Guidelines for Avoiding Pitfalls When Drafting Juvenile Curfew Laws: A Legal Analysis

Curfew laws seek to provide general protection to youth and adults by restricting the times that children of certain ages are allowed to occupy public places or streets. These laws often contain exemptions for youth accompanied by an adult, responding to an emergency, or traveling to or from school, work, or a religious service, among others. However, the actual language used and exemptions included vary by locality. As a result, courts have reached different results—several courts upheld curfew laws as constitutional, while others overturned these laws. Although not the original reason behind juvenile curfew enactment, several studies have found that juvenile curfew laws reduce other youth health consequences. For example, studies have shown that the enactment of a juvenile curfew law reduces juvenile traffic injuries and fatalities, pediatric transports and pediatric trauma transports, and the volume of juvenile trauma cases. Given that these laws have public health benefits and continue to be enacted across the country, this article will provide guidance for policymakers on how to propose and draft these laws to avoid problems in other similar statutes that resulted in them being overturned. A four-step framework by Harold Lasswell for understanding the creation of a policy called “The Policy Cycle” is used as structure for this article

Effect of consistent condom use on 6-month prevalence of bacterial vaginosis varies by baseline BV status

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a condition characterized by a disturbed vaginal ecosystem which fluctuates in response to extrinsic and intrinsic factors. BV recurrence is common. To explore whether consistent condom use was associated with BV occurrence or recurrence, we compared the effect of condom use on BV prevalence after six months, among women with and without BV at baseline

Predictors of Unprotected Sex Among Female Sex Workers in Madagascar: Comparing Semen Biomarkers and Self-Reported Data

Research on the determinants of condom use and condom non-use generally has relied on self-reported data with questionable validity. We identified predictors of recent, unprotected sex among 331 female sex workers in Madagascar using two outcome measures: self-reports of unprotected sex within the past 48 h and detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a biological marker of recent semen exposure. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that self-reported unprotected sex was associated with three factors: younger age, having a sipa (emotional partner) in the prior seven days, and no current use of hormonal contraception. The sole factor related to having PSA detected was prevalent chlamydial infection (adjusted odds ratio, 4.5; 95% confidence interval, 2.0–10.1). Differences in predictors identified suggest that determinants of unprotected sex, based on self-reported behaviors, might not correlate well with risk of semen exposure. Caution must be taken when interpreting self-reported sexual behavior measures or when adjusting for them in analyses evaluating interventions for the prevention of HIV/STIs

Pick Your Poison: Responses to the Marketing and Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products

This law synopsis explores legal approaches for addressing the marketing and sale of flavored tobacco products to youth

Parents as coping resources for adolescents with learning disabilities

textThis study uses a qualitative methodology to examine how adolescents with learning disabilities cope with stressors and the role of their parents in this process. Fifteen middle school students with learning disabilities and their parents were interviewed separately, using a semi-structured interview format. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to create an integrated conceptualization of the role of parents in the coping of learning disabled adolescents. Adolescents with learning disabilities experience academic and interpersonal stressors. The level of stressors experienced by adolescents with learning disabilities seems to vary widely and is related to adolescents’ personal characteristics and their academic and social context. Adolescents in this study utilize a wide variety of coping strategies, dependent on stressor properties (e.g., duration, severity, domain), personal characteristics (e.g., emotionality, knowledge), and environmental characteristics (e.g., family climate, school setting). Based on the current data, a model was developed to explain parents’ role in adolescent coping within this population. The data suggest that parents serve as a coping resource for adolescents with learning disabilities by creating a space in which adolescents are able to develop and use independent coping strategies. Parents engage in monitoring strategies to assess their child’s academic and behavioral functioning, development, and emotional state. Information obtained through monitoring is passed through parents’ cognitive lens— parents’ attributions, knowledge, goals, and beliefs. Parents’ varying beliefs about themselves, their children, and the school system intersect to create predictable patterns of parent support. In creating a space, parents set boundaries and expectations that regulate exposure, shielding adolescents from some experiences, while allowing them access to others. Parents structure the home environment to makes various coping resources available for adolescents and influence the school system to create an environment that is safe, stable, supportive, and sufficiently challenging. Parents also respond to adolescents’ stressors by offering situation-specific coping assistance. Finally, by preparing and equipping adolescents, parents seek to provide adolescents with coping resources such as knowledge and skills.Educational Psycholog

Using Law to Improve Public Health: the Example of Tobacco Regulation

Tobacco use has been the leading cause of preventable death in the United States for decades yet public health advocates have struggled to secure legislation effectively regulating tobacco products and their use. This is largely due to the role tobacco played in the economic development of the United States, particularly in the southern states, and the power tobacco companies wielded with Congress. Although tobacco use has declined significantly in recent decades and our country no longer relies on tobacco crops for economic stability, tobacco products still maintain a prominent place in American culture, often serving as the straw man in debates over how public health regulation threatens the concept of American freedom. Understanding the successes and challenges of the tobacco regulation movement may benefit public health officials and advocates seeking to address other public health issues. To be sure, using laws to protect and preserve the public\u27s health is not a modern or novel concept; boards of health with plenary regulatory power have been in existence for well over a century. But the drive to reduce the toll of tobacco use through law provides unique and important insight into the role that lawyers and the legal system can play in improving public health