Legal Studies Commons^™

Recidivism Rates Of Committed Youth, 2006 - 2009, Becky Noreus, Robyn Dumont

Justice Policy

The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) Division of Juvenile Services (DJS) collaborates with the Muskie School of Public Service in a state‐university partnership to analyze juvenile recidivism rates. DJS measures juvenile justice outcomes to guide policy and program development geared toward recidivism reduction. Reduction of youth recidivism in Maine increases public safety.

This report uses multiple recidivism measures: re‐arrest, re‐adjudication/conviction, and recommitment. To be consistent with other reports, most analysis focuses on re‐adjudication/conviction.

This report measures DJS impact on youth who have been committed to a MDOC facility by examining rates of recidivism.

Real Estate Law The American Dream Transfigured Into The American Mortgage Crisis, Maricruz Aguiar

HIM 1990-2015

Real Estate law is the body of rules and regulations with legal codes that concern ownership, development and transactions. Real Estate has grown to be one of the main contributors to the nation's financial system. For decades, the housing market has been such an integral part of the economy. Unfortunately, in the beginning of the twenty-first century lax regulatory oversight led the nation to an economic collapse. Indeed, federal, state and local governments have become heavily involved in solving the downward spiral in the economy. This research focuses on the mortgage crisis in order to show how Real Estate law …

Propaganda Exposed A Glimpse Into The Truth Of Hidden Agendas, Carolyn Park

HIM 1990-2015

Government propaganda has been a topic of interest since America was founded, and today is no exception. Every recent Presidential Administration has been accused of using taxpayer dollars to fund propaganda. Although the funding of propaganda has been prohibited by the Consolidated Appropriations Act since 1951, it still occurs frequently. There is no entity that reviews government correspondence before it is released to the public, so government agencies are free to produce what they feel is appropriate even if it is prohibited by the Act. Furthermore, there is no law that specifically forbids government propaganda, and the current punishments amount …

Crimes Against Caring: Compassion Fatigue, Burnout And Self-Care Practices Among Professionals Working With Crimes Against Children, Patrick Quinn Brady

Criminal Justice Graduate Projects and Theses

Working with cases involving crimes against children requires individuals to be directly and indirectly exposed to graphic material including images, videos, and statements made by child victims. Exposure to traumatic events can have a profound and lasting effect on everyone who is directly and indirectly involved. Because of this, helping professionals who have extended exposure to traumatized populations are more susceptible to psychological distress. Through an exhaustive review of the literature, this paper identifies the prevalence of compassion fatigue, burnout, compassion satisfaction among forensic interviewers and professionals working with cases involving crimes against children. The utilization of self-care methods from …

Florida's Medical Malpractice Tort Reform A Cognitive Analysis Of Litigious, Legislative Promulgation And Jurisprudence, Joseph Formoso

HIM 1990-2015

Public opinion in recent years has been seemingly manipulated by superfluous stories, bad press, and negative commentaries regarding the perceived "Medical Malpractice Crisis." It has initiated a political attack on Florida's tort system which has resulted in making valid medical malpractice claims even more so difficult for victimized plaintiffs to pursue. After months of diligent research, and with the loyal aid of my university advisors and the dedicated law librarians I've had the honor to work with, I have thoroughly analyzed Florida's past and present medical malpractice tort reforms and governing procedural laws; in addition to arguing, by virtue of …

Immigration Law And Enforcement The Role Of States And Local Authorities, Yisell Rodriguez

HIM 1990-2015

Immigration law and its enforcement are controversial and highly debated topics. States are increasing their role in the enforcement of immigration law by enacting laws that allow local law enforcement to function as immigration officers with the intent of decreasing the illegal alien population within their jurisdiction. The primary focus of this thesis is to determine whether state and local police have the legal power to enforce immigration laws that have been the jurisdiction of the Federal Government for decades. There are two sides that are discussed in this thesis, the proponents who are in favor of increased participation and …

