摘要:

The Supreme Court early took note of extralegal, “social science” materials inMuller v. Oregon(1908), and a half‐century later made specific reference to social science authorities in the famous footnote 11 ofBrown v. Board of Education(1954). SinceBrown,much has been written about the Supreme Court's use of social science research evidence, but there has been little systematic study of that use. Those writing on the subject commonly focus on areas of law such as jury size, where social science has been used, and have generally assumed that social science information has been utilized in Supreme Court decisions with increasing regularity. Surprisingly little is known, however, about either the justices' baseline use of social science authorities, or many other aspects of their uses of social science information. The focus here is on the citation of social science research evidence in a sample of 240 criminal cases decided during the 30 years between the Supreme Court's 1958 and 1987 Terms. The resulting portrait contributes to a fuller understanding of the justices' use of social science materials, and may ultimately help promote more effective utilization of social science research evidence in Supreme Court deci

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1990.tb00039.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper focuses on the relationship between the political styles and organizational strategies of prosecutors in nine medium‐sized courthouse communities in the United States. Three political styles are identified and a choice model developed that rests on the prosecutors' satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the status of their offices and on their view regarding the expected value of conflict. In turn these styles lead to different organizational strategies in which bureaucratization and office culture, given the mediating effects of office size and staff loyalty, are used as policy tools to achieve prosecutor goal

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1990.tb00040.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article documents the experience of a community–New Philadelphia, Ohio–in which a concerned judge attempted to apply severe penalties in order to deter drunk driving. Surveys of drivers on weekend nights were performed in this community and the nearby comparison city of Cambridge in order to determine the extent to which the legal threats were perceived and the extent to which people drank and drove. It was found that the judicial policies were well known in New Philadelphia, but no differences could be discerned in the extent of drinking and driving between the two cities. No significant differences were found in the subsequent records of samples of sentenced drivers in the two cities, the New Philadelphia sample being sentenced to heavy punishments and the Cambridge drivers being sentenced traditionally. The accomplishments and limitations of the experience reported in this study are relevant both to formulating effective countermeasures to drunk driving in specific American communities, and to understanding the role of law–its capabilities and limitations–in addressing social problems more ge

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1990.tb00041.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Innovation in criminal justice frequently fails, or is perceived as having failed. In this paper we look at a highly imaginative, quintessential 1980's innovation–the use of financial incentives to encourage prosecutors to process more quickly their oldest cases and their cases involving defendants incarcerated pre‐trial. Measured by conventional “bottom line” criteria the incentive scheme can be labeled a failure. But measured both by the limited actual success at least one office achieved, and by the general effectiveness of the incentives as motivators for three out of the four offices studied, a somewhat more positive assessment of the efficacy of incentives can be fa

ISSN:0265-8240    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.1990.tb00042.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY