Legal Studies Commons^™

Happiness And Punishment, John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco, Jonathan Masur

Faculty Scholarship

This Article continues our project of applying new findings in the behavioral psychology of human happiness to some of the most deeply analyzed questions in law. When a state decides how to punish criminal offenders, at least one important consideration is the amount of harm any given punishment is likely to inflict. It would be undesirable, for example, to impose greater harm on those who commit less serious crimes or to impose harm that rises to the level of cruelty. Our penal system fits punishments to crimes primarily by adjusting the size of monetary fines and the length of prison …

The Deterrent Effect Of Death Penalty Eligibility: Evidence From The Adoption Of Child Murder Eligibility Factors, Michael D. Frakes, Matthew Harding

Faculty Scholarship

We draw on within-state variations in the reach of capital punishment statutes between 1977 and 2004 to identify the deterrent effects associated with capital eligibility. Focusing on the most prevalent eligibility expansion, we estimate that the adoption of a child murder factor is associated with an approximately 20% reduction in the homicide rate of youth victims. Eligibility expansions may enhance deterrence by (1) paving the way for more executions and (2) providing prosecutors with greater leverage to secure enhanced non-capital sentences. While executions themselves are rare, this latter channel is likely to be triggered fairly regularly, providing a reasonable basis …

Defining A Forensic Audit, G. S. Smith, D. L. Crumbley

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Disclosures about new financial frauds and scandals are continually appearing in the press. As a consequence, the accounting profession's traditional methods of monitoring corporate financial activities are under intense scrutiny. At the same time, there is recognition that principles-based GAAP from the International Accounting Standards Board will become the recognized standard in the U.S. The authors argue that these two factors will change the practices used to fight corporate malfeasance as investigators adapt the techniques of accounting into a forensic audit engagement model.

Visualisation Of Honeypot Data Using Graphviz And Afterglow, Craig Valli

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This research in progress paper explores the use of Graphviz and Afterglow for the analysis of data emanating from a honeypot system. Honeypot systems gather a wide range of data that is often difficult to readily search for patterns and trends using conventional log file analysis techniques. The data from the honeypots has been statically extracted and processed through Afterglow scripts to produce inputs suitable for use by the DOT graph based tools contained within Graphviz. This paper explores some of the benefits and drawbacks of currently using this type of approach.

Animal Welfare: Societal Perspectives And The Path To Permanent Change, Janet Linn Horton

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

During the past 200 years animal welfare has been changing in a direction that is providing animals with a protection they have not always had. As society began to research the study of animal dynamics, there was a discovery on the importance in providing animals' moral consideration. Animal's societies have been created in order to provide protection the animals need and in order to seek sanctions for those who violate the laws and cause unnecessary pain and suffering to them. Animals have become a major part of business today, not only for the law abiding society members but for the …

Correlates Of Suicidal Ideation And Attempts In Female Sexual Assault Survivors, Sarah E. Ullman, Cynthia J. Najdowski

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Relations between (a) serious suicidal ideation and attempts and (b) demographics, trauma history, assault characteristics, post-assault outcomes, and psychosocial variables were examined among female adult sexual assault survivors. Younger, minority, and bisexual survivors reported greater ideation. More traumas, drug use, and assault disclosure related to greater attempts, whereas perceived control over recovery was related to fewer attempts. Child sexual abuse and some assault characteristics predicted suicidal behavior. Depression was related to suicidal behavior until psychosocial variables were accounted for. Specifically, using substances to cope and self-blame predicted greater ideation, whereas receiving aid/information support was related to less ideation. Implications for …

Recruiting And Selecting Child Welfare Staff, Michelle Graef, Megan Paul, Tara L. Myers

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

In this chapter, the focus is on recruiting and selecting new staff and on the steps agencies can take to ensure that they are doing the best possible job to attract and hire a high-performing, committed workforce. This chapter reviews a number of strategies for improving recruitment and selection processes and provides case examples from the authors' work with child protection agencies in several states. These projects have been accomplished by a team of researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Center on Children, Families, and the Law (CCFL). Some of the techniques described here will be familiar, whereas others are …

Review: The Body In The Reservoir: Murder And Sensationalism In The South, April Renfroe-Warren

Georgia Library Quarterly

Review of the non-fiction book "The Body in the Reservoir: Murder and Sensationalism in the South," by Michael Ayers Trotti.

The Gatekeeping Behind Meritocracy: Voices Of Nyc High School Students, Arlene Melody Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Survey and focus group sampling of students in high achieving schools compared to lower achieving schools were used to examine why there are fewer black men graduating from high schools in New York City as well as high schools around the country compared to other groups of students. Race is disaggregated in order to look at the difference in achievement rates for African American, black Hispanic, African, and Afro-Caribbean men. The findings support the contention that foreign-born blacks do better academically than native blacks.

Focus groups consist of black males, females, and staff at six of the 12 schools; field …

Indigent Defense In America: Racially Or Geographically Unjust?, Lisa Karen Akre

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of my research is to investigate the link between indigent defense funding and race. First, I explain the various approaches that states have implemented to deliver legal defense to the indigent. Second, I describe the current lack of funding and its consequences. Third, I examine what effect race has on the indigent defense system. Finally, based on the conclusions drawn from examining both race and funding for indigent defense, I evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery of indigent defense to individual states and regions within the United States.

Insecurity By Obscurity: A Review Of Soho Router Literature From A Network Security Perspective, Patryk Szewczyk, Craig Valli

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Because of prevalent threats to SoHo based ADSL Routers, many more devices are compromised. Whilst an end-user may be at fault for not applying the appropriate security mechanisms to counter these threats, vendors should equally share the blame. This paper reveals that the lack of security related content and poor overall design could impact on end-users’ interpretation and willingness to implement security controls on their ADSL router. It argues that whilst the number of threats circulating the Internet is increasing, vendors are not improving their product literature.

