Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

The Swinging Pendulum Of Sentencing Reform: Political Actors Regulating District Court Discretion, Lydia Brashear Tiede

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Form Blindness Testing: Assessing The Ability To Perform Latent Print Examination By Traditional Versus Nontraditional Students, Dean James Bertram

Dissertations

This study examined form blindness testing as a predictor of latent print examination success among traditional and nontraditional college students. A correlational analysis of traditional versus nontraditional students was also assessed. Data were collected for two groups: trained and untrained. The untrained group (n = 167) consisted of students enrolled in courses within the field of forensic science at a university in the southeastern United States during the spring 2009 academic term. Students retained within the untrained group were those with no fingerprint training. The trained group (n = 160) consisted of students who completed a science of fingerprinting course …

Food Justice As Crime Prevention, Avi Brisman

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In December 2008, Governor David Paterson (D-NY) proposed an 18 percent tax on nondiet sodas and fruit drinks containing less than 70 percent natural fruit juice. While the tax was part of a broader budget proposal designed to address New York State's fiscal crisis - a plan that that included new taxes and tax hikes on 137 items and services' - state officials promoted the "obesity tax," as the soft drink levy came to be called, as a public health measure.

Judge, Jury, And Executioner: Organizational Factors That Affect Police Use Of Lethal Force, Mikaela Cooney

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

There currently exists an empirical gap in our knowledge of organizational factors as they relate to police use of lethal force. As a result of waning interest in macrolevel policing studies over the last three decades, the majority of our understanding of lethal force is derived from studies that specifically focus on microlevel factors (such as officer race or suspect behavior). The present study examined the relationship between organizational variables and the number of self-reported instances of lethal force by law enforcement officers. Departmental variables, jurisdictional characteristics, and the number of lethal force incidents reported annually were collected from law …

How Teachers Perceive The "School Violence Issue", Leonce Crump Jr.

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The propensity to overestimate statistics, underestimate safety, and dramatically report crime is clearly seen in the issue of school violence. Violent crime in schools is rare, however, over publicized (Baily, Carona, Mebane, & Snell, 2002). Nonetheless any evidence of it arouses fear in teachers, students, and parents (Toby, 1983; Dworkin, Haney & Telschow, 1988; May, 1999; Smith & Smith, 2006). Since the recent exposure and coverage of school shootings, Americans seem to be gripped by fear over this issue (Burns & Crawford, 1999). This fear, in conjunction with a lack of clear communication on the part of the school system …

Targeting Youth—Hit Or Miss? Juvenile Certification In Clark County, Nevada Examined, Brittnie Turquoise Watkins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Juvenile certification is the method by which a juvenile may be removed from juvenile court jurisdiction and placed in the adult criminal court jurisdiction. In many cases, juvenile courts exercise judicial certifications, in which a judge determines if the case will be heard in juvenile or adult court. Many factors influence a judge's determination of certification outcomes. Legal factors include dangerousness, amenability, and maturity of the youth. Extra-legal factors include race and sex. Although judges are believed to be impartial, prior research has found that these bias factors may influence outcomes. This study assesses what factors are influential in one …

Examining The Impact Of Drug Court Participation For Moderate And High Risk Offenders, Kara Kobus

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of drug court participation among moderate and high risk offenders. While studies have found that intensive programs, such as drug courts, are more effective when focusing their services on high risk offenders, few studies have examined the relationship between offender risk and drug court effectiveness. Using the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) as a measure of offender risk, the study employed a quasi-experimental design to compare outcomes of drug court participants (n=228) and a matched sample of probationers (n=252). The analyses showed that drug court participants had lower rates of …

An Assessment Of Proposed Sex Offender Mobility And Residency Restrictions In Nevada, Samantha Dawn Beecher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research explores the impact of sex offender exclusion zones and residency restrictions proposed by Nevada Senate Bill 471. This law would prohibit sex offenders from being within 500 feet of places where children congregate and living within 1,000 feet of these places. Analyses conducted using Geographic Information Systems demonstrate the degree to which offender mobility, housing, employment, and access to social services may be restricted should the law be adopted and enforced. Data are also used to assess the potential impact of the law on victimization patterns. Policy implications, data limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Decentralizing Police Detectives: Increasing Efficiency Of Property Crime Investigations, Jon M. Zeh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Beginning in November, 2007, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department implemented organizational changes to the Financial/Property Crimes Bureau by decentralizing all property crime detectives. Although no previous research was found on the decentralization of police detectives specifically, there is existing research on similar concepts that suggest at least two benefits of decentralizing police detectives: improved communication with patrol officers and increased efficiency of investigations. With these benefits in mind, the current study examines the following hypotheses: hypothesis 1: decentralizing property crime detectives will lead to improved quality of communication between property crime detectives and patrol officers; hypothesis 2: decentralizing property …

Jurors’ Perceptions Of Juvenile Defendants: The Influence Of Intellectual Disability, Abuse History, And Confession Evidence, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms, Maria C. Vargas

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 …

Discredited Evidence And The Liklihood Of A Conviction By A Jury Using The Juror Bias Scale, Adrinne Glover

