Public Policy Commons^™

Introduction To Public Trust And Confidence In The Courts, David B. Rottman, Alan Tomkins

Alan Tomkins Publications

This special issue is fortunate in its timing. The topic of public perceptions of the courts is having a rare moment in the limelight thanks to the drama of Florida’s ballots and what can count as a vote (or what opportunities there are for recounting ballots) in the U.S. Presidential election. The outcome of the political election seemed to rest on successive decisions by the judicial system: in particular, Florida’s trial and appellate courts, the federal court of appeals, and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court. Each of these courts addressed the propriety of electoral ballot counts for Presidential candidates in …

Enhancing Rural Sustainability Project Status Report

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

For the past year, the PPC has been working to identify a small list of key issues related to enhancing rural sustainability that would benefit from University research, with special attention paid to research activities already underway or in the planning process at the University. We also have been considering procedural options to determine the best way to facilitate the research to be conducted.

Conceptual Framework For Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Alternatives, Gary D. Lynne, Colby E. Kruse

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The earth has a limited atmospheric capacity to absorb more greenhouse gases generally, and carbon dioxide in particular. It also has a limited capacity for agricultural lands to store a stock of carbon that might be drawn from the atmosphere and thus help alleviate the global warming problem. There are alternative mechanisms and mixes of mechanisms that might be used to address both scarcities and to work within the atmospheric limits on emissions and agricultural limits represented the capacity of soil and land to store carbon. These include a) government regulation, b) tax and subsidy programs, c) spontaneous evolution of …

Carbon Sequestration, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, And Nebraska Agriculture – Background And Potential

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Scientists believe that rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming, although to what extent is difficult to determine. While limiting fossil fuel consumption is one method of reducing emissions of carbon to the atmosphere, another is sequestering carbon sources on the land. Carbon sequestration is the use of practices, technologies, or other measures that increase the retention of carbon in soil, vegetation, geologic formations, or the oceans with the effect of offsetting carbon dioxide emissions from other sources.

Nebraska’s agricultural producers can help address greenhouse gas concerns by implementing practices that cause the …

Are Court-Appointed Experts The Solution To The Problems Of Expert Testimony?, Anthony Champagne, Danny Easterling, Daniel W. Shuman, Alan Tomkins, Elizabeth Whitaker

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In contrast with the legal systems of many other countries, the use of privately-retained experts is the subject of intense criticism. Critics argue that privately-retained experts bias the information provided to courts because attorneys shop for experts who will present their point of view in the most favorable light, even though that point of view may not be the mainstream scientific one or appropriately reflect the consensus of technical or specialized knowledge. Others argue that the use of retained experts permits non-mainstream perspectives to be brought into court and gives judges little control over its introduction, and that privately-retained experts …

Potential For Market Systems/Carbon Trading, Gary D. Lynne, Colby E. Kruse

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

If carbon sequestration concerns are to be addressed through markets, the cap and trade mechanism is perhaps the most likely approach that will be taken in solving the carbon problem. This is based in part on experience with the sulfur allowances market that is being implemented starting with the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. It is recognized, however, that a great deal of uncertainty surrounds the matter of whether we might see emission allowance markets and the related carbon storage markets anytime soon. As a result, the bulk of the report is devoted to highlighting the major parameters that will …

Potential Impacts Of State Meat And Poultry Inspection For The State Of Nebraska, Kara Slaughter, Sam Cordes, Alan Tomkins, Lyn Kathlene

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Since 1907, Federal law has mandated the inspection of all slaughter and processing establishments engaging in interstate sales of meat and poultry products. In the late 1960’s, Congress expanded the Federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Acts to also require inspection of establishments selling within state lines. At that time, Congress intended for individual states to take on the responsibility for monitoring intra-state meat and poultry sales, using standards “at least equal to” the Federal guidelines for interstate establishments.

