455 research outputs found
Keynote Address: Civil Justice at a Crossroads
I really do believe that, as your title suggests, the civil justice system is at a crossroads and that, as a result, we all have new opportunities and old responsibilities. Four years ago, concerns about skyrocketing costs, unprofessional gamesmanship, and long delays in civil litigation were the stuff of grousing and shoulder shrugs. We all had a level of fatalism or cynicism about our inability to change any of those factors. Now, that is not true. There is a window of opportunity that has opened-a convergence of various forces resulting in a willingness of decision-makers to consider change. As a result, the wires are buzzing. In three weeks, there will be a national conference at Duke University sponsored by the Federal Advisory Committee on Civil Rules (the 2010 Conference on Civil Litigation), the stated goal of which is to harness: [l]nsights and perspectives from lawyers, judges and academics concerning improvements that could be made in the federal civil litigation process to effectuate the purposes of the Civil Rules-\u27to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.\u27 In addition to considering the results of the empirical research, panels of experts will consider the range of issues in the federal civil litigation process that could be used more efficiently to accomplish the purposes of the Rules, including the discovery process (particularly E-Discovery), pleadings, and dispositive motions. Other topics to be considered include judicial management and the tools available to judges to expedite the process, the process of settlement, and the experience of the states. In anticipation of that conference, six nationwide surveys have been conducted, in addition to two statewide surveys and three empirical data survey analyses. To date, over thirty other papers have been submitted and that number grows daily. This conference at Pepperdine is taking place, another symposium sponsored by The Sedona Conference Institute took place last week, and other organizations around the country are dedicating time in their annual meetings to consideration of possible civil justice reform
The American Civil Justice System: From Recommendations to Reform in the 21st Century
This is the published version
Reinstalling the Courthouse Windows: Using Statistical Data to Promote Judicial Transparency and Accountability in Federal and State Courts
Recommended from our members
Inequalities in children's physical activity and interventions
There is clear evidence of socioeconomic inequalities in overweight and obesity in childhood. These differences progressively worsen with age ultimately amplifying disparities in morbidity and premature mortality from associated noncommunicable diseases across the life-course.
The well-established benefits of physical activity during childhood in promoting health and reducing future disease risk has led to an international focus on its promotion across populations. Unlike in adults, it is unclear if the accumulation and distribution of physical activity in children differs by socioeconomic position. It furthermore is unknown whether all children benefit equally from current efforts to promote physical activity.
In consideration of these evidence gaps, the aims of this thesis were: 1) to investigate the socioeconomic patterning of children’s physical activity behaviour, and 2) to explore if existing intervention efforts are generating differential effects.
The findings from three secondary data analyses suggest that more socioeconomically affluent children accumulate a greater proportion of their daily physical activity from higher intensity activities, which are more strongly associated with lower levels of adiposity. This association was demonstrated both in the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study and South Africa’s Birth to Twenty Cohort. A subsequent analysis of pooled and harmonized data from 36 European cohorts with accelerometer-assessed physical activity confirmed these findings. It also revealed that irrespective of the national context, children with increased socioeconomic affluence engage in more vigorous physical activity and have lower adiposity despite overall lower levels of moderate-vigorous physical activity.
Investigations of current efforts to promote physical activity were conducted through a two-stage systematic review and meta-analysis. An initial scoping review demonstrated an overall scarcity of published evidence on differential effects by sociodemo¬graphic characteristics. Subsequent meta-analyses of data re-analysed by authors revealed that current school-based physical activity interventions are not effective at increasing daily moderate-vigorous physical activity with no evidence of differential effectiveness by a child¬’s socioeconomic position or gender.
This thesis demonstrates that socioeconomic differences exist in the intensity patterning of children’s physical activity behaviour with no evidence that current promotion efforts are propagating inequalities. The international focus on the aggregate of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may be masking meaningful inequalities between socioeconomic groups of children. Further research is needed to determine the most appropriate daily dose of vigorous activity and to develop interventions that provide opportunities for less socioeconomically affluent children to engage in physical activity of a sufficient intensity to maximize health benefits. All physical activity promotion research should focus on the assessment and maximization of intervention fidelity.Gates Cambridg
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