Property Rights, Theft, and Efficiency: The Biblical Waiver of Fines in the Case of Confessed Theft

In this paper we show that costs associated with infractions of property rights, such as theft, can be reduced by imposing lower penal-ties on individuals who admit to such infractions and make restitution. We find that the socially optimal penalty on a confessed thief may be zero (complete amnesty) or even negative – a person may be given a reward for confessing a theft. The benefits of amnesties were apparently recognized in ancient times and they constitute part of Biblical Law. Moreover, such amnesties have also been informally incorporated into modern legal systems, wherein leniency (a form of partial amnesty) is generally shown to individuals who confess their infractions.

The Look Within: Property, Capacity, and Suffrage in Nineteenth-Century America

This Note looks at the trajectory of suffrage reform from the late eighteenth century to the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment and argues that reformers were obsessed with the inner qualities of persons. Whereas the eighteenth century had located a person\u27s capacity for political participation externally (in material things, such as property), the nineteenth century found these qualities internally (in innate and heritable traits, such as intelligence). To chart the transformation, this Note examines the debates over suffrage in the state constitutional conventions of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as contemporaneous commentaries. Part I will describe the external view that characterized the eighteenth century, and how its explanatory force gradually faded. Part I1will describe the creation of the internal view, how it led to manhood suffrage, and how, at the same time, it continued to disenfranchise women and blacks. Part II will offer a brief conclusion, tying in some additional categories of excluded persons and exploring the limits of the look within

Noncompliance and the International Rule of Law

Though it is said that compliance with international law is high, the international system contains few legislative, judicial, or executive processes analogous to those of States, and, consequently, the system\u27s ability to self-correct and self-enforce is much more limited, creating gaps between aspiration and authority, procedures and policy. This Essay contends that noncompliance - particularly operational noncompliance - is a necessary component of less capable legal systems, such as international law. Though compliance, of course, is and should be the norm, those who discount operational noncompliance disregard the tension, which is acute in the international arena, between the necessity in a legal system of maintaining the principle that the law is to be complied with-because otherwise what does it mean to be a law?-and the role of noncompliance in developing new law and in enforcing current law. That operational noncompliance is not the ideal there is no doubt. Nor is there doubt that many, if not most, instances of operational noncompliance are unlawful and undesirable. Yet, the failure to acknowledge the functions and potential benefits of some instances of operational noncompliance mythologizes contemporary international law, limits our ability to achieve community policies, and risks making international law irrelevant. Unless and until we have more effective international institutions, we will need to come to terms with noncompliance\u27s role in the international legal system. Part I of this Essay discusses the problem. Part II sketches the various causes of noncompliance and introduces the concept of operational noncompliance. Part III explains operational noncompliance in detail and provides examples, showing that operational noncompliance is an integral component of the international legal system. Part IV looks at the costs and benefits of operational noncompliance. Part V discusses whether operational noncompliance should be acknowledged as a component of the international legal system, and, if so, how we should appraise particular acts of operational noncompliance. Part VI concludes that we need to come to terms with noncompliance

The Problem of Obtaining Evidence for International Criminal Courts

International criminal courts will be judged by their fairness to defendants as well as to victims. In a very practical way, such claims will hinge, inter alia, on the ability of prosecutors and defendants to have reasonable access to probative evidence. But international criminal courts depend on states to provide them with evidence or access to evidence. The obligation of states to cooperate with international criminal tribunals in the production of evidence was at issue in the recent decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Blaki case (1997). That judgment and the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) that address judicial assistance deserve investigation. Do the rules propounded in Blakie and in the Rome Statute create the right conditions for the institution of fair trials in international criminal courts in our world today? Are such rules possible? The author argues that the diplomats in Rome failed to establish a procedure for the production of evidence that will lead to the goal of a fair and effective trial. This is cause for concern if and when an International Criminal Court comes into being