At present, 27 states do maintain their own state inspection programs, at an average cost of $1,882,319 per state, per year. In …

Selected Special Education Flexible Funding Projects Reference Document Contains Selected Project Descriptions 1997-2001, Reece L. Peterson, Carl R. Smith, Adria Bace, Jennifer S. Elliott, Thomas M. O'Connor, Sarah Bloxham

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This Reference Document is intended to provide information about a variety of flexible funding projects that address issues related to discipline and counseling in Nebraska’s schools. The Document is a product of the “Practices Improvement Project in Behavior/Discipline and Counseling,” sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Education, and housed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Drake University, Des Moines. This Reference Document is intended to be used to permit sharing, cooperation, and coordination of school efforts.

The flexible funding option for Nebraska’s school systems allows the use of a percentage of that district’s special education funds for the education of …

Carbon Sequestration Policy And Global Warming: A Legal Analysis, Norman W. Thorson, Harry A. Spencer

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Global warming seems destined to become one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. Most scientists now agree that measurable increases in average global mean temperatures over the past decades cannot be explained by natural temporal variations in the earth’s climate. Instead, global warming appears to be a fact that can be attributed to human induced changes in the composition of greenhouse gasses in the earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, if the trend toward ever increasing temperatures continues, consequences for the earth’s environment will be dramatic, and perhaps irreversible. Growing concern over the potential for human activities to alter the earth’s …

Introduction To International Perspectives On Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Part Ii, Alan Tomkins, David Carson

Alan Tomkins Publications

Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) is flourishing. There is a proliferation of articles being published. In addition, books are being written, and in the past several years, conferences devoted to TJ have been held. (For a listing of over 300 books and articles, see http://www.law.arizona.edu/upr-intj and follow the “Cumulative Bibliography” link.) Some recent examples: Professors Bruce Winick and David Wexler, who developed the TI concept, teamed with former University of Denver Law Dean Edward Dauer (internationally known for his work in preventive law) to edit a special issue of the journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law on “Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Preventive Law: …

Introduction To "Current Directions": Behavioral Sciences And The Law 2000, Alan Tomkins

Alan Tomkins Publications

Th is is the second “Current Directions” issue published in Behavioral Sciences and the Law. Our Current Directions issues are not themed issues, but rather they are a collection of current research reports, special perspectives, and other publications. In this issue of Current Directions, there are five traditional research report/special perspective articles:
• Frederick, “Mixed Group Validation: A Method to Address the Limitations of Criterion Group Validation in Research on Malingering Detection”
• Cooper & Hall, “Reaction of Mock Jurors to Testimony of a Court Appointed Expert”
• Cascardi, Poythress, & Hall, “Procedural Justice in the Context of Civil …

From The Psychiatric Hospital To The Community: Integrating Conditional Release And Contingency Management, Eric B. Elbogen, Alan Tomkins

Alan Tomkins Publications

Psychiatric hospital recidivism has been and continues to be a persistent problem in treating individuals with chronic mental illness. Conditional release, a form of involuntary outpatient commitment, has been suggested as one possible solution. Guided by therapeutic jurisprudence, this article presents a proposal about conditional release that would maximize convergence of social values and would be empirically testable. Specifically, a scientifically validated treatment intervention for individuals with chronic mental illness, contingency management, is integrated with conditional release. From this proposal, a number of empirical hypotheses and legal questions about discharging psychiatric patients are generated and discussed.

Survey Of Existing I&R Services And A Nebraska 211 System Cost/Benefit Analysis

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In June, 1999, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NHHSS) and the United Way of the Midlands requested that the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center coordinate a feasibility study of a statewide Information and Referral (I&R) system for health and human services. Because several I&R systems around the country make use of the 2-1-1 three digit number for I&R information, and there are a number of states investigating reserving 211 for statewide I&R services, this report uses the 211 nomenclature although there has been no state Public Service Commission designation of 211 for this purpose in Nebraska. …

Public Trust And Confidence In The Courts: What Public Opinion Surveys Mean To Judges, David B. Rottman, Alan Tomkins

Alan Tomkins Publications

In August 1998 a comprehensive national survey added to the growing mass of information on how the public perceives the state courts. The “Perceptions of the U.S. Justice System,” commissioned by the American Bar Association, relied on telephone interviews of 1,000 American adults selected at random. The respondents were asked for their opinions about “the justice system,” lawyers, judges, law enforcement and the courts. The findings from the ABA survey were optimistic relative to most of the previous surveys. Public confidence in the courts relative to other major institutions seemed higher, and experience with courts appeared to promote higher rather …

