Preventing unsuitable people from working with children—the criminal justice and court services bill

The continuing concern to safeguard children from abuse in schools, children's homes and similar settings has led to proposals to make it an offence for those with convictions against children to even apply for work with children. The Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill will introduce ‘disqualification orders’ for such offenders. The background development of this Bill is considered, together with the way the new orders will fit with existing criminal record check arrangements, current bans and the role of the forthcoming Criminal Records Bureau, which will tie all these systems together in a ‘one‐stop shop’. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Same-Sex Marriage

Abstract

In this commentary, the legal ramifications and implications of the recent ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowing same-sex marriages to occur in that state are examined. The author then suggests a hypothetical scenario for what the future might look like assuming that the Massachusetts decision is not overturned by adoption of a state constitutional amendment.     

Constitutionalizing Modernity: Forging the Modern American State

Who makes decisions when an essential, constitutional 'handbook' has failed to describe any exceptional situation? Is it fair to place power in the hands of a few specific people to decide? This article illustrates how the US Supreme Court has modernized and reconstituted the US Constitution to make it compatible with an emerging twentieth-century regulatory state and the attendant public functions within the 'state'. The article examines the relationships among legal, social, political, and economic changes in the process of the modern evolutionary state. The paper represents a theoretical attempt to relate constitutional growth and evolution to the development of a constitutionally legitimized 'positive', 'regulatory', or 'welfare' state, and concludes that constitutional fluidity and flexibility are potential sources of empowerment, while incremental constitutionalism with regard to the welfare state is probably the best possible strategy to adopt in American modernity.     

Using institutional ethnography's ideological circle to portray how textually mediated disability discourse paralysed a Supreme Court of Canada ruling

Persons with disabilities created through texts as damaged goods are being ‘cured’ by workplace accommodation, a textually mediated work process. Prior to 1999, workplace accommodation in the Canadian federal public service signified the adjustments necessary to enable a disabled worker to fit into a workplace designed for able-bodied workers. In 1999, a Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruling known as Meiorin turned this accommodation provision on its head. Instead of being focused on individual-level fixes so that a disabled worker could be accommodated in an existing workplace, this legislation required employers to transform their workplaces so as to make them ready to receive as many different types of workers as reasonably possible from the outset. Using Dorothy E. Smith's institutional ethnography, I use my experiences as a disability rights activist employed in the Canadian federal public service to explicate how textually mediated disability discourse paralysed this groundbreaking SCC ruling.     

Shouting from the Bottom of the Well The Impact of International Trials for Wartime Rape on Women's Agency

This article critically examines the presumption that international adjudication of wartime rape cases advances the interests of survivors. It argues that just as national women's rights advocates recognize the futility of relying on court testimony alone for the production of a narrative that reflects women's experiences, promotes their agency and addresses their need for closure and healing, international women's rights advocates should explore the limitations of international tribunals and examine complementary and alternative mechanisms. Using the landmark "Foca case' as an illustration, the author explains that although women may still exercise agency in the context of the adversarial process, their ability to do so is stunted. Moreover, I argue that, although witnesses may actively resist the legal meta-narrative of Woman Victim, adversarial processes serve to reinforce gender essentialism and cultural essentialism. This analysis has important implications for women human rights advocates seeking to bring cases before all international courts, including the permanent International Criminal Court.     

Table of Contents

Pennsylvania's Access to Treatment Law Facing Supreme Court Challenge NAADAC, ASAM to Help Educate Counselors on Medication Treatment for Alcoholism More People Being Treated for Drugs Other Than Alcohol About Campral A Harm Reduction Approach to Alcohol and Drug Education Briefly Noted Resources Names in the News Coming up     

Table of Contents

New Jersey Supreme Court to Rule on Methadone Treatment during Pregnancy Family and Community Linkages Key in Youth Treatment NSDUH: Daily Marijuana Use Increasing among Teens Blog Post Critical of IC&RC Training Full of Errors CSAT's Clark: SBIRT Trials Should Focus on Mild SUDs Briefly Noted Coming up     

When Should Differences Make a Difference:

This study criticizes the Supreme Court's current approach to constitutional gender equality and suggests a new type of review for gender-based classifications under the equal protection clause. The debate over acceptable gender classification hsa forced the Court to decide whether distinctions on the basis of gender-specific physical characteristics discriminate on the bsais of gender, whether legislation on the basis of generalized physical characteristics is discriminatory when applied to individuals who deviate from the average, whether states reinforce sex role stereotypes when legislating on the basis of gender-specific physical characteristics, and whether legislation that purports to benefit women actually serves to further inequality. In wrestling with this issues, especially the last, the Court has also been forced to explain both logically and legally why racial classifications are different from gender classifications The purpose of this study is twofold: the first objective is to argue that the Supreme Court should adopt an approach to legally sanctioned gender differentiation that would review gender classifications with the same hostility as racial classifications; related to this is the second objective, which is to show that a strict-scrutiny equal protection analysis is compatible with a special treatment approach for pregnancy benefits legislation. The two tasks will be undertaken by presenting critiques of the Court's current approach to gender equity and by suggesting an alternative direction for gender-based equal protection doctrine, one that will accomodate positive pregnancy legislation.     

