Legal Studies Commons^™

Black Resistance: Interpretive Agency Enacted Against Mutable Violence, Meera Kolluri

Scripps Senior Theses

Titled Black Resistance: Interpretive Agency Enacted Against Mutable Violence, my research discusses a reformed understanding of racial trauma and autonomy. I elaborate on the common reading of slavery in political thought and defend my argument with modern examples of resistance and theory. This text aims to shine light on assumptive narratives by classifying and redefining mutable violence against black America.

Are Opinions On Abortion Based On Racial Attitudes?, Ashley Mueller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My specific research question that I will be addressing through my Honors Research Project is; Does one’s race influence their opinions and criminalization of abortion in the United States? In addition to this question I will be discussing if these views have changed over time depending on race, and how their backgrounds, due to their race, may differentiate these views.

Postmortem Interval Estimation Based On Eukaryotic Community Associated With Soil Under Decomposing Porcine Remains, Amanda M. Haase

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Recent studies have shown that bacteria associated with soils under a carcass change significantly both temporally and spatially. These studies were done in both laboratory and field conditions, but with limited replications. In addition, limited information exists on temporal and spatial changes in eukaryotic community structure associated with soil under decomposing remains. This study was designed to fill in these gaps and expand on previous studies to improve postmortem interval (PMI) estimation techniques as well as to identify cadaver decomposition islands (CDI) based on eukaryotic community structure associated with soil under vertebrate remains. To accomplish this goal, soil samples were …

[Introduction To] Debating Sex Work, Lori Watson, Jessica Flanigan

Bookshelf

In this 'for and against' work, ethicists Lori Watson and Jessica Flanigan debate the criminalization of sex work. Watson argues for a sex equality approach to prostitution in which buyers are criminalized and sellers are decriminalized, known as the Nordic Model. Flanigan argues that sex work should be fully decriminalized because decriminalization ensures respect for sex workers' and clients' rights, and is more effective than alternative policies.

Putting these two views on sex work into conversation with one another, and opening up space for readers to weigh both approaches, the book provides a thorough, accessible exploration of the issues surrounding …

Right To Counsel: Improving Access To Justice In Us Indigent Defense Systems, Travis Hartman

Capstone Showcase

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel for indigent defendants. Even though a constitutional right, indigent defense in the US suffers from significant problems. While scholars have attempted to provide solutions to the problems, a question persists, How are Indigent Defense Systems impacting how Access to Justice is being provided in the United States? To answer this question, a structured, focused comparison method was utilized to evaluate US indigent defense systems. Case studies were chosen based upon the delivery and majority of funding for indigent defense coming from counties. Right to counsel for Access to Justice was defined by …

The Economic Impact Of Access To Reproductive Healthcare: A New Constitutional Argument, Niyati Narang

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to offer an alternative constitutional argument to Roe v Wade by focusing on the economic liberties granted by the 14th Amendment. By highlighting the connection between reproductive healthcare (abortion access, the pill) and women's economic development, this thesis presents an alternative argument to Roe.

From The Legal Literature: Criminalizing Propaganda: J. Remy Green’S Argument To Digitize Brandenburg, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From The Legal Literature: The Threat And Promise Of Police Use Of Dna Databases, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From The Legal Literature: Automating Police, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From The Legal Literature: Disentangling Prison And Punishment, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From The Legal Literature: If The Fetus Is A Person—Is It Relevant? An Argument On The Rights Of Pregnant Women, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

"May We Be Buried Alive Together": Towards An Intersectional Feminist True Crime Praxis, Alexandra White

Pomona Senior Theses

Most mainstream true crime narratives revolve around a corpse. It is usually the body of a woman. The body is most often white. Not always, but in the cultural imaginary, she is blonde. She comes from a good family. She was a sweet girl. What happened to her? While this question haunts the general public, it also animates true crime communities as the victim becomes a symbol of innocence, a site of spectacular violence, and evidence of the incomprehensible extreme of human behavior. The question brings (primarily) white, cis women true crime fans together in the name of fascination, fear, …

Police Procedural Justice, Lawyer Procedural Justice, Judge Procedural Justice, And Satisfaction With The Criminal Justice System: Findings From A Neglected Region Of The World, Daniel K. Pryce, George Wilson

