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Criminal Law

Selected Works

2014

Articles 1 - 26 of 26

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Reliability Matters: Reassociating Bagley Materiality, Strickland Prejudice, And Cumulative Harmless Error, John H. Blume, Christopher Seeds Dec 2014

Reliability Matters: Reassociating Bagley Materiality, Strickland Prejudice, And Cumulative Harmless Error, John H. Blume, Christopher Seeds

John H. Blume

No abstract provided.

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Loyalty's Reward — A Felony Conviction: Recent Prosecutions Of High-Status Female Offenders, Michelle S. Jacobs Nov 2014

Loyalty's Reward — A Felony Conviction: Recent Prosecutions Of High-Status Female Offenders, Michelle S. Jacobs

Michelle S Jacobs

Between 2001 and 2004, six high-status women were charged with crimes in connection with corporate criminal cases. The public is familiar with some of them, although not all of their cases have been covered equally in the press. With the exception of an occasional article now and then mentioning the exploding rates of female incarceration, women's crime tends to be invisible to the public eye. The statistical data the government collects and analyzes on women and crime will be discussed. This article will focus on the prosecution of the individual cases of Lea Fastow, Betty Vinson, and Martha Stewart. Their …

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5. American Professional Society On The Abuse Of Children In Support Of Petitioner, Ohio V. Clark (Merits), Thomas D. Lyon Oct 2014

5. American Professional Society On The Abuse Of Children In Support Of Petitioner, Ohio V. Clark (Merits), Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

No abstract provided.

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40. Question Types, Responsiveness And Self-Contradictions When Prosecutors And Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse, Samantha J. Andrews, Michael E. Lamb, Thomas D. Lyon Oct 2014

40. Question Types, Responsiveness And Self-Contradictions When Prosecutors And Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse, Samantha J. Andrews, Michael E. Lamb, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

We examined 120 trial transcripts of 6- to 12-year-old children testifying to sexual abuse. Age and attorney role were analyzed in relation to question types, children’s responsiveness, and self-contradiction frequency. A total of 48,716 question-response pairs were identified. Attorneys used more closed-ended than open-ended prompts. Prosecutors used more invitations (3% vs. 0%), directives and option-posing prompts than defence attorneys, who used more suggestive prompts than prosecutors. Children were more unresponsive to defence attorneys than to prosecutors. Self-contradictions were identified in 95% of the cases. Defence attorneys elicited more self-contradictions than prosecutors, but nearly all prosecutors (86%) elicited at least one …

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39. Young Children’S Difficulty With Indirect Speech Acts: Implications For Questioning Child Witnesses, Angela D. Evans, Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon Oct 2014

39. Young Children’S Difficulty With Indirect Speech Acts: Implications For Questioning Child Witnesses, Angela D. Evans, Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

Prior research suggests that infelicitous choice of questions can significantly underestimate children’s actual abilities, independently of suggestiveness. One possibly difficult question type is indirect speech acts such as “Do you know…” questions (DYK, e.g., “Do you know where it happened?”). These questions directly ask if respondents know, while indirectly asking what respondents know. If respondents answer “yes,” but fail to elaborate, they are either ignoring or failing to recognize the indirect question (known as pragmatic failure). Two studies examined the effect of indirect speech acts on maltreated and non-maltreated 2- to 7-year-olds’ post-event interview responses. Children were read a story …

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Humane Punishment For Seriously Disordered Offenders: Sentencing Departures And Judicial Control Over Conditions Of Confinement, E. Lea Johnston Oct 2014

Humane Punishment For Seriously Disordered Offenders: Sentencing Departures And Judicial Control Over Conditions Of Confinement, E. Lea Johnston

E. Lea Johnston

At sentencing, a judge may foresee that an individual with a major mental disorder will experience serious psychological or physical harm in prison. In light of this reality and offenders’ other potential vulnerabilities, a number of jurisdictions currently allow judges to treat undue offender hardship as a mitigating factor at sentencing. In these jurisdictions, vulnerability to harm may militate toward an order of probation or a reduced term of confinement. Since these measures do not affect offenders’ day-to-day experience in confinement, these expressions of mitigation fail to protect adequately those vulnerable offenders who must serve time in prison. This Article …

