Corporal Punishment in Public Schools: Constitutional Challenge After Ingraham v. Wright

Corporal punishment has been employed to maintain discipline and order in American schools since the colonial period.\u27 During that era, the practice was not restricted to the classroom: corporal punishment was the generally accepted mode of correction for practically every civil and criminal offense. Attitudes toward correction did not begin to change until after the American Revolution. Since then, corporal punishment has been steadily discarded as a method of correction in both prisons and the military. Despite discontinuance in these areas, corporal punishment remains a well-established facet of the American educational process. Only a few states and municipalities have legislative prohibitions against the use of this disciplinary method in their public schools, and the courts consistently have rejected constitutional challenges to provisions authorizing its use... As representative bodies,legislatures theoretically enact and amend the laws as changes in societal attitudes dictate. Resolution of the question whether corporal punishment should be used as a means of disciplining schoolchildren requires basic value judgments that courts are ill-equipped to make. Nonetheless, to the extent that a form of punishment has constitutional implications, the judicial function must be exercised. Challenges to the constitutionality of corporal punishment have commonly relied upon four theories: cruel and unusual punishment,the parental rights doctrine, procedural due process, and substantive due process. The first three issues have been resolved formally by the Supreme Court of the United States. The substantive due process issue, however, has been determined conclusively only in the Fifth Circuit. This Note will first review these four issues as they have confronted the lower courts and then will analyze Ingraham v. Wright, in which the Supreme Court ruled on the cruel and unusual punishment and procedural due process issues. Discussion will center on the substantive due process issue, suggesting the feasibility of a suit challenging the practice as administered in a given instance

Justice Stevens: The First Three Terms

This Special Project undertakes an examination of Justice Stevens\u27 Supreme Court opinions in an effort to identify his philosophical orientations, to evaluate the consistency of his views, and to determine the extent to which he has developed workable analytical methods. To achieve these goals, Justice Stevens\u27 opinions are examined in three contexts: first, the area of federal-state relations,including commerce clause and supremacy clause questions; second, the individual rights area, emphasizing criminal constitutional and first amendment issues, and problems of fifth and fourteenth amendment analysis; and third, questions concerning the proper role of the Supreme Court in the constitutional scheme. Even though any vote cast by a Supreme Court Justice may illustrate a significant aspect of his ideology, this Special Project limits attention to opinions authored by Justice Stevens on the assumption that they most accurately represent his views.\u2

Back to the future : the Arab uprisings and state (re)formation in the Arab world

This article contributes to debates that aim to go beyond the “democratization” and “post-democratization” paradigms to understand change and continuity in Arab politics. In tune with calls to focus on the actualities of political dynamics, the article shows that the literatures on State Formation and Contentious Politics provide useful theoretical tools to understand change/continuity in Arab politics. It does so by examining the impact of the latest Arab uprisings on state formation trajectories in Iraq and Syria. The uprisings have aggravated a process of regime erosion – which originated in post-colonial state-building attempts – by mobilizing sectarian and ethnic identities and exposing the counties to geo-political rivalries and intervention, giving rise to trans-border movements, such as ISIS. The resulting state fragmentation has obstructed democratic transition in Syria and constrained its consolidation in Iraq.PostprintPeer reviewe

Visual impairment from fibrous dysplasia in a middle-aged African man: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Fibrous dysplasia is a benign tumour of the bones and is a disease of unknown aetiology. This report discusses a case of proptosis and visual deterioration with associated bony mass involving the right orbit.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 32-year-old Nigerian man of Yoruba ethnic origin presented to the eye clinic of our hospital with right-eye proptosis and visual deterioration of 7-year duration. Presentation was preceded by a history of trauma. Proptosis was preceded by trauma but was non-pulsatile with no thrill or bruit but was associated with bony orbital mass. The patient reported no weight loss. Examination of his right eye showed visual acuity of 6/60 with relative afferent pupillary defect. Fundal examination revealed optic atrophy. Computed tomography showed an expansile bony mass involving all the walls of the orbit. The bony orbital mass was diagnosed histologically as fibrous dysplasia. Treatment included orbital exploration and orbital shaping to create room for the globe and relieve pressure on the optic nerve.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Fibrous dysplasia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of slowly developing proptosis with associated visual loss in young adults.</p

