Will You Die for Your Country? Workplace Death in an Era of Mass Incarceration

People with criminal records in the United States continue to face limited employment opportunities due to social stigma and legal barriers. In contrast to the civilian sector, the military conducts a “whole person” evaluation to screen potential recruits and regularly hires people with felony and misdemeanor records. Moreover, evidence suggests that the military serves as a socially integrative institution and may facilitate desistance from future crimes. However, critics argue that the military exacerbates inequalities by subjecting marginalized communities to the unequal burden of service. Using the data obtained from the Army, we examine the relative risks of combat exposure and casualties between enlisted soldiers with and without criminal records who joined between 2002 and 2009. The results suggest that soldiers with felony and misdemeanor records are more likely to be assigned to combat occupations than those without criminal records. We also find that among soldiers assigned to positions with low combat exposure, ex-offenders face a higher risk of death compared to those without criminal records. Findings do not dispute the idea that the military facilitates desistance from future crimes and provides second chances to people with criminal records, but reaffirm the fact that military service costs lives and limbs.     

Legislative responses to wrongful conviction: Do partisan principals and advocacy efforts influence state-level criminal justice policy?

The number of discovered wrongful criminal convictions (and resulting exonerations) has increased over the past decade. These cases erode public confidence in the criminal justice system and trust in the rule of law. Many states have adopted laws that aim to reduce system errors but no study has examined why some states appear more willing to provide due process protections against wrongful convictions than others. Findings from regression estimates suggest that states with a Republican controlled legislature or more Republican voters are less likely to pass these laws while the presence of advocacy organizations that are part of the ‘innocence movement’ make legislative change more likely. We thus identify important differences in the political and social context between U.S. states that influence the adoption of criminal justice policies.     

论高校青年教师理想信念教育

加强高校青年教师的理想信念教育,培养一大批理想信念坚定的高等教育工作者是当前高校思想政治工作重要而紧迫的任务。青年教师理想信念教育是高校培养社会主义人才的需要,是推进高校教师思想政治教育工作的需要。从青年教师与我国国情和社会发展规律的关系、与基层党组织的关系、与制度约束的关系,以及从教育观念、教育内容和教育载体等方面提出高校青年教师理想信念教育的有效途径。     

Prosecuting the prosecutor: The makings of the Michael Morton Act

Prosecutorial misconduct is not a rare event, but it often goes undetected, unreported, or no action is taken by the criminal justice system. However, when one Texas prosecutor, Ken Anderson, served jail time for wrongfully prosecuting an innocent man, Michael Morton, for murdering his wife, he made history. Anderson withheld exculpatory evidence leading to Morton wrongfully serving 25 years before being released with new DNA evidence. However, Anderson only served a five-day sentence and $500 fine. We discuss the case in the context of inequality and legal realism in the criminal justice system. Also, we look at the implications and new legal action taken by the state of Texas to try and combat this problem, along with looking at these secretive occupational subcultures.     

社会转型期女大学生理想信念现状及影响因素分析——基于北京三所高校学生的实证调查

对北京三所高校学生的调查结果显示,女大学生理想信念状况整体呈现良好的态势;在对理想信念的认知,道德理想、职业理想和社会政治理想的选择,以及对马克思主义理论的掌握程度等方面,男女大学生存在一定程度的差异。建议高校结合女大学生的认知特点、心理特点、理论接受习惯和兴趣点等,开展具有针对性的教育。     

紧急状态下国家自我保存权问题思考

疾病威胁同人类一样古老,其发展与变化不可预测。人类还有持续利用病菌作为武器攻击他人的事例出现。在对极端致命威胁的防治问题上,紧急状态下国家自我保存权问题尤为引人关注。国家自我保存权理论经历了从国家违反国际法义务的权力、正当理由到仅作为免责借口的发展历程,但其模糊性的特点仍然存在。国家难以平衡“国家权力”与“面临危险威胁的人的权利”之间的关系。《国家对国际不法行为的责任条款草案》第25条和第26条旨在处理这一棘手问题。该第25条和第26条有较严格的适用条件限制,结合实例论述该适用条件有助于正确认识和把握国家自我保存权。     

论当代人的信仰危机与意义重建

当代人面临着信仰危机,在社会转型期表现得尤为突出。信仰危机意味着人对自身生存方式的深刻批判和否定,同时,这种否定必然转化和提升。中西方信仰危机的意义不同,在现代社会会出现多元价值系统共生共存并趋向整合的局面,因而必须对信仰重建进行审视。     

An Odd Couple: Monotone Instrumental Variables and Binary Treatments

This article investigates Monotone Instrumental Variables (MIV) and their ability to aid in identifying treatment effects when the treatment is binary in a nonparametric bounding framework. I show that an MIV can only aid in identification beyond that of a Monotone Treatment Selection assumption if for some region of the instrument the observed conditional-on-received-treatment outcomes exhibit monotonicity in the instrument in the opposite direction as that assumed by the MIV in a Simpson's Paradox-like fashion. Furthermore, an MIV can only aid in identification beyond that of a Monotone Treatment Response assumption if for some region of the instrument either the above Simpson's Paradox-like relationship exists or the instrument's indirect effect on the outcome (as through its influence on treatment selection) is the opposite of its direct effect as assumed by the MIV. The implications of the main findings for empirical work are discussed and the results are highlighted with an application investigating the effect of criminal convictions on job match quality using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of the Youth. Though the main results are shown to hold only for the binary treatment case in general, they are shown to have important implications for the multi-valued treatment case as well.     

Traffic Accidents and Convictions: Group Totals Versus Rate per Kilometer Driven

Using group totals, young drivers, male drivers, and especially young male drivers are substantially over-represented in terms of both traffic accidents and traffic-related convictions. On the other hand, when accidents and convictions are considered in terms of their rates while the person is actually driving, older drivers and female drivers gain in importance, with the female drivers' traffic accident rate and rates for some convictions exceeding the male drivers' rates. Similarly, the older drivers' accident rate and rates on some convictions exceeded the younger drivers' rates when considered in terms of driving exposure. In addition, these findings lead one to speculate that recent driving exposure more than driver age is the central factor in traffic accident involvement. The implications for policy makers and educators are clear. Although young male drivers are undeniably a legitimate focus for traffic accident countermeasures, they should not be targeted at the expense of drivers who drive less but have as high or higher accident rates—female and older drivers.