Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Deputizing Family: Loved Ones As A Regulatory Tool In The “Drug War” And Beyond, Matthew B. Lawrence

Faculty Articles

Many laws use family members as a regulatory tool to influence the decisions or behavior of their loved ones, i.e., they deputize family. Involuntary treatment laws for substance use disorder are a clear example; such laws empower family members to use information shared by their loved ones to petition to force their loved ones into treatment without consent. Whether such deputization is helpful or harmful for a patient’s health is a crucial and dubious question discussed in existing literature, but use of family members as a regulatory tool implicates important considerations beyond direct medical impacts that have not been as …

Shareholders United?, Andrew K. Jennings

Faculty Articles

Securities regulation has a way of crossing into other lanes. What public companies do is substantive regulation. How they govern themselves while doing it-or more importantly, how they disclose it-is securities regulation. So it is no surprise that the perennial concern over regulating money in politics should also become a question of federal securities regulation. The Shareholders United Act (the "Act")-passed by the House of Representatives as part of House Bill 1, an early, major piece of legislation in the 116th Congress-does just that. The Act would require that before engaging in political spending, public companies poll shareholders on how …

Securities Disclosure As Soundbite: The Case Of Ceo Pay Ratios, Steven A. Bank, George S. Georgiev

Faculty Articles

This Article analyzes the history, design, and effectiveness of the highly controversial CEO pay ratio disclosure rule, which went into effect in 2018. Based on a regulatory mandate contained in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the rule requires public companies to disclose the ratio between CEO pay and median worker pay as part of their annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The seven-year rulemaking process was politically contentious and generated a level of public engagement that was virtually unprecedented in the long history of the SEC disclosure regime. The SEC sought to minimize compliance costs by providing …

Vulnerability And Social Justice, Martha Albertson Fineman

Faculty Articles

This Article briefly considers the origins of the term social justice and its evolution beside our understandings of human rights and liberalism, which are two other significant justice categories. After this reflection on the contemporary meaning of social justice, I suggest that vulnerability theory, which seeks to replace the rational man of liberal legal thought with the vulnerable subject, should be used to define the contours of the term. Recognition of fundamental, universal, and perpetual human vulnerability reveals the fallacies inherent in the ideals of autonomy, independence, and individual responsibility that have supplanted an appreciation of the social. I suggest …

Capital And Punishment: Resource Scarcity Increases Endorsement Of The Death Penalty, Keelah E. G. Williams, Ashley M. Votruba, Steven L. Neuberg, Michael J. Saks

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Faced with punishing severe offenders, why do some prefer imprisonment whereas others impose death? Previous research exploring death penalty attitudes has primarily focused on individual and cultural factors. Adopting a functional perspective, we propose that environmental features may also shape our punishment strategies. Individuals are attuned to the availability of resources within their environments. Due to heightened concerns with the costliness of repeated offending, we hypothesize that individuals tend toward elimination-focused punishments during times of perceived scarcity. Using global and United States data sets (studies 1 and 2), we find that indicators of resource scarcity predict the presence of capital …

Why We Need Police, Justin Mccrary, Deepak Premkumar

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter discusses the essential role that the police have in deterring and reducing crimes, particularly the most violent and costly ones to society, such as murder. We begin by providing a brief overview of deterrence theory before discussing the empirical evidence on the efficacy of police staffing and various policing strategies on crime reduction. Using a framework developed in Weisburd and Eck (2004), we quickly evaluate the model of standard policing and then mainly focus on evidence behind three current policing practices: hot spots, problem- oriented, and proactive. Finally, we use the empirical evidence of police staffing to provide …

Broken Experimentation, Sham Evidence-Based Policy, Kristen Underhill

Faculty Scholarship

Evidence-based policy is gaining attention, and legislation and agency regulation have been no exception to calls for greater uptake of research evidence. Indeed, current interest in “moneyball for government” is part of a long history of efforts to promote research-based decisions in government, from the U.S. Census to cost-benefit analysis. But although evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) is often both feasible and desirable, there are reasons to be skeptical of the capacity of EBPM in governmental decision-making. EBPM is itself bounded by limits on rationality, the capacity of science, the objectivity of science, and the authority we wish to give technocrats. Where …

Building A Good Jobs Economy, Dani Rodrik, Charles F. Sabel

Faculty Scholarship

Conventional models are failing throughout the world. In the developed world, the welfare state-compensation model has been in retrenchment for some time, and the drawbacks of the neoliberal conception that has superseded it are increasingly evident. Yet there is no compelling alternative on offer. In the developing world, the conventional, tried-and-tested model of industrialization has run out of steam. In both sets of societies a combination of technological and economic forces (in particular, globalization) is creating or exacerbating productive/technological dualism, with a segment of advanced production in metropolitan areas that thrives on the uncertainty generated by the knowledge economy co-existing …

Edward Snowden, National Security Whistleblowing, And Civil Disobedience, David E. Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

No recent whistleblower has been more lionized or vilified than Edward Snowden. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and denounced as a "total traitor" deserving of the death penalty. In these debates, Snowden's defenders tend to portray him as a civil disobedient. Yet for a range of reasons, Snowden's situation does not map neatly onto traditional theories of civil disobedience. The same holds true for most cases of national security whistleblowing.

The contradictory and confused responses that these cases provoke, this essay suggests, are not just the product of polarized politics or insufficient information. Rather, they reflect …

Get Out Of My Driveway! Collins V. Virginia Protects Curtilage From Being Trampled By The Automobile Exception, Brenda I. Rowe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications (Archived)

In Collins v. Virginia (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the automobile exception cannot justify a warrantless search of an automobile parked in a home’s curtilage because the automobile exception pertains solely to the search of the automobile, not to the intrusion upon the Fourth Amendment privacy interest in the home’s curtilage. After giving an overview of relevant Fourth Amendment jurisprudence concerning the curtilage doctrine and the automobile exception as well as the history of the exclusionary rule, this article examines the majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in Collins and discusses the implications of this important decision. Collins …

Detention As Deterrence, Emily Ryo

Faculty Scholarship

Does immigration detention deter unauthorized migration? This is a pressing question with critical policy implications given that the U.S. government has detained tens of thousands of migrants in reliance on this deterrence rationale. Briefly described, the federal government has argued that “one particular individual may be civilly detained for the sake of sending a message” to others “who may be considering immigration. In recent times, the potential migrants to whom the federal government has sought to send such a message are, by and large, from Mexico and Central America. Emerging empirical research, however, provides little to no evidence that detention …

Theorizing The Judicialization Of International Relations, Karen J. Alter, Emilie M. Hafner-Burton, Laurence R. Helfer

Faculty Scholarship

This article introduces a Thematic Section and theorizes the multiple ways that judicializing international relations shifts power away from national executives and legislatures toward litigants, judges, arbitrators, and other nonstate decision-makers. We identify two preconditions for judicialization to occur—(1) delegation to an adjudicatory body charged with applying designated legal rules, and (2) legal rights-claiming by actors who bring—or threaten to bring—a complaint to one or more of these bodies. We classify the adjudicatory bodies that do and do not contribute to judicializing international relations, including but not limited to international courts. We then explain how rights-claiming initiates a process for …

Analyzing The Trump Administration's International Trade Strategy, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Ethical (Or Not So Ethical) Story Behind Your Bar Of Chocolate: The Untold Tale Of A Distressed Ghanaian Farmer, Nadia Ayensah

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

In a time where the ethics of business dealings have become a key factor in the likelihood of the success of that venture due to globalization, it is important to start considering those ventures that are so popular, but whose inner working are rarely heard of. This paper analyzes the history and process of cocoa production in Ghana. It looks at the status quo with regards to the social and economic standing of Ghanaian Cocoa farmers as opposed to the earnings made by cocoa processing companies. With the statistics derived, the paper then considers who is to take responsibility for …