The implementation of the Yamoussoukro decision

This thesis examines progress made in liberalizing the economic regulation of air transport services in Africa through evaluating advancements made in the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision, and the effects observed in the sector. Despite the fact that the Yamoussoukro Decision was reached ten years ago, very little is known about the progress achieved by its implementation in various regions of Africa. While it is generally acknowledged that the formal application of the principles of the Decision to liberalize air services remains incomplete, the thesis outlines and establishes developments in various African markets that point toward a disconnection between the policy and legal framework and the operational realities of the sector. This disconnection, driven mainly by the governments of a small number of African countries who aim at protecting their weak or failing national carriers by refusing to liberalize their air transport markets irrespective of the obligations they have assumed under the Decision, has hindered full liberalization of the African air transport sector and effectively prevented African nations from taking full advantage of the positive economic impacts of air transportation. This thesis reviews these economic aspects, as well as the potential economic impact of full liberalization of African air transport. This thesis demonstrates that, although at the operational level significant progress has been achieved in the liberalization of air services through the signing of numerous bilateral agreements, policy implementation remains incomplete or stagnant in many regions of the continent, thereby hindering the full deployment of the economic potential of Africa. The purpose of this research is to recommend a set of policy measures for African governments in order to move towards full application of the Yamoussoukro Decision to liberalize air services.La présente thèse traite des progrès de la libéralisation des services de transport aérien en Afrique. Elle s’appuie pour cela sur une évaluation des avancées réalisées dans la mise en œuvre de la Décision de Yamoussoukro ainsi que des effets observés dans le secteur.La Décision de Yamoussoukro libéralisant les services aériens en Afrique date d’il y a déjà dix ans, et pourtant l’état d’avancement de sa mise en œuvre dans les différentes régions est souvent mal connu. Alors qu’il est communément admis que l’application formelle des principes énoncés dans l’accord reste incomplète, la thèse repère nombre de développements intervenus sur différents marchés africains et tendant à mettre en lumière le décalage entre les réalités pratiques du secteur et la réalisation du cadre politique et juridique prévu par la Décision. Bien que ce décalage soit surtout le fait d’un petit nombre de gouvernements soucieux de protéger leurs transporteurs défaillants, il fait obstacle à une libéralisation complète, empêchant ainsi l’Afrique de profiter à plein des impacts positifs du transport aérien. La thèse passe en revue les implications économiques à attendre d’une libéralisation complète. Le but de cette recherche est d’identifier un ensemble de mesures à recommander aux gouvernements africains pour faire progresser la libéralisation effective des services aériens.La thèse démontre par ailleurs que la libéralisation des services aériens a connu des progrès substantiels au plan pratique grâce à la signature de nombreux accords bilatéraux, alors même que la mise en œuvre de la politique de libéralisation reste à la traîne dans plusieurs régions du continent, obérant ainsi le plein déploiement du potentiel économique du transport aérien pour l’Afrique

[Recueil de notices concernant les foraminifères / par MM. Schlumberger et Munier-Chalmas]

Comprend : Sur un nouveau Pentellina / M. Schlumberger ; Note sur le genre Cuneolina ; Nouvelles observations sur le dimorphisme des foraminifères ; Note sur quelques foraminifères nouveaux ou peu connus du golfe de Gascogne (campagne du "Travailleur", 1880

Nanodiamond as a multimodal platform for drug delivery and radiosensitization of tumor cells

International audienceNanodiamonds (NDs) are often considered as inert platforms with high interests for biomedical applications. They are well adapted for drug delivery, and may display embedded fluorescence. We report here on a new way to consider these nanocarbon particles, by revealing therapeutic capacities coming from electronic properties of NDs. With an optimized surface chemistry, the generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) occurs when those hydrogen-terminated NDs are exposed to photon irradiation, thus opening up the field towards the radiosensitization of tumor cells

Impairing the radioresistance of cancer cells by hydrogenated nanodiamonds

International audienceHydrogenated nanodiamonds (H-NDs) exhibit a negative electron affinity that confers a high reactivity with oxygen species and a positive charge in aqueous solutions. It allows electron emission from H-NDs following irradiation by photons and in consequence may enhance the effects of radiation on cancer cells. By using three human radioresistant cancer cell lines, we showed a potentialization of cytotoxicity after a co-exposure to H-NDs and irradiation; an event occurring through the induction of DNA damage and reactive oxygen species. This occurred together with a decrease in cell impedance, the activation of G(1)/S, an unlocking of G(2) cell cycle check-points and early low cell death rate. At later stage of exposure, persistent increases in heterochromatinization, large gamma-H2AX foci and p-galactosidase activity were detected providing evidence of cells' entrance into senescence. Similar potentialization was observed with neocarzinostatin (NCS), a radiomimetic drug. This original finding underlines a wide clinical potential of H-NDs to intensify radiation effects on radio-resistant cancer cells