The Gendered Burdens of Conviction and Collateral Consequences on Employment

Ex-offenders are subject to a wide range of employment restrictions that limit the ability of individuals with a criminal background to earn a living. This Article argues that women involved in the criminal justice system likely suffer a greater income-related burden from criminal conviction than do men. This disproportionate burden arises in occupations that women typically pursue, both through formal pathways, such as restrictions on occupational licensing, and through informal pathways, such as employers’ unwillingness to hire those with a criminal record. In addition, women have access to far fewer vocational programs while incarcerated. Further exacerbating this burden is that women involved in the criminal justice system tend to be a more vulnerable population and are more likely to be responsible for children than their male counterparts, making legal restrictions on access to public assistance that would support employment more burdensome for women. We propose programs and policies that may ameliorate these gendered income burdens of criminal conviction, including reforms to occupational licensing, improved access to public assistance, reforms to prison labor opportunities, improvements in labor market information sharing, and expanded employer liability protection

Why Are Seemingly Satisfied Female Lawyers Running for the Exits? Resolving the Paradox Using National Data

Despite the fact that women are leaving the practice of law at alarmingly high rates, most previous research finds no evidence of gender differences in job satisfaction among lawyers. This Article uses nationally representative data from the 2015 National Survey of College Graduates to examine gender differences in lawyers’ job satisfaction, and finds that any apparent similarity of job satisfaction between genders likely arises from dissatisfied female JDs sorting out of the legal profession at higher rates than their male counterparts, leaving behind the most satisfied women. This Article also provides a detailed examination of the specific working conditions that are associated with dissatisfaction for female lawyers before this sorting occurs, and compares job satisfaction of lawyers to that of other professions. The resulting analysis shows that recently graduated female lawyers have lower average satisfaction with their salaries relative to male lawyers, but that this result is likely due to differences in employer types. The data further indicates that a male–female satisfaction gap exists only among JDs, and not among those with bachelor’s as the highest degree or other professional or graduate degrees. This finding suggests that comparing lawyers to those in other professions could help to pinpoint unique characteristics of the legal profession that create dissatisfaction among women at the outset of their careers and causes them to exit the profession

Influence of diffraction on the spectrum and wavefunctions of an open system

In this paper, we demonstrate the existence and significance of diffractive orbits in an open microwave billiard, both experimentally and theoretically. Orbits that diffract off of a sharp edge of the system are found to have a strong influence on the transmission spectrum of the system, especially in the regime where there are no stable classical orbits. On resonance, the wavefunctions are influenced by both classical and diffractive orbits. Off resonance, the wavefunctions are determined by the constructive interference of multiple transient, nonperiodic orbits. Experimental, numerical, and semiclassical results are presented.Comment: 27 pages, 29 figures, and 3 tables. Submitted to Physical Review E. A copy with higher resolution figures is available at http://monsoon.harvard.edu/~hersch/papers.htm

Online learning of the body schema

We present an algorithm enabling a humanoid robot to visually learn its body schema, knowing only the number of degrees of freedom in each limb. By “body schema” we mean the joint positions and orientations and thus the kinematic function. The learning is performed by visually observing its end-effectors when moving them. With simulations involving a body schema of more than 20 degrees of freedom, results show that the system is scalable to a high number of degrees of freedom. Real robot experiments confirm the practicality of our approach. Our results illustrate how subjective space representation can develop as a result of sensorimotor contingencies

