Judicial Candor and Extralegal Reasoning: Why Extralegal Reasons Require Legal Justifications (And No More)

This Note’s first Part explores two landmark Supreme Court cases, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey and NFIB, that may have been decided based on extralegal considerations. Part II describes three prominent theories of judicial candor with an eye to the results they might yield with respect to extralegal reasoning. Part III offers and defends a new, partial theory of judicial candor. This theory is that a judge who employs extralegal reasoning should omit discussion of her reliance on that reasoning and justify her decision with legal reasoning. The first two Parts will demonstrate that there is a strong presumption for judicial disclosure and an even stronger one against insincerity. This Note accepts those presumptions, but only where the reasoning in question is legal. Thus, a judge should omit discussion of his reliance on extralegal considerations because: (a) the alternative asks too much of the judge; (b) disclosing extralegal reasoning risks leading other judges to believe that engaging in extralegal reasoning is normal and proper; (c) such disclosure is defiant and disrespectful to litigants and to the public; (d) disclosing extralegal reasoning risks legalizing that reasoning; and (e) such disclosure harms the judiciary’s legitimacy. Instead of disclosing his reliance on extralegal reasoning, the judge should justify his decisions with legal reasoning. This Note also discusses and defends against the criticisms that by omitting and justifying extralegal reasons, judges violate their own moral duties, the rights of litigants, and the rights of the public as a whole

Differences in Outcomes for Incarcerated and Non-Incarcerated Patients Hospitalized in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2011-2013: Is “Adequate Care” in Criminal Justice Institutions Enough?

Objective: This study used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases to identify whether inmates in Massachusetts had any differences in morbidity, mortality, cost, length of stay, and ambulatory care sensitive conditions as compared to a propensity-score matched (1:1 ratio) group of non-inmate patients. Methods: Differences were examined using t tests for continuous variables and Chisquare (χ2) tests for categorical variables. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to investigate relationships between the outcome variables and inmate/noninmate status, controlling for age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, gender, primary payer, race, psychological conditions, suicide, and injuries. Results: On average inmates stayed 2.48 days longer in the hospital (10.40 vs. 7.92; p = \u3c.0001), their bill was $1,691 more ($10,226 vs. $8,535; p = \u3c.0001), and they had more chronic conditions (4.46 vs. 4.31; p =.0019) compared to non-inmate counterparts. Conclusion: The provision of healthcare to inmates is required by law, paid for by taxpayers, and managed differently at each correctional institution. Findings indicate care may not be adequate, requiring collaborative efforts to improve the provision and management of healthcare at correctional institutions

The Effects of Education Quality on Income Growth and Mortality Decline

Previous work shows that higher levels of education quality (as measured by international student achievement tests) increases growth rates of national income. This paper begins by confirming those findings in an analysis involving more countries over more time with additional controls. We then use the panel structure of our data to assess whether the mechanism by which education quality appears to improve per capita income levels is through shifting the level of the production function (probably not), through increasing the impact of an additional year of education (probably not), or through increasing a country's rate of technological progress (very likely). Mortality rates complement income levels as indicators of national well-being and we extend our panel models to show that improved education quality increases the rate of decline in infant mortality. Throughout the analysis, we find a stronger impact of education quality and of years of schooling in open than in closed economies.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) : a case study of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego's Project Cabrillo

This thesis examines the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) pilot implementation conducted at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (SSC-SD), the first of four Department of the Navy (DON) pilot implementations. Specifically, comparisons are drawn between both successful and unsuccessful ERP implementations within private sector organizations and that of SSC-SD. Any commonalities in implementation challenges could be applied to future ERP implementations in both the DON and Department of Defense (DOD). The findings are based in part upon interviews and data collected. From the comparison, commonalities exist in ERP implementation challenges between private sector organizations and SSC-SD. Additionally the management techniques used to mitigate those challenges are similar. Finally, due to SSC-SD's financial management structure and appropriated funding constraints, unique obstacles were identified during the implementation. These unique obstacles will be encountered by other Working Capital Funded (WCF) organizations planning to implement ERP on the same scale as SSC-SD. This thesis supports that the implementation of ERP at SSC-SD was a success based on industry comparisons, the goals of Project Cabrillo's business case analysis (BCA), and its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act compliancy assessment, January 2002.http://archive.org/details/enterpriseresour109454714Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyCaptain, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The ELMCIP Knowledge Base

