A propensity score matching analysis of the relationship between victim sex and capital juror decision-making in North Carolina

A small body of prior research has examined the impact of victim sex on jury death penalty decision-making and the majority of this research has demonstrated some evidence of a “female victim effect” such that cases involving a female victim are more likely to receive the death penalty than similarly situated cases with a male victim. However, within this line of research studies have suggested that victim sex may work in conjunction with other case characteristics. In order to further explore this phenomenon, the current study examines a near-population of death penalty cases from North Carolina (n = 1069) from 1977–2009 using propensity score matching. Results demonstrate that once cases are matched on more than 50 legal and extralegal case characteristics, there is no statistically significant or substantive link between victim sex and death penalty decision-making. Findings suggest that it is concrete differences in the legal and extralegal factors observed in cases with female victims compared to male victims that shape jury death sentence decisions rather than a direct effect of victim sex (before matching: OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.20–1.95; p < .001/after matching: OR = 0.90; 95% CI = 0.66–1.24; p = .52). Study limitations and implications are also discussed.     

Improving medicolegal death investigative gaps of fatal elder abuse

The purpose of this brief is to present several case vignettes that illustrate omissions in the investigation of elder deaths. These vignettes demonstrate the need for a standardized approach in the conduct of medicolegal investigations of fatal elder abuse. For each of the described oversights, a recommendation is offered to address the gap in investigation processes, which in turn could improve the determination of cause and manner of elder death. Inherent limitations of resources and practical realities of death investigation are discussed and recommendations are made for future research. Viewed broadly, deficiencies in elder death investigations can lead to the underreporting of elder abuse and the reduction of legal options for victims, which may reflect a systemic pattern of social injustice.     

论行政处罚法上的便宜原则

便宜原则在我国行政处罚法上并无明文的依据,但在行政实务中却不乏采用。基于合理行政的要求,在行政处罚法上应当承认便宜原则。便宜原则作为法定原则的一种补充,应仅于特殊情形下适用。由于便宜原则授予了行政机关更加宽泛的自由裁量权,因此其在适用时必须受到严格的约束。在将来修订行政处罚法时,有必要对便宜原则作出明确的规定。     

Timing of Remarriage Among Divorced and Widowed Parents

Research on timing of parental remarriage is important to understanding consequences of remarriage for children. In this study, survival analyses were conducted predicting timing of parental remarriage from parental loss in a sample of 3,774 offspring whose parents divorced or whose mother or father died during childhood. Transition to remarriage was quicker for parents who divorced compared to those who were widowed, especially for fathers. By examining timing of remarriage from the perspective of parents, and thus children, we identify not only who is more likely to experience parental remarriage, but when remarriage is likely to occur.     

Dividend barrier and ruin problems for a risk model with delayed claims

In this paper, a compound Poisson risk model in the presence of a constant dividend barrier is considered. Two types of individual claims, main claims and by-claims, are defined, where every by-claim is induced by the main claim and and the time of delay for the claim is assumed to be random. A system of integro-differential equations with certain boundary conditions for the expected discounted penalty function is derived. We show that its solution can be expressed as the solution to the expected discounted penalty function in the same risk model with the absence of a barrier plus a linear combination of two linearly independent solutions to the associated homogeneous integro-differential equation. Using systems of integro-differential equations for the moment-generating function as well as for the arbitrary moments of the sum of discounted dividend payments until ruin, a matrix version of the dividends–penalty type relationship is derived. We also prove that ruin is certain under constant dividend barrier strategy. The closed form expressions are given when the claim amounts from both classes are exponentially distributed. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the solution procedure.     

“德礼为政教之本,刑罚为政教之用”的历史分析

分析中国古代立法的指导思想,应置之于中国古代德主刑辅的儒家治国方略的历史维度中进行。德礼教化作为一种伦理功能,其实效性必须依赖于法律保障,否则只能是虚有其表的抽象观念。唐律以刑罚为后盾不遗余力地推行伦理教化、加强礼教的合法性与强制性,其根本目的在于实现伦理教化在现实社会中的实际效用。     

Optimal control strategies for dividend payments and capital injections in compound Markov binomial risk model with penalties for deficits

We consider the compound Markov binomial risk model. The company controls the amount of dividends paid to the shareholders as well as the capital injections in order to maximize the cumulative expected discounted dividends minus the discounted capital injections and the discounted penalties for deficits prior to ruin. We show that the optimal value function is the unique solution of an HJB equation, and the optimal control strategy is a two-barriers strategy given the current state of the Markov chain. We obtain some properties of the optimal strategy and the optimal condition for ruining the company. We offer a high-efficiency algorithm for obtaining the optimal strategy and the optimal value function. In addition, we also discuss the optimal control problem under a restriction of bounded dividend rates. Numerical results are provided to illustrate the algorithm and the impact of the penalties.     

墓券与东汉民众的生死观念

东汉时期的世俗民众没有认识到人终有一死的本质特性,反而抗拒死亡,渴求长寿永生。当年寿久长的愿望破灭时,他们又深信异象生命自然会在幽界冥府绵延不绝。不过生者却刻意疏远逝者,直接把殁亡人遣送到彼岸世界,希求幽鬼永居墓穴,接受冥府行政官僚体制和宗族观念的管制和束缚,按照世人的要求和期望去经历冥府生活。     

试析武则天时期的劝农与科责

武则天时期的劝农性科责无论对象还是惩罚的力度都与中国古代历史上通常的劝农形式有别。究其根源，一方面是由于武则天将劝农与官吏考课联系起来，并辅之以严厉的监察，促使地方官员进一步向基层吏员和百姓施压，从而导致严厉的科罚。另一方面，武则天时期出现大量浮户，劝农与科责既是在民户逃亡后保证农业生产继续的手段，也是巩固劝农政绩、招徕户口归农的措施。武则天时期的劝农性科责从某种程度上保证了这一阶段农业经济的发展，但政府的“劝农”本质最终还是促使劝农官与基层农业生产管理日益疏离，劝农愈趋形式化。     

对孟子“夭寿不贰”句之解读--以海德格尔《存在与时间》中的生存论思想为参照

孟子云“夭寿不贰，修身以俟之，所以立命也”，其中包含着“夭寿（生死）与命之间的关系”以及“修身立命”这两方面的问题。海德格尔《存在与时间》在时间的视域下，将此在解读为“向死而在”，与言说“生生之大德”的儒者形成一种互补关系。命定的偶然性（个体的人必然有具体的实质限定）、必死性（有限个体必有其死）和使命义（人禀受善性而有道德使命）这三者构成了《孟子》中的“命”义。孟子反求诸己，追求人的本然善性和生之尊严；海德格尔则认为面对死亡的决断，是个体成为本真存在的关键，而儒者的生活方式可视作本真存在的一种可能性。