Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Families Belong Together: The Path To Family Sanctity In Public Housing, Mckayla Stokes

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

In its 2015 landmark civil rights decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court finally held that the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution guarantee same-sex couples’ marital equality. The Court’s unprecedented declaration that the right to marry is a fundamental right under the Due Process Clause strengthened married couples’ right to privacy because it subjects government actions infringing on marital unions to heightened scrutiny. The Supreme Court has the option to minimize the impact of Obergefell by interpreting the right to marriage very narrowly—as only encompassing the right to enter into a state-recognized union …

The Pursuit Of Comprehensive Education Funding Reform Via Litigation, Lisa Scruggs

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: The Right To Education: With Liberty, Justice, And Education For All?

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

The “Step-Child Of Scholarly Investigation”: Preliminary Observations About The Origins Of Academic Jewish Law Scholarship, David Hollander

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review Essay: Jewish And American Law: A Comparative Study. (Vols. 1 And 2) By Samuel J. Levine, Marie A. Failinger

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword To The Symposium: Jewish Law And American Law: A Comparative Study, Samuel J. Levine

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keeping Faith With Nomos, Steven L. Winter

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute To Medical Misdiagnosis Of Child Abuse? Investigating Tunnel Vision In The Emergency Room, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Kimberly M. Bernstein, Katherine S. Wahrer

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Despite growing recognition that misdiagnoses of child abuse can lead to wrongful convictions, little empirical work has examined how the medical community may contribute to these errors. Previous research has documented the existence and content of stereotypes that associate race with child abuse. The current study examines whether emergency medical professionals rely on this stereotype to fill in gaps in ambiguous cases involving Black children, thereby increasing the potential for misdiagnoses of child abuse. Specifically, we tested whether the race-abuse stereotype led participants to attend to more abuse-related details than infection-related details when an infant patient was Black versus White. …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In The Criminal Justice System In Nebraska, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

RED refers to racial and ethnic differences in contacts and experiences with the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Measuring the extent to which RED exist in the justice system is a first step toward identifying the ways to improve upon how well the system upholds the principle of equal treatment under the law. Prior research shows that RED are prevalent across multiple points of contact with the juvenile justice system in Nebraska. There is also a large body of evidence demonstrating RED in the adult criminal justice system nationwide. The purpose of this brief is to describe what the data …

Section 1983 Civil Liability Against Prison Officials And Dentists For Delaying Dental Care, Claire Nolasco, Michael S. Vaughn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications (Archived)

Many prisoners enter correctional facilities in the United States with little history of good dental hygiene and even less history of access to dentists. Thus, the incarceration experience presents opportunities for inmates to receive quality dental care, often for the first time. Dental care delivered by correctional dentists is complicated, however, by the array of serious dental conditions and difficult to treat dental problems in clinical settings. These conditions exist within a legal environment that mandates adequate dental care be provided to prisoners by the state. This article examines prisoners’ Section 1983 lawsuits, claiming that delays in the delivery of …

The Prosecutor As A Final Safeguard Against False Convictions: How Prosecutors Assist With Exoneration, Elizabeth Webster

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Prosecutors have helped secure an unprecedented number of recent exonerations. This development, combined with the rapid emergence of district attorney-initiated conviction integrity units (CIUs) raises several questions. How do prosecutors’ offices review postconviction innocence claims? How do they make decisions about the merits of those claims? How do CIU processes differ from non-CIU processes? This study examines the circumstances surrounding prosecutor-assisted exoneration cases through semi-structured interviews with 20 prosecutors and 19 defense attorneys. It draws from a sample of both CIU and non-CIU prosecutors, thereby enabling comparisons. Respondents were asked about their experiences and decision-making structures in specific, post-2005 exoneration …

The Evolution Of Substantive Due Process Throughout Time, Vitoria Olivo Factor

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Substantive due process has been of great importance to the decision of many Supreme Court cases since its beginning. Since its inception in Lochner v. New York,[1] the Supreme Court has used the theory of substantive due process in order to grant numerous rights to individuals and this theory has been interpreted differently by each Justice that has crossed its path.

