Legal Studies Commons^™

The Meaning And Malleableness Of Liberty From 1897-1945, Quentin E. Smith

The Purdue Historian

This paper covers how the substance and meaning of liberty changed during the ending years of the Gilded Age (1870-1900) through the beginning ages of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). Economic liberty took shape in the cases Allegeyer v. Louisiana (1897) and Lochner v. New York (1905). Civil liberties would take several more years to come into the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. The case Gitlow v. New York (1925) began the establishment of incorporation of the Bill of Rights to the states, otherwise known as our fundamental liberties (note: The Supreme Court used selective incorporation, however). In the case U.S. v. …

What Happens After Debriefing? The Effectiveness And Benefits Of Postexperimental Debriefing, Rachel Leigh Greenspan, Elizabeth F. Loftus

Faculty and Student Publications

After participating in an experiment, people are routinely debriefed. How effective is debriefing when the experiments involve deception, as occurs in studies of misinformation and memory? We conducted two studies addressing this question. In Study 1, participants (N = 373) watched a video, were exposed to misinformation or not, and completed a memory test. Participants were either debriefed or not and then were interviewed approximately one week later. Results revealed that, after debriefing, some participants continued to endorse misinformation. Notably, however, debriefing had positive effects; participants exposed to misinformation reported learning significantly more from their study participation than control participants. …

Criminal Justice Update - May 2022, Autumn R. Chassie

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office
• Updates from the PA Legislature (No new updates this month)
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court
• PA Supreme Court
• PA Superior Court

College Students’ Perception Of Law Enforcement, Joseph Lyon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

There are many ways that people can form an opinion about law enforcement even if they have had a personal interaction with someone who works in the field. This idea has always been interesting as there needs to be some type of understanding when it comes to this certain viewpoint. There can be many factors that result in having a certain perspective on law enforcement in general like their background growing up, hearsay from close relatives, friends, and whatever they have seen up close in person. This study is going to aim at a specific area of how people view …

The Dangers Of The Social Drinker: An Analysis Of Adolescent Drinking Habits At Social Gatherings, Mason Seitz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adolescent alcohol consumption is a topic that has been well-researched to date due to the dangers it can pose. A variety of factors may work to contribute to the habits these adolescents develop. One factor that has not been extensively studied is the impact of locations on drinking decisions. Location provides a perspective on how various social factors can intersect to dictate where and when young people will choose to consume alcohol. Most previous literature has focused on the alcohol usage found at parties or bars, but the current research wishes to expand this idea to other locations, such as …

Impacts Of Post-Incarceration Programming For Women's Lives And Local Communities, Megan Greenslade

Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research on reentry programming has focused mostly on male inmates and less attention is given to female inmates. In Arkansas, where female reentry rates have recently increased, research is needed to add to the conversation surrounding effective programming for previously justice-involved women, its impact on their lives and behaviors, and how this can influence the likelihood of recidivism. This qualitative study also aims to discover whether reentry programming can have a positive impact on the local community. Residents and staff at a local Northwest Arkansas transitional housing facility for previously justice-involved women were interviewed to analyze the effects of …

Does Experiencing And Witnessing Violence Negatively Impact Delinquency Throughout The Life Course?, Treshure Dene Jones

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

At some point in an individual’s life, there will be some type of exposure to violence whether direct or indirect. Also described as victimization, this takes place when there is a change in three main assumptions: belief in personal invulnerability, the perception of the world as meaningful, and self-positivity (Janoff-Bulman and Frieze, 1983). There is no specific answer for the cause of delinquency, but many factors that work together (Shader, 2001). The risk factors for delinquency and victimization have been shown to be the same creating an overlap. This study focuses on whether witnessing or experiencing violence can result in …

How Prison Systems Can Better Aid People With Substance Use Disorders, Avery Faires

College Honors Program

A large percentage of prisoners in the United States are suffering from a Substance Use Disorder (SUD), but many prisons across the country lack the proper resources to rehabilitate those with drug addictions. Incarcerated people with SUD face many dangerous and sometimes deadly consequences after release. My thesis addresses key associated questions: What role do prisons play in helping prisoners with SUD? And, how can they aid this population more effectively? When considering the breadth of such issues, I examine the sociohistorical context of drug policy in the U.S. to inform my analysis of the criminalization of substances, the greater …

Deficiencies Within Guatemalan Criminal Justice Institutions When Detecting And Prosecuting Sextortion Crimes, Julia A. Bolotovsky

