Legal Studies Commons^™

Pacifying The Visual: Police Reform And The Promise Of Body Worn Cameras, Ivan Benitez

Online Theses and Dissertations

Reform is a political tool, long used to ensure the continuation of specific police practices and the police institution itself. Promising increased transparency and accountability and hence legitimacy, Body Worn Cameras (BWC) purport to show the facts of police work and critical incidents precisely as they happened. Invoking and relying upon the objective truth of the image, policy makers, academics and some police themselves see BWCs both as a panacea to arrest police misconduct and a way to guard against spurious allegations. However, placing them in the long history of police reform, BWCs are also usefully understood as a form …

'Savages','Animals' And 'Criminals':Capitalism, Racial Threat And The U.S Long War On Immigration, Rossana Alejandra Diaz

Online Theses and Dissertations

From mass shootings targeting specific ethnic, racial and religious communities to detention centers for immigrant children, it is imperative to ask of such violent contemporary phenomena: "how did we get here? How is this possible in a place like the United States?" The purpose of this study is to begin to address such questions by analyzing the historical legacy of dehumanizing narratives towards immigrants, and by querying how that history may shape and inform contemporary manifestations, illustrated by the rhetoric stemming from the Trump administration. Examining examples of such rhetoric through ethnographic content analysis of President Trump’s speeches and social …

Serial Killers In Popular Media: A Content Analysis Of Sensationalism And Support For Capital Punishment, April Nicole Pace

Online Theses and Dissertations

Serial murder has been a popular media phenomenon across the United States since the 1980s, and media representations of serial killers may significantly influence public opinion as well as impact capital punishment policies. This content analysis examined the portrayal of one dozen different serial killers using 120 online media reports which included articles published between the 1970s to present day. Results of the analysis showed serial killers were often sensationalized and portrayed in biased ways by popular media, with little attention afforded to academic theories. Support for capital punishment was also prevalent. These findings have implications for policy makers seeking …

A Multiple Case-Study Approach To Examine Police Officers Perceptions On Narcan® Policies, Casey Gnann

Theses and Dissertations

In October 2017, President Trump officially declared the opioid epidemic to be a public health emergency. Reports from the CDC indicate that over 140 Americans die per day as a result of an opioid overdose (NPR, 2017). This statistic alone highlights the tragic effects of the current opioid climate. To date, an abundance of research has been conducted on opioid addicts, family members, doctors approach to addiction, etc. However, there is a gap in the research regarding law enforcement officers and their ever-changing role in the fight against opioids. As the opioid epidemic has continued to worsen, many law enforcement …

The Use Of Public Consultation To Construct Sex Work Related Policies, Ryan Horan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study is a qualitative analysis of the Online Public Consultation of Prostitution -Related Offences (OPCPRO), conducted by the Canadian Department of Justice in 2014. This research describes themes that arose within the discourses of respondents to the OPCPRO, and offers a critical examination of the use of online consultations in the production of public policy. I argue that respondents to the OPCPRO, regardless of their support or opposition for criminalization of sex work, strategically draw on values echoed within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to frame their policy propositions as consistent with sex workers individual rights. I …

Evidence-Based Practice In Offender Programming: An Examination Of The Crimesolutions.Gov Registry, Mckenzie L. Jossie

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Offender reentry, felony declassification, and the opioids epidemic have led to quick and widespread implementation of substance abuse and mental health treatment programming in justice settings. This tremendous increase in offender treatment programming has outpaced applied research on program quality and treatment efficacy. This study examined whether designated evidence-based practices are actually delivered in funded treatment initiatives. Secondary data was utilized from the National Institute of Justice’s CrimeSolutions.gov, a national evidence-based practice and program registry. A content analysis methodology examined CrimeSolutions.gov program profiles and topical refereed literature through systematic analysis of five offender treatment evidence-based practices (actuarial screening, co-occurring disorders …

Volume 11, Jacob Carney, Ryan White, Joseph Hyman, Jenny Raven, Megan Garrett, Ibrahim Kante, Summer Meinhard, Lauren Johnson, William "Editha" Dean Howells, Laura Gottschalk, Christopher Siefke, Pink Powell, Natasha Woodmancy, Katharine Colley, Abbey Mays, Charlotte Potts

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Table of Contents:

Introduction, Dr. Roger A. Byrne, Dean

From the Editor, Dr. Larissa "Kat" Tracy

From the Designers, Rachel English, Rachel Hanson

Synthesis of 3,5-substituted Parabens and their Antimicrobial Properties, Jacob Coarney, Ryan White