Perceptions of occupational risk by US commercial fishermen

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Policy 36 (2012): 28-33, doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2011.03.005.The dangers associated with commercial fishing are well documented, and fishermen consistently face one of the highest job-related mortality risks of all US occupations. This study explored fishermen’s perceptions of these risks in a representative sample of Maine commercial fishing vessel captains. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics and risk preferences during at sea boardings of working commercial fishing vessels (n=233) along the full extent of the Maine coastline. Trends in perceived risk were explored across the various sociodemographic categories. Fishermen in this study consistently undervalued their true occupational risk, and rated it as average despite consistent evidence to the contrary. Those more likely to downgrade the risk of fishing included state registered vessels and those found to be non-compliant with existing safety regulations. Less educated fishermen and those that come from a fishing family were also more likely to underrate the risks, as were those fishermen that displayed risk-loving tendencies in other facets of their lives such as smokers and those that did not use seat belts. Middle-aged fishermen were also more likely underrate the risk than the youngest and oldest groups, suggesting that overconfidence grows and then wanes over time. The results of this study strongly suggest that the current safety training and awareness programs targeting fishermen are inadequate. Furthermore, widespread voluntary participation in organized safety training is unlikely since the majority of fishermen believed that the risks were not relevant to their own activities.This study was supported by funding from Maine Sea Grant and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (R/08-03 NA060AR4170108)

Archeological and Bioarcheological Investigations at Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery Galveston County, Texas

This report documents the removal of individuals buried within Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery (41GV171) to avoid potential impact to the remains during implementation of remediation activities at the Malone Service Company Superfund Site (Site) in Texas City, TX. An oil recovery and waste processing facility had operated at the Site for more than 30 years, ending in the mid1990s. The facility had stored, processed, and disposed of industrial solid wastes and hazardous wastes. In July 2012, a group of companies known as the Malone Cooperating Parties (MCP) entered into a Consent Decree with the U.S. Government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Texas to implement a remedial design and remedial action at the Site. It was determined that if the remains in the cemetery were not relocated, there was the potential that remediation activities could impact the cemetery. Archival research, review of historic maps and aerial photographs, and reconnaissance survey revealed the extent of potential remains at the cemetery, and, given the location of the cemetery and the scope of the planned remediation activities, it was deemed impractical for the environmental remediation contractors to work around the cemetery. (41GV171). The MCP consulted with EPA, Campbell family descendants, the Galveston County Historical Commission, and the Texas Historical Commission and developed a plan to relocate the remains to a perpetual care cemetery in accordance with Texas state law and associated rules and procedures. In accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code §711.004, the landowner Land Navigator, Ltd., on behalf of the MCP, petitioned the Galveston County Judicial District Court for removal of the dedication of the cemetery and the transfer of the human remains to the perpetual care cemetery operated by Forest Park East Funeral Home and Cemetery (FPE), 21620 Gulf Freeway, Webster, TX 77598. On February 11, 2014, Land Navigator was granted a Summary Judgment allowing Land Navigator to disinter and relocate the remains to FPE. Versar, Inc. (formerly Geo-Marine, Inc.), on behalf of the MCP, provided all archeological and human osteological expertise for the disinterment and analysis of the human remains. Disinterment permits from the State Registrar of the Vital Statistics Unit of the Department of State Health Services, as required by Texas Administrative Code, Title 13, Chapter 22 (Texas Historical Commission, Cemeteries), were obtained for each burial. The disinterment excavations at Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery revealed 34 burials from which 35 individuals were excavated. No graves were marked by headstones. It is the professional judgment of Versar that, of the 35 individual sets of remains identified, 11 were determined to be adults (5 male and 3 female; 3 of indeterminate sex), and 24 were determined to be children. The majority of children at Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery (n=18) are under 5 years of age and six are premature infants aged 30–40 weeks. Burials could not be associated conclusively with any individuals identified by the descendants; however, the combination of bioarcheological analysis, coffin hardware analysis, census data, and descendant identifications resulted in a list of individuals that may have been interred in certain graves. Some of the interments include James and Mary Campbell, Charlie Meyers, Benjamin Ninnie Dick, Phoebe Rutlage, and Shelby McNeil, Jr. Children were difficult to identify; however, there is good potential the graves of Frank Campbell, Mary Jane Campbell, Charles Munson, and Grace Dick were identified. Data are conclusive that the children Levi and Joseph (Joe) Parr were both interred together in Burial 6, the concrete crypt with brick covering. Grace Dick was the last individual interred at the cemetery in 1904