Student Theses

Sextortion is a form of corruption involving sexual exploitation, in which requests for monetary bribes are replaced by requests for sexual acts. Within Latin America, this crime is especially pertinent in Guatemala. Therefore, this study aims to identify which factors contribute to the occurrence of sextortion within Guatemala, while also analyzing the larger realm of violence against women. Based on semi-structured interviews with local experts and civil society activists, this study argues that sextortion is enabled by deficiencies within Guatemalan criminal justice institutions when detecting and prosecuting this crime. In order to effectively counter sextortion, more emphasis needs to be …

Innovations In Supervision Reducing Violence And Recidivism Through Vrp Aftercare And Cbi Open Groups, Jennifer Miller, Ryan E. Spohn, Michael Campagna

Reports

Nebraska Division of Parole Supervision has created a violence-reduction (VRP) aftercare program and a CBI intervention which maintains an open group structure to effectively reduce the recidivism rate of high-risk parole clients, particularly those who have been identified as likely to reoffend violently and those who have previously failed on community supervision. Long-term goals are to ensure 1) the highest risk parole clients receive a higher dosage of evidence-based interventions, 2) the reduced use of parole sanctions and revocations and 3) a reduced overall recidivism rate for parole clients. The ‘open’ nature of the programs (i.e., clients can begin at …

Factors Influencing The Credibility And Believability Of Victims Of Sexual Assault, Stephanie Carlson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this research is to answer the question of which factors that influence the believability of a woman who comes forward to disclose a sexual assault are the most impactful. My methodology consisted of conducting interviews with attorneys who have participated in both the defense and prosecution of criminal sexual conduct cases to evaluate whether the trends revealed in the literature on a macro scale apply to the micro-scale in northern Minnesota. Findings showed that the majority of patterns revealed in the literature did in fact influence the credibility of victims of sexual assault in Beltrami County, Minnesota …

The Effect Of The #Freebritney Movement On Bipartisanship Legislation: How A Pop Star’S Battle For Freedom Exposed Corruption In The American Conservatorship System, Deja Kemp-Salliey

Honors College Theses

Pop singer Britney Spears was at the peak of her career when she was forcibly placed under a conservatorship arrangement by her father, Jamie Spears. Conservatorships, also referred to as guardianships in some states, are a legal arrangement in which a judge appoints a person or an organization to care for another adult who is unable to manage themselves or their finances. Conservators are responsible for managing the personal matters and/or estate of a conservatee, and the system is designed to act in the best interest of incapacitated individuals. For decades, conservatorships have been criticized by legal scholars and activists …

Anger In The Overlooked: A Gendered Analysis Of The January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill Breach, Elizabeth Bender

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The violence seen at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 has sparked concern at the threat of domestic violent extremism (DVE) within the United States. Over 700 individuals have been federally charged in connection with the events of January 6 including almost 100 women. Women’s involvement in DVE is underestimated and understudied. This project utilized a corpus of over 1,000 court documents to content code variables relating to violence and DVE affiliation for the individuals who have been federally charged in relation to January 6th. The results of the coding process were then used to compare the rates …

Effect Of Coastal Environments On The Post Mortem Interval Of A Pig Carrion: Implications For Human Decomposition, Morgan Hough

Honors Theses

Forensic taphonomy involves the use of forensic techniques to determine the post mortem interval of a corpse. There are many factors that are known to influence the rate of decomposition, such as the temperature, season, soil type, moisture potential of the soil, and presence of insects or other decomposers. Previous studies in this field have focused primarily on decomposition patterns in mountainous environments in terms of terrestrial habitats or strictly aquatic environments, leaving this particular aspect of coastal settings to be unexplored.

To study these effects, the superior portion of a female pig was buried in sandy soil in mid-October …

The American Prosecutor And The Carceral State: An Analysis To Address Prosecutorial Power And Discretion In An Effort To Reduce Overincarceration In The United States, Olivia Jordan

Honors Theses

There is perhaps no other actor within our legal system that shares more power and control over the carceral state than the American prosecutor. This thesis examines the powers of the prosecutor at every stage of criminal procedure, how these powers contribute to the carceral state, and how prioritizing prosecutorial policy reform can effectively reduce persistent mass incarceration in the United States. This thesis uses three criteria- effectiveness at reducing overincarceration, feasibility of implementation, and ethical impact- to critically evaluate several proposals for addressing prosecutorial power and discretion. Ultimately, the thesis recommends a combination of three proposals for a more …

Looking At Latino Communities: Legal Cynicism, Acculturation, And Their Willingness To Cooperate With Police, Shayla Salais

