Character, Liberalism, and the Protean Culture of Evidence Law

It is time to rethink character evidence. Long notorious as the most frequently litigated evidence issue, character doctrine plagues courts, trial lawyers, and law students with its infamously “grotesque” array of nonsensical rules, whimsical distinctions, and arcane procedures. Character is a calculation of social worth and value; it is the sum total of what others think of us, whether expressed as their own opinion or the collective opinions of many (reputation). Once we grasp that character is a social construct, we are in a better position to address some of the problems that plague evidence law. To provide needed clarity in evidence law, a historical, more contextualized understanding of character is essential. To that end, this article develops three themes. First, it reviews the doctrinal and policy issues that have famously plagued character evidence, with an eye toward their origins. Second, it explores evidence law’s historical contingency, which is dependent upon prevailing cultural, economic, and social conditions. Third, “character” has changed over time because it is often a cultural, social, and ideological battleground. This social and cultural divide, particularly criticisms of middle-class values, contributes to the law’s angst over character’s meaning and, perhaps, the law’s yearning for a scientific solution

Character, Liberalism, and the Protean Culture of Evidence Law

It is time to rethink character evidence. Long notorious as the most frequently litigated evidence issue, character doctrine plagues courts, trial lawyers, and law students with its infamously “grotesque” array of nonsensical rules, whimsical distinctions, and arcane procedures. Character is a calculation of social worth and value; it is the sum total of what others think of us, whether expressed as their own opinion or the collective opinions of many (reputation). Once we grasp that character is a social construct, we are in a better position to address some of the problems that plague evidence law. To provide needed clarity in evidence law, a historical, more contextualized understanding of character is essential. To that end, this article develops three themes. First, it reviews the doctrinal and policy issues that have famously plagued character evidence, with an eye toward their origins. Second, it explores evidence law’s historical contingency, which is dependent upon prevailing cultural, economic, and social conditions. Third, “character” has changed over time because it is often a cultural, social, and ideological battleground. This social and cultural divide, particularly criticisms of middle-class values, contributes to the law’s angst over character’s meaning and, perhaps, the law’s yearning for a scientific solution

The Modern Trial and Evidence Law: Has the Rambling Altercation Become a Pedantic Joust?

This Article places the relationship between evidencerules and the modern trial in a historical context. Thetrial\u27s foundation is in popular culture-lay witnessestestifying before a lay jury. Eighteenth-century trials werea rambling altercation between the defendant and hisaccusers-unruly (literally), unstructured, very brief, andless concerned with the truth than a socially acceptablejudgment. The modern trial\u27s emergence in the nineteenthcentury coincided with the professionalization of law, theactive involvement of lawyers as advocates, and thesprouting of evidence rules to regulate both lawyers andlay juries. Nonetheless, evidence law accommodatedprevailing lay culture in order to foster legitimacy. Trialsnow searched for the truth, but did so in nineteenth-century terms.The problem today is that many of the keyepistemological assumptions of modern evidence law,especially credibility and character, draw from thosenineteenth-century roots. Dissatisfaction with some ruleshas triggered several troubling trends. One fixates onesoteric rules that beget inscrutable, often nonsensical,distinctions. A second embraces psychology and socialscience as a means of fact finding and the polestar for therules themselves. Examples of both trends are drawn fromcharacter evidence, expert testimony, and credibilitydoctrine. Together, these trends reveal the law\u27s discomfort with,and occasional contempt for, contemporary lay thinking.Trials are fast becoming a pedantic joust, inaccessible tothe lay public. Neither sophistic rules nor the lateststyling of social science are the answer. Yet it may well bethat current evidence law poorly reflects modern popularthinking as well. The trial\u27s legitimacy demands thatevidence law effectively mediate between legal institutionsand prevailing social and cultural thought aboutcredibility and human contact

Quantification of the Individual Characterstics of the Human Dentition: Methodology

This study provides a method for comparing six individual human dentition characteristics using the standard measuring tool in Adobe Photoshop CS2 as compared to measuring individual characteristics with an automated software program under development at Marquette University, which has been adapted for bitemark analysis. The algorithm identifies color-specific pixels and automatically calculates the measurements