XULAneXUS

The present study examines whether mock jurors presented with discredited evidence will show less ability in delivering an objective verdict than mock jurors who have not been presented with discredited evidence. Undergraduate participants (N = 27) were randomly presented with original mock criminal trial scenarios containing either credited or discredited evidence, and were then asked to complete the Juror Bias Scale in order to measure bias. Participants presented with discredited trial scenarios were more likely to favor the prosecution (p-biased), and those presented with credited trial scenarios were more likely to favor the defense (d-biased). The results indicated that the …

Advancing The Study Of Violence Against Women: Evolving Research Agendas Into Science, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

Decades of research produced by multiple disciplines has documented withering rates of violence against women in the United States and around the globe. To further an understanding of gendered violence, a field of research has developed, but recent critiques have highlighted weaknesses that inhibit a full scientific exploration of these crimes and their impacts. This review extends beyond prior reviews to explore the field’s unique challenges, its community of scientists, and the state of its written knowledge. The review argues for moving beyond “research agendas” and proposes creation of a transdisciplinary science for the field of study of violence against …

Advancing The Study Of Violence Against Women: Response To Commentaries And Next Steps, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Supranational Criminology: Towards A Criminology Of International Crimes (Alette Smeulers & Roelof Haveman Eds., 2008), Mark A. Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

Intimate Partner Violence: Criminal Justice Responses To High Lethality Cases, Victoria E. Collins

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between the level of violence suffered by the victim in a domestic violence relationship and the criminal justice responses to that violence, namely arrest, prosecution and the issuance of protective orders. Data was obtained from a nonprofit domestic violence agency in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The data was collected by agency staff from victims seeking assistance. This study found that female victims of domestic violence that suffered higher levels of violence at the hands of their abuser were more likely to be issued a protective order. Female victims who suffered higher levels of violence were not …

Volume 02, Joseph A. Mann, Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, Andrew E. Puckette, Daniel M. Honey, Jeffery P. Ravenhorst, Jamie Elizabeth Mesrobian, Thomas Scott, Jay Crowell, Sarah Spangenberg, Amy S. Eason, Kenny Wolfe, Liz Hale, Rachel Bouchard, Will Semonco, Carley York, Ryan Higgenbothom, Adrienne Heinbaugh, Melissa Dorton, Madeline Hunter, June Ashmore, Clark Barkley, Jay Haley

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Mike's Nite: New Jazz for an Old Instrument by Joseph A. Mann

Investigation of the use of Cucumis Sativus for Remediation Of Chromium from Contaminated Environmental Matrices: An Interdisciplinary Instrumental Analysis Project by Kathryn J. Greenly, Scott E. Jenkins, and Andrew E. Puckette

Development of GC-MS and Chemometric Methods for the Analysis of Accelerants in Arson Cases by Scott Jenkins

Building and Measuring Scalable Computing Systems by Daniel M. Honey and Jeffery P. Ravenhorst

Nomini Hall: A Case Study in the Use of Archival Resources as Guides for Excavation at An Archaeological Site by …

Testimony Of Jeremy Travis, President Of John Jay College Of Criminal Justice, Before The U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On Appropriations, Subcommittee On Commerce, Justice, Science, And Related Agencies, On “What Works” For Successful Prisoner Reentry, Jeremy Travis

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Understanding Terrorism Through The Use Of Gis, Collaborative Project

Dyson College- Seidenberg School of CSIS : Collaborative Projects and Presentations

This entry adhers to the use of the quad chart template to provide a succinct description only of the current research project undertaken by the participants. It provides for the following information

1. Participants and Affiliations
2. Overall Project Goals
3. Illustrative picture
4. Specific research/artistic/pedagogig foci

A Proposed Program To Reduce Risk Of Recidivism For First Time Juvenile Sex Offenders, Lorna E. Grant

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

This proposed pilot project is intended for juvenile sex offenders and their parents. The program aims to guide juvenile sex offenders into successful reintegration into their communities, and prevent re-incarcera-tion/relapse of juveniles released from juvenile correctional facilities and the family court using a multi-sys-temic approach. A developmental evaluation is proposed to be conducted from the behavioral objectives approach to measure the effectiveness of a 12-months pilot program.

A Miscarriage Of Juvenile Justice: A Modern Day Parable Of The Unintended Results Of Bad Lawmaking, Amy Vorenberg

Law Faculty Scholarship

Sensationalized cases increasingly create the context for public policy discussion. Stories about violent crime are a common feature of the local evening news and their emotional nature can often create the hook politicians need to showcase their “tough on crime” agendas. Often anecdotal and lurid, stories of criminal misdeeds are widely used to convince the public of a need to create or change laws. This article demonstrates the perils of making law by extrapolating from a few random, albeit attention-grabbing, events. Specifically, the article examines the impact of a 1995 change in New Hampshire state law that lowered the age …

The Death Of The American Trial, Robert P. Burns

Faculty Working Papers

This short essay is a summary of my assessment of the meaning of the "vanishing trial" phenomenon. It addresses the obvious question: "So what?" It first briefly reviews the evidence of the trial's decline. It then sets out the steps necessary to understand the political and social signficance of our vastly reducing the trial's importance among our modes of social ordering. The essay serves as the Introduction to a book, The Death of the American Trial, soon to be published by the University of Chicago Press.