Final Report: Nebraska Child Support Collection And Disbursement System Implementation Project, Alan Tomkins, Nancy C. Shank

Alan Tomkins Publications

In June, 1999, the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center (PPC) was asked by the Executive Board of the Nebraska Legislature to undertake a study of child support issues. Specifically, the PPC was asked to recommend how Nebraska can preserve existing strengths and reduce or eliminate weakness in its child support customer service system as the state complies with a federal mandate and develops a centralized State Disbursement Unit (SDU) for the receipting and disbursement of child support payments.

In order to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the present customer service system in Nebraska, as well as learn …

Introduction To International Perspectives On Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Alan Tomkins, David Carson

Alan Tomkins Publications

Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ), a concept first conceived by law professors David Wexler (University of Puerto Rico and University of Arizona) and Bruce Winick (University of Miami) only a little more than a decade ago, has emerged as the leading conceptual perspective in the mental health law field. Indeed, a LEXIS search reveals well over 150 articles on, or citing to, therapeutic jurisprudence in American law review publications in the past decade (terms used were “therapeutic w/5 jurisprudence w/25 Wexler or Winick”).

Although initially a notion that provided an alternative to the traditional “rights” approach to thinking about mental health law …

How The Public Views The State Courts (1999 National Survey)

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Table of Contents:
A REPORT ON THE NATIONAL SURVEY by Frank A. Bennack, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer, The Hearst Corporation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH METHODS
FINDINGS
TRUST, CONFIDENCE AND APPROVAL
Public Trust and Confidence in America’s Institutions
The Manner in Which Courts Handle Cases
INVOLVEMENT, KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION SOURCES, AND THE MEDIA
Personal Involvement
Self-Rated Court Knowledge
Sources of Information Regarding News and the Courts
Media Portrayal of Courts
COURT PERFORMANCE: THE PUBLIC’S EVALUATION
Court Access
Timeliness of Courts
Equality and Fairness of Courts
Perceptions of Equal Treatment
Court Independence and Responsiveness
CONCLUSION

How The Public Views The State Courts A 1999 National Survey, Frank A. Bennack Jr.

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The survey covered four broad areas: access to the courts, timeliness of court decisions, fairness of judicial decision-making, independence and responsiveness of the courts to the public and to changing conditions in society.

The questions came at the issues from many angles, but when all the figures were totaled and all the comments considered, the courts came out just okay on average.

This conclusion is a mix of high, medium and low marks across different categories. Sometimes there was broad consensus and other times views differed widely by race, ethnic group, income and other factors.

Agricultural Property Taxation: A Comparative Analysis, Brandon G.Y. Raddatz, Bruce Johnson

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The purpose of this study was to update a terminated Economic Research Service-USDA information series comparing property taxes across states. The top 25 a gricultural producing states were studied along with Wyoming since it shares a border with the focused state, Nebraska.

State departments of revenue personnel from each of the states were surveyed and tax information compiled which provided the means to update the comparative tax analysis to 1998 for 19 of the 26 states. The remaining sta tes lacked sufficient data to complete this update.

Introduction To Families And The Courts: Special Issue Of Behavioral Sciences & The Law, Alan Tomkins, Pamela M. Casey

Alan Tomkins Publications

This special issue of Behavioral Sciences & the Law examines some of the many issues related to “Families and the courts.” As Judge Ted Rubin (this issue) observes, “Not everything or everybody ends up in a family court—or any other court—when there is a family problem. But much does and many do.” The issue deals with some of the family matters that do—or should—implicate the legal system (ranging from the attempts of gay men and lesbians to obtain legal recognition of their parental status vis-a-vis their children to the potential role of law in protecting children from emotional maltreatment by …

Introduction To Special Issue: International Perspectives (Behavioral Sciences And The Law), Alan Tomkins, David Carson

Alan Tomkins Publications

There is a dearth of behavioral-sciences-and-law (bsl) scholarship that employs an international, comparative, or cross-cultural perspective. Traditionally, bsl scholarship is national in its orientation. Thus, it is quite pleasing to have assembled five articles for this “Special Issue on International Perspectives” that address bsl issues from a nontraditional perspective. The four core articles (there also is a “Special Perspective” that the Issue Editors have contributed) in the Special Issue represent the kinds of research, theorizing, and writing that can open the horizons and expand the boundaries of traditional scholarship in the bsl area.

