A New Case for Direct Congressional Regulation of Guns in School Zones

This article suggests that in the wake of last year’s school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, Congress may justifiably exercise its commerce power to regulate arms in schools, notwithstanding its contrary holding in Lopez v. U.S in 1995. Sadly, with Columbine, the scope of violence in schools has assumed vastly more serious dimensions – to the point where such acts may accurately be labeled as premeditated acts of domestic terrorism. Under such circumstances, Congress may reasonably enact laws designed to curb the interstate market for weapons used in these attacks. If Congress concludes, for example, that imposing onerous federal penalties for carrying in schools such weapons – the component parts and raw materials of which traveled in interstate commerce - would convince a person who was otherwise considering purchasing the weapons not to consummate the transaction, the demand side of the market in diminished. As the Lopez Court itself notes, “We do not doubt that Congress has authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate numerous commercial activities that substantially affect interstate commerce and also affect the educational process.

The Investigative Factors in Whodunit Homicides: Italian Case

Gli studi sulla risolvibilità dei casi di omicidio si sono tradizionalmente focalizzati sull'esame dei fattori relativi alle caratteristiche delle vittime o degli autori oppure sulle circostanze che caratterizzano l’evento omicidiario. Vi è infatti una certa carenza di ricerche finalizzate ad accertare la potenziale influenza dei fattori legati al processo investigativo sul positivo esito delle indagini. Ciò è dovuto principalmente alle difficoltà legate all'ottenimento dei dati necessari, che non possono essere recuperati nelle banche dati di polizia su cui tali studi si basano abitualmente, ma possono essere ottenuti solo attraverso la cooperazione degli investigatori stessi. Attraverso la distribuzione di un sondaggio a quasi un centinaio di investigatori appartenenti all’Arma dei Carabinieri, questa ricerca ha identificato una serie di fattori investigativi alcuni dei quali sono risultati positivamente correlati con la soluzione dei casi di omicidio trattati. Più specificamente, i risultati emersi dall'analisi statistica descrittiva e inferenziale hanno corroborato le ipotesi di partenza, secondo cui l'implementazione di alcune buone pratiche associate ad un’efficace gestione delle risorse umane, alla scrupolosa esecuzione delle attività condotte sulla scena del crimine, nonché ad alcune specifiche strategie e tecniche investigative possono aumentare significativamente la soluzione dei casi. Il presente studio contribuisce al dibattito accademico in primo luogo introducendo un approccio olistico attraverso il quale valutare l'effetto dei fattori investigativi sulla risoluzione di quei casi di omicidio che richiedono un certo livello di sforzo investigativo da parte delle forze di polizia e, in secondo luogo, proponendo alcune innovative prospettive attraverso le quali superare i limiti della letteratura esistente.Research on homicide clearance has traditionally focussed on examining factors pertaining to the characteristics of the victims or perpetrators or the circumstances surrounding the murder. There has been a relative dearth of research addressing the potential influence of investigative factors on the positive outcomes of murder investigations. This was primarily due to the difficulties involved in obtaining the requisite data, which cannot be found in the police databases that such studies routinely rely on, but rather can only be obtained via the cooperation of detectives themselves. Through administering a survey to almost one-hundred Italian Carabinieri homicide detectives, this research identified a number of investigative factors that have been observed in previous studies, of which some were found to be positively correlated with clearance. More specifically, the findings emerging out of the descriptive and inferential statistical analysis conducted for the purposes of this research corroborated the study’s hypotheses, which posited that the implementation of certain best practices associated with human resource management, crime scene activities, investigative strategies and techniques can positively impact upon homicide clearance. The present study contributes to academic debates on homicide clearance, firstly, by introducing a holistic approach through which to evaluate the effect of investigative factors on solving those murder cases which require a certain level of investigative effort on the behalf of the police, and secondly, by presenting avenues through which to overcome the limitations in extant literature

Evidential Reasoning & Analytical Techniques In Criminal Pre-Trial Fact Investigation

This thesis is the work of the author and is concerned with the development of a neo-Wigmorean approach to evidential reasoning in police investigation. The thesis evolved out of dissatisfaction with cardinal aspects of traditional approaches to police investigation, practice and training. Five main weaknesses were identified: Firstly, a lack of a theoretical foundation for police training and practice in the investigation of crime and evidence management; secondly, evidence was treated on the basis of its source rather than it's inherent capacity for generating questions; thirdly, the role of inductive elimination was underused and misunderstood; fourthly, concentration on single, isolated cases rather than on the investigation of multiple cases and, fifthly, the credentials of evidence were often assumed rather than considered, assessed and reasoned within the context of argumentation. Inspiration from three sources were used to develop the work: Firstly, John Henry Wigmore provided new insights into the nature of evidential reasoning and formal methods for the construction of arguments; secondly, developments in biochemistry provided new insights into natural methods of storing and using information; thirdly, the science of complexity provided new insights into the complex nature of collections of data that could be developed into complex systems of information and evidence. This thesis is an application of a general methodology supported by new diagnostic and analytical techniques. The methodology was embodied in a software system called Forensic Led Intelligence System: FLINTS. My standpoint is that of a forensic investigator with an interest in how evidential reasoning can improve the operation we call investigation. New areas of evidential reasoning are in progress and these are discussed including a new application in software designed by the author: MAVERICK. There are three main themes; Firstly, how a broadened conception of evidential reasoning supported by new diagnostic and analytical techniques can improve the investigation and discovery process. Secondly, an explanation of how a greater understanding of the roles and effects of different styles of reasoning can assist the user; and thirdly; a range of concepts and tools are presented for the combination, comparison, construction and presentation of evidence in imaginative ways. Taken together these are intended to provide examples of a new approach to the science of evidential reasoning. Originality will be in four key areas; 1. Extending and developing Wigmorean techniques to police investigation and evidence management. 2. Developing existing approaches in single case analysis and introducing an intellectual model for multi case analysis. 3. Introducing a new model for police training in investigative evidential reasoning. 4. Introducing a new software system to manage evidence in multi case approaches using forensic scientific evidence. FLINTS