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Numerous studies have examined how acculturation affects Latino neighborhoods and how legal cynicism affects Latino neighborhoods. Acculturation has been linked with low crime levels, meanwhile legal cynicism is attributed to high crime levels. This study aims to address this contradiction in the literature. Based on 1059 surveys, 46 neighborhood clusters were used to examine how legal cynicism and acculturation to Mexico impact a neighborhoods willingness to cooperate with police. A multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression found that acculturation to Mexico results in higher levels of legal cynicism and less willingness to cooperate with police. The OLS regression also found …

Increasing Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detection Sensitivity For Carfentanyl Detection: An Examination Of Procaine At Different Concentrations And Split Ratios, Sonalia T. Balli

Student Theses

An opioid abuse crisis in recent years has contributed to many overdoses and overdose-related deaths in the United States. In 2017, fentanyl and fentanyl analogs contributed to more than half of NYC’s overdose deaths in 2017. Carfentanyl – an extremely dangerous fentanyl analogue 100 times more potent than fentanyl – is very difficult to detect in drug samples because it is typically present in concentrations lower than analytical instruments can detect at standard settings. In this work, I hypothesize that gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID), when optimized for the detection of carfentanyl by adjusting the split ratio, is more sensitive …

The Risk Of Adolescent Victimization: Assessing Elements Of The Social Bond Theory, Jaime Antonio Negrete

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory holds that the social bonds (attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief) individuals have with parents, friends, extracurricular activities, work, and school can affect an individual’s life choices. When social bonds are weakened, broken, or nonexistent, the lack of these bonds can explain why crime and delinquency occur. Therefore, Hirschi believed that asking why offenders “do it” when it comes to crime is irrelevant. Rather, we should be asking “why don’t we do it” when it comes to crime and delinquency, which lead Hirschi to believe that the answer to that question could be answered by the …

Police Education And Its Influence On Traffic Enforcement Performance, Shatavia Monique Kennedy

Masters Theses

In demanding occupations, the preference for formal education is presumptive when improving competency and workmanship. This study assesses the correlation between college education and traffic enforcement performance within a local police department in Aberdeen, North Carolina. In this study, performance strictly refers to issued traffic citations and traffic enforcement. The research consisted of a secondary analysis (public records) using qualitative data. Data were collected to determine which officers issued the most traffic citations from the highway patrol unit from January to June 2021. Second, qualitative data were collected via an interview with one of the department officers to obtain demographic …

The American Racial Divide In Fear Of The Police, Justin T. Pickett, Amanda Graham, Francis T. Cullen

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications

The mission of policing is “to protect and serve,” but recent events suggest that many Americans, and especially Black Americans, do not feel protected from the police. Understanding police-related fear is important because it may impact civilians’ health, daily lives, and policy attitudes. To examine the prevalence, sources, and consequences of both personal and altruistic fear of the police, we surveyed a nationwide sample (N = 1,150), which included comparable numbers of Black (N = 517) and White (N = 492) respondents. Most White respondents felt safe, but most Black respondents lived in fear of the police killing them and …

An Interview With Dr. Steven Lee: Scientist, Jazz Musician, Athlete, Wine Connoisseur, And Founder And Former Director Of The Forensic Science Program At Sjsu, Steven Lee

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

No abstract provided.

Researcher-Participant Privilege: Confidentiality And Qualitative Criminology, Eric Michael

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research institutions have the responsibility to comply with laws that govern the oversight of all research including research with human subjects. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) review research protocols and approve research based on the rights and safety of research subjects. When conducting qualitative criminological research, researchers must weigh ethical considerations around their methods. These methodological considerations are coupled with guiding ethical principles that are fundamental to human subject research. One major consideration regards breaking confidentiality which can bring about great risk to participants. The following thesis focuses on the ethics of researcher-participant privilege and issues that qualitative researchers have in …

Exploring Criminal Thinking Patterns And Cognitions In High Risk Sexually And Non-Sexually Violent Offenders, Ruby L. Orth

Student Theses

The current understanding of shared offense supporting attitudes between different offender types is limited. This study compares criminal thinking styles and rape supportive attitudes between high-risk offenders who have engaged in either sexual or violent behavior. A sample of 237 incarcerated male high risk sexually violent and non-sexually violent offenders participated in a study where they completed a series of self-report questionnaires including the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) (Walters, 1995) and Bumby’s (1996) MOLEST and RAPE scales. Significant differences in criminal thinking between offender types was hypothesized. Significant overlap of rape supporting cognitive distortions, regardless of offender …