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services:

This article analyzes the constitutional significance of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989). The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court has two prominent features. First, the Court upheld the restrictions on the right of women to abort by devaluing the provisions of the challenged Missouri law. It is suggested that these provisions are far more significant than the Court majority acknowledged, and that their significance became apparent soon after the Court's resolution of the case. Second, the Court's approach to resolving Webster suggests a reconceptualizing of fundamental rights questions wherein state action jurisprudence has been turned upside down and compelling state interest analysis has been eschewed. While Roe v. Wade (1973) was not overruled in Webster, it appears that the contemporary Court's approach to operationalizing the right of choice is unlikely to restrict the power of the states to regulate in this area.     

An Overview of and Comments on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Abstract

The authors overview the key components of the ADA in this article. A discussion is offered on why and how persons with disabilities are discriminated against. Critical United States Supreme Court decisions are presented; these decisions have greatly limited the power of the ADA in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Even though the United States Supreme Court has narrowed the impact of the ADA in American life, a number of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases are presented suggesting this federal agency is attempting to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination. Finally, the authors deal with the topic of advocacy; advocacy may well be one of the most effective tools to help insure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected.     

Rumour and decertification in exile politics: evidence from the Egyptian case

ABSTRACT

Does exile affect activism and if so how? In this paper, the case of Egyptian activists exiled in England is taken as illustrative of processes typical of exiled activism. The case study draws on primary and secondary sources including a series of biographical interviews with exiled activists. The analysis compares activism in Egypt with exiled activism in England using the participants’ critical self-reflections to explain the mechanisms mediating the changes. Contrary to reasonable expectations that exile is a spontaneous response to a change in political context, the conditions for exile predate banishment and lie within the institutions of dictatorship which decertify activism. Decertification continues throughout the exile process as fear of repression becomes internalized within the movement. Within the sanctuary of the host country, a process of brokerage counteracts decertification expanding and modifying the exile repertoire.     

The Causes of Pro-Immigration Voting in the United States Supreme Court1

During the pre-confirmation debate over Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, critics accused her of allowing her background to influence her judicial decisions. This article assesses the validity of such a claim for all sitting justices from 1875 to 2007 in one relevant policy area, immigration. In this article, we look at all 185 immigration-related decisions by the Supreme Court from its creation through 2007. Logistic general estimating equation regression analysis of Supreme Court voting on these cases suggests that justices who were nominated by Democratic presidents, who were urbanites, and who had previous judicial experience were more likely to vote in favor of immigration. However, justices who grew up in the Southwest, had Southern European ancestors, or were ideological conservatives were more hostile to immigration. Although public opinion, the unemployment rate, and the percent foreign-born in a given year did not affect justices’ votes, non-asylum cases and appeals from the Eighth Circuit were more likely to receive favorable treatment. The mean level of racial liberalism of the Senators in office during a particular justice’s confirmation hearings likewise had a large impact on his or her subsequent rulings. These findings suggest that Supreme Court voting on immigration is substantially influenced by justices’ background and political preferences as well as by some political and legal structures. These results thus support Legal Realism and New Institutionalism instead of the Traditional Legal Model of Supreme Court behavior.     

Who Is Protected?

Many employers have excluded women whose infertility is not medically documented from allegedly hazardous work claiming they feared if the women became pregnant, their fetuses would be harmed. In United Auto Workers v. Johnson Controls, the Supreme Court held in 1991 that so-called "fetal protection policies" are unlawful sex discrimination. After examining four cases challenging exclusionary policies in Britain and the United States, this article unmasks and argues against the assumptions underlying such policies. By returning to well-established sex discrimination doctrine, moving away from a male norm, and reaffirming women's right to both work and have children, the Supreme Court's decision in UAW V. Johnson Controls is an important victory. The decision should help to break down job segregation, prompt the EEOC to act, and clear the way for addressing questions of health and safety rather than equality and difference.     