This thesis will explain how recent changes in the composition of the United States Supreme Court make it likely that judicial opinions involving substantive due process will be decided differently. The United States Supreme Court’s future substantive …

Can General Strain Theory Be Used To Explain The Relationship Between Recidivism And Secure Placement?, Alessia R. Shaw

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There has been extensive research conducted on recidivism among serious juvenile offenders. This study examines juvenile recidivism through the lenses of General Strain Theory (GST). GST has been used in previous studies to explain recidivism, however, secure placement and its effect on juvenile mental health, has not been studied. The purpose of this study is to test for a relationship between emotional responses like anger and hostility and secure placement, utilizing the Pathways to Desistance data. I will also examine if anger and hostility act as a mediator between secure placement and recidivism. Pathways to Desistance was a prospective study …

Racial Bias And Juror Selection In Death Penalty Cases, Kaitlyn D. Wallace

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Across the country, African American defendants are being discriminated against in the criminal courts and by juries, particularly in capital cases.[1] This assertion is supported by two lines of research. First, an analysis of Supreme Court decisions focusing on the racial impact on voir dire. Second, social-legal studies on juror decision making have demonstrated legal and socio-legal histories providing evidence that demonstrate there is a racial bias in our system. Based on these findings, this paper sets forth several legal and policy recommendations to improve the fair adjudication of African American defendants charged with capital crimes.

[1] Jack Glaser, …

Prescription Drug Abuse Amongst The Elderly, Michael O'Blenis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis attempts to document and illuminate the growing issue of prescription drug abuse among the elderly population. The average elder in the U.S. takes at least one prescription drug per day, depending upon their health status. Likewise, elders that suffer from multiple chronic conditions are more likely to take multiple prescription drugs. As the lifespan of humankind grows well into their 90's and older, even more elders will be placed on prescription drugs. As part of this study, a narrative literature review was conducted to summarize the topic of prescription drug abuse amongst the elderly. The findings suggest that …

The Perceptions Of Juvenile Judges Regarding Adolescent Development In Evaluating Juvenile Competency, Colleen M. Berryessa, Jillian Reeves

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

This analysis provides the first known in-depth qualitative inquiry into if and how juvenile court judges take the psycho-social immaturity and development of adolescents into consideration when making attributions of adjudicative competency of offenders in juvenile court. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-seven U.S. juvenile court judges, followed by grounded theory analysis. Competency evaluations from psychologists and the juvenile’s age, history, awareness, and mental capacity influence judicial determinations of competency. Although data show that understandings of adolescent development do play a large role in shaping judges’ understandings of juvenile behavior—particularly related to emotional control, irrational behavior, lack of maturity, and …

Annual Report 2020, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

T  he Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. In this past year, NCJR once again crafted our Adult Justice in Nebraska report to provide a foundation of data trends in areas such as …

Vocational And Life Skills Monthly Data Update: January 2020, Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research, Katelynn Towne

Reports

Grantees use an online data management system to submit data on participants served under their Vocational and Life Skills programming. This data is due monthly and reflects all services provided during the previous month to participants. Evaluators at the Nebraska Center for Justice Research work with grantees directly to manage data entry errors on an ongoing basis during update calls and site visits.

The current data derives from an active database, from which data is being entered and updated daily. Data values, including previously submitted information, may fluctuate depending on the duration of lag between service delivery and data entry. …

On Emotions And The Politics Of Attention In Judicial Reasoning, Emily Kidd White

Articles & Book Chapters

Legal doctrine regularly requires judges to both understand and use emotions in different ways. This chapter explores the role of emotions in fixing and sustaining judicial attention on the impact of a law on the constitutional rights of an individual or group. That certain forms of wrong or harm, including forms of political and social exclusion, are difficult to detect in the absence of focused attention is, I think, what Elizabeth Bishop’s poem ‘Man-Moth’, excerpted here in epigraph, intends to express. This chapter explores the role of emotions in setting up the serious, sustained inquiry into the impact of a …

Black Resistance: Interpretive Agency Enacted Against Mutable Violence, Meera Kolluri

Scripps Senior Theses

Titled Black Resistance: Interpretive Agency Enacted Against Mutable Violence, my research discusses a reformed understanding of racial trauma and autonomy. I elaborate on the common reading of slavery in political thought and defend my argument with modern examples of resistance and theory. This text aims to shine light on assumptive narratives by classifying and redefining mutable violence against black America.