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Vulnerability And Just Desert: A Theory Of Sentencing And Mental Illness, E. Lea Johnston Oct 2014

Vulnerability And Just Desert: A Theory Of Sentencing And Mental Illness, E. Lea Johnston

E. Lea Johnston

This Article analyzes risks of serious harms posed to prisoners with major mental disorders and investigates their import for sentencing under a just deserts analysis. Drawing upon social science research, the Article first establishes that offenders with serious mental illnesses are more likely than non-ill offenders to suffer physical and sexual assaults, endure housing in solitary confinement, and experience psychological deterioration during their carceral terms. The Article then explores the significance of this differential impact for sentencing within a retributive framework. It first suggests a particular expressive understanding of punishment, capacious enough to encompass foreseeable, substantial risks of serious harm …

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The Persistence Of Slavery In Rhode Island: Human Trafficking In The Ocean State (Abtract, Peer-Reviewed), Donna M. Hughes Dr., Rachel Dunham, Lucy Tillman, Faith Skodmin, Jessica Wainfor Oct 2014

The Persistence Of Slavery In Rhode Island: Human Trafficking In The Ocean State (Abtract, Peer-Reviewed), Donna M. Hughes Dr., Rachel Dunham, Lucy Tillman, Faith Skodmin, Jessica Wainfor

Donna M. Hughes

This panel will discuss the persistence of slavery in the form of human trafficking in Rhode Island. To address modern-day slavery-like practices, the U.S. passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 and Rhode Island passed the Trafficking of Persons and Involuntary Servitude Act in 2009. Both state and federal anti-human trafficking laws identify two types of human trafficking: forced labor and sex trafficking.

This panel will present the findings of original research done by the five authors during the Spring 2014 on human trafficking cases in Rhode Island from 2009-2013. Sources for analysis of these cases include: police reports, …

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Presentation, The Persistence Of Slavery In Rhode Island: Human Trafficking In The Ocean State, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Rachel Dunham, Lucy Tillman Oct 2014

Presentation, The Persistence Of Slavery In Rhode Island: Human Trafficking In The Ocean State, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Rachel Dunham, Lucy Tillman

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

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Confessions And Culture: The Interaction Of Miranda And Diversity, Floralynn Einesman Oct 2014

Confessions And Culture: The Interaction Of Miranda And Diversity, Floralynn Einesman

Floralynn Einesman

No abstract provided.

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Reconstructing The Criminal Defenses: The Significance Of Justification, Thomas Morawetz Sep 2014

Reconstructing The Criminal Defenses: The Significance Of Justification, Thomas Morawetz

Thomas H. Morawetz

No abstract provided.

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Attitude Structures Of Different Ethnic And Age Groups Concerning Police, Peggy Sullivan, Roger Dunham, Geoffrey Alpert Aug 2014

Attitude Structures Of Different Ethnic And Age Groups Concerning Police, Peggy Sullivan, Roger Dunham, Geoffrey Alpert

Roger G. Dunham Dr.

No abstract provided.

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Neighborhood Differences In Attitudes Toward Policing: Evidence For A Mixed-Strategy Model Of Policing In A Multi-Ethnic Setting, Roger G. Dunham, Geoffrey P. Alpert Aug 2014

Neighborhood Differences In Attitudes Toward Policing: Evidence For A Mixed-Strategy Model Of Policing In A Multi-Ethnic Setting, Roger G. Dunham, Geoffrey P. Alpert

Roger G. Dunham Dr.

No abstract provided.

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38. Social And Cognitive Factors Associated With Children's Secret-Keeping For A Parent., Heidi M. Gordon, Thomas D. Lyon, Kang Lee Jul 2014

38. Social And Cognitive Factors Associated With Children's Secret-Keeping For A Parent., Heidi M. Gordon, Thomas D. Lyon, Kang Lee

Thomas D. Lyon

This study examined children’s secret-keeping for a parent and its relation to trust, theory of mind, secrecy endorsement, and executive functioning (EF). Children (N = 107) between 4 and 12 years of age participated in a procedure wherein parents broke a toy and asked children to promise secrecy. Responses to open-ended and direct questions were examined. Overall, secret-keeping increased with age and promising to keep the secret was related to fewer disclosures in open-ended questioning. Children who kept the secret in direct questioning exhibited greater trust and better parental ratings of EF than children who disclosed the secret. Findings highlight …

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Discipline And The Pipeline To The 'Pen': A Proposal For Change, Sharlette A. Kellum-Gilbert Ph.D. Jul 2014

Discipline And The Pipeline To The 'Pen': A Proposal For Change, Sharlette A. Kellum-Gilbert Ph.D.

