An Alcohol Mindset in a Drug-Crazed World: A Review of Birchfield v. North Dakota

Birchfield v. North Dakota involved the ability of legislatures to criminalize a driver’s refusal to submit to a chemical test after a law enforcement officer arrested the individual for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The driver’s argued this criminalized their constitutional right to refuse a warrantless search, while the governments’ argued they needed this power in order to effectively address drunk driving in their jurisdictions. The Court decided that refusing a breath test could be criminalized because requiring the test did not violate the driver’s constitutional rights, however the Court also ruled that because of the invasive nature of blood tests, driver’s did have the right to refuse them, and that right could not be punished through criminal penalties. This paper argues that this may have been the correct decision as a constitutional matter, but the reasoning the Court uses to arrive at that opinion is flawed in a few key ways

Military Commissions Revived: Persisting Problems of Perception

[Excerpt] “When the first military commission proceedings began in July 2004, the Bush Administration identified fifteen Guantanamo Bay detainees subject to the military commissions. Subsequently, Bush Administration officials asserted that they had evidence to move forward with between sixty and eighty cases within the commission system. But, by the time President George W. Bush left office in early 2009, the commissions had resolved only three cases. Upon taking office, President Barack Obama initially suspended the military commission proceedings in the thirteen cases in which charges were pending, but, in May 2009, he announced his intention to move forward with some commission trials at Guantanamo Bay. In January 2009, the Obama Administration’s Guantanamo Review Task Force reported that it had identified thirty-six cases slated for prosecution. On November 13, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the government would pursue civilian court prosecutions of the five defendants accused of conspiring to commit the 9/11 attacks and military commissions for five other detainees. Over a year later, military commissions have resolved only three additional cases, all resulting in plea deals, and there have been only sporadic proceedings in any pending cases.

Licensed To Kill: A Defense of Vicarious Liability Under the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) makes it illegal to take an endangered and threatened species by killing, harming, or harassing the animal. Although the classic example of a take is an individual poacher shooting an endangered species, these protected species are also harmed by larger–scale policies and programs. In several court cases, local and state governments have been held vicariously liable for the take of endangered species when their policies or actions caused third parties to commit a take. The vicarious liability theory, as applied to the ESA, is controversial and has been criticized by numerous scholars. This Note argues that a limited version of the vicarious liability theory is consistent with the text of the ESA and plays an essential role in fulfilling the promise of the ESA\u27s take prohibition. As a case study, this Note examines how the vicarious liability theory could be used to hold the state of Louisiana liable for licensing shrimping gear that causes the take of endangered and threatened sea turtles. As illustrated by the Louisiana example, the acceptance of a narrowly construed vicarious liability theory would protect endangered species without placing an unreasonable or unconstitutional burden on state and local governments

Current challenges that New Zealand small: Medium sized enterprises face in retention of employees: With a focus on the landscape industry

Employee retention is a growing concern in Human Resources. Poor employee retention results in businesses incurring increased expenses. Businesses have to search for, recruit and retain employees when job vacancies occur. This is a costly process; therefore businesses are taking a greater interest in human resources and the retention of employees. There is very little literature focusing on employee retention in the landscape industry, so research collected was broadened to other industries with similar attributes to create viable results. The study investigates what factors influence employee retention in small to medium-sized enterprises with a focus on the landscape industry in New Zealand. Research is done on employee retention influencers in similar industries due to the limited amount of research on employee retention in the landscape industry. No research on large businesses was used as the principles of a large organisation would not be compatible with small – medium-sized enterprises. No primary research was used as there was only an available candidate pool of four people and it was believed this would not give viable results or insight into the topic. It was found that employee retention improved in businesses when the business’ organisational culture, values and beliefs matched those of the employees. It was found that when there was a mismatch between culture and employees, employees did not identify with or connect as well with the business, and this caused conflict and resulted in employees wanting to leave the organisation. Leadership was another key influencer on employee retention. Poor leadership causes misunderstanding, miscommunication, and therefore conflict and poor productivity, and has negative effects on organisational culture, resulting in worsened levels on employee retention. Career advancement was another significant influence on employee retention. When employees see a path to both develop and move forward within the business, this is firstly a highly motivational factor but also a factor that improves employee retention. When employees see that the business promotes internally, employees will feel there are greater opportunities at that particular business. Remuneration/ Rewards are the reason employees work in the first place. In industries such as the landscape industry where the hours are long and tiresome, improved remuneration package/rewards improve employee retention, as employees’ most desired need is being better satisfied. The final factor influencing employee retention is employee engagement, which can be improved to better retain employees. This can be done by giving employees more opportunities to take on responsibility and more challenging tasks. This will improve employee engagement as the work employees do gains more variety, and employees are actively challenged and pushed to work at their best

