Other Legal Studies Commons^™

The Costs Of Trademarking Dolls, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Curtin’s article, Zombie Cinderella and the Undead Public Domain, takes a recent case from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) as the basis for an argument that trademark doctrine needs stronger protection against the exclusive commercial appropriation of characters that are in the public domain. In that case, a doll manufacturer sought to register the term “Zombie Cinderella” for a doll that was zombie-ish and princess-like. The examiner refused registration because the term “Zombie Cinderella” for this kind of doll was confusingly similar to the mark for Walt Disney’s Cinderella doll. Although the TTAB overturned the examiner’s …

Re-Playing Maimonides’ Codes: Designing Games To Teach Religious Legal Systems, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Lost & Found is a game series, created at the Initiative for

Religion, Culture, and Policy at the Rochester Institute of

Technology MAGIC Center.1 The series teaches medieval

religious legal systems. This article uses the first two games

of the series as a case study to explore a particular set of

processes to conceive, design, and develop games for learning.

It includes the background leading to the author's work

in games and teaching religion, and the specific context for

the Lost & Found series. It discusses the rationale behind

working to teach religious legal systems more broadly, then

discuss the …

Una Perspectiva Socio-Legal De La Ley 348: La Ley Para Garantizar A Las Mujeres Una Vida Libre De La Violencia / A Socio-Legal Perspective Of Law 348: The Law To Guarantee Women A Life Free Of Violence, Maya Anthony

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Bolivia es un país con leyes muy progresistas para enfrentar la lucha contra la violencia contra las mujeres, pero en al mismo tiempo Bolivia tiene los más altos niveles de la violencia doméstica en Latinoamérica. Esta investigación va a enfocarse en la ley 348 “para garantizar a las mujeres una vida libre de la violencia”. En este ensayo voy a explorar cómo la ley 348 que fue redactada para proteger a las mujeres del sistema patriarcal, que es un sistema enraizado en el abuso, imposición a la sumisión, e intimidación a la mujer y, “una estructura institucional que impone prácticas …

Revisiting A Classic: A Qualitative Analysis Of Differential Opportunity Theory And Its Utility In Explaining Residential Burglary, John A. Shjarback

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Cloward and Ohlin’s (1960) differential opportunity theory made several significant contributions to criminology, including the emphasis on illegitimate means and the idea that social structure influences criminal opportunity. The problem, however, is that the field largely misinterpreted Cloward and Ohlin’s intent as a simple variation of strain theory instead of a critical refinement of the existing perspective. Generally, the theory has not received much scholarly attention in terms of testing of its key propositions. Using semi-structured personal interviews with 105 active residential burglars in St. Louis, Missouri during 1989- 1990, the current study uses qualitative measures to analyze differential opportunity …

Interviewing Cybercrime Offenders, Alice Hutchings, Thomas J. Holt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research on cybercrime offending and victimization has increased dramatically over the past two decades, though qualitative scholarship on more technical offenses such as computer misuse has not kept pace with this broader trend. This research aims to identify potential best practices for researchers considering qualitative interviews as a method for researching computer misuse offenses, more commonly involving hacking techniques. The authors interviewed six experienced researchers who conducted qualitative examinations of active or incarcerated cybercriminals to understand their common experiences with recruitment, ways in which they interviewed research participants, ethical issues, and publishing their research. This analysis explores the difficulties associated …

The Life Course Of Female Homicide Offenders: The Context Of Turning Points, Alesa Liles

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Although research on female offending has grown in the past few decades, the criminal justice system has remained inadequate in addressing the needs of women. Available research shows some experiences play a significant role in the lives of women that differ from men. To elaborate, this study sought to incorporate life course perspective and the individual’s perspective to show that context is fundamental to life course research. This study identified life events and turning points specific to female homicide offenders and validated the necessary incorporation of perception and attribution to future research with life course perspective."

Culture, Socialization, And Firearms Violence In The United States, Jennifer L. Lanterman, Sarah J. Blithe

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Firearm violence persists in the United States despite innumerable social, political, and economic changes throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Collaborative Event Ethnography was used at seven gun shows in three regions of the United States to explore childhood socialization into firearm culture via intergenerational communication of values and views regarding violence, safety, and the use of firearms. Children were observed at all gun shows engaged in activities ranging from standard play to potentially dangerous activity in an environment characterized by bias and controversy. The findings support social learning theory and provide some insight into the role of culture …