Chernobyl: Putting "Perestroika" and "Glasnot" to the Test, Joseph Hyman

Art by Jenny Raven

Watering Down Accessibility: The Issue with Public Access to Alaska's Federal Waterways, Meagan Garrett

Why Has the Democratic Republic of the Congo outsourced its Responsibility to Educate its Citizens? Ibrahim Kante

Art by Summer Meinhard

A Computational Study of Single Molecule Diodes, Lauren Johnson

Satire of …

Sex, Drugs, And Rock 'N' Roll: What Shall We Ban Next?, Gordon A. Crews, Samantha Leigh Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Music, literature, movies, and all forms of entertainment play an important role in the socialization of adolescents. Present everywhere and easily available, this allows children almost limitless access to questionable entertainment alone or with friends. Parents are unaware of the content of what their children are absorbing because of the use of downloaded music, videos, and literature, and the use of headphones. Research on popular culture/entertainment has explored its effects on schoolwork, social interactions, and particularly behavior. Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence over the years, particularly in certain genres. And, in turn, …

Dismantling Structural Inequality: Lock Ups, Systemic Chokeholds, And Race-Based Policing - A Symposium Summary, Cedric Merlin Powell, Laura R. Mcneal

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The prominence of the carceral state in American society serves to undermine basic principles of democracy and justice, disproportionately displacing people of color and excluding them from all viable avenues of citizenship.

Investigating The Response Criteria Shift Account For The Verbal Overshadowing Effect, Matthew C. Dean

Honors Theses

The present study investigated the impact of response criteria shift effects within the verbal overshadowing effect (VOE). Participants watched a video recording of a burglary and were then given one of two tasks: either 1.) a recall task or 2.) a non- recall task (Tetris). Participants were then shown a two-person lineup and forced to identify the burglar. The results of the experiment indicated that participants who engage in the recall task demonstrate verbal overshadowing, despite being forced to identify from a lineup. Essentially, verbal overshadowing occurs without a shift in response criteria.

Required, Permissible, And Impermissible Forms Of Federal Judicial Assistance To Self-Represented Litigants: Toward Establishment Of A Judicial Duty Of Reasonable Assistance, Jona Goldschmidt

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

In an effort to assist the judiciary in navigating the seemingly mixed messages coming from the Supreme Court, this paper reviews federal Circuit Court of Appeals case law which discusses required, permissible, and impermissible forms of judicial assistance to SRLs.

Religion In Incarcerated, Jewish, Female Inmates, Marcia Janine Kesner

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the role religious belief and practice played amongst Jewish, female inmates during their incarceration. A group of ten correctional chaplains who work with Jewish, female, inmates and a comparison group of ten chaplains who work with Protestant, female inmates were interviewed. The study determined the reasons for and benefits of religious observance among these inmates and included assisting in dealing with fear, providing a sense of peace, and deceitful motives for personal gains. Religious practice also assisted inmate populations in healing from trauma, improving self-respect and self-esteem, building support systems, and additionally for Jewish, female inmates constructing …

Media Effects And Criminal Profiling: How Fiction Influences Perception And Profile Accuracy, Asha Bolton

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to investigate whether media and fictional information that is observed daily can influence perception to build a criminal psychological profile. Staggering between a distinguished art and science, the term profiling has been known by several different names – including criminal profiling, psychological profiling, offender profiling and more. Bandura (2009) believed that exposure to television and other media feeds into a socially constructed reality, where the audience is inevitably influenced by the beliefs and cognitions of observed media. The researcher believed that exposure to media can either influence criminal profiling and investigations with increasing accuracy …

The Prevalence Of Hate Crimes Motivated By Sexual Orientation In Florida After The U.S. Supreme Court Legalization Of Same-Sex Marriages, Shawntozi Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the dynamics of violence has revealed that crimes involving a prejudicial motive often occur in close temporal proximity to a galvanizing event such as elections, terrorist attacks, or unprecedented Supreme Court decisions. Given the particularly contested nature of marriage policy, it is not inconceivable that same-sex marriage recognition might incite retaliatory violence. Same-sex couples were granted the right to marry by the United States Supreme Court in June of 2015. By June 2016, Orlando, Florida experienced the “deadliest incident of violence against LGBTQ people in U.S. history,” after a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub resulted in the death …

The State Of The Death Penalty, Ankur Desai, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

