Media Coverage of Law: Its Impact on Juries and the Public

Because most of the public has little direct experience with the justice system, public knowledge and views of law and the legal system are largely dependent on media representations. The media provide many lessons about law and justice. In the average American household, a TV set is on for over 7 hours each day, and individual members of the family watch television for about 3 hours. Television news and police and crime dramas account for a substantial amount of incidental learning about the nature of the legal system. Newspapers and films also contribute to the public\u27s knowledge and attitudes about law and the legal system. This contribution reviews and analyzes the impact of this coverage of law on the public. First, we consider how the media present law, crime, and justice. Our analysis of the content and style of media coverage of legal issues leads to the conclusion that the media mirror presents a distorted view of law. We then discuss the impact of these media distortions on people\u27s knowledge of and attitudes toward law and crime. We conclude with an examination of the effect of media coverage of courtroom trials on juries, the people\u27s representative in court

Whiplash: Who\u27s to Blame?

Tom is sitting in his car at an intersection, waiting for the red light to change. Without warning, the car behind him, driven by a distracted mother named Elaine, slams into the rear of Tom\u27s car. After the accident, Tom experiences severe neck pain, which interferes with his work and family life. Who\u27s to blame? If Tom suffered physical injury as a result, then under current legal principles she is responsible for compensating him for his injury. However, research on jury decision making in civil cases suggests that a constellation of psychological, legal and political factors operate together to focus a surprising degree of attention, critical scrutiny, blame and responsibility on Tom, our hypothetical victim. Attention, blame, personal responsibility and legal liability are conceptually distinct phenomena. Attention does not necessarily lead to blame. Legal responsibility does not attach to all morally blameworthy conduct. Yet, as a practical matter, they are often intertwined. In reality, from both moral and legal perspectives, not all plaintiffs are blameless and not all defendants are culpable. Our interest is in analyzing a striking tendency to blame the victims of personal injury, even in instances where they are legally blameless. Therefore, this Article focuses on the related phenomena of attention, responsibility assessments, blame and legal judgments in the context of the personal injury plaintiff

Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell (6th ed.)

Expert authors discuss the First Amendment in detail, as well as defamation and mass communication in Carter, Dee and Zuckman’s Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell. It covers: Internet law Indecency Websites with bomb recipes Defamation and anonymous postings Blocking cookies Encryption Spamming Copyright infringement Domain names and convergence The role of the FCC Cable and news technologies Further highlights include Supreme Court rulings on “ride-along” cases, nude dancing, and commercial speech, covering issues such as banning advertising for lawful but harmful products such as tobacco. There is also an expanded discussion of journalists’ access to courtroom proceeding and judicial documents.https://scholarship.law.edu/fac_books/1059/thumbnail.jp

Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell (6th ed.)

Expert authors discuss the First Amendment in detail, as well as defamation and mass communication in Carter, Dee and Zuckman’s Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell. It covers: Internet law Indecency Websites with bomb recipes Defamation and anonymous postings Blocking cookies Encryption Spamming Copyright infringement Domain names and convergence The role of the FCC Cable and news technologies Further highlights include Supreme Court rulings on “ride-along” cases, nude dancing, and commercial speech, covering issues such as banning advertising for lawful but harmful products such as tobacco. There is also an expanded discussion of journalists’ access to courtroom proceeding and judicial documents.https://scholarship.law.edu/fac_books/1059/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation of Dementia Training for Staff in Acute Hospital Settings

Nohe development, pilot and evaluation of a brief psychosocial training intervention (BPTI) for staff working with people with dementia in an acute hospital setting are described. The project had two phases. Phase one involved adapting an existing competency framework and developing the BPTI using focus groups. For the pilot and evaluation, in phase two, a mixed methods approach was adopted using self-administered standardised questionnaires and qualitative interviews. Qualitative analysis suggested that delivering skills-based training can develop communication, problem-solving and self-directed learning skills; benefit staff in terms of increased knowledge, skills and confidence; and be problematic in the clinical area in terms of time, organisation and the physical environment. These factors must be taken into consideration when delivering training. These changes were not reflected in the quantitative results and measures were not always sensitive to changes in this setting. Definitive conclusions cannot be drawn about the efficacy of the intervention, due to the contradictory outcomes between the quantitative and qualitative data. Further developments and research are required to explore how staff and organisations can be supported to deliver the best possible care

Queering the Bitch: Spike, Transgression and Erotic Empowerment

According to Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, queer exists when the constituent elements of anyone’s gender or sexuality are not made (or cannot be made) to signify monolithically. By this definition Spike is the queerest character in the 'Buffyverse': both his gender and sexuality are fluid – neither is secure and both are based around excess. His gender switches from male to female and his sexuality from 'vanilla' to more varied and non-traditional forms of eroticism. The article argues that the character of Spike opens up opportunities for the resignification of what it means to be male or female, man or monster, dominant or submissive, 'vanilla' or an exponent of erotic variation – opportunities we need to seize if we are to challenge the all-pervasive binaries which govern our understanding of sex, gender and sexuality, and the interrelationship between these terms