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2009, 129th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Nineteenth Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Earth Science

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Biological and Medical Sciences

Nebraska Wesleyan University Health and Sciences Graduate School Fair

Junior Academy: Senior High Competition

Aeronautics and Space Science, Poster Session

History and Philosophy of Science

Teaching of Science and Math

Maiben Memorial Lecture: Donald Frey, Department of Family Practice, Creighton University Medical Center

Anthropology

Chemistry and Physics

Junior Academy, Junior High Competition

Discrepant Comorbidity Between Minority And White Suicides: A National Multiple Cause-Of-Death Analysis, Ian Rh Rockett, Yinjuan Lian, Steven Stack, Alan M. Ducatman, Shuhui Wang

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Clinician training deficits and a low and declining autopsy rate adversely impact the quality of death certificates in the United States. Self-report and records data for the general population indicate that proximate mental and physical health of minority suicides was at least as poor as that of white suicides.

Methods

This cross-sectional mortality study uses data from Multiple Cause-of-Death (MCOD) public use files for 1999–2003 to describe and evaluate comorbidity among black, Hispanic, and white suicides. Unintentional injury decedents are the referent for multivariate analyses.

Results

One or more mentions of comorbid psychopathology are documented on the death …

The Unjust Selection Of Justice Professionals: Balancing Fairness For Police Officer Applicants And The Potential Citizens They Will Serve, Robert W. Boyle

Master's Theses

This paper examines the effects on the community when its police officers are held to different physical standards based upon their sex. Through a Platonic analysis of the modern day "guardians of the city," it can be seen that the community is deprived of the strongest and best police force when the department compensates individuals based upon a "weakness" that thier class of applicants possesses. This process proves to be unfair to both the applicants and to the citizens they may subsequently serve.

Public Perceptions Of Registry Laws For Juvenile Sex Offenders, Carrie E. Reynolds, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Jessica M. Salerno, Margaret C. Stevenson, Tish R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Understanding jurors’ perceptions of juvenile defendants has become increasingly important as more and more juvenile cases are being tried in adult criminal court rather than family or juvenile court. Intellectual disability and child maltreatment are overrepresented among juvenile delinquents, and juveniles (particularly disabled juveniles) are at heightened risk for falsely confessing to crimes. In two mock trial experiments, we examined the effects of disability, abuse history, and confession evidence on jurors’ perceptions of a juvenile defendant across several different crime scenarios. Abused juveniles were treated more leniently than nonabused juveniles only when the juvenile’s crime was motivated by self-defense against …

Child Sexual Abuse, Ptsd, And Substance Use: Predictors Of Revictimization In Adult Sexual Assault Survivors, Sarah E. Ullman, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Henrietta Filipas

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

This study examined the unique effects of child sexual abuse simultaneously with post-traumatic stress disorder symptom clusters, problem drinking, and illicit drug use in relation to sexual revictimization in a community sample of female adult sexual assault victims. Participants (N = 555) completed two surveys a year apart. Child sexual abuse predicted more post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in adult sexual assault victims. Posttraumatic stress disorder numbing symptoms directly predicted revictimization, whereas other post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (reexperiencing, avoidance, and arousal) were related to problem drinking, which in turn predicted revictimization. Thus, numbing symptoms and problem drinking may be independent risk …

Prospective Effects Of Sexual Victimization On Ptsd And Problem Drinking, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Sarah E. Ullman

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and problem drinking are common and often co-occurring sequelae experienced by women survivors of adult sexual assault, yet it remains unclear whether survivors drink to cope with PTSD symptoms or whether PTSD symptoms are exacerbated by drinking. Thus, we used a cross-lagged panel design with a large (N = 555), ethnically diverse sample of women assault survivors to determine whether PTSD prospectively led to problem drinking or vice versa. We also examined whether cumulative sexual victimization experiences related to greater PTSD and problem drinking. Structural equation modeling revealed that child sexual abuse was associated with …

Beyond Retroactivity To Realizing Justice: A Theory On The Principle Of Legality In International Criminal Law Sentencing, Shahram Dana

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

A Relational Sixth Amendment During Interrogation, Brooks Holland

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Blue Sky Steroids, Geoffrey Rapp

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

The Manly Sports: The Problematic Use Of Criminal Law To Regulate Sports Violence, Jeffrey Standen

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Deterrence In A Sea Of Just Deserts: Are Utilitarian Goals Achievable In A World Of Limiting Retributivism, Matthew Haist

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Desistance And The Feared Self: Toward An Identity Theory Of Criminal Desistance, Ray Paternoster, Shawn Bushway

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

The Cognitive Psychology Of Mens Rea, Kevin Jon Heller

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Adolescent Transfer, Developmental Maturity, And Adjudicative Competence: An Ethical And Justice Policy Inquiry , Brian G. Sellers, Bruce A. Arrigo

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates: The Views Of Leading Criminologists', Michael L. Radelet, Traci L. Lacock

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

What Can Rico Not Do: Rico And The Non-Economic Intrastate Enterprise That Perpetrates Only Non-Economic Racketeering Activity, Brian Nisbet

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

When Is A Police Officer An Officer Of The Law: The Status Of Police Officers In Schools, Peter Price

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Foreword

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.

Off-Court Misbehavior: Sports Leagues And Private Punishment, Janine Young Kim, Matthew J. Parlow

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

No abstract provided.