The death penalty is in decline in America and most death penalty states do not regularly impose death sentences. In 2016 and 2017, states reached modern lows in imposed death sentences, with just thirty-one defendants sentenced to death in 2016 and thirty-nine in 2017, as compared with over three hundred per year in the 1990s. In 2016, only thirteen states imposed death sentences, and in 2017, fourteen did so, although thirty-one states retain the death penalty. What explains this remarkable and quite unexpected trend? In this Article, we present new analysis of state-level legislative changes that might have been expected …

Federal Criminal Risk Assessment, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

Risk assessments are a common feature of federal decisionmaking, including across a range of administrative agencies. However, in federal criminal law, risk assessments have been only haltingly adopted. Decisions regarding bail, sentences, and prison programming have largely been made based on official discretion. Risk assessment instruments are currently used in federal courts pretrial and postconviction, and in federal prisons regarding security levels and reentry, with highly uneven results to date. The adoption of the First Step Act, which has the ambition to transform the federal prison system through the use of risk instruments, has the potential to introduce a more …

Technologically Distorted Conceptions Of Punishment, Jessica M. Eaglin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Much recent work in academic literature and policy discussions suggests that the proliferation of actuarial — meaning statistical — assessments of a defendant’s recidivism risk in state sentencing structures is problematic. Yet scholars and policymakers focus on changes in technology over time while ignoring the effects of these tools on society. This Article shifts the focus away from technology to society in order to reframe debates. It asserts that sentencing technologies subtly change key social concepts that shape punishment and society. These same conceptual transformations preserve problematic features of the sociohistorical phenomenon of mass incarceration. By connecting technological interventions and …

Exploring The Factors Responsible For Occupational Stress Among Police Officers In Nigeria, Ahmed Lateef

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over 90 percent of police officers in Nigeria are confronted with psychological illness and injuries as a result of occupational stress, which is compounded by a lack of attention to police officer welfare by government, insufficient annual leave, and poor salaries that contribute to poor performance. Using Karasek's demands on decision and control model as the foundation, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the impact of occupational stress on police officers in a metropolitan police agency in Nigeria. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 senior police officers who had at least 20 years experience in …

The Use Of Compassionate Release Policies For Elderly Offenders, Lindsey Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research examined the use of compassionate release policy in response to the fastest-increasing segment of the prison population- elderly offenders. Though this policy is an approach to this problem, there was little available research regarding which correctional organizations in the United States adopt compassionate release and how it is used. The purpose of this nonexperimental comparative quantitative study was to examine the use of the policy in neighboring and distant state correctional systems relative to those organizations that used the policy more frequently to determine if the leader-laggard theory of policy diffusion was an effective policy-implementation framework. The research …

Effects Of Mental Health Programs On School Violence, Lillian R. Gray

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Bullying, defined as any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated, is becoming an epidemic in our schools, with rates of victimization rising (Donegan, 2012). This thesis examines mental health programs already established within schools, as well as schools where students do not have access to mental health resources and compares the amount of violence that is perpetrated within these schools. Next, this study explores the relationship between bullying …

The Long Wait For An Improbable Death: A Look At Delays In Executions In Kansas And Possible Reforms To Capital Punishment, Amy M. Memmer, Melanie K. Worsley, Brenda I. Rowe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications (Archived)

This article uses Kansas as a case study to show how in Kansas, as in many other states in the United States, the execution of a death sentence is so improbable, and the delays that precede it so extraordinary, that any arguable deterrent or retributive effect capital punishment might once have had has been severely diminished. This article considers possible reforms to the capital punishment system aimed at reducing the delay between sentencing and execution, and the risks that would accompany those reforms. This article also considers whether capital punishment should still be considered a viable option for states in …

Does Insider Trading Pay? An Analysis Of Trading And Tipping Activities In Insider Trading Litigation, Aneta Spaic, Claire Nolasco, Lily Chi-Fang Tsai, Michael S. Vaughn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications (Archived)

Purpose

This paper analyzes trading and tipping activities in insider trading litigation decided by federal courts from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014.

Design/methodology/approach

Legal documents from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, LexisNexis and Westlaw databases were coded to determine profile, patterns of trading and settlement outcomes.