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Although the impact of procedural justice on citizens’ satisfaction with the police and other branches of the criminal justice system has been tested in several geopolitical contexts, this is the first study to examine the relative impacts of police procedural justice, lawyer procedural justice, and judge procedural justice on satisfaction with a country’s criminal justice system. To assess the universal applicability of procedural justice, scholars must carry out research in all geopolitical regions. However, subSaharan Africa appears to be a region that scholars have neglected for far too long. As a result, the current study assesses the relative impacts of …

Understanding The Association Between Routine Activities, Social Bonds, Violent Victimization, And Violent Offending, Caleigh D. Lynch

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Did Juvenile Domestic Violence Offending Change During Covid-19?, Michael T. Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff, Joan A. Reid, Sherry L. Jackson, Alex R. Piquero

Publications and Research

The current study adds some of the first light into the initial impacts of the largest global health crisis in a generation on family and domestic violence, the long-term repercussions of which may take decades to unpack. Statewide trends in juvenile arrests for domestic violence (DV)-related offending are examined, taking into account school closures for in-person learning in March 2020 and the subsequent mandate for an in-person learning option in Florida in August 2020. Additionally, trends by sex, race/ethnicity, and severity of the offense are examined. Contrasting with growing studies demonstrating an increase in DV-related arrests among adults, we find …

Detection Of Bacterial Lipopolysaccharides Of Escherichia Coli By Direct Analysis In Real Time/Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, Dakotah M. Biller

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are a major component of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria species and are responsible for toxicity caused by organisms such as Escherichia coli (E.coli). Conventional methods for characterizing LPS utilize mass spectrometry, particularly matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Although these are successful in analyzing intact LPS molecules, they can be time-consuming. Other mass spectrometry techniques, such as direct analysis in real time/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART-TOF-MS) could also be helpful in the rapid analysis of LPS molecules without sample extraction procedures. This research focuses on the application …

The Utilization Of Sex Hormone Antibodies For Screening And Separation Of Trace Biological Mixtures, Kristin N. Jones

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Touch or trace evidence consists of epidermal cells deposited by contact with items such as handled objects, touched surfaces, or worn clothes. This type of evidence has surpassed most other sample types submitted to forensic labs and typically consists of low quantities of DNA and multiple contributors. In this study epithelial skin cells, i.e., “touch/trace evidence,” were used as they are estimated to constitute approximately half of the casework evidence items submitted for DNA analysis. For the optimization of antibody staining, male and female skin epithelial samples from donors were incubated and hybridized with antibodies of various concentrations of Alexa …

Development Of An Untargeted Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Gc/Ms) Method For The Detection Of Drugs In Wastewater, Samuel A. Miller

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Monitoring current illicit drug trends and consumption rates of pharmaceuticals using a non-invasive collection technique is needed to address the present drug use and the growing drug epidemic. Reliance on self-reporting drug use surveys is not always a practical measure of illicit drug use. Wastewater analysis has been used globally as a targeted method for monitoring the consumption of specific illicit drugs. Current existing analytical techniques for wastewater analysis focus on the use of targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based techniques. Few gas chromatography (GC) procedures exist for wastewater analysis, and those that do concentrate their methods on a single …

Development Of A Quantitative Pcr (Qpcr) Based Method For Studying Temporal Dna Degradation In Waterlogged Bone, Isis Thornton

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

Human activities are often centered around the presence of water, thus it is not surprising that there are many water-related human deaths. Accumulated degree days (ADD), and other aquatic variables may affect DNA retrieval from waterlogged bone. Calcium and collagen in bone can inhibit the PCR necessary to produce an STR profile; the current solution is a time-consuming organic extraction. While there are examples of research on DNA degradation in terrestrial bone over time, there has been little work done on submerged bone samples and they are usually limited to case studies. The major aim of this study was to …

Expanded Testing Of An Integrated Qpcr Mixture Screening Assay Using High Resolution Melt Curve Analysis And Support Vector Machine Modeling, Andrea L. Williams

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

In the conventional forensic DNA workflow, the number of contributors in a sample is unknown until the final step of STR analysis. We propose a high-resolution melt curve (HRM) mixture screening assay, which uses support vector machine (SVM) modeling of melt morphologies of D5S818 and D18S51 amplicons integrated into a common qPCR-based human DNA quantification kit, to differentiate between single-source samples (and their genotypes) and mixtures at an earlier stage in the DNA workflow (quantification). Previously, using data generated from whole melt curves, 87.5% of single-source samples and 100% of 1:1 mixture samples (2 contributors) classified accurately.

In this study, …