What\u27s Wrong with Harmless Theories of Punishment

We maintain that conventional punishment theories obscure what is virtually always at the heart of punishment policy debates: harm. Namely, punishment policy disputes reflect contested views about what the harms inflicted by crime are as an empirical matter, and whether these harms ought to be acknowledged by the criminal justice regime as a normative matter. We argue that in order to know who, what, and how much to punish, one must take a position about what the harms of crime actually are. However, conventional punishment theories are mute on this question. When they supply an answer, it is because they have relied on a source outside the boundaries of their own theory to tell us why one crime is worse than another. We contend that discarding harmless theories of punishment, and instead focusing directly on competing views about the harms of crime, would clarify policy debates and open up possibilities for creative, pluralistic solutions to criminal justice problems. In addition to specifying in some detail what the harms of crime are, we offer two examples of how specific punishment policy debates would look different if they focused on harms instead of punishment theories. We also offer an illustration of a punishment policy originally motivated not by punishment theory but by a desire to explicitly address the multiple and particular harms of crime: restorative justice

What\u27s Wrong with Harmless Theories of Punishment

We maintain that conventional punishment theories obscure what is virtually always at the heart of punishment policy debates: harm. Namely, punishment policy disputes reflect contested views about what the harms inflicted by crime are as an empirical matter, and whether these harms ought to be acknowledged by the criminal justice regime as a normative matter. We argue that in order to know who, what, and how much to punish, one must take a position about what the harms of crime actually are. However, conventional punishment theories are mute on this question. When they supply an answer, it is because they have relied on a source outside the boundaries of their own theory to tell us why one crime is worse than another. We contend that discarding harmless theories of punishment, and instead focusing directly on competing views about the harms of crime, would clarify policy debates and open up possibilities for creative, pluralistic solutions to criminal justice problems. In addition to specifying in some detail what the harms of crime are, we offer two examples of how specific punishment policy debates would look different if they focused on harms instead of punishment theories. We also offer an illustration of a punishment policy originally motivated not by punishment theory but by a desire to explicitly address the multiple and particular harms of crime: restorative justice

Erosion of the Geodetic Hills Fossil Forest, Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories

Studies on the erosion of the Geodetic Hills Fossil Forest on the east side of Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories have indicated that erosion by wind averaged a depth of 1.3 cm for the period 1988 to 1992. The fossil wood and leaf litter tend to dry on exposure, resulting in shrinkage and fragmentation - sometimes in less than a year. Frost, especially at the boundaries of polygons, repeatedly compresses and disrupts the fossil-bearing strata. Erosion by water takes place as rills on the sides of hills. Solifluction displaces surface sediment on the sides of the hills in the range of 6 to 45 cm per year. In the last few years the physical disruption of stumps, tree trunks and forest mat has been caused mainly by people: by walking on the site, by excavating it, and by flying over and landing helicopters on it. Natural processes - including wind, freezing and thawing, rainfall, and wandering animals - also cause damage. In 1992, 62 stumps recorded in the 1988 survey (ca. 10% of the total) could not be relocated. There are problems in accounting for this discrepancy, because only a few stumps are known to have been removed by investigators for study, and it seems unlikely (although it is possible) that others may have been removed by unknown visitors. Some of the "missing" stumps may still be present, but disturbance in the surface sediment caused by scientific excavation or wind-driven accretion have made them untraceable. Vestigial stumps may simply have weathered away in the period between surveys, and finally some of the losses may be accounted for by errors in the initial surveying. Since preservation is important both for long-term scientific interpretation and for public access, the site should be better managed. The authors advocate that the site be managed by the Canadian Parks Service as an annex to Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve.Key words: fossil forest, Axel Heiberg Island, wood, leaf litter, erosion, preservationDes études sur l'érosion de la forêt fossile des collines géodésiques du côté est de l'île Axel Heiberg dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest ont révélé que l'érosion éolienne était d'en moyenne 1,3 cm au cours de la période allant de 1988 à 1992. Le bois et la couche de feuilles mortes fossiles ont tendance à sécher s'ils sont exposés aux éléments, ce qui aboutit au retrait et à la fragmentation - parfois en moins d'un an. Le gel, en particulier aux limites des polygones, comprime et disloque les strates fossilifères de façon répétée. L'érosion hydrique se produit sous forme de rigoles sur les pentes des collines. La solifluxion déloge les sédiments de surface sur les pentes des collines à une vitesse de 6 à 45 cm par an. Au cours des dernières années, la perturbation physique des souches, des troncs d'arbre et du tapis forestier a été causée principalement par les humains: piétinement et excavation du site, survols et atterrissages des hélicoptères. Les processus naturels - y compris le vent, le gel et dégel, les précipitations et le déplacement des animaux - causent également des dommages. En 1992, 62 souches consignées dans le relevé de 1988 (environ 10 p. cent du total) n'ont pu être retrouvées. On a de la difficulté à expliquer cet écart, car on sait que quelques souches seulement ont été enlevées par les chercheurs pour effectuer leurs travaux, et il semble peu probable (bien que ce soit possible) que d'autres souches aient été enlevées par des visiteurs inconnus. Il se peut que certaines des souches «absentes» soient toujours présentes, mais la perturbation des sédiments de surface causée par des excavations scientifiques ou l'accrétion éolienne fait qu'elles sont impossibles à retracer. Des souches résiduelles ont peut-être tout simplement été détruites par les éléments durant les périodes entre les relevés, et finalement, certaines des pertes peuvent être expliquées par des erreurs dans le relevé initial. Vu que la conservation est importante à la fois pour l'interprétation scientifique à long terme et pour l'accès du public, le site devrait être mieux géré. Les auteurs recommandent que la gestion en soit remise au Service canadien des parcs, en tant qu'annexe à la réserve de parc national de l'île-d'Ellesmere.Mots clés: forêt fossile, île Axel Heiberg, bois, couche de feuilles mortes, érosion, conservatio

