Roma expulsions and discrimination: the elephant in Brussels

This article will critically examine the treatment of migrant Roma in Western Europe, particularly Italy and France, in the light of the obligations under the E U Citizenship Directive 2004/38. The role of the political institutions will be considered, especially the European Commission, who have yet to take a decisive position on the Roma expulsions and on the wider issue of Roma discrimination in Europe. It is argued that the focus on non-discrimination cannot address the entrenched inequality which characterises the Roma's situation in Europe. Furthermore, that the comparative disadvantage experienced by Europe's Roma communities constitutes a major human rights crisis which has so far been side-lined by Brussels. A European strategy is urgently required which demands leadership from the Commission and the full participation of Roma representatives

The Thin Line in the Bluegrass Schools: A Quantitative Study on How School Resource Officers Impact a School and District\u27s Use of Exclusionary Discipline in Kentucky

Legislatures across the country have been developing laws and policies to place police officers, also known as School Resource Officers (“SROs”), in schools. A recent piece of legislation in Kentucky, entitled the School Safety and Resiliency Act, requires all school campuses in Kentucky contain at least one SRO. Researchers have found relationships between the presence of SROs and the use of exclusionary discipline, and this research expands on that foundation by looking statewide at school- and district-level variables. Using a multiple regression model, this research examined the presence of SROs in schools and the ratio of number of SROs to 100 students in districts and those variables’ impact on the use of exclusionary discipline. The results indicated a positive relationship between the number of SROs per 100 students and exclusionary discipline, excluding in-school suspension, significant at the 0.051 level. Additionally, the model found associations between exclusionary discipline and community-level variables. This research suggests both schools and future research should consider proportions of populations and community variables when assessing equitable uses of exclusionary discipline

'Safety: everybody’s concern, everybody’s duty?' Questioning the significance of 'active citizenship' and 'social cohesion' for people's perception of safety

The catchphrase “Safety: everybody’s concern, everybody’s duty” implies that in order to safe-guard the social order and safety we, the professionals as well as the public, need to unite and work together. In this sense, social connectedness and civic engagement are perceived as the prime sources to counter crime and people’s perception of safety. In this paper, we will first clarify that the references to ‘active citizenship’ and ‘social cohesion’ in criminal policy discourse are the result of the development of ‘perception of safety’ as an autonomous subject for research and policy. Policymakers have come to see (in)security as a phenomenon that needs to be explained by taking into account crime and non-crime related factors. Next, we will describe the emergence of ‘social cohesion’ and ‘active citizenship’ as natural barriers against crime and other deviant behaviour and as prerequisites for people’s perception of safety. In the third part, however, we will point out that both concepts are not necessarily positively interlinked with people’s ‘perception of safety’. Moreover we will indicate that activating civic engagement and stimulating social cohesion can even be detrimental to people’s perception of safety. In the final part we will suggest that in order to understand people’s perception of safety, we need to consider the process of identity formation and social categorization

Policy change, governance and partnership: Sheffield City Council's leisure services, 1974 to 1999

Policy change, governance and partnership: Sheffield City Council's leisure services, 1974 to 199

Legal Aid and Public Interest Law in China

This article describes the evolution of legal aid and public interest law in China and examines its implications for the legal profession and the law in the context of four intertwined developments: first, China\u27s efforts to establish a nationwide system of government-run legal aid centers; second, China\u27s attempt to expand the availability and improve the quality of legal representation for indigent criminal defendants; third, China\u27s bid to force the legal profession to serve poor clients via mandatory pro bono requirements for lawyers; fourth, the development of non-governmental legal aid centers and the expanding incentives for profit-oriented lawyers to take on pro bono cases or pursue public interest litigation. Although it is too early to declare that the evolution of legal aid will reshape the function of law or the status of individual rights in China, this article argues that the evolution illustrates the choices facing China as it continues to reform its legal system and legal profession. China\u27s development of legal aid also demonstrates the degree to which legal development in China is progressing without any single dominant rationale or policy goal