未成年人犯罪案件刑事附带民事诉讼若干问题探析——以我国新《刑事诉讼法》的相关规定为中心

2012年修改的我国《刑事诉讼法》实施后，未成年人犯罪案件刑事附带民事诉讼中可能存在“合适成年人”无法作为民事诉讼法定代理人以维护有关未成年人民事权益、适用“当事人和解的公诉案件诉讼程序”时将被告人赔偿与否作为量刑情节而造成对被告人不公、适用“简易程序”时法官施压调解而干预阻碍被告人行使民事诉讼权利、审判人员能否兼备审理刑事案件与民事案件的专业素养等问题。为了在发挥刑事附带民事诉讼制度优点的同时一定程度上控制其缺陷所造成的不利影响，司法解释应规定在未成年人犯罪案件中，刑事附带民事诉讼制度不适用于刑事附带民事诉讼的民事部分标的金额较大的情形、被告人可能被判处较重刑罚的情形、刑事附带民事诉讼的刑事部分与民事部分审级不一致的情形、案件审理时间较长的情形。     

RANKING LAW JOURNALS AND THE LIMITS OF JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS

Journal rankings published by Journal Citation Reports (JCR) are widely used to assess research quality, which influences important decisions by academic departments, universities, and countries in the allocation of research funds. We study refereed law journal rankings by JCR and Washington and Lee Law Library (W&L). JCR's rankings are uncorrelated with W&L's. The differences appear to be attributable to underrepresentation of law journals in JCR's database. We illustrate the effects of database bias on rankings through case studies of three elite journals, the Journal of Law and Economics, Supreme Court Review, and the American Law and Economics Review. (JEL C18, C81, Y10)     

“A Fear Like I've Never Felt”: Experiences of Parents Whose Adult Children Deployed to Combat Zones

Despite the increase of research with military families, less is known about the experiences of those parents who have adult children deployed overseas for military operations. This article presents parents’ experiences of having adult children deployed to combat zones. Qualitative data were gathered through an Internet-based survey during 2010. Analyses revealed important themes within the parents’ portrayals expressing strong reactions of fear, worry and concern for their children's safety and well being throughout their experiences. Parents also described frustrations communicating with their deployed children. Support from formal and informal sources was important to their coping, as was assistance from religious and military organizations. Finally, parents reported varied impacts of the adult children's deployment on the parents’ marriages. Implications for future military family research and family life education are provided.     

Supreme Court Auditing of the US Courts of Appeals: An Organizational Perspective

Using an aggregate-level model of Supreme Court–circuitcourt interactions, this study assesses the extent to whichthe Court's auditing process of circuit court outputs is shapedby organizational dynamics such as structural capacity, institutionalization,and demographic characteristics. Principals in organizationalhierarchies must audit the behavior of their agents to ensurethat the agents are faithfully complying with the principals'preferences. In the case of the Supreme Court, such auditingactivities must take place in the face of very limited institutionalcapacity on the Court's part. We propose that the Court considerscertain broad organizational and institutional characteristicsat the circuit level when performing this task. In particular,we find that the Court strategically allocates its limited institutionalresources to audit decisions to respond to its recent interactionswith individual circuits in past terms, the circuits' internaldecision-making dynamics (including dissent and reversal rates),and goal conflict between the circuit and the Supreme Court.     

One confession,multiple chronotopes: The interdiscursive authentication of an apology in an international criminal trial

This paper presents an interdiscursive analysis of a public apology made before the International Criminal Court (ICC) by a Malian Islamist accused of the destruction of cultural heritage in Timbuktu. It analyzes (a) how the defendant's apology metapragmatically inserts itself into a multiplicity of chronotopes and (b) how the two defense counsels subsequently reformulate that apology as part of a ‘confessional chronotope’, thereby decoupling it from its immediate trial surroundings. The entextualization of this confessional chronotope, and the modifications of the trial's participation framework it proposes, reveal how ICC trial actors navigate the multiple tensions facing this emergent form of globalized criminal justice.     

Experiences of Custody Evaluation: Perspectives of Young Adults Who Were the Subject of Family Court Proceedings as Children

ABSTRACT

Court-ordered custody evaluations are conducted primarily to assist courts in making decisions regarding the best interests of children in the context of parental disputes over custody and access. They also represent the most common means through which children's wishes in relation to custody and access are presented as evidence. This article reports on a qualitative research study of young adults' recollections of participating in custody evaluations ordered by the Family Court of Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 young adults, aged 18 to 26. Two major areas of inquiry are addressed in this article: (1) participants' recollections of interviews conducted by social workers and psychologists for the purpose of custody evaluation, and (2) their suggestions for ways in which professionals working with children in this context might make the process easier for children. Taken together, their experiences point to some useful principles for practice in this field.