The Law and Economics of Critical Race Theory

Legal academics often perceive law and economics (L&E) and critical race theory (CRT) as oppositional discourses. Using a recently published collection of essays on CRT as a starting point, we argue that the understanding of workplace discrimination can be furthered through a collaboration between L&E and CRT. L&E\u27s strength is in its attention to incentives and norms, specifically its concern with explicating how norms incentivize behavior. Its limitation is that it treats race as exogenous and static. Thus, the literature fails to consider how institutional norms affect, and are affected by, race. To put the point another way, L&E does not discuss how norms incentivize racial behavior, obscuring that how people present their race (or themselves as racial subjects) is a function of norms. The strength of CRT is its conception of race as a social construction. Under this view, race is neither biologically determined nor fixed. Instead, race is ever evolving as a function of social, political, legal, and economic pressures. A limitation of CRT is that much of its analysis of race as a social construction is macro-oriented. Thus, CRT has paid insufficient attention to the social construction of race within specific institutional settings, like the workplace. Further, CRT has virtually ignored the agency people of color exercise to shape how their racial identity is interpreted - that is say, constructed. Explicitly incorporating L&E\u27s focus on incentives and norms into CRT provides CRT with a means by which to articulate the notion of race as a social construction at the level of individual choice. The basic idea is that people of color construct (present racial impressions of) themselves in response to norms. Norms, in this sense, are racially productive, and individuals are part of the production apparatus. Having set out the basic elements of the collaborative enterprise, we deploy this collaboration to respond to a specific and important question about the workplace: How are modern employers and employees likely to manage workplace racial diversity? We raise this question because we assume that, for institutional legitimacy reasons, most workplaces will strive to achieve at least a modicum of racial diversity. The question, again, is: How will this diversity be managed? Part of the answer has to do with assimilation, an ideological technology for constructing race and a central theme in CRT; and part of the answer has to do with efficiency, an ideological technology for creating incentives and a central theme in L&E. Both ideas - assimilation and efficiency - combine to tell a story about workplace discrimination that derives from what we call the homogeneity incentive. In sum, in order to increase efficiency, employers have incentives to screen prospective employees for homogeneity, and, in order to counter racial stereotypes, nonwhite employees have incentives to demonstrate a willingness and capacity to assimilate. In this sense, the modern workplace discrimination problem may be more about employers requiring people of color to demonstrate racial palatability than about employers totally excluding people of color for the workplace. We discuss whether and to what extent anti-discrimination law can ameliorate this problem

Physicochemical properties and leaching behavior of eight U.S. long-grain rice cultivars as related to rice texture

There are many long-grain rice cultivars produced commercially in the U.S.; however, little work has been done on correlating the structure and physicochemical properties of starch with their texture. The physicochemical properties, leaching behavior, and texture attributes of eight longgrain rice cultivars were studied. Differences were observed in the approximate composition of kernels, including crude protein (6.6-9.3%), crude lipid (0.18-0.51%), and apparent amylose content (25.5-30.9%). These cultivars also differed slightly in thermal properties, such as onset temperature (73.7° to 77.4°C) and peak temperature (78.8° to 81.9°C). Although they showed a similar pasting temperature, their peak viscosities ranged from 680 to 982 Brabender units. The amount and the molecular size distribution of the leached starch molecules varied greatly among the samples. The leached amylose, instead of the apparent amylose, was suggested to play an important role in cooked rice texture

The Potential Effects of Hormonal Therapy and Stress on the Oral Health of the Transitioning Population

Problem: In terms of healthcare, the transgender population is underserved. Unfortunately, these individuals often experience stress related to seeking preventative care and fear discrimination. These factors preventing them from seeking care, in addition to hormone therapy taken during the transition process, could have severe impacts on their dental health. The purpose of this study is to establish a link between the hormone therapy used during gender transitioning and the effect on oral health. While there is a correlation between hormone replacement therapy and clinical evidence that sex hormones can impact on periodontal tissues, few studies have linked this knowledge to the healthcare needs of the transitioning population. Methods: Research was obtained from PubMed, the database of Dental and Oral Sciences Sources, Google Scholar, and LGBTQ+ databases. Recent studies and literature reviews were analyzed to determine if there was a correlation between hormone therapy and the health of the oral cavity. All sources found were published within five years. Major Findings: Many studies have revealed that there is an effect on sex hormones on the oral cavity. If it can happen to those that are taking sex hormone then there has to be a correlation to those who are transitioning taking the same hormone. Few studies have been conducted proving this correlation; this topic deserves more research and investigation. Conclusions: There is a clinical correlation between hormone replacement therapy and sex hormones and their effects on the oral cavity. Therefore, there is a possible correaltion to the transgender population that is taking hormones. As this population continues to grow, and more individuals identify as a part of the community, it is important to continue to research this topic.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/denh_student/1018/thumbnail.jp

GLBTQ content in comics/graphic novels for teens

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an historical perspective and current guidance for youth librarians collecting graphic novels for teens. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a brief review of the historical issues involved with censorship/intellectual freedom and comics and of current teen-oriented graphic novels with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning of sexual orientation (GLBTQ) content in Canada and the USA. It also provides a context for negotiating intellectual freedom and collection management policy issues, and suggestions for targeted acquisitions of teen graphic novels with GLTBQ content. Findings – The paper provides a brief overview of US and Canadian censorship of comics, including how this legacy affects today’s market. It recognizes the difficulty of obtaining information and recommendations for teen-appropriate graphic novels containing GLBTQ content, and makes suggestions for core collection items. Research limitations/implications – Only English sources from the USA and Canada are reviewed. Francophone Canadian literature is relevant but outside of the scope of this paper. Practical implications – The paper is a useful source of information for the librarian looking for collection development suggestions, and/or for the librarian dealing with or preparing against intellectual freedom challenges to graphic novels or GLBTQ material for teens. Originality/value – This paper furthers discussion of censorship of graphic novels and of GLBTQ material, and provides concrete suggestions to librarians developing a teen graphic novel collection. The issue is timely, as the graphic novel industry is booming and the ALA has documented an increasing number of challenges to graphic novels in libraries. Few previous papers on graphic novels or comics have included Canadian content, although the Canada-American library worlds, publishing industries and legal codes are historically and currently intertwined. Paper type General revie