Preliminary Investigation Of Pharmaceutical Counterfeiters In The United States, Jay P. Kennedy, Ksenia Petlakh, Jeremy M. Wilson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is one of the most pressing public health concerns in the United States and abroad, and recently an increasing amount of scholarly attention has been given to this issue. However, the extant literature lacks a systematic investigation of the specific roles undertaken within pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. We attempt to address this knowledge gap through an analysis of individuals convicted in federal court of counterfeiting offenses related to U.S.-based pharmaceutical counterfeiting incidents. From our investigation we identified six distinct roles that can classify an individual’s involvement in a pharmaceutical counterfeiting scheme: Key/Lead, Supporting, Sales/Distribution to Legitimate Others, Sales/Distribution to …

Yelp’S Review Filtering Algorithm, Yao Yao, Ivelin Angelov, Jack Rasmus-Vorrath, Mooyoung Lee, Daniel W. Engels

SMU Data Science Review

In this paper, we present an analysis of features influencing Yelp's proprietary review filtering algorithm. Classifying or misclassifying reviews as recommended or non-recommended affects average ratings, consumer decisions, and ultimately, business revenue. Our analysis involves systematically sampling and scraping Yelp restaurant reviews. Features are extracted from review metadata and engineered from metrics and scores generated using text classifiers and sentiment analysis. The coefficients of a multivariate logistic regression model were interpreted as quantifications of the relative importance of features in classifying reviews as recommended or non-recommended. The model classified review recommendations with an accuracy of 78%. We found that reviews …

Navigating Rough Waters: Public Swimming Pools, Discrimination, And The Law, Steven N. Waller Ph.D., Jim Bemiller Jd

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Historically, swimming pools have been a focal point of racial tension. Discrimination and segregation are inextricably tied to the history of public swimming usage in the United States. Pools are public spaces that are physically and visually intimate. History has revealed that both de jure (enacted through the law by the government) and de facto (occurs through social interaction) discrimination have contributed to segregatory practices in the United States. The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to examine the social pattern of discrimination that has stymied the growth of swimming in communities of color in the United States; and …

A Content Analysis Of Section 1983 Litigation Against Reserve Police Officers, Michael Ryan Broadus

Master's Theses

Police studies have well developed a demonstrative framework for detailing risks which generate financially-detrimental civil litigation – particularly regarding 42 U.S.C. §1983. Conversely, though, police studies have given little attention to the often-used but differentially-trained reserve police officer. Primarily replicating the methodologies of Kappeler, Kappeler, and del Carmen (1993) and Ross (2000), this descriptive study sought to fill this void via a manifest content approach to purposively select a sample of Section 1983 cases decided by U.S. District Courts over a 16-year period (2001-2016) to determine: (1) if significant liability was generated by reserve officers, (2) the main basis for …

Pretrial Release And Failure-To-Appear In Mclean County, Il, Jonathan Monsma

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Actuarial risk assessment tools increasingly have been employed in jurisdictions across the U.S. to assist courts in the decision of whether someone charged with a crime should be detained or released prior to their trial. These tools should be continually monitored and researched by independent 3^rd parties to ensure that these powerful tools are being administered properly and used in the most proficient way as to provide socially optimal results. McLean County, Illinois began using the Public Safety Assessment-Court^TM (PSA-Court or simply PSA) risk assessment tool beginning in 2016. This study culls data from the McLean County Jail …

Cons, Constructions And Misconceptions Of Computer Related Crime: From A Digital Syntax To A Social Semantics, M. R. Mcguire

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Has the framing of computer crime been a process which has, in effect, left us all framed? What is it that we think that we understand when we use terms like “internet crime,” “cybercrime,” or “technocrime,” and in what sense does this understanding constitute knowledge? In particular, the kind of knowledge which can be defined as “social scientific?” In this paper, I apply one of the key distinctions used to define computational processes – that made between a syntax and a semantics – to illustrate some of the problems that have affected our thinking about cybercrime and undermined our responses …

Technocrime At The Margins: Introduction To The Special Issue On Critical Or Marginal Perspectives And Issues In The Study Of Technocrime, Kevin F. Steinmetz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When first asked to guest edit a special issue of the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, I admit that I was hesitant. I knew from helping Willard Oliver start this journal and from working as its first book review editor that editorship can be trying—and often underappreciated— work. Tom Holt, the editor of the journal at the time, however, was ambitious and willing to take some risks in his mission to carry the journal forward. As such, he offered me tremendous latitude and support for pursuing my unique vision for a special issue on technocrime issues from …

The Cyborgian Deviant: An Assessment Of The Hacker Through The Lens Of Actor-Network Theory, Wytske Van Der Wagen