This chapter documents the conceptual model of the ELMCIP Electronic Literature Knowledge Base, the development process that led to its development, and its technical implementation. It should be of interest to digital humanities researchers interested in the process of developing research infrastructure for the documentation of a field of research. Developed as part of an international, digital-humanities project, Developing a Networked-Based Creative Community: Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice (ELMCIP), the ELMCIP Electronic Literature Knowledge Base is an open-access, online database tracing activity in and around the field of electronic literature and the digital literary arts. Inspired by Ted Nelson’s (1981) vision of literature, broadly understood as “an ongoing system of interconnecting documents,” the Knowledge Base is collecting and connecting bibliographic information and archival materials about the literary production in this field. As this information is linked and cross-referenced in various records in the Knowledge Base, the relations between objects and actors in the field of electronic literature become explicit, perceptible, recognizable, and communicable. Together these relations comprise the field. In the Knowledge Base, they are defined through content types that include authors, creative works, critical writing, events, organizations, publishers, teaching resources, and databases and archives. The Knowledge Base now includes more than 9,000 cross-referenced records in these primary content types.publishedVersio

Trunk motion visual feedback during walking improves dynamic balance in older adults: Assessor blinded randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality and augmented feedback have become more prevalent as training methods to improve balance. Few reports exist on the benefits of providing trunk motion visual feedback (VFB) during treadmill walking, and most of those reports only describe within session changes. RESEARCH QUESTION: To determine whether trunk motion VFB treadmill walking would improve over-ground balance for older adults with self-reported balance problems. METHODS: 40 adults (75.8 years (SD 6.5)) with self-reported balance difficulties or a history of falling were randomized to a control or experimental group. Everyone walked on a treadmill at a comfortable speed 3×/week for 4 weeks in 2 min bouts separated by a seated rest. The control group was instructed to look at a stationary bulls-eye target while the experimental group also saw a moving cursor superimposed on the stationary bulls-eye that represented VFB of their walking trunk motion. The experimental group was instructed to keep the cursor in the center of the bulls-eye. Somatosensory (monofilaments and joint position testing) and vestibular function (canal specific clinical head impulses) was evaluated prior to intervention. Balance and mobility were tested before and after the intervention using Berg Balance Test, BESTest, mini-BESTest, and Six Minute Walk. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between groups before the intervention. The experimental group significantly improved on the BESTest (p = 0.031) and the mini-BEST (p = 0.019). The control group did not improve significantly on any measure. Individuals with more profound sensory impairments had a larger improvement on dynamic balance subtests of the BESTest. SIGNIFICANCE: Older adults with self-reported balance problems improve their dynamic balance after training using trunk motion VFB treadmill walking. Individuals with worse sensory function may benefit more from trunk motion VFB during walking than individuals with intact sensory function

Algae Photobioreactor Design Considerations for Commercial Scale Production

Track III: Energy InfrastructureIncludes audio file (22 min.)Recent growth in the biofuels industry (ethanol and biodiesel) has put market pressures on agricultural feedstock supplies, primarily corn and soybeans. In order for the biofuels industry to sustain and continue to grow, new non-food or feed biomass feedstocks must be developed. The US Department of Energy funded the Aquatic Species Program (ASP) from 1978 to 1996 to study and categorized microalage for the production of lipids and starches for biofuels production. This study concluded that microalgae provided far superior production potential in regards to yield per acre than that of soybeans and canola; however, production methods were cost prohibitive when considering the relatively low cost of energy in the 1990's. Recent energy costs increases and potential CO2 regulation have brought about a renewed interest in industrial algae production as can be witnessed by the number of start-up companies working to develop their own production systems. At this point in time however, none of these start-ups have been able to successfully implement a system that mitigates the high cost of production, which remains a major barrier to entry for this feedstock. To implement an algae growing system on a large commercial scale there are several key design factors that must be optimized and balanced. The primary factors to be considered are; production rates, value and markets for primary products and co-product, initial capital and start-up costs, and operational costs. Each of these main factors has a list of sub-components and interactions. For example initial capital costs will be balanced with service life, maintenance cost (labor and capital), but also influences production rates and product value. An industrial algae photobioreactor design that can balance these economic factors will be well positioned for wide spread implementation of the technology and provide a new source of biofuels feedstocks. Photobioreactor design efforts should consider the economic production factors early in the design phase to avoid major design flaws as the system is scaled