Are Opinions On Abortion Based On Racial Attitudes?, Ashley Mueller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My specific research question that I will be addressing through my Honors Research Project is; Does one’s race influence their opinions and criminalization of abortion in the United States? In addition to this question I will be discussing if these views have changed over time depending on race, and how their backgrounds, due to their race, may differentiate these views.

Postmortem Interval Estimation Based On Eukaryotic Community Associated With Soil Under Decomposing Porcine Remains, Amanda M. Haase

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Recent studies have shown that bacteria associated with soils under a carcass change significantly both temporally and spatially. These studies were done in both laboratory and field conditions, but with limited replications. In addition, limited information exists on temporal and spatial changes in eukaryotic community structure associated with soil under decomposing remains. This study was designed to fill in these gaps and expand on previous studies to improve postmortem interval (PMI) estimation techniques as well as to identify cadaver decomposition islands (CDI) based on eukaryotic community structure associated with soil under vertebrate remains. To accomplish this goal, soil samples were …

[Introduction To] Debating Sex Work, Lori Watson, Jessica Flanigan

Bookshelf

In this 'for and against' work, ethicists Lori Watson and Jessica Flanigan debate the criminalization of sex work. Watson argues for a sex equality approach to prostitution in which buyers are criminalized and sellers are decriminalized, known as the Nordic Model. Flanigan argues that sex work should be fully decriminalized because decriminalization ensures respect for sex workers' and clients' rights, and is more effective than alternative policies.

Putting these two views on sex work into conversation with one another, and opening up space for readers to weigh both approaches, the book provides a thorough, accessible exploration of the issues surrounding …

Right To Counsel: Improving Access To Justice In Us Indigent Defense Systems, Travis Hartman

Capstone Showcase

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel for indigent defendants. Even though a constitutional right, indigent defense in the US suffers from significant problems. While scholars have attempted to provide solutions to the problems, a question persists, How are Indigent Defense Systems impacting how Access to Justice is being provided in the United States? To answer this question, a structured, focused comparison method was utilized to evaluate US indigent defense systems. Case studies were chosen based upon the delivery and majority of funding for indigent defense coming from counties. Right to counsel for Access to Justice was defined by …

The Economic Impact Of Access To Reproductive Healthcare: A New Constitutional Argument, Niyati Narang

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to offer an alternative constitutional argument to Roe v Wade by focusing on the economic liberties granted by the 14th Amendment. By highlighting the connection between reproductive healthcare (abortion access, the pill) and women's economic development, this thesis presents an alternative argument to Roe.

Drug Users’ Experiences Of A Residential Rehabilitation Program In Western Australia: A Thematic Analysis Of Drug Users Lived Experiences, Michelle Fullam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In the last decade, there has been a marked increase in the awareness of drug use and drug-related crime in Australia. As a result, the demand for drug treatment services has increased and 14 recognised government-funded services are now available in Western Australia (WA). The goal of these services is to reduce drug use through full-time intensive programs that are usually residential. This type of drug treatment has been shown to be effective in reducing drug use and promoting pro-social lives post-treatment. However, little is known of the experiences of participants in this type of treatment in WA. As such, …

Comparing Students' Perspectives On A Rural University's Special District Police Department And Student's Traditional Hometown Police Departments, Angela Pierce

All Master's Theses

Understanding the public perceptions of police is not a new topic, but it is one that has not focused on that of university students. This current study aims to fill the gap in knowledge by comparing student’s perceptions of two different police departments; traditional hometown police departments and special district police. This study targeted a specific population, college students, that needs additional research to understand what factors contribute to their perceptions of police. This study gathered students’ perceptions of police using an email survey of all on-campus students in a regional state university. Using OLS regression, I was able to …

From The Legal Literature: Criminalizing Propaganda: J. Remy Green’S Argument To Digitize Brandenburg, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From The Legal Literature: The Threat And Promise Of Police Use Of Dna Databases, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From The Legal Literature: Automating Police, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.