Noncompliance and the International Rule of Law

Though it is said that compliance with international law is high, the international system contains few legislative, judicial, or executive processes analogous to those of States, and, consequently, the system\u27s ability to self-correct and self-enforce is much more limited, creating gaps between aspiration and authority, procedures and policy. This Essay contends that noncompliance - particularly operational noncompliance - is a necessary component of less capable legal systems, such as international law. Though compliance, of course, is and should be the norm, those who discount operational noncompliance disregard the tension, which is acute in the international arena, between the necessity in a legal system of maintaining the principle that the law is to be complied with-because otherwise what does it mean to be a law?-and the role of noncompliance in developing new law and in enforcing current law. That operational noncompliance is not the ideal there is no doubt. Nor is there doubt that many, if not most, instances of operational noncompliance are unlawful and undesirable. Yet, the failure to acknowledge the functions and potential benefits of some instances of operational noncompliance mythologizes contemporary international law, limits our ability to achieve community policies, and risks making international law irrelevant. Unless and until we have more effective international institutions, we will need to come to terms with noncompliance\u27s role in the international legal system. Part I of this Essay discusses the problem. Part II sketches the various causes of noncompliance and introduces the concept of operational noncompliance. Part III explains operational noncompliance in detail and provides examples, showing that operational noncompliance is an integral component of the international legal system. Part IV looks at the costs and benefits of operational noncompliance. Part V discusses whether operational noncompliance should be acknowledged as a component of the international legal system, and, if so, how we should appraise particular acts of operational noncompliance. Part VI concludes that we need to come to terms with noncompliance

The Look Within: Property, Capacity, and Suffrage in Nineteenth-Century America

This Note looks at the trajectory of suffrage reform from the late eighteenth century to the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment and argues that reformers were obsessed with the inner qualities of persons. Whereas the eighteenth century had located a person\u27s capacity for political participation externally (in material things, such as property), the nineteenth century found these qualities internally (in innate and heritable traits, such as intelligence). To chart the transformation, this Note examines the debates over suffrage in the state constitutional conventions of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as contemporaneous commentaries. Part I will describe the external view that characterized the eighteenth century, and how its explanatory force gradually faded. Part I1will describe the creation of the internal view, how it led to manhood suffrage, and how, at the same time, it continued to disenfranchise women and blacks. Part II will offer a brief conclusion, tying in some additional categories of excluded persons and exploring the limits of the look within

International Criminal Courts and Fair Trials: Difficulties and Prospects

The question Can international criminal courts provide defendants with fair trials? is one that has barely been posed, let alone answered. The realm of international criminal justice is distinguished from domestic criminal justice not simply because accountability and sovereignty weigh heavier in this context, but also because of the absence of an effective counterweight to check these interests. One approach to the fair trial issue focuses on the rights delineated in the tribunals\u27 statutes, rules of procedure and evidence, and case law. A second approach to the problem of fair trials asks, instead, whether these international courts have the independence and coercive powers necessary to ensure fair trials, regardless of the sufficiency of the paper rights accorded the accused in the tribunals\u27 statutes. It is this second crucial, but often overlooked, aspect of the fair trial problem that this paper addresses. The disjunction between authority and control, common to international institutions, is too great to allow for consistently fair criminal adjudication. Whether the structural limitations on the tribunals are fatal, or whether their detrimental effects can be abated, remains to be seen. Part I of this Article introduces the problem. Part II of this Article identifies the basic fair trial rights at risk. Part III begins to explain why this may be so by describing how international criminal tribunals obtain the essentials of their existence through state cooperation. Parts IV and V explore how this cooperation regime has affected the ability of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to provide defendants with fair trials. Part VI evaluates whether the International Criminal Court is an improvement and outlines a number of possible ways to counter the fair-trial-limiting tendencies that plague international tribunals