Anomalous Suppression of Valley Splittings in Lead Salt Nanocrystals without Inversion Center

Atomistic sp3d5s* tight-binding theory of PbSe and PbS nanocrystals is developed. It is demonstrated, that the valley splittings of confined electrons and holes strongly and peculiarly depend on the geometry of a nanocrystal. When the nanocrystal lacks a microscopic center of inversion and has T_d symmetry, the splitting is strongly suppressed as compared to the more symmetric nanocrystals with O_h symmetry, having an inversion center.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Killing the Golden Goose by Evaluating Medical Care through the Retroscope: Tort Reform from the Defense Perspective

Symposium issue: Tort Refor

Physical Modeling of Process Forces in Grinding

This paper deals with material removal mechanisms in grinding by considering single grit-workpiece interactions. Individual investigations were performed both experimentally and using finite element simulations. Firstly, a comparison between the Johnson-Cooke material model and a Crystal Plasticity finite element method was performed with the help of micro-indentation experiments. Here the research question was answered if an anisotropic material model better describe the grinding process and process forces compared to an isotropic material model. Secondly, four discretization approaches were employed: pure Lagrangian (LAG), Arbitrary Lagrange Eulerian (ALE), Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM), and Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), to simulate a micro-cutting operation of A2024 T351 aluminium. This study aims to compare the conventional approaches (LAG and ALE) to newer approaches (PFEM and SPH). The orthogonal cutting models were benchmarked against a micro-cutting experiment presented in literature, by comparing the obtained cutting and passive forces. The study was then extended to negative rake angles to study the effect on the discretization approaches for grinding. Thirdly, scratch experiments were investigated for a brittle material sodalime glass and A2024 T351 aluminium. Effects of the linear speed of the device, depth of cut, and conical tool angle were analyzed and tendencies are built. Finally, a realistic simulation of the manufacturing process of a grinding wheel was developed, starting with the raw material, compression, sintering, and dressing until the final grinding surface. As a result of the simulations, virtual grinding wheel topographies can be visualized and analyzed with regard to the output variables from grinding wheels such as bonding strength and static grain count. The individual research studies help in understanding the material removal mechanisms in a single grit scratch process as well as in the understanding of the overall grinding wheel topography. This in turn helps in the developing an overall physical force model for scratching/grinding to predict mechanical output parameters and hence reduce the need for experimentation

A Hybrid model for the origin of photoluminescence from Ge nanocrystals in SiO2_2 matrix

In spite of several articles, the origin of visible luminescence from germanium nanocrystals in SiO$_2$ matrix is controversial even today. Some authors attribute the luminescence to quantum confinement of charge carriers in these nanocrystals. On the other hand, surface or defect states formed during the growth process, have also been proposed as the source of luminescence in this system. We have addressed this long standing query by simultaneous photoluminescence and Raman measurements on germanium nanocrystals embedded in SiO$_2$ matrix, grown by two different techniques: (i) low energy ion-implantation and (ii) atom beam sputtering. Along with our own experimental observations, we have summarized relevant information available in the literature and proposed a \emph{Hybrid Model} to explain the visible photoluminescence from nanocrystalline germanium in SiO$_2$ matrix.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

Onset of dielectric modes at 110K and 60K due to local lattice distortions in non-superconducting YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.0} crystals

We report the observation of two dielectric transitions at 110K and 60K in the microwave response of non-superconducting YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.0} crystals. The transitions are characterized by a change in polarizability and presence of loss peaks, associated with overdamped dielectric modes. An explanation is presented in terms of changes in polarizability of the apical O atoms in the Ba-O layer, affected by lattice softening at 110K, due to change in buckling of the Cu-O layer. The onset of another mode at 60K strongly suggests an additional local lattice change at this temperature. Thus microwave dielectric measurements are sensitive indicators of lattice softening which may be relevant to superconductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 3 ps format figure

Phonon anomalies at the valence transition of SmS : An inelasticX-ray scattering study under pressure

The phonon dispersion curve of SmS under pressure was studied by inelastic x-ray scattering around the pressure-induced valence transition. A significant softening of the longitudinal acoustic modes propagating along the [111] direction was observed spanning a wide $q$ region from ($\frac{2\pi}{3a},\frac{2\pi}{3a},\frac{2\pi}{3a}$) up to the zone boundary as SmS becomes metallic. The largest softening occurs at the zone boundary and stays stable up to the highest measured pressure of 80 kbar while a gradual hardening of the low $q$ modes simultaneously appears. This phonon spectrum indicates favorable conditions for the emergence of pressure-induced superconductivity in SmS.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Ab initio phonon dispersion curves and interatomic force constants of barium titanate

The phonon dispersion curves of cubic BaTiO_3 have been computed within a first-principles approach and the results compared to the experimental data. The curves obtained are very similar to those reported for KNbO_3 by Yu and Krakauer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4067 (1995)]. They reveal that correlated atomic displacements along chains are at the origin of the ferroelectric instability. A simplified model illustrates that spontaneous collective displacements will occur when a dozen of aligned atoms are coupled. The longitudinal interatomic force constant between nearest neighbour Ti and O atoms is relatively weak in comparison to that between Ti atoms in adjacent cells. The small coupling between Ti and O displacements seems however necessary to reproduce a ferroelectric instability.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure