Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

San Jose State University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type

Articles 91 - 112 of 112

Full-Text Articles in Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Surveillance State: Do License Plate Readers Impinge Upon Americans' Civil Liberties?, Jourdin Hermann May 2015

The Surveillance State: Do License Plate Readers Impinge Upon Americans' Civil Liberties?, Jourdin Hermann

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The boundaries that delineate public from private sphere have challenged our political system’s foundations since its origination. License plate readers (LPRs), a tool used by law enforcement and private businesses, cause citizens and their government to question the criteria separating public and private information. While police and repossession agencies contend that license plate readers aid their work, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues that surveillance equipment interferes with an individual’s right to privacy. Addressing such privacy concerns requires the public to hold its government accountable by petitioning for limits on LPR use and data retention. LPRs also pose unique …


Prison Privatization: Driving Influences And Performance Evaluation, Carla Schultz May 2015

Prison Privatization: Driving Influences And Performance Evaluation, Carla Schultz

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

United States conservatism and neoliberalism have created a market for prison privatization. The business of making money from incarcerated bodies is in direct conflict with the goals of the justice system. Driving economic and political forces are examined and used to explain the rising prison-industrial complex. Private prison performance is measured by recidivism, cost, inmate rights, and quality of confinement. This paper suggests that prison privatization must be reformed or abolished to improve the corrections system in the United States.


There Goes The Neighborhood: Exposing The Relationship Between Gentrification And Incarceration, Casey Kellogg May 2015

There Goes The Neighborhood: Exposing The Relationship Between Gentrification And Incarceration, Casey Kellogg

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

This paper seeks to demonstrate that there is a deliberate and intentional link between residential housing patterns and crime and mass incarceration, and that government plays a strong role in allowing and formalizing this link. Using historical examples, this paper attempts to document the role of government and policy in furthering residential segregation through the processes of gentrification and disinvestment. By contributing to the destruction of low-income communities and the invasion of gentry through covert partnerships with the private sector to develop land and design cities, government has prioritized commercial interests over the needs of the community at all income …


No One Cried For Help: The Integration Of Groupthink Into Modern Rape Culture, Jourdin Hermann May 2014

No One Cried For Help: The Integration Of Groupthink Into Modern Rape Culture, Jourdin Hermann

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

Rape symbolizes lost innocence. Many young females increasingly endure sexual violence at the hands of multiple male assailants. Despite the common coupling of group dynamics and rapes, little evidence proposes Irving Janis’s theory of groupthink as one plausible explanation. This paper argues that the two concepts are related; groupthink needs to hold a more prominent position within the sexual violence literature. A case in the small town of Steubenville, Ohio provides the backdrop for investigating how groupthink impacts instances of gang rapes. Integration of the scholarly literature available on groupthink and sexual violence establishes the basis of this research. Janis’s …


Attitudes Toward The Way Courts Deal With Criminals, Chelsea Van Aken May 2014

Attitudes Toward The Way Courts Deal With Criminals, Chelsea Van Aken

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The way courts treat criminals depends on a variety of factors. This paper examines how age, sex, and race affect an offender’s treatment during sentencing. These variables were collected using the 2010 General Social Survey and were tested using the SPSS 20.0 Student Version Statistical Software. The independent variables include age, race, and sex, while the dependent variable is the way courts deal with criminals. The hypotheses that were tested stated that older individuals, nonwhite persons, and men would believe that courts deal too harshly with criminals. The conclusion found that none of the variables showed a significant correlation; therefore, …


The Unfair Sentencing Act: Racial Disparities And Fiscal Consequences Of America's Drug Laws, Kristin Zimmerman May 2014

The Unfair Sentencing Act: Racial Disparities And Fiscal Consequences Of America's Drug Laws, Kristin Zimmerman

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

In 1986, the United States government attempted to combat the perceived war on drugs by enacting mandatory drug laws, with a primary focus on incarcerating crack offenders. The result of this was a mass influx of African Americans to US penitentiaries and minimal to zero reduction of crack convictions. Because the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 recognized 100 grams of cocaine as equivalent to one gram of crack, it has been perceived not as a war on drugs, but as a war on a war on minorities. The mass incarceration of drug offenders also led to severely damaging fiscal consequences …


The Stigmatization Of Individuals Convicted Of Sex Offenses: Labeling Theory And The Sex Offense Registry, Carla Schultz May 2014

The Stigmatization Of Individuals Convicted Of Sex Offenses: Labeling Theory And The Sex Offense Registry, Carla Schultz

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The sex offender registry currently lists over half a million U.S. citizens as sex offenders. Modern day legislation directed toward sex offenders was born in an era of public fear and rash decision-making. Terrible consequences have since been identified as resulting from the labeling of sex offenders via the registry. These unintended consequences socially, economically, and psychologically influence the lives of sex offenders. Labeling theory states that individuals who are given a label eventually subscribe to that label; in other words, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the case of sex offenders, this can only mean more damage to society. …


Immigration Control And The Punitive Turn, Eduardo Batista May 2014

Immigration Control And The Punitive Turn, Eduardo Batista

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The “punitive turn” describes the penalizing and disciplinary focus the United States has implemented in regulating problem populations since the late 1970s. This period has welcomed the era of mass incarceration in which the US penal population has exploded to levels not seen anywhere else in the world. The rise in the use of prisons and jails has been accompanied by the retrenchment of the welfare state, attacks on affirmative action policies, continued segregation in education and housing, and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. All of these have essentially erased the gains made by the Civil …


Democracy, Prison, And Public Safety Realignment: Renewing Our Imagination, Kimberly Turner May 2014

Democracy, Prison, And Public Safety Realignment: Renewing Our Imagination, Kimberly Turner

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The American carceral condition has waged a 200-year-old struggle where the lives of the guilty, the innocent, and the victimized have taken center stage in a debate centered on rehabilitation, reformation, and revenge. The drama has undergone a number of revisions from great scholarly authors, multidisciplinary intellectuals, and literary muses. Despite a number of new renderings, the central themes of the American prison have remained constant, and just as there have been builders of prisons, there have been forces intent on their destruction. The current state of the American carceral condition has burgeoned since the neoliberal political and economic shift …


The Lingering Killer: Agent Orange, Sharon Ungerfeld May 2014

The Lingering Killer: Agent Orange, Sharon Ungerfeld

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

This paper explores the utilization of the chemical herbicide, Agent Orange, as it was sprayed over Vietnam during the Vietnam War in 1961 to 1971. The United States government, military, and corporations acted irresponsibly by creating the chemical and spraying it as a war tactic. The outcome of the spraying includes detrimental socioeconomic impacts, environmental degradation, and health problems. The socioeconomic impact is explained with statistics and an explanation of loss of job and education capabilities. With data on the destroyed trees and vegetation, this paper demonstrates the degree to which the environment faced harm. The health effects of Agent …


Police Academy Training: An Evaluation Of The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Police Academies, Olga Bykov May 2014

Police Academy Training: An Evaluation Of The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Police Academies, Olga Bykov

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the historical and current protocols which have existed in police academies, with a focus on the gender issues being faced by female police officers. The development of the police force is examined, with explanation of the differences and developments aligning with each era of history. Next, current police practices are elaborated upon, emphasizing the difficulties women experience in becoming police officers and where the ideologies of the police academies originated. Finally, suggestions are given based on research findings in order to reduce the ideological divides that occur in the …


Reducing California's Overcrowded Prison Population, Morgan Macdonald May 2013

Reducing California's Overcrowded Prison Population, Morgan Macdonald

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

This paper evaluates how “tough on crime” sentencing policies have influenced California's prison population. Several laws which make up the state's strict criminal justice practices were passed over the course of forty years without consideration for their impact on the state's budget and safety. Beginning with the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976, the state has created an unsustainable prison system that will dissolve without increased public funding. However, California’s depleted economic condition has forced policymakers to reevaluate the state's criminal justice agenda, while complying with the three- judge court order to reduce its incarcerated population to 137.5 percent of …


Confirmation Bias: The Pitfall Of Forensic Science, Scott Moser May 2013

Confirmation Bias: The Pitfall Of Forensic Science, Scott Moser

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

As it stands, forensic science and its practitioners are held in high regard in criminal court proceedings due to their ability to discover irrefutable facts that would otherwise go unnoticed. Nevertheless, forensic scientists can fall victim to natural logical fallacies. More specifically, confirmation bias is “a proclivity to search for or interpret additional information to confirm beliefs and to steer clear of information that may disagree with those prior beliefs” (Budlowe et al., 2009, p. 803). To restore the integrity of the forensic sciences, the sources of confirmation bias need to be identified and eliminated. Accordingly, empirical studies have given …


Review Of Capote’S In Cold Blood, Yevgeniy Mayba May 2013

Review Of Capote’S In Cold Blood, Yevgeniy Mayba

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

No abstract provided.


The Patriot Act: Liberty Afire, Mark Fox May 2013

The Patriot Act: Liberty Afire, Mark Fox

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The USA PATRIOT Act was written and passed into law in the United States within weeks of the devastating 9/11 terrorist attack. Its purpose was to strengthen and realign U.S. policy to allow greater judicial power to better protect the U.S. from further acts of terrorism. However, as the legal tenets of the Act became more transparent, public concern mounted over the wide latitude given to the governmental agencies that seemed to threaten academic and intellectual freedom and overall civil liberties. The problems inherent in the USA PATRIOT Act are described, and potential amendments and improvements have been suggested.


Comparing Wearer Dna Sample Collection Methods For The Recovery Of Single Source Profiles, Corissa J. Harris, Amanda J. Cardenas, Steven B. Lee, Brooke Barloewen May 2013

Comparing Wearer Dna Sample Collection Methods For The Recovery Of Single Source Profiles, Corissa J. Harris, Amanda J. Cardenas, Steven B. Lee, Brooke Barloewen

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

Wearer DNA is the deposit of epithelial cells on clothing worn by an individual. Detection of the last individual to handle or wear an item is often an important and desirable determination in forensic science. The most commonly used collection methods for wearer DNA include swabbing and scraping. These often result in mixture profiles. Recently, adhesives have been introduced as a possible reliable method for the collection of biological evidence. The goal of the research was to compare the current collection methods of swabbing and scraping with a gel film called Gel-Pak ‘0’ which shares similar properties with adhesives. Gel-Pak …


Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University Apr 2013

Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University

Forensic Science Forum (Justice Studies)

No abstract provided.


Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University Oct 2012

Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University

Forensic Science Forum (Justice Studies)

No abstract provided.


Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University Apr 2012

Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University

Forensic Science Forum (Justice Studies)

No abstract provided.


Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University Oct 2011

Forensic Science Forum, San Jose State University

Forensic Science Forum (Justice Studies)

No abstract provided.


Advance, Winter 2011, San Jose State University, Department Of Justice Studies Oct 2011

Advance, Winter 2011, San Jose State University, Department Of Justice Studies

Advance (Justice Studies)

News from the San Jose State University Record Clearance Project


Advance, Spring 2011, San Jose State University, Department Of Justice Studies Apr 2011

Advance, Spring 2011, San Jose State University, Department Of Justice Studies

Advance (Justice Studies)

News from the San Jose State University Record Clearance Project