New fans, new places : the role of sport fanship in newcomer adjustment

textThe need to belong is a fundamental human motivation. Individuals dedicate substantial time and effort into developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships with others, yet the structures and mechanisms through which individuals satisfy their need for belongingness has changed. Subjugated to the periphery of communal life are the geographically based communities and traditional forms of interest-based communities so popular among earlier generations (Putnam, 2000). In their place, modern individuals have created and joined new types of communities consistent with the wants and demands of the modern economy and lifestyle. Based on looseness and flexibility (Wuthnow, 1998), these modern communities are marked by fluidity of membership where individuals are free to enter and leave at their own peril. Yet, we know very little about the experiences of newcomers entering communities and the underlying processes through which newcomers join communities. Utilizing a longitudinal qualitative approach, the first goal of this dissertation was to develop a substantive theory explaining the underlying processes through which newcomers join communities, resulting in the creation of the Newcomer-to-Member model. In the second half of this dissertation, the focus shifts towards the impact of sport fanship as a mechanism to assist in the tumultuous newcomer adjustment process. Based on the experiences of 31 incoming college freshmen over a two-year period, four themes are presented that illustrate how sport fanship can positively affect the experiences of community newcomers: 1) Offering an early and flexible form of involvement; 2) Creating meaningful individual connections; 3) Promoting community ambassadors; and 4) Stimulating the identity negotiation process. Sport fanship is conceptualized in this dissertation not as a predictor of consumer behavior, but rather as a mechanism that can be specifically structured and designed to enhance the experiences and lives of individuals. The implications of the Newcomer-to-Member model and the four themes related to sport fanship are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for higher education, organizational socialization, and sport management. Moreover, practical implications for both higher education and sport management are also discussed.Kinesiology and Health Educatio

Competition and Control in International Adjudication

States are increasingly delegating or transferring powers to international organizations, and international organizations are increasingly pushing the limits of the powers conferred upon them. This expansion of powers embraces all areas of international authority-particularly lawmaking and adjudication. Recognizing that international organizations have gained this greater role, scholars have begun to think more deeply about the legitimacy, accountability, and good governance of international organizations, and States (as well as non-State entities, such as the European Union and nongovernmental organizations), knowing what is at stake, have become more forthright in seeking a seat at the table. Part I of this paper explains why effective controls are necessary for international adjudication. Part II argues that States, with minor exceptions, currently do not have effective mechanisms to control international courts once those courts have been established. Part III looks at internal control mechanisms and asks whether judges can effectively control their own interests in expanding the powers of their courts. Part IV contends that the international legal system, as it is presently constituted, is well-suited to competitive adjudication, that such competition can provide an effective judicial control mechanism, and that, on balance, this and other characteristics of competition enhance international dispute resolution. To this end, the Essay concludes with an argument against system-protective judicial devices such as inter-court deference, and in favor of the establishment of competition-friendly procedures

The Regulatory Turn in International Law

In the post-War era, international law became a talisman for the protection of individuals from governmental abuse. Such was the success of this humanization of international law that by the 1990s human rights had become part of... international political and legal culture. This Article argues that there has been an unnoticed contemporary counter trend -- the regulatory turn in international law. Within the past two decades, states and international organizations have at an unprecedented rate entered into agreements, passed resolutions, enacted laws, and created institutions and networks, formal and informal, that impose and enforce direct and indirect international duties upon individuals or that buttress and facilitate a state\u27s authorities respecting those under and even beyond its territorial jurisdiction. Whereas the human rights turn protected the individual against excessive governmental control, these parallel processes do just the opposite -- they facilitate and enhance the regulatory authorities of government (both national and international) in relation to the individual. The regulatory turn represents a fundamental challenge to the assumptions and dynamics of traditional international law. While once the international system shied away from acting directly on individuals, it now asserts such authority with regularity through the articulation of rules and the adoption of decisions. And while once international law deferred to states in the implementation of common rules pertaining to individual duties and their enforcement, it now often eschews state discretion and instead dictates with increasing specificity the provisions to be adopted at the national and sub-national levels. This constitutive realignment in the international system\u27s position vis-a-vis the individual complicates our inherited vision of international law and the expectations that flow there from. The system effects include the restructuring of the distributions of power to and among states and international institutions; the reframing of the ways in which international problems and solutions are imagined; the reallocation of resources to support law enforcement organizations and programs; the recalibration of the substantive and procedural demands made upon international decision-making processes; and even the reconfiguring of the ways in which we, as individuals, imagine each other. This Article draws connections between diverse subject matters and practices, past and present, so that we can better discern the otherwise bidden trend that is the regulatory turn, situate it within the emerging system of international governance, and appraise its effects