Findings

Results of statistical analysis indicate that a defendant in both civil and criminal cases is more likely to trade on the information when he/she receives a direct, financial benefit from breaching his/her duty of confidentiality. The defendant tipper is also more likely to pass on the information to a close …

Social Cohesion Among Individuals Participating In Re-Entry Groups, Todd Reiser

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When prisoners are released from incarceration they enter a social landscape that holds unique challenges. One of the ways humans living within social systems understand their place and role is through the mechanism of religion. This study investigates how group religious practice establishes a shared worldview among those recently released from prison; a worldview that promotes the creation of positive social cohesion which contribute to life improvements, social mobility, and social status changes. "Social networks may include friendship circles in local congregations, scripture study groups and relationships with religious leaders who serve as role models for individuals" (Kerley et al …

Law Enforcement Officer Body-Worn Camera Perceptions: Pre And Post Deployment, Benjamin Aaron Straight

Theses and Dissertations

The 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown resulted in (a) a national outcry for police departments to deploy body-worn cameras; and (b) community members and politicians demanding more transparency in the governmental administration of police work. Despite the increased media attention and deployment of body-worn cameras, there is little research on how law enforcement officers perceive body-worn cameras.

The Miami-Dade Police Department implemented a mandatory body-worn camera program on April 20, 2016. The department agreed to a partnership to conduct research on their officers' body-worn camera perceptions. The department internally distributed an electronic survey to 3,313 sworn officers and …

Federal Offices Of Inspectors General: The Relationship Between Per Capita Staffing Levels And Performance Results, Craig Yuen

Theses and Dissertations

Each year, the federal government spends trillions of dollars on operations and in awarding contracts, grants, loans, and other forms of financial assistance. Federal Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) are charged with auditing and investigating fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct affecting the government. There are 73 such OIGs – 40 of which have law enforcement authority and oversight responsibilities for a parent agency – and each is a separate organization with varying staffing levels and performance results. This study examined, on a per capita level, the relationship between staffing levels and performance results (criminal charges filed, financial recoveries, and questioned …

The Deaf & Law Enforcement Listening Though Deaf Eyes: A Grounded Theory Approach, John L. Garner

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the perceived and practical schism between deaf society and the police when the deaf attempt to obtain police services. The paper challenges current police culture and operating procedures, which tend to marginalize deaf society and largely ignore the mandates contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This qualitative research project is focused upon perceived law enforcement practices and culture through a multi-layered study of police customs, law, policy, and standard operating procedures as experienced, perceived, and reported by deaf individuals.

A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to examine the way law enforcement is perceived by …

An Analysis Of Selected Clusters Of Fires In Florida (1996 - 2018), Thomas Riley Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Hidden within the day-to-day routine responses of fire departments are possible multiple fires set by individuals in a small area with an unusual frequency. These fires may be the initial announcement of an emerging serial offender who is declaring a wound, an intolerable life situation, or is triggered by unknown events. This study sought to predict incendiary fires within a known cluster by using observable variables, both prior to and after the cluster event. This was done to further our understanding of the characteristics of clusters of intentionally lit fires. This was accomplished by examining the Florida Fire Information Reports …

Hate Crimes And Discrimination Against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon In The 21st Century, Jon Zemke

Theses and Dissertations

Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century. Jonathon Zemke, 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions and opinions of Jewish and non-Jewish adult in Virginia Beach, Virginia regarding Jewish hate crimes, discrimination, the safety of the Jewish population, and general beliefs about the Jewish faith. The study set out to provide an evaluation of opinions regarding hate crimes, discrimination, personal safety, and anti-Semitic propensities among the Jewish population (n=77, 45.29%) compared to the non-Jewish respondents (n=93, 54.71%) examined in …

Respect And The Role It Plays In Explaining The Disproportionate Number Of African-Americans Incarcerated, Tina B. Craddock

Theses and Dissertations

This was a quantitative research study that examined the roles respect and self-esteem play within the African American population. There is no disagreement among social scientists that there is a disproportionate number of African Americans incarcerated. This study attempts to offer one possible explanation. This was a quasi-replication of a study conducted nearly two decades ago using African American adolescent males between the ages of 14 to 18. This research study identified a sample population consisting of African American males and females between the ages of 18 and 50. A cross-sectional analysis was utilized using convenience sampling. The research instruments …

Violent Offenders And Assaults On Staff Members, Lisa Gentry Long

Theses and Dissertations

Violent Offenders and Assaults on Staff Members. Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Fischler College of Education, School of Criminal Justice Department. Descriptors: Violence, violent offenders, violent inmates, corrections, prisons, assaults, correction officers, staff members.

Prison facilities are an integral part of the criminal justice system. Prisons are meant to provide punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation for inmates that are serving time. Prisons across the country are understaffed due to many reasons. It is important for staff members to be trained on how to keep themselves and inmates safe when they are behind the walls of these facilities. Staff members are in positions …