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

The Stability Paradox Of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Backlogs: Unstable Policy Implementation For A Stability-Aimed Visa, Lanna Seline Sanchez

Pomona Senior Theses

As of May 2016, the U.S. State Department officially declared a priority date for all green cards for applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that capped the number of visas granted to individuals from these three countries to just 10,000 per year. This inherently created a two to three-year backlog for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applicants from these countries as well, meaning that SIJS petitioners will remain undocumented for periods of up to six years until their petition is adjudicated by USCIS and their priority date arrives. I research whether the increasingly difficult path to obtaining permanent residency through …

Toward Restoring Rule-Of-Law Norms, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Virtual Hearings And Blockchain Technology Solutions In Criminal Law, Chantell Bergquist

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Technology has evolved and raided our personal and professional lives. Although the courts are not immune to the advancement and integration of technology, the courts are not keeping up with relevant technological advancements. Historically, courts have been hesitant to embrace new technologies despite the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure creates the right to a “just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” Likewise, the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct have determined attorneys must “keep abreast of …

Courtroom Psychology During Criminal Trials And Its Therapeutic Role On Victims And Offenders, Tierra Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the legal and mental health fields little is known about the therapeutic impact of courtroom psychology during criminal trials. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the inter-relating factors of law and psychology throughout criminal trials as experienced by lawyers and psychologists. Research questions explored the influence of courtroom psychology on criminal trial proceedings and challenges as experienced by both criminal trial attorneys in presenting mental health evidence, and by psychologists when testifying during criminal trials. Further exploration focused on the significance of courtroom psychology, and how lawyers and psychologists perceived courtroom psychology impacting justice for victims …

African American Males' Perception Of The Prince Georges' County (Md) Police And Improving The Relationship, Katija J. Ra'oof

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The shootings and killings across the country of unarmed African American males by police officers, has become a topic of discussion. Previous research indicates that African American males, in comparison to other groups, are more likely to have adverse encounters with law enforcement officials. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of African American males in Prince Georges' County regarding encounters with the Prince Georges' County Police Department and how the relationship can improve. Max Weber's social action theory was used to examine perception and purposive sampling aided in gathering this information from a …

Relationship Of Years Of Experience To Aggression, Empathy, And Alcohol Intake Among Attorneys, Ashley Frantz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attorneys are at an increased risk of negative psychological and physical effects due to stressors in their careers. The purpose of this study was to identify if sex crime attorneys and homicide attorneys identify with significant psychological changes throughout their careers. The framework for this study was theoretical in nature and utilized the social cognitive processing theory. This quantitative study (N = 28) included the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, and the Multi-Dimensional Emotional Empathy Scale. A minimal significance was found correlating a decrease in aggression to years of experience as an attorney. …

Essays On Institutions And Development, Andrew Jonelis

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

The essays in this dissertation examine how political institutions affect economic development. In the first essay, I examine how executive control of the legislature shapes the time horizon of governing politicians and its effect on economic growth. The second essay examines how border changes over the past two centuries have provided different areas within modern countries with different institutional histories and how this affects the geographic concentration of economic activity. For the final essay, I examine whether elections have an effect on macroeconomic volatility when controlling for the democratic nature of the regime.

Post-Crisis Economic And Social Policy: Some Thoughts On Structural Reforms 2.0., Philomila Tsoukala

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Managing the euro crisis has been a process of institutional transformation for the EU. The European Semester has emerged as a powerful tool for economic policy coordination between the Member States. Beyond the new enforcement tools that the Semester affords the Commission and Council in case of non-compliance with country-specific recommendations, the management of the crisis has given the Commission experience in structural reforms. The Commission now regularly uses this experience in formulating its yearly country-specific recommendations to Member States. Far from a stalwart of untethered neoliberalism, the Commission has been fashioning itself as the manager with a human face, …

The Anonymity Heuristic: How Surnames Stop Identifying People When They Become Trademarks, Russell W. Jacobs

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

This Article explores the following question central to trademark law: if a homograph has both a surname and a trademark interpretation will consumers consider those interpretations as intrinsically overlapping or the surname and trademark as completely separate and unrelated words? While trademark jurisprudence typically has approached this question from a legal perspective or with assumptions about consumer behavior, this Article builds on the Law and Behavioral Science approach to legal scholarship by drawing from the fields of psychology, linguistics, economics, anthropology, sociology, and marketing.