An Examination Of The History And Effect Of American Sex Offense Laws And Offender Registration, David Shabat-Love

HIM 1990-2015

America's Sex Offense statutes and cases are some of the most controversial sections of modern law, both for the extreme sensitivity of their subject matter as well as the scope and application of those laws. This thesis is an analysis and overview of both the objective and subjective issues posed by the current state of those very laws: the subjective portion explored the development of current laws and the diverse attendant legal issues such as over-broadness and excessive or misdirected effect as compared to the Legislative and public intent which directly led to the development of these laws. Additionally a …

Medicate To Execute Constitutional And Ethical Considerations, Adam Schultz

HIM 1990-2015

The United States Supreme Court has not yet examined several aspects of the death penalty. One aspect is the ability for the state to forcefully medicate an incompetent inmate, which may result in the inmate appearing competent for execution. While the Supreme Court' ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute an inmate who is incompetent, inmates who would have had their executions vacated due to mental illness are executed because the state can put them on an involuntary medication regimen. According to many experts, involuntary medication regimens mask the affects of their illness instead of providing a cure. Experts often …

The Duality Of Florida's Criminal Pretrial Diversion Programs A Separate Treatment Court For Veterans, David Vanzandt

HIM 1990-2015

This thesis examines two issues facing Florida's young and fledgling Veteran Treatment Courts. First is whether or not a separate hybrid court of already existing mental health and drug courts is needed exclusively for veterans; and second, funding and efficiency of such courts as compared to traditional criminal institutions.

The Weak Registry The Constitutionality And Effectiveness Of Legal Restrictions On Convicted Sex Offenders, Andrea-Li Medina

HIM 1990-2015

Over the last few decades our society has moved towards restricting where sexual offenders can live, work, and overall congregate. This issue has been the focus of great public attention due to the media's role in bringing these offenders to the light. Whether it is through the news, movies, TV series, books, talk shows, newspapers articles, etc., these offenders are constantly being talked about. Every body of government in the United States has moved towards implementing restrictions that are aimed at keeping sex offenders away from places where they are considered a potential danger. However, what it is not talked …

The Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (Case) Act: A Case Study In Policy Advocacy, Bailey Mannisto-Ichés

Capstone Collection

In any given year in the United States of America at least 100,000 domestic youth are sexually exploited through the commercial sex industry. Current national and state laws do not adequately protect these children from being groomed, pimped, and exploited over and over again in their young lives. A majority of these children are trafficked from, into or within the nation’s most populated state of California. In 2003 the FBI identified three of the country’s 13 high-­‐intensity child sex trafficking cities as being in California. The cycle of violence these children endure is not being brought to justice through the …

The Impact Of The Structure, Function, And Resources Of The Campus Security Office On Campus Safety, Patricia Anne Bennett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The topic of this dissertation is college and university safety. This national quantitative study utilized resource dependency theory to examine relationships between the incidence of reported campus crimes and the structure, function, and resources of campus security offices. This study uncovered a difference in reported total crime rates, violent crime rates, and non-violent crime rates for colleges with police officers, internal security, contract security, hybrid departments, and no security office. This study examined the combination of institutional characteristics which best explain the occurrence of total campus crime, violent crime, and non-violent crime on campus. Two forms of data collection were …

A Failing Correctional System: State Prison Overcrowding In The United States, Susan M. Campers

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

State prison overcrowding has grown into a detrimental problem within our American penal system, such that after decades of being ignored by politicians, media outlets, and the lower court system, it has resulted in an ineffective and overcrowded correctional system that craves reformation.

