Freedom of Thought, Offensive Fantasies and the Fundamental Human Right to Hold Deviant Ideas: Why the Seventh Circuit Got it Wrong in Doe v. City of Lafayette, Indiana

[Excerpt] “A precarious balance and considerable tension exists between two competing legal interests – the essential, First Amendment-grounded human right to freedom of thought, on the one hand, and the desire to prevent harm and injury that might occur if thought is converted to action, on the other. To understand this tension, it is useful to start by considering three different and disturbing factual scenarios. This article examines and critiques the majority opinion of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in City of Lafayette. The majority held that the city’s ban of John Doe, a convicted sex offender, from its parks because he once fantasized about molesting children while watching them play in the park does not violate the First Amendment right to freedom of thought. The July 2004 en banc opinion reversed the result of an earlier vacated decision by a three-judge panel of the same court just thirteen months before. […] Part II of this article provides background on the right to freedom of thought, including a discussion of recent United States Supreme Court analysis on this right. Part III then describes, analyzes, and critiques the Seventh Circuit’s 2004 en banc opinion holding that the City of Lafayette did not violate John Doe’s right to freedom of thought. Importantly, Part III contends there are at least four separate reasons, each grounded in First Amendment jurisprudence tied to freedom of expression, why the majority erred in its conclusion. These reasons go far beyond those articulated in the dissenting opinion in City of Lafayette and thus suggest new and additional rationales for reversal. Next, Part IV demonstrates the dangerousness of the precedent set by the majority’s reasoning as it might apply to other scenarios, including the first two hypothetical fact patterns laid out at the beginning of this article. Finally, the article concludes in Part V that the United States Supreme Court should accept certiorari in this case and reverse the Seventh Circuit’s decision.

Multiproxy geochemical analysis of a Panthalassic margin record of the early Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (Toyora area, Japan)

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Seawater redox variations during the deposition of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, United Kingdom (Upper Jurassic): evidence from molybdenum isotopes and trace metal ratios

The Kimmeridge Clay Formation (KCF) and its equivalents worldwide represent one of the most prolonged periods of organic carbon accumulation of the Mesozoic. In this study, we use the molybdenum (Mo) stable isotope system in conjunction with a range of trace metal paleoredox proxies to assess how seawater redox varied both locally and globally during the deposition of the KCF. Facies with lower organic carbon contents (TOC 1–7 wt %) were deposited under mildly reducing (suboxic) conditions, while organic-rich facies (TOC >7 wt %) accumulated under more strongly reducing (anoxic or euxinic) local conditions. Trace metal abundances are closely linked to TOC content, suggesting that the intensity of reducing conditions varied repeatedly during the deposition of the KCF and may have been related to orbitally controlled climate changes. Long-term variations in ?98/95Mo are associated with the formation of organic-rich intervals and are related to third-order fluctuations in relative sea level. Differences in the mean ?98/95Mo composition of the organic-rich intervals suggest that the global distribution of reducing conditions was more extensive during the deposition of the Pectinatites wheatleyensis and lower Pectinatites hudlestoni zones than during the deposition of the upper Pectinatites hudlestoni and Pectinatites pectinatus zones. The global extent of reducing conditions during the Kimmerigidan was greater than today but was less widespread than during the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) oceanic anoxic event. This study also demonstrates that the Mo isotope system in Jurassic seawater responded to changes in redox conditions in a manner consistent with its behavior in present-day sedimentary environment

Study of the effect of scattering from turbid water on the polarization of a laser beam

A Monte Carlo simulation method was used to determine the effect of scattering from turbid water on the polarization of a backscattered beam of laser light. The relationship between the polarization and the type and amount of suspended particulates in the water was investigated

Microevolutionary patterns in some Jurassic bivalves of the Oxford Clay, England

Over 10,000 bivalves were collected to investigate the microevolutionary patterns in the Peterborough Member of the Oxford Clay Formation. Two main bivalve lineages were studied Meleagrinella braamburiensis and Mesosaccella morrisi. M. braamburiensis was a thin-shelled suspension-feeder and M. morrisi was an infaunal deposit-feeder. These patterns were examined in the context of the new plus ça change model, which has extended the debate on microevolutionary patterns in the fossil record. The model proposes gradualism during narrowly fluctuating, relatively stable environments, and in contrast, net stasis in more unstable environments. The model also predicts for more gradualistic evolution on land in the tropics and in the deep sea, and for more stasis (and occasional punctuations) in shallow waters and temperate zones. Morphological patterns were detected from two distinctly different sets of environments within the Peterborough Member. The differences in environment were detected through lithological, palaeontological and geochemical evidence. It was found that a more stable period of environmental conditions occurred throughout the majority of the obductum Subzone of the Peterborough Member, whilst a period of more fluctuating environmental conditions (in terms of substrate, faunal composition, TOC, OI, carbonate carbon and total sulphur content) prevailed during the grossouvrei Subzone of the Peterborough Member. Bivalves were collected from three localities: Calvert landfill site, Buckinghamshire; Saxon and Orton brick pits, Peterborough. At Calvert and Saxon pits both the more stable environment and the more fluctuating environment, i.e. obductum and grossouvrei Subzones, were collected from. At Orton pit just the more stable environment, i.e. obductum Subzone, was collected from. Morphological patterns observed for the Length to Height ration for M. braamburiensis showed overall net stasis throughout the more stable environment at Calvert, Orton and Saxon pits, and throughout the more fluctuating environment at Calvert and Saxon pits. The Hinge Length to Anterior Length ratio for M. braamburiensis showed positive net morphological change throughout the more stable environment and net stasis throughout the more fluctuating environment at Calvert pit. Net stasis was observed throughout both the more stable and more fluctuating environments at Saxon pit, and was also observed throughout the more stable environment at Orton pit. Morphological patterns observed for the Length to Height ration for M. morrisi at Calvert and Saxon pits, showed the positive net morphological change throughout the more stable environment, with net stasis during the more fluctuation environment. The Hinge Length to Anterior Length ratio for M. morrisi showed positive net morphological change during the more stable environment, and net stasis during the more fluctuating environment at Calvert pit. Net stasis was observed throughout both the more stable and more fluctuating environments at Saxon pit. (M. morrisi was not studied at Orton pit). The morphological patterns observed, within the same species, obtained from the two separate geographically areas, are often distinctly different. Local microevolutionary changes or ecophenotypic variation are the two proposed alternatives for this difference. Overall, the morphological patterns observed from the two bivalve species within the Peterborough Member match, fairly closely, the plus ça change model's predictions for shallow marine invertebrates