The Need For And The Role Of Comparative And Cross-Cultural Perspectives In Behavioral-Science-And-Law Scholarship, David Carson, Alan Tomkins

Alan Tomkins Publications

Behavioral-science-and-law scholarship suffers from the lack of many activities examining issues from a comparative or cross-cultural perspective. Although U.S. contributions tend to be the most insular, the problem applies to virtually all behavioral-science-and-law endeavors. This special perspective examines the trend in behavioral-science-and-law scholarship) presents data to support the allegation that there are few comparative/cross-cultural contributions) offers explanations for the situation, and advocates for the introduction of more comparative/cross-cultural efforts in the future.

Education And Training In Psychology And Law/Criminal Justice: Historical Foundations, Present Structures, And Future Developments, James R. P. Ogloff, Alan Tomkins, Donald N. Bersoff

Alan Tomkins Publications

Although psychology had a brief—and rather dramatic—foray into the legal system early in this century, it was only after World War II that psychology started to systematically permeate the legal system. Building on the interest psychologists and other social scientists had on the law, education and training in the areas of psychology and law/criminal justice has undergone considerable growth and development over the past two decades. The authors discuss the early developments and current models of this education and training. Implications of the increased interest and training in psychology and law/ criminal justice, and directions for future developments in these …

Introduction To "Persons With Disabilities": Special Issue Of Behavioral Sciences And The Law, Alan Tomkins

Alan Tomkins Publications

In 1990, the United States Congress enacted legislation protecting the civil rights of persons with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990) has been termed the most significant civil rights legislation since the 1960s (Rothstein, 1992/1994; see also Drimmer, 1993; Gostin & Beyer, 1993). The intent of the ADA is to provide “not only equal treatment [for persons with disabilities], but also equal opportunity” (Rothstein, 1992, p. 19, emphasis in original). The purpose of the ADA is not only to eliminate intentional discrimination, but also to change “policies and practices that have a discriminatory impact” on persons with disabilities …

The National Register Of Historic Places: An Historic Preservation Planning Tool?, Brent Donald Nelson

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

This paper answers three questions: 1) What is the National Register of Historic Places? 2) Does the National Register act as an historic preservation planning tool? 3) Did the administrative changes made to the National Register nominating procedures in 1986 enhance or improve any planning tool functions that it may have had?

The author, based on preliminary research and personal experience hypothesized that the answers to the first two questions would be that the National Register is a list that acts primarily as an "honor roll" bestowing distinction and recognition onto properties placed on it and only secondarily as a …

Civilian Space Stations And The U.S. Future In Space, U.S. Office Of Technology Assessment

Space Law Documents

After the expenditure of some $200 billion (1984$) since the launch of its first spacecraft in early 1958, the United States has obtained the scientific knowledge and developed the technological capability and professional expertise to succeed in virtually any theoretically possible civilian space venture that it may choose to undertake, But America’s second quarter-century of space activities promises to differ markedly from the first, almost wholly exploratory, era. If space is to be successfully developed in roughly the same fashion as have other, more familiar natural resources and environments, the next stage will be characterized by establishing and securing the …

Civilian Space Policy And Applications, U.S. Office Of Technology Assessment

Space Law Documents

The United States orbited its first satellite in 1958, nearly a quarter century ago. In the intervening years, the United States has made great strides in developing peaceful and practical uses of space technology. However, in spite of the dramatic successes of the space program, among which are the recent flights of the Columbia shuttle orbiter, many informed observers express considerable unease about the future of our civilian efforts in space, particularly in light of increased foreign competition and stringent fiscal restraints.

Because of these uncertainties and also because of emerging new prospects for using the space environment, this assessment …