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When we think of technocrime, it is immediately “the hacker” who comes to mind, a somewhat mystical figure who can do seemingly magical as well as malicious things with technology. Throughout history, various scholars, including criminologists, have sought to grasp the hacker phenomenon so as to unravel hackers’ techno-culture, identity, and mentality. The current study is one of them, yet it does so from a novel, less anthropocentric angle. Drawing on the cyborg-lens of actor-network theory, which considers the human and the technical as nonseparable, this study conceives the hacker as a “cyborgian deviant:” a transgressive blend of human and …

The Use Of Mythic Narratives In Presidential Rhetoric On Cybercrime, Joshua B. Hill, Nancy E. Marion

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"What politicians say about crime matters, both because of the impact their rhetoric has on public opinion and the policies and motives those words often portend. This is no different when presidents speak about the relatively new area of technocrime. As with other types of crime, political rhetoric on technocrime relies on previous social constructions of the problem, which are (in part) based on myths rooted in popular culture. These myths can be used to help forward political agendas in ways that may be useful to the politician, but that do not address the causes or effects of technocrime. Using …

Seductive Events: A Critical Examination Of Youth Sexting, Karen Holt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The social impact of technologies is evident among both teenagers and young people. Youth now experience and engage in most aspects of daily life “online” through the use of social media, mobile phones, and the Internet. This has led to a host of concerns, from parents, educators, advocates, and law enforcement regarding the ways in which this technology is being used, with the debate focused primarily on the issue of “sexting” or sharing of naked and semi-naked selfies. This paper explores sexting behavior from a critical perspective, examining the individual and institutional narratives that continue to shape and influence opinion …

Coping With Cybercrime Victimization: An Exploratory Study Into Impact And Change, Jurjen Jansen, Rutger Leukfeldt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"An increasing number of Internet users are dealing with cybercrime victimization. In order to find out whether victims adequately recover from cybercrime incidents, it is important to gain insight into its effects and impact on users. However, as it stands now, there is not much literature on the impact of cybercrime. We address this gap by qualitatively examining the impact of two types of cybercrime, namely phishing and malware attacks targeting online banking customers. We used the coping approach as a framework to study how victims deal with the negative events they have experienced. In order to study the impact …

Superstormsandy At Five: Lessons On Law As Catalyst And Obstacle To Long-Term Recovery Following Catastrophic Disasters, Donovan Finn, John Travis Marshall

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Nine of the 10 costliest U .S . hurricanes on record have ravaged the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the first two decades of the 21st century, yet federal, state, and local governments continue to struggle with devising an effi- cient and effective way to help cities and towns recover . This Article focuses on law-related obstacles encoun- tered during the disaster response and recovery post- Superstorm Sandy . It considers how Sandy’s long-term recovery can inform the deliberations of cities nation- wide regarding the strengths and potential vulnerabili- ties of their local laws, institutions, and capacities for promoting resilient …

Book Review: Constructing Genocide And Mass Violence: Society, Crisis, Identity, Carola Lingaas

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Trans Women In Incarceration: Housing, Healthcare, And Humanity, Stanislaw Bielous

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

This paper seeks to analyze the experience of male-to-female transgender inmates housed in men’s prisons and to propose housing and healthcare policies with humanity and safety for all in mind. To do this, the paper examines gender dysphoria and its treatments, transgender prisoners’ increased risk of victimization, current housing placement policies, and lastly, transgender prison healthcare practices. Ultimately, this paper proposes the use of fair and adequately trained panel-based placement teams, the provision of comprehensive mental and physical health care and the establishment of impartial grievance procedures.

The Ethics Of Environmental Litigation, Jenna Marie Dibenedetto

Student Theses 2015-Present

Abstract

We are raised from the early days of our youth to distinguish right from wrong, evil from good. Though there are many careers that have easily distinguishable ethics from their day of creation, others require spend their entire professional careers floating in a grey area. Being a lawyer can leave you in limbo very often. The ethical battle between prosecuting people whose actions go against everything you believe in and defending someone who actions you struggle to rationalize, looking for a “nail in the coffin” or finding a way to pry it open can play a large role in …

Federal Circuit Courts’ Impact On Immigration Reform: An Analysis Of Judicial Ideology And Immigration Policy, Evanna Ojeda

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Regulation of immigration policy is an expressed power granted to the federal government in the Constitution; however, state and local governments often pass immigration policy legislation to address gaps in federal legislation. This research project seeks to understand the role of federal circuit courts ruling powers in determining the legal standing and substitute holding of merits for immigration policy regulation. By analyzing the political ideology of presiding judges and understanding the relationship between political ideology and judicial decision support for federal or state regulated policy, this project seeks to recognize the role of federal circuit courts in enhancing and shaping …

#Readyforrio: How A Revised Rule 40 Impacted Sponsorship At The 2016 Summer Olympics, Anthony Carson

Senior Theses

When planning and executing the Olympic Games, a premier event in modern sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relies heavily on sponsorship revenue from their official sponsors. “Worldwide Olympic Partners,” the top 11 sponsors of the 2016 Olympics, had exclusive rights during the Olympic cycle from 2013-2016.