The Language Of Consent In Police Encounters, Janice Nadler, J.D. Trout

Faculty Working Papers

In this chapter, we examine the nature of conversations in citizen-police encounters in which police seek to conduct a search based on the citizen's consent. We argue that when police officers ask a person if they can search, citizens often feel enormous pressure to say yes. But judges routinely ignore these pressures, choosing instead to spotlight the politeness and restraint of the officers' language and demeanor. Courts often analyze the language of police encounters as if the conversation has an obvious, context-free meaning. The pragmatic features of language influence behavior, but courts routinely ignore or deny this fact. Instead, current …

Reducing Disparities In The Adult Criminal Justice System: Creating A Model For Denver County, Shelley Siman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Overrepresentation in the criminal justice system of people who are marginalized by society has been researched for decades. Major challenges as they relate to overrepresentation of people of color in the system include a silo approach to research which leans towards analyzing system decision points in a vacuum, the misuse of official statistics to determine who is involved in crime, and the difficulty in translating solutions to the problem into practice. Disparate treatment of people of color in the American criminal justice system has also been reported by the United Nation's International Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as …

The Effectiveness Of Using Homicide And Auto Theft Rates As Indicators Of Violent And Property Crime In The United States, Joseph Allan Schwartz

Theses Digitization Project

The primary goal of this study is to determine whether the use of homicide and motor vehicle theft rates can predict overall violent and property crime rates respectively. Recent studies indicate that homicide rates seem to act as a primary and reliable representation of other violent crime rates, while motor vehicle theft rates seem to act as a primary representation of other property crime rates. This research for the author's thesis indicates otherwise. Measures considered include the Uniform Crime Report, the National Crime Victimization Survey, and the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

Homeland Security And The Police Mission, Stephen A. Morreale, David E. Lambert

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The terrorist attacks on America are seen as a pivotal period for the nation and for policing. They have thrust policing into a new mission that will have a wide ranging impact on the police role, organizational strategies, staffing, training and policy. State, local and tribal police are now at the forefront of Homeland Security activities, yet there remains a great deal of uncertainty about their mission.The ramp-up efforts by federal and state government are reminiscent of the staging for civil defense in the 1960's. As a result of 9/11, there has been an invigoration for cities and towns to …

Quantitative Evaluation On Indigent Criminal Defense Funding, Ralph E. Mckinney, Lawrence P. Shao

Management Faculty Research

This article takes a quantitative approach to build upon McKinney and Shao's (2008) qualitative contribution concerning resource a/location of indigent criminal defense programs. By compating public funds of multiple societies over time, we are able to add important knowledge surrounding property rights valuations using a new concept called GDP Indexed Purchasing Power Parity. The findings of this study show that GDP-PPP provides for better indigent criminal defense analysis than per capita figures.

The Safety Of A Nation Versus The Rights Of Suspected Terrorists, Michaela Clark

Undergraduate Review

On January twenty-second, 2009, newly elected President Barack Obama issued an executive order requiring the detention center holding alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to be closed within one year. This proposal may potentially close a chapter on one of America’s most controversial efforts to combat terrorism. Throughout the Bush Administration’s “War on Terror” numerous laws were passed that gave the President and the Department of Defense power to determine who was an enemy combatant and detain indefinitely those they decided fit that profile. The issue of holding people the military deems a threat without giving them a traditional trial continues …

Peacemaking Criminology, Joseph Moloney

Undergraduate Review

This article is focused on exploring the practical implications of applying Pepinsky and Quinney’s (1991) theory of ‘peacemaking criminology’ to criminal justice policies. Peacemaking criminology is a perspective on crime that suggests that alternative methods can be used to create peaceful solutions to crime. Peacemaking criminology can be implemented in society to reduce the amount of violence in the criminal justice field, and I argue that this perspective on crime can improve the administration of equitable justice more so than the current approach. The implementation of peacemaking criminology would be a radically different approach than current practices and methods of …

Detection Of Deception In Criminal Defendents: Treatment Or Trial?, Loran Noelle Bounds

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to determine how to detect whether a person is faking a mental illness. An area that is often malingered is insanity, where criminal defendents will fake that they are mentally ill as to avoid imprisonment or the death penalty. The death penalty is one of the most difficult defenses to raise and is rarely successful.

Constructing Crime: Neighborhood Characteristics And Police Recording Behavior, Sean P. Varano, Joseph A. Schafer, Jeffrey Michael Cancino, Marc L. Swatt

Justice Studies Faculty Publications

It has long been acknowledged that police officers have substantial levels of discretion in their day-to-day activities. There is a well developed body of literature that considers how this discretion is exercised across a broad array of situations including the decision to arrest, use force, and grant citizen requests for official action. Using both social disorganization and conflict theories as conceptual models, the purpose of this study was to determine if neighborhood characteristics affect police reporting behavior across a wide cross-section of reported call types. The findings indicated that reporting behavior widely varies across crime types with a greater percentage …