The Article concludes that consumers will regard the two interpretations as separate and unrelated, processing surname …

What's Going Wrong In Nevada? A Comparative Analysis Of California And Nevada Gun Control Laws As They Relate To Gun Violence, Danielle Chami

CMC Senior Theses

The recent mass shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada has been marked in history as the worst mass shooting in the United States to this point. The details of the shooting beg the question, is it coincidence that it happened in Nevada, a state with some of the least restrictive gun control laws? Mass shootings have become an unfortunate part of reality in the United States, but these are fairly uncommon occurrences. While they are horrific and deserve attention, daily gun violence cannot be forgotten. In the face of such a multitude of gun violence, what can …

The Psychology Surrounding Legal Standards Of Competency And Representation For Children In U.S. Immigration Court, Natasha Reyes

CMC Senior Theses

In recent years, immigration detentions have spiked. Further, the Zero Tolerance Policy enacted by President Trump has separated thousands of children from their families. Because many children are without their parents, and immigration court is civil in nature, thousands of children are placed in deportation hearings without representation each year. Child psychological research is at odds with the current deportation practices as psychological research deems children unable to understand the complexities of the court system or the impacts of deportation proceedings. A minimum competency to stand trial must be enacted to protect young children’s due process rights, regardless of citizenship. …

Considering Parental Alienation When Assessing Best Interest Of The Child, Juno Adler

CMC Senior Theses

As the divorce rate in the United States remains steady at 50%, the last few decades have shown an increase in child custody disputes. Within these litigations, interparental conflict can reach high levels and incite behaviors that wreak havoc on the children who are caught in the middle. When considering custody arrangements, judges and other evaluators use the Best Interest of the Child Standard (BICS), a jurisdictionally-specific framework that examines several factors that contribute to a child’s health and well-being. Parents who allow their resentments to get the better of them sometimes engage in behavior that encourages their child to …

Developing A Model For Effective Community Development Agreements In The Extractive Industries, John Nikolaou

CMC Senior Theses

Natural resource development has tremendous potential to create inclusive economic growth in countries well-endowed with oil, mineral, and agricultural resources. At the same time, natural resource development can cause negative environmental externalities, and, in several cases, extractives companies can engage in labor abuse.

The intersection of the government’s and the corporation’s interest can lie in Corporate Social Responsibility Projects.This thesis will analyze an alternative model of CSR: community development agreements (CDAs). CDAs are voluntary, or sometimes government mandated, agreements between the project developer and the project affected community that define company commitments to issues such as environmental impact mitigation, benefit …

Evolving Conceptions Of Sovereignty As Applied To Membership In International Organizations, Luke C. Radice

CMC Senior Theses

In the current international climate, both nations and individuals increasingly question both the validity and necessity of international organizations. This paper seeks to answer some of those questions, and to determine why countries choose to surrender significant portions of the national power that they are afforded under traditional perceptions of “Westphalian sovereignty”. This question is answered through an analysis of historical political thought on the concept of Sovereignty, then is applied to two case studies: the United Nations and the European Union, in which the benefits and downsides of surrendering sovereignty are discussed. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the concept …

Recidivism And Prison Overcrowding Due To Denial Of Legal Representation In Botswana, Sidney Pilane

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Botswana has been experiencing high rates of recidivism and prison overcrowding, but the causes of these problems have not been explored. Thus, this qualitative study was conducted to investigate whether the denial of legal representation to criminal defendants tried in the customary courts is one of the causes of high rates of recidivism, prison overcrowding, or both. The main research question addressed a possible relationship between these factors and the denial of legal representation, and the study was guided by the punctuated equilibrium theory and the policy feedback theory. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with 10 released first …