A Methodology for Three-Dimensional Quantification of Anterior Tooth Width

The use of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) technology has been shown to be more accurate in measuring individual incisor tooth widths than the use of wax exemplars. There were fewer differences by investigators using CBCT than others using an F-test in a mixed model of the measurement differences of investigators, wax type, and which tooth was measured. In addition, the frequency of outliers was less in the CBCT method (a total of 5) as compared to the two-dimensional measurements in ether Aluwax (a total of 8) or Coprwax (a total of 12). Both results indicate that CBCT measurements accounted more precisely for tooth width and level of eruption

Quantification of the Individual Characteristics of the Human Dentition

The considerations for admissibility suggested by the Daubert trilogy challenge forensic experts to provide scientific support for opinion testimony. The defense bar has questioned the reliability of bitemark analysis. Under an award from the U. S. Department of Justice, via the Midwest Forensic Resource Center, a two-year feasibility study was undertaken to quantify six dental characteristics. Using two computer programs, the exemplars of 419 volunteers were digitally scanned, characteristics were measured, and frequency was calculated. The study demonstrates that there were outliers or rare dental characteristics in measurements. An analysis of the intra-observer and inter-observer consistency demonstrated a high degree of agreement. Expansion of the sample size through collaboration with other academic researchers will be necessary to be able to quantify the occurrence of these characteristics in the general population. The automated software application, Tom\u27s Toolbox, developed specifically for this research project, could also provide a template for precisely quantifying other pattern evidence

Activin-A and Bmp4 Levels Modulate Cell Type Specification during CHIR-Induced Cardiomyogenesis

The use of human pluripotent cell progeny for cardiac disease modeling, drug testing and therapeutics requires the ability to efficiently induce pluripotent cells into the cardiomyogenic lineage. Although direct activation of the Activin-A and/or Bmp pathways with growth factors yields context-dependent success, recent studies have shown that induction of Wnt signaling using low molecular weight molecules such as CHIR, which in turn induces the Activin-A and Bmp pathways, is widely effective. To further enhance the reproducibility of CHIR-induced cardiomyogenesis, and to ultimately promote myocyte maturation, we are using exogenous growth factors to optimize cardiomyogenic signaling downstream of CHIR induction. As indicated by RNA-seq, induction with CHIR during Day 1 (Days 0–1) was followed by immediate expression of Nodal ligands and receptors, followed later by Bmp ligands and receptors. Co-induction with CHIR and high levels of the Nodal mimetic Activin-A (50–100 ng/ml) during Day 0–1 efficiently induced definitive endoderm, whereas CHIR supplemented with Activin-A at low levels (10 ng/ml) consistently improved cardiomyogenic efficiency, even when CHIR alone was ineffective. Moreover, co-induction using CHIR and low levels of Activin-A apparently increased the rate of cardiomyogenesis, as indicated by the initial appearance of rhythmically beating cells by Day 6 instead of Day 8. By contrast, co-induction with CHIR plus low levels (3–10 ng/ml) of Bmp4 during Day 0–1 consistently and strongly inhibited cardiomyogenesis. These findings, which demonstrate that cardiomyogenic efficacy is improved by optimizing levels of CHIR-induced growth factors when applied in accord with their sequence of endogenous expression, are consistent with the idea that Nodal (Activin-A) levels toggle the entry of cells into the endodermal or mesodermal lineages, while Bmp levels regulate subsequent allocation into mesodermal cell types

Female gamers’ experience of online harassment and social support in online gaming: a qualitative study

Female gaming is a relatively under-researched area, and female gamers often report experiencing harassment whilst playing online. The present study explored female experiences of social support while playing online video games, because of the previous research suggesting that females often experience harassment and negative interactions during game play. Data were collected from an online discussion forum, and comprised posts drawn from 271 female gamers. Thematic analysis of the discussions suggested that a lack of social support and harassment frequently led to female gamers playing alone, playing anonymously, and moving groups regularly. The female gamers reported experiencing anxiety and loneliness due to this lack of social support, and for many, this was mirrored in their experiences of social support outside of gaming. The female gamers frequently accepted the incorporation into their gaming of specific coping strategies to mitigate online harassment, including actively hiding their identity and avoiding all forms of verbal communication with other players. These themes are discussed in relation to relevant research in the area, along with recommendations for future research and consideration of possible explanations for the themes observed