Dr. Sharlette A. Kellum-Gilbert

Consciously or subconsciously, educators are funneling our children from schools to prisons. Moreover, they’re uploading African American and Hispanic children into the system at a number that is measurably out of proportion to their White counterparts. Ticketing students for minor behavior infractions and labeling them as “alternative” often causes them to act out alternatively. Becker (1963) believes that those who create rules and labels for others that do not follow those rules are actually responsible for creating deviance. Ultimately, when students are hastily ticketed and charged when they act out, it’s much easier for them to drop out of school …

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37. Attorneys' Questions And Children's Productivity In Child Sexual Abuse Criminal Trials., J. Zoe Klemfuss, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon May 2014

37. Attorneys' Questions And Children's Productivity In Child Sexual Abuse Criminal Trials., J. Zoe Klemfuss, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

We investigated the links between questions child witnesses are asked in court, children’s answers, and case outcome. Samples of acquittals and convictions were matched on child age, victim–defendant relationship, and allegation count and severity. Transcripts were coded for question types, including a previously under-examined type of potentially suggestive question, declarative questions. Children’s productivity was conceptualized in a novel way by separating new from repeated content and by adjusting the definition based on the linguistic demands of the questions. Attorneys frequently used declarative questions, and disconcertingly, attorneys who used these and other suggestive questions more frequently were more likely to win …

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36. Evidence Summarized In Attorneys' Closing Arguments Predicts Acquittals In Criminal Trials Of Child Sexual Abuse., Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon May 2014

36. Evidence Summarized In Attorneys' Closing Arguments Predicts Acquittals In Criminal Trials Of Child Sexual Abuse., Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

Evidence summarized in attorney’s closing arguments of criminal child sexual abuse cases (N = 189) was coded to predict acquittal rates. Ten variables were significant bivariate predictors; five variables significant at p < .01 were entered into a multivariate model. Cases were likely to result in an acquittal when the defendant was not charged with force, the child maintained contact with the defendant after the abuse occurred, or the defense presented a hearsay witness regarding the victim’s statements, a witness regarding the victim’s character, or a witness regarding another witnesses’ character (usually the mother). The findings suggest that jurors might …

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35. Interviewing Children., Thomas D. Lyon May 2014

35. Interviewing Children., Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

This article reviews best practice for interviewing child witnesses. In most officially recognized abuse cases, the child previously disclosed abuse, making it possible to elicit disclosures without asking closed-ended questions. Interviewers nevertheless overuse closed-ended questions, which lead to short unelaborated responses, privilege the limited perspective of the interviewer, maximize the potential for linguistic difficulties, increase children’s tendency to guess, and risk response biases. Interviewers can avoid closed-ended questions through narrative practice, in which interviewers ask children to narrate a recent innocuous event before introducing the abuse topic; cued invitations, in which interviewers repeat details reported by children and ask for …

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34. Disclosure Suspicion Bias And Abuse Disclosure: Comparisons Between Sexual And Physical Abuse., Elizabeth B. Rush, Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Jodi A. Quas Apr 2014

34. Disclosure Suspicion Bias And Abuse Disclosure: Comparisons Between Sexual And Physical Abuse., Elizabeth B. Rush, Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Jodi A. Quas

Thomas D. Lyon

Prior research has found that children disclosing physical abuse appear more reticent and less consistent than children disclosing sexual abuse. Although this has been attributed to differences in reluctance, it may also be due to differences in the process by which abuse is suspected and investigated. Disclosure may play a larger role in arousing suspicions of sexual abuse, while other evidence may play a larger role in arousing suspicions of physical abuse. As a result, children who disclose physical abuse in formal investigations may be doing so for the first time, and they may be more reluctant to provide details …

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9. Children's Memory For Conversations About Sexual Abuse: Legal And Psychological Implications., Thomas D. Lyon, Stacia N. Stolzenberg Mar 2014