Disaster Victim Identification Competencies: A Comparison Of Dental Hygiene And Dental Assistant Students, Samantha Clara Vest

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess cognitive and affective learning outcomes of allied dental students following a disaster victim identification (DVI) multi-media learning experience. Methods: A convenience sample (n=41) of senior dental hygiene and dental assisting students from two institutions completed an IRB-exempt DVI learning experience which included a multimedia intervention with a pretest/posttest survey to assess cognitive and affective changes. The multimedia intervention was a PowerPoint presentation with educational text, audio/video recordings, and presented in a virtual synchronous format by one of the researchers. After completing the learning experience, participants were presented with 10 sets of …

Commercial Sexual Exploitation: A Survey Of The Knowledge, Concerns, And Training Of Transit Personnel In Las Vegas, Nevada, Elena A. Bejinariu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Transportation personnel, in particular bus drivers, encounter young people who are commercially sexually exploited frequently and throughout the course of their daily jobs. Given the frequency of this interaction, bus drivers are perceived to be the eyes and ears of the transportation industry, playing a key role in the identification and prevention of trafficking. To support national efforts in combating human trafficking, between September 1st, 2020 and June 15th, 2021, the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada trained all its existing employees and new hires on human trafficking dynamics and reporting protocols. These included legal definitions, victim characteristics, recruitment …

An Examination Of Interactions Of U.S. Players With Offshore Gambling Sites And Online Casino Reviews: Are They Offenders Or Victims?, Sinyong Choi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While the recent liberal stance of the United States has facilitated the proliferation of legal online gambling venues, the ‘black market’ of online gambling remains prevalent. Illegal online gambling poses concerns for the legal market and risks for gambling addiction and consumer protection. Numerous law violations occur in this domain, which are produced by the interactions between players, gambling sites, and online casino reviews. Exploring the interactions of players with online gambling sites and online casino reviews is vital in enhancing our understanding of illegal online gambling activity and therefore allows us to develop preventive measures that can reduce the …

Built Environment, Land Use, And Crime: A Las Vegas Study, Stacey Lynn Clouse

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined land use and crime against persons and crime against property in Las Vegas, Nevada at varying spatial levels of analysis. Using crime data provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County Assessor’s office, results at the macro-level of analysis reveal that property crime rates concentrated on commercial, transportation, communication and utilities, and industrial land use, whereas violent crime concentrated at commercial, multi-residential, and civic, institutional, and recreational land use. Upon examining the subtypes of land use that generate or radiate more crime, property crime concentrated on transportation land use, class 1 resorts, and …

Trauma On Top Of Trauma: How Child Welfare Failures Affect Trafficked Children, Christie J.W. Ra

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a phenomenon that greatly impacts the victimization of children. The sexual victimization of children is harmful to children and prior research has found various risk factors related to exploitation. The main risk factors observed in the current paper include prior sexual abuse and/or assault, adverse childhood experiences, foster care failures, race/ethnicity, and running away. The current study used secondary data that collected data from non-foster and foster-involved exploited children to observe how foster care involvement and race/ethnicity affect victimization within the juvenile justice system. Findings confirmed that race/ethnicity and foster care involvement greatly …

What Happens In Vegas: The Influence Of Las Vegas On High-Risk Attitudes And Behaviors, Marissa Tiemann

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The probability of victimization is affected by various factors, such as child abuse, a history of victimization, sexual assault, substance abuse, and risky behaviors. Previous research has attributed differences in victimization risk to differences in lifestyle. Overtly sexual cultures like Las Vegas, Nevada, could impact the adoption of risky behaviors (e.g., binge drinking, casual sex, and substance abuse) that could increase victimization risks. This study seeks to understand the impact of the city of Las Vegas on adopting high risk sexual attitudes and behaviors by examining the length of time an individual has spent in Las Vegas. This study used …

Measuring Perceptions Of Safety Among Staff And Women Clients In A Prison Substance Abuse Program, Jaclyn Parker Keen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Women who are involved in the criminal justice system have unique pathways to criminality. Prevailing themes of dysfunctional and traumatic relationships, addiction, mental illness, poverty, and having limited human and social capital dominate the women’s pathways perspective. A large body of existing research focuses on how these unique risk factors require unique treatment options for women while they are incarcerated in jail or prison settings. Entering prison can be an overwhelming experience and prison is an environment that has a high potential for conflict and violence. In order to be safe in prison it requires that women both feel protected …