uses machine-learning capabilities to identify clusters, odd and/or unusual font, words, numbers, and other markers in advertisements that promote the sale of human beings. Human trafficking affects males, females, and children of all ages and can include different types of trafficking such as sex and labor trafficking. By using …