Capecitabine Induced Hand And Foot Syndrome And The Reproducibility Of Friction Skin, Rodney Allen Schenk

Master's Theses

In 2008, a 62 year old male was detained by United States Customs and Immigration officials when attempting to enter the United States because his fingerprints were not detectable. It was later reported by his medical doctor in Singapore that the individual suffered from Hand and Foot Syndrome (palmar-plantar erythrodysaesthesia) as a result of his cancer treatment of capecitabine (N4-pentyloxycarbonyl-5-deoxy-5- fluorocytidine) which causes interruptions to the normal growth of keratinocytes in the friction skin. Capecitabine is a recently developed, orally administered fluoropyrimidine prodrug designed to generate 5-fluorouracil through a three-step enzymatic process giving it antineoplastic properties to combat cancerous tumor …

Efficiency Of Using Commercial Dna Extraction Kits And The Organic Extraction Method In Removal Of Polymerase Chain Reaction Inhibitors, Brandi Jo Payne

Master's Theses

The first step in the determination of a perpetrator of a crime using DNA profiling is obtaining good quality DNA. The substrate on which the body fluid is located may contain substances that can co-extract with DNA and may inhibit subsequent PCR analysis. In this study, the efficiency of the removal of such contaminants were tested using three different methods, namely the PrepFiler DNA extraction kit, DNA IQ DNA extraction system, and the organic DNA extraction protocol. One, two, five, and ten μl of whole blood were deposited on soil, wood chips, and cotton swatches treated with bleach. DNA was …

The Creation Of State-Level Regulatory Systems: A Case Study Of Post-Prohibition Alcoholic Beverage Regulation, Jeremy Carp

Sociology Honors Projects

To better understand the way in which local and national forces operate to influence the design of subnational regulatory systems, this paper analyzes the development of alcohol regulation in the post-prohibition era. In particular, I examine why, in the period between 1933 and 1935, some states adopted a monopoly system of alcohol regulation and others a license system of alcohol regulation. I use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and case-based research to identify causal pathways leading to each regulatory outcome. I draw on state-level demographic, religious, and voting data, as well as measures of alcohol industry prevalence and prohibition …

Broken Windows, Police, &Traffic Safety, Carol Servino

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Abstract This research explores application of the “broken windows” theory of public disorder and urban decline to the pattern and problem of police officer fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. It contextualizes the influential theory into a 45-year timeline of significant events related to legislative efforts and traffic safety behavioral safety programs in the United States. It finds one police agency that reported fewer crimes and fewer crashes after implementing a community-wide Safe Streets program designed around “broken windows” theory in 1997. It pays particular attention to states with the highest percentages of law enforcement officer fatalities in motor vehicle crashes, …

Legal Representation In The Chinese Criminal Court, Yudu Li, Hong Lu

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Abstract: Legal representation plays an important role in criminal sentencing decisions. China has recently stipulated a mandatory legal representation clause for all offenders facing capital charges in its Criminal Procedural Law (1996). This study uses data generated from criminal court case documents involving three serious violent crimes: murder, intentional assault, and robbery. All these crimes carry a maximum of sentence of death. The study examines whether and under what conditions legal representation has an effect on criminal sentencing decisions in China. While the overall multi-regression model did not find that having a legal representation significantly reduces the criminal sentence, a …

Parting The Waves: Claims To Maritime Jurisdiction And The Division Of Ocean Space, Clive Schofield

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

This article casts aside traditional obsessions and examines the development and present state of coastal State claims to maritime jurisdiction, the overlapping claims to maritime space that have inevitably resulted from the significant extension of maritime claims in recent decades, and thus the delimitation of maritime boundaries.

What Propels Sexual Homicide Offenders? Testing An Integrated Theory Of Social Learning And Routine Activities Theories, Heng Choon Chan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sexual homicide is a rare occurrence. Little is known about the offending perspective of sexual homicide from a criminological standpoint. Recently, Chan, Heide, and Beauregard (2011) proposed an integrative theoretical framework using concepts and propositions of Social Learning Theory (differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement or punishment, and imitation) and Routine Activities Theory (a motivated offender, an attractive and suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian or guardianship) to elucidate the sexual homicide offending dynamics. According to this integrative model, the individual-level view of the sexual murderers is explained by …