Legal Studies Commons^™

Researching Crime, Justice, And Social Control In Ghana: Evolving Issues In A Developing African Country, Gordon A. Crews, Angela West Crews, Kofi Boye-Doe, Ken Aikins

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss a recent research project which seeks to offer an examination of the unique relationship between the traditional Ghanaian indigenous justice system and the established state-administered justice system. This is an overview of the interesting blend of indigenous practices (rooted in religious practices and strongly associated with spirituality and mysticism) and state (formal justice and governmental systems) in the Ghanaian justice system. In addition the topics of the treatment of women and children within these systems and the use of alternative dispute resolution, restorative justice, and conflict resolution strategies inherent within the two …

Researching Crime, Justice, And Social Control In Ghana: Evolving Issues In A Developing African Country, Gordon A. Crews, Angela West Crews, Kofi Boye-Doe, Ken Aikins

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss a recent research project which seeks to offer an examination of the unique relationship between the traditional Ghanaian indigenous justice system and the established state-administered justice system. This is an overview of the interesting blend of indigenous practices (rooted in religious practices and strongly associated with spirituality and mysticism) and state (formal justice and governmental systems) in the Ghanaian justice system. In addition the topics of the treatment of women and children within these systems and the use of alternative dispute resolution, restorative justice, and conflict resolution strategies inherent within the two …

Sox And Whistleblowing: The Concerns, Richard E. Moberly

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Yesterday, I reviewed the Whistleblowing provisions in SOX. Whether these provisions actually will reduce corporate fraud remains to be seen. Despite the Act’s strong anti-retaliation protections, during the first three years of SOX few whistleblowers actually won retaliation claims. In a recent study I completed of whistleblower claims (a draft can be found here ), only 3.6% of employees won relief through the initial administrative process that adjudicates SOX claims, and only 6.5% of whistleblowers won appeals through the process.

Police Chiefs, Anomia, And Leadership, Kraig L. Hays, Robert M. Regoli, John D. Hewitt

Peer Reviewed Publications

This research assesses a potentially harmful condition among police chiefs: anomia. The article analyzes a large (N = 1,120) stratified sample survey of American police chiefs. Nine hypotheses are tested using multiple regressions. Results show relatively little anomia (as defined by Srole’s 5-point Likert-type scale) among the respondents. Data analysis reveals little relationship between anomia and the following four variables: age, being a chief in a previous jurisdiction, race/ethnicity, and internal hire. However, the analysis also reveals significant negative relationships between anomia and education, merit selection, and years in law enforcement and between anomia and size of department and tenure …

Legend Tripping As Field Research: Investigating The Connection Of “Satanic Tourism” To Juvenile Delinquency, Gordon A. Crews, Virginia Adame, Rochelle Andrews, Kofi Boye-Doe, Juna Green, Shawn Kirby, Ori Onazi, Jill Schalansky, Cale Urban, Justin Zabokrtsky

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Gary Alan Fine and Jeffrey Victor (1994) defined “legend trips” as inherently delinquent juvenile activities at geographic sites associated with some tragic event, rumored to be supernatural or related to the occult. “Satanic tourism” is a type of legend trip characterized by juvenile involvement in pseudo-Satanic/occult behavior, such as drawing pentagrams, writing epithets, and burning candles. A juvenile may visit a geographic location such as an abandoned church, historic graveyard, or reputedly “haunted” site, and engage in mischievous, destructive, or “ritualistic” behaviors as “rites of passage.” These activities, which often are relatively harmless and conducted primarily for juvenile thrills, may …

The Internet: Complicating Legal Ethics, But Full Of Resources To Help You Understand The Complications, Maureen Cahill

Presentations

In the first portion of this paper, I will try to give you an idea of a few of the specific ethical complications that have arisen or are anticipated because of electronic information production, storage, and communication. My search of the Georgia ethics decisions and opinions did not turn up instances where the Georgia Supreme Court or the State Disciplinary Board (which issued opinions prior to 1986) have ruled explicitly on any of these issues, but in today’s climate it is only a matter of time before at least some of these questions come up in Geogia. I will summarize …

Sox And Whistleblowing, Richard E. Moberly

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Whistleblowers famously helped publicize the corporate scandals that gave rise to Sarbanes- Oxley: think Sherron Watkins at Enron and Cynthia Cooper at WorldCom—two of Time Magazine’s “Persons of the Year” for 2002. Given the importance of these employee disclosures, Congress considered it necessary to break the “corporate code of silence” that discouraged potential whistleblowers from coming forward. Indeed, SOX utilizes a unique holistic approach aimed at encouraging employees to disclose information about corporate wrongdoing.

Muslim American Perspectives On The Global War On Terrorism, Mariam Fateme Kazemi

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

This study examines the perceptions of Muslim Americans with regards to anti-terrorist policies and efforts in the U.S. with a specific emphasis on the U.S. led U.S. led Global War on Terrorism post-9/11. The perceived relationship or lack of between Islam and its support or condemnation of terrorism along with the perceptions of Muslim Americans with regards to the different components of the is assessed in this research. How Muslims feel towards the U.S. government's response to threats of terrorism and terrorist attacks against the U.S. and its interests is summarized along with the effectiveness of the Global War on …

Isolating Student, School, And Community Effects On School Weapon Carrying, Adam Michael Watkins

Dissertations

Much prior research has alluded to the importance of community conditions in shaping levels of violence in around and schools. It is interesting to find, therefore, that few studies have systematically examined the effects of broader contextual characteristics (e.g., economic disadvantage) on levels of student misbehavior in schools. This research filled a part of this void in the school violence literature by using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to identify whether social conditions in schools¿ attendance areas were statistically related to levels of student weapon carrying across a national sample of 55 high schools. Multilevel models …

Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Sandi Zellmer, Christine Klein

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation pondered how a relatively weak Category 3 storm could have destroyed an entire region. Few appreciated the extent to which a flawed federal water development policy transformed this apparently natural disaster into a “man-made” disaster; fewer still appreciated how the disaster was the predictable, and indeed predicted, sequel to almost a century of similar disasters. This article focuses upon three such stories: the Great Flood of 1927, the Midwest Flood of 1993, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Taken together, the stories reveal important lessons, including the inadequacy of engineered flood …

A Tale Of Two Imperiled Rivers: Reflections From A Post-Katrina World, Sandra Zellmer

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Hurricanes are a natural, predictable phenomenon, yet the Gulf Coast communities were devastated by the hurricanes of 2005. One year after Hurricane Katrina struck, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded to a congressional request for an accounting by admitting culpability for the destruction of New Orleans. Its structural defenses failed not because Congress had authorized only moderate Category 3 protection, which in turn let floodwaters overtop the city's levees, but because levees and floodwalls simply collapsed. The so-called network of federal and local structures was a haphazard system in name only, where floodwalls and levees of varying heights utilized …

Unfulfilled Expectations: An Empirical Analysis Of Why Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers Rarely Win, Richard E. Moberly

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Scholars praise the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002 as one of the most protective anti-retaliation provisions in the world. Yet, during its first three years, only 3.6% of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers won relief through the initial administrative process that adjudicates such claims, and only 6.5% of whistleblowers won appeals through the process. This Article reports the results of an empirical study of all Department of Labor Sarbanes-Oxley determinations during this time, consisting of over 700 separate decisions from administrative investigations and hearings. The results of this detailed analysis demonstrate that administrative decision makers strictly construed, and in …

Unlabeled Drug Samples And The Learned Intermediary: The Case For Drug Company Liability Without Preemption, Susan Poser

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Discusses unlabeled drug samples and the learned intermediary. Presents the case for drug company liability without preemption.

Is Water Property?, Sandra Zellmer, Jessica Harder

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

One of the most controversial issues in natural resources law is whether interests in water are property. In the western United States, water is typically viewed by appropriators as a form of private property, while in the East it is not. In either case, the law is surprisingly unsettled, notwithstanding the important consequences that follow, particularly under constitutional takings jurisprudence.

Treating water as property has significant implications for investment, conservation and environmental protection as well. Establishing secure property rights can foster stewardship and wise investment of labor and capital. By the same token, the absence of property ownership can result …

Justice Thomas And Partial Incorporation Of The Establishment Clause: Herein Of Structural Limitations, Liberty Interests, And Taking Incorporation Seriously, Richard F. Duncan

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Equal religious liberty will be secure--and indeed will flourish--under partial incorporation. Our Nation is not a strictly-secular one, and our public culture may and should reflect the rich, religious diversity of our people. No one should be compelled to affirm any belief or participate in any religious practice, but no one has the right to silence others, to control which lessons public schools may teach and willing pupils may learn, or to censor the public culture. As Justice Thomas has put it so well,"[when rights are incorporated against the States through the Fourteenth Amendment they should advance, not constrain, individual …

Specialized Detention And Correctional Facilities, Christopher A. Mallett, Michael J. Williams, Shawn C. Marsh

Social Work Faculty Publications

The placements covered in this chapter include child and youth residential treatment facilities, juvenile detention and correctional facilities, juvenile sexual offender treatment facilities, women's prisons, and military detention and correctional institutions. For each of these specialized placements, we present their history and current philosophy,outline basic components of design, treatment services, and programming: and review the satus of evidence-based practice.

Ip And The Global Public Interest: Challenges And Opportunities, Jon R. Cavicchi, Stanley P. Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt from article] Intellectual property (IP) capacity is essential for economic development, particularly as countries transition into the higher technology sectors, for example biotechnology. For developing countries, a commitment to minimal IP rights protection will determine inclusion in the World Trade Organization (WTO), facilitate access to foreign-direct investment, and accelerate economic development. However, on a more fundamental level, capacity in IP management will affect whether a country can provide basic health and nutritional needs for its citizens. For example, sustainable food security presents a serious challenge in many developing countries; as their economies rapidly emerge, urban centers expand, arable land …

Lexis V. Westlaw For Research - Better, Different, Or Same And The Qwerty Effect?, Jon R. Cavicchi

Law Faculty Scholarship

There are synchronistic moments when in the process of writing. While contemplating this article, an email message made its way to my desk, past Pierce Law Center's spam firewall with the following subject line: "Pepsi v. Coke-Tell Us--Get $10." Do IP researchers choose Lexis or Westlaw justified by taste? Surely you jest, some voice said to me. Repressing this message, I proceeded to compare platform content, perform literature searches, and poll students and IP professors.

Yet another synchronistic moment came as the email from those taking the poll steamed into my email. Many IP professors indicated that they made the …

The Law Of Libraries And Archives: Chapter 1: Libraries And The U.S. Legal System, Bryan M. Carson

DLPS Faculty Publications

The law should be accessible to every professional, which is the philosophy behind The Law of Libraries and Archives. In this invaluable book, legal concepts are explained in plain English so that librarians and archivists will be able to understand the principles that affect them on a daily basis. This book provides its readers with answers and raises issues for them to think about. In addition to providing a basic overview of the law, this work contains enough details to allow readers to make informed choices and to converse intelligently with legal counsel.
Some of the issues included in …

An Exploratory Study Of The Affect Of Role Strain And The Juvenile Justice System's Division In Power On Juvenile Probation Officers, Kirsten W. Parker-Smith

Theses & Honors Papers

This exploratory, qualitative study reports on the experiences of 20 participants currently working within the juvenile justice system. The study investigated whether role strain was present among juvenile probation officers (POs) in an unspecified, Mid-Atlantic state. This study examines probation officers' role as it relates to the division in power between the state agency which employs the juvenile POs and the local juvenile courts in which they work closely with local judges. The state agency's move to standardize was also explored in relation to an increase in role strain for juvenile probation officers. The expected role strain did not appear …

Crime And The Sorcerer's Stone: Using Harry Potter To Teach Theories Of Crime, Julie Elizabeth Humphrey

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to take a piece of popular culture, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and use it as a pedagogical tool in a graduate criminal theory course to serve as a pilot study. Evaluation data showed that using the Sorcerer's Stone is an effective way to teach students how to apply criminological theory hypothetical examples of behavior.

Implications Of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions, Erin Patricia Wolbeck

Theses Digitization Project

This study examines the potential effects of sex offender residency restriction laws on both the offenders and potential victimsin Riverside County, CA. Through the use of census data and mapping software the residentially zoned areas in which sex offenders can or can not live are examined.

Healthcare Fraud And Non-Fraud Healthcare Crimes: A Comparison, Michael Ponce

Theses Digitization Project

Healthcare fraud is a major problem within the healthcare industry. The study examined medical fraud, its laws, and punishments on federal and state levels. It compared medical fraud to non-fraud crimes done in the healthcare industry. This comparison will be done on a state level. The study attempted to analyze the severity of fraud against non-fraud and that doctors would commit fraud offenses more often than non-fraud offenses.

Artists And Crooks: A Correlational Examination Of Creativity And Criminal Thinking, Luis Daniel GascóN

Theses Digitization Project

This study explores some of the possible correlations between creativity and criminal thinking evident in the literature in an attempt to link the two forms of cognition. An understanding of the concept of Malevolent Creativity can serve the purpose of elucidating another component of the criminal personality.

The Life And Times Of Young People On Remand: Recommendations For Future Policy In Ireland, Sinead Freeman

Conference papers

The remand population of children and young people continues to rise in Ireland. Despite this growth, little is known about their experiences on remand. This paper focuses on such experiences from the perspective of the young prisoners. It is based on 62 semi-structured interviews conducted with young males and females aged 16 to 21 years on remand in St. Patrick’s Institution, Cloverhill Remand Prison and the Dόchas Centre, Mountjoy Prison. The paper highlights how young people who have yet to be found guilty are frequently detained for long periods in prison and are exposed to punitive conditions. The findings have …

Punishment And Political Order, Keally D. Mcbride

2019 USF Faculty and Staff Books

Most of us think of punishment as an ugly display of power. But punishment also tells us something about the ideals and aspirations of a people and their government. How a state punishes reveals whether or not it is confident in its own legitimacy and sovereignty. Punishment and Political Order examines the questions raised by the state's exercise of punitive power--from what it is about human psychology that desires sanction and order to how the state can administer pain while calling for justice. Keally McBride's book demonstrates punishment's place at the core of political administration and the stated ideals of …

Dna And Homicide Clearance: What's Really Going On, David A. Schroeder

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Homicide clearance rates in the United States have been dropping steadily since the late 1960s. The literature on homicide clearance has yet to explore exactly what effect DNA evidence is having on the homicide investigation. As such, the increased use of DNA as an investigative tool to raise homicide clearance is hardly axiomatic. The current study examined homicides committed in Manhattan, New York, within the years 1996 to 2003 for the use of DNA evidence in making an arrest. An analysis was also conducted with an eye toward how useful DNA evidence could be—indicating that, via its current usage, the …

Ua12/8 Campus Security Report, Wku Police

WKU Administration Documents

A statement of current campus policies regarding procedures for students and others to report criminal actions or other emergencies occurring on campus and policies concerning the institution's response to such reports.

Routine Crime In Exceptional Times: The Impact Of The 2002 Winter Olympics On Citizen Demand For Police Services, Scott H. Decker, Sean P. Varano, Jack R. Greene

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

Despite their rich theoretical and practical importance, criminologists have paid scant attention to the patterns of crime and the responses to crime during exceptional events. Throughout the world large-scale political, social, economic, cultural, and sporting events have become commonplace. Natural disasters such as blackouts, hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis present similar opportunities. Such events often tax the capacities of jurisdictions to provide safety and security in response to the exceptional event, as well as to meet the “routine” public safety needs. This article examines “routine” crime as measured by calls for police service, official crime reports, and police arrests in Salt …

Gangs, Guns, And Drugs: Recidivism Among Serious, Young Offenders, Beth M. Huebner, Sean P. Varano, Timothy S. Bynum

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

The primary goal of this study is to understand the factors that best explain recidivism among a sample of 322 young men aged 17 to 24 years released from prison in a Midwestern state. Specific attention is paid to the predictive validity of gang membership, gun use, and drug dependence on the timing of reconviction and the current research on desistance frames the analyses. Results from a series of proportional hazard models indicate that race, gang membership, drug dependence, and institutional behavior are critical factors in predicting the timing of reconviction. Contrary to expectations, gun use was not related to …