Criminal Justice, Local Democracy, and Constitutional Rights

Universally admired, and viewed with great affection, even love, by all who knew him, Harvard law professor Bill Stuntz died in March 2011 at the age of fifty-two, after a long, courageous battle with debilitating back pain and then insurmountable cancer. In a career that deserved to be much longer, Stuntz produced dozens of major articles on criminal law and procedure. He was a leader in carrying forward the work of scholars who had analyzed criminal justice through the lens of economic analysis, and he added his own distinctive dimension by insisting on the importance of political incentives, with their often-perverse effects. Ever the contrarian, Stuntz excelled at challenging conventional wisdom, usually from a counterintuitive direction. He often succeeded in shaking an accepted consensus; even readers who remained skeptical were forced to reexamine their fundamental assumptions about how the criminal justice system works. The Collapse of American Criminal Justice ( The Collapse ) sums up much of Stuntz\u27s most important work. It brilliantly describes the deplorable injustices of contemporary criminal justice - most notably our massive levels of incarceration and shockingly disproportionate rates of imprisonment for minorities. And, in keeping with the style for which Stuntz became famous, it proposes startlingly original solutions

A Model Regime of Privacy Protection

A series of major security breaches at companies with sensitive personal information has sparked significant attention to the problems with privacy protection in the United States. Currently, the privacy protections in the United States are riddled with gaps and weak spots. Although most industrialized nations have comprehensive data protection laws, the United States has maintained a sectoral approach where certain industries are covered and others are not. In particular, emerging companies known as commercial data brokers have frequently slipped through the cracks of U.S. privacy law. In this article, the authors propose a Model Privacy Regime to address the problems in the privacy protection in the United States, with a particular focus on commercial data brokers. Since the United States is unlikely to shift radically from its sectoral approach to a comprehensive data protection regime, the Model Regime aims to patch up the holes in existing privacy regulation and improve and extend it. In other words, the goal of the Model Regime is to build upon the existing foundation of U.S. privacy law, not to propose an alternative foundation. The authors believe that the sectoral approach in the United States can be improved by applying the Fair Information Practices - principles that require the entities that collect personal data to extend certain rights to data subjects. The Fair Information Practices are very general principles, and they are often spoken about in a rather abstract manner. In contrast, the Model Regime demonstrates specific ways that they can be incorporated into privacy regulation in the United States. This is the final version of this paper (Version 3.0), earlier versions of which are also available on SSRN. This version of the paper is published in the Illinois Law Review

Security Applications for Converging Technologies - Impact on the Constitutional State and the Legal order

In this study we investigate the impact of converging technologies on legal practice and criminology in a forward looking study intended for practitioners and policy makers in the field of legislation, crime prevention, and law enforcement. We look at a 15 years timeframe and discuss the scientific and technical progress in various domains as well as the ethical, legal, and policy dilemmas involved.

The Politics of Decentralizing Criminal Justice Systems in Postconflict Societies: Insights From Liberia (2011-2017)

After the end of Liberia’s brutal 14 year civil war, the process of rebuilding Liberia has focused on a number of interventions including reforming the criminal justice system. In the current study, institutional, policy, legal reform, and infrastructure development were the approaches used to decentralize Liberia’s Criminal Justice System. Thirty experts were interviewed, and their responses coded using NVivo 12.0. Seven themes and 25 subthemes emerged from the data. It was that found that a top down internationally led approach with minimal involvement of local communities and the neglect of the traditional justice system characterized the decentralization process. Results also indicated that as a result of decentralizing Liberia’s Criminal Justice System, the system is showing basic signs of functionality, a situation which has contributed to Liberia’s peace and stability. Participants recommended an inclusive, nationally led approach that blends the formal and traditional justice systems, an overhaul of the criminal justice system and changes in the attitudes and approaches of actors involved in decentralizing Liberia criminal justice system. Implications for positive social change include international actors treating the traditional justice systems and actors as important stakeholders in criminal justice system reform in postconflict peacebuilding and donors as well as international partners striking a health balance between their quest to realize their national interest aspirations vis-à-vis those of postconflict societies