9. Children's Memory For Conversations About Sexual Abuse: Legal And Psychological Implications., Thomas D. Lyon, Stacia N. Stolzenberg

Thomas D. Lyon

The legal and psychological literature on children’s testimony in child sexual abuse cases has largely focused on whether children are allowed to testify, how children testify, and what happens after they do. Those concerned about false convictions have emphasized the benefits of mechanisms to exclude children’s testimony that is unreliable because of pre-trial influence or developmental immaturity1 and the utility of expert testimony on children’s suggestibility. Those concerned about false acquittals have argued for eliminating barriers to receiving children’s testimony, the benefits of setting up special devices (such as screens or closed-circuit television) for receiving testimony, and the utility of …

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Book Review: Policing And The Poetics Of Everyday Life., Rodger E. Broome Phd Feb 2014

Book Review: Policing And The Poetics Of Everyday Life., Rodger E. Broome Phd

Rodger E. Broome

Policing and the poetics of everyday life. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008. 256 pp. ISBN 978-0-252-03371-1 (cloth). $42.00. Policing and the Poetics of Everyday Life is a hermeneutical-aesthetic analysis within a human scientific approach of modern policing in the United States. It is an important study of police-citizen encounters informed by hermeneutic aesthetic thought and the author’s professional experience as a veteran with a Seattle area police department in Washington, USA.

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Sentencing Guidelines And Prison Population Grouth, Thomas B. Marvell Feb 2014

Sentencing Guidelines And Prison Population Grouth, Thomas B. Marvell

thomas b marvell

No abstract provided.

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33. Disclosing Adult Wrongdoing: Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Expectations And Preferences., Lindsay C. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern Jan 2014

33. Disclosing Adult Wrongdoing: Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Expectations And Preferences., Lindsay C. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern

Thomas D. Lyon

Little is known about the process by which children disclose adult wrongdoing, a topic of considerable debate and controversy. In the current study, we investigated children’s evaluations of disclosing adult wrongdoing by focusing on children’s preferences for particular disclosure recipients and perceptions of the consequences of disclosure in hypothetical vignettes. We tested whether children thought that disclosure recipients would believe a story child as a truth teller and what actions the recipients would take against the ‘‘instigator’’ who committed the transgression. Maltreated and non-maltreated 4- to 9-year-olds (N = 235) responded to questions about vignettes that described a parent’s or …

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Stop And Frisk (A Case Study In Judicial Control Of The Police), Herman Schwartz Jan 2014

Stop And Frisk (A Case Study In Judicial Control Of The Police), Herman Schwartz

Herman Schwartz

No abstract provided.

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L'Évaluation Du Risque De Récidive : L’Expert, Le Politique Et La Production Du Chiffre, Sacha Raoult Dec 2013

L'Évaluation Du Risque De Récidive : L’Expert, Le Politique Et La Production Du Chiffre, Sacha Raoult

Sacha Raoult

Cet article soulèves trois remarques sur la litérature scientifique relative au risque de récidive. La première remarque concerne la tendance de certains spécialistes à minimiser les difficultés fondamentales liées à la recherche empirique dans le domaine de la récidive. La seconde consiste a montrer que contrairement à d'autres champs, les chercheurs qui interprêtent les résultats des suivis de cohorte sur le risque de récidive ont souvent tendance à voir le verre à moitié plein. Enfin, j’aimerais montrer que la tâche confiée aux scientifiques dans le contexte actuel revient au final à déléguer à des techniciens des questions éthiques dont ne …

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Kidnapping Incorporated: The Unregulated Youth-Transportation Industry And The Potential For Abuse, Ira P. Robbins Dec 2013

Kidnapping Incorporated: The Unregulated Youth-Transportation Industry And The Potential For Abuse, Ira P. Robbins

Ira P. Robbins

Strangers come into a child's room in the middle of the night, drag her kicking and screaming into a van, apply handcuffs, and drive her to a behavior modification facility at a distant location. What sounds like a clear-cut case of kidnapping is complicated by the fact that the child's parents not only authorized this intervention, but also paid for it. This scarcely publicized practice-known as the youth-transportation industry-operates on the fringes of existing law. The law generally presumes that parents have almost unlimited authority over their children, but the youth-transportation industry has never been closely examined regarding exactly what …

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