With the purchase of these expensive sponsorship deals, brands are looking to capitalize on the “glow” of the Olympics, and use excusive Olympic intellectual property to make ties from their brand to the Games. In order to make these sponsorship deals more valuable, the IOC has historically provided official partners with added exclusivity …

The 1492 Jewish Expulsion From Spain: How Identity Politics And Economics Converged, Michelina Restaino

Honors College Theses

In 1492, after Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand defeated the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, they presented the Jewish community throughout their kingdoms with a choice: leaving or converting to Catholicism. The Spanish kingdoms had been anti-Jewish for centuries, forcing the creation of ghettos, the use of identifying clothing, etc. in an effort to isolate and “other” the Jews, who unsuccessfully sought peaceful co-existence. Those who did not accept expulsion, but converted, were the subject of further prejudice stemming from a belief that Jewish blood was tainted and that conversions were undertaken for financial gain. The government’s dramatic …

El Caso De Relmu Ñamku Como Observatorio Para Valorar Potencialidades, Riesgos Y Desafíos De Juicios Por Jurados Interculturales / The Case Of Relmu Ñamku As An Observatory To Assess The Potentials, Risks, And Challenges Of Intercultural Jury Trials, Carol Harding

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El sistema de juicios por jurados interculturales en Argentina es el primero de su tipo. Por el momento, el caso de la activista Mapuche Relmu Ñamku es el único caso que ha cumplido con el criterio de un jurado intercultural. En esta investigación, por medio de entrevistas con abogados, antropólogas, y activistas, valoré las diferentes perspectivas sobre las potencialidades, riesgos, y desafíos del sistema, usando el caso de Relmu como un observatorio. El marco teórico del sistema legal adversarial y el de jurados representativos proporcionan un estándar para el supuesto propósito y los límites del sistema. Además, la teoría de …

Adoption Process For The Model Aquatic Health Code: An Example, William D. Ramos, Allison L. Fletcher, Mike Mettler, Marcus A. Yoder

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

In 2014 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the first edition of the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC). This document represented the inaugural introduction of a federal policy guideline with a direct focus in the area of aquatic venue operation and maintenance with the sole purpose of improving the nature of public health in the field. The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) began the review and adoption process soon after the policy’s release. The ISDH process is proposed as one method for others to consider. The background and history of the MAHC are presented in …

Qualitative Approach To Understanding Guardian Models Of Policing, Jacqueline B. Helfgott, Beck M. Strah, Joycelyn Pollock, Loren T. Atherley, John Vinson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Since 2015, there has been a growing interest and controversy regarding the “warrior” versus “guardian” models of policing. This article discusses the concept of guardian policing and uses qualitative data from an evaluation of guardian-based training in a police academy to highlight guardian concepts as understood by the trainers. Results suggest that trainers generally exhibit a widespread level of support and commitment towards the guardian model and the priorities of guardian training, view the model as consistent with what has traditionally been considered “good policing,” and believe that critics do not understand the basic elements of the model itself, …

Graffiti With A Purpose: Sexual Violence & Social Justice Conversations In University Bathroom Stalls, Rachel E. Green, Miriam Northcutt Bohmert, Amanda N. Gesselman, Rasul Mowatt, Jennifer Maher, Justin R. Garcia

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

In 2014, our university began posting educational fliers in bathroom stalls across campus in order to share resources and policies on sexual violence, which spurred numerous forms of graffiti commentary about sexual violence prevention and response. Since some scholars have argued that bathroom graffiti can be a unique form of social commentary and even resistance facilitated by the tension of doing semi-private things in semi-public spaces, we examined 429 bathroom stall fliers across 11 heavily trafficked campus buildings, and a total of 177 graffiti comments/images. We then analyzed the relationships between comments in order to answer research questions about the …

Routledge Handbook Of Graffiti And Street Art, Jeffrey Ian Ross (Editor), Andrew C. Gray

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Expressing oneself by depicting images on public surfaces for others to view is a system of communication that has been around since the earliest societies formed and developed their own languages. This tradition of public communication has continued into the present in the form of graffiti and street art. The development of contemporary graffiti and street art is often attributed to the scenes in Philadelphia and New York City, which arose during the 1970s. In fact, it has been contended that these art forms spread to and mixed with graffiti/street art scenes across the globe due to NYC’s status as …