A revision of the fossil genus Miocepphus and other Miocene Alcidae (Aves: Charadriiformes) of the Western North Atlantic Ocean

This study reviews and describes all known fossils of Alcidae from the Miocene of the western North Atlantic. Because the majority of alcid fossils recovered from Miocene sediments are allied with the genus Miocepphus Wetmore, 1940, the genus is revised here. Three new species of Miocepphus are described: Miocepphus bohaskai and Miocepphus blowi from the Early to Late Miocene, and Miocepphus mergulellus of uncertain Neogene age but probably Miocene. A new genus and species, Pseudocepphus teres, from the Middle and Late Miocene, has uncertain relationships within the Alcinae (a clade comprising Miocepphus, Alle, Uria, Alca and Pinguinus). The genus Alca is also reported from Late Miocene sediments. The newly recognised presence of three genera of the Alcinae in the Miocene of the North Atlantic indicates that the diversity of the subfamily was considerably greater than was evident previously. Miocepphus may be regarded as ancestral to modern Alcinae. The Alcinae as a group was well established in the Early Miocene, indicating that the divergence of the family Alcidae predates 20 Ma. The divergence of Uria and Alca predates 10 M

The spread of marine anoxia on the northern Tethys margin during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Records of the paleoenvironmental changes that occurred during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) are preserved in sedimentary rocks along the margins of the former Tethys Ocean and Peri-Tethys. This paper presents new geochemical data that constrain paleoproductivity, sediment delivery, and seawater redox conditions, from three sites that were located in the Peri-Tethys region. Trace and major element, iron speciation, and biomarker data indicate that water column anoxia was established during episodes when inputs of land-derived higher plant organic carbon and highly weathered detrital clays and silts became relatively higher. Anoxic conditions are likely to have been initially caused by two primary processes: (i) oxygen consumption by high rates of marine productivity, initially stimulated by the rapid delivery of terrestrially derived organic matter and nutrients, and (ii) phosphorus regeneration from seafloor sediments. The role of the latter process requires further investigation before its influence on the spread of deoxygenated seawater during the PETM can be properly discerned. Other oxygen-forcing processes, such as temperature/salinity-driven water column stratification and/or methane oxidation, are considered to have been relatively less important in the study region. Organic carbon enrichments occur only during the initial stages of the PETM as defined by the negative carbon isotope excursions at each site. The lack of observed terminal stage organic carbon enrichment does not support a link between PETM climate recovery and the sequestration of excess atmospheric CO2 as organic carbon in this region; such a feedback may, however, have been important in the early stages of the PETM

Subaqueous “yardangs”: analogs for aeolian yardang evolution

Landforms, morphologically similar to aeolian yardangs but formed by erosion of bedrock by currents on an estuarine rock platform, are described for the first time. The geometries of the “yardangs” are described and related to semi-lemniscate shapes that minimize hydraulic drag. The processes of bedrock erosion by the reversing sediment-laden tidal currents are described, and a semi-quantitative model for landform evolution is proposed. The model casts doubt on the “simple” role of the maximum in the two-dimensional vertical suspended sediment flux distribution and the consequent distribution of potential kinetic energy flux in the process of shaping the rock wall facing the ebb flow. Rather, although the kinetic energy flux increases away from the bed, the sediment becomes finer and abrasion likely is insignificant compared with coarse sand abrasion lower in the profile. In addition, the vertical distribution of sediment flux is mediated by topographic forcing which raises the elevation at which bed load intersects the yardang prow. Consequent erosion leads to ebb-facing caprock collapse and yardang shortening. In contrast, the role of ebb-flow separation is paramount in mediating the abrasion process that molds the rock surface facing the flood flow. The length of yardangs is the least conservative dimension, reducing through time more rapidly than the height and width. Width is the more conservative dimension which implies that once the caprock is destroyed, scour over the obstacle is significant in reducing body height, more so than scour of the flanks which reduces width. The importance of vertical fissures in instigating the final breakdown of smaller yardangs and their extinction is noted. Similarities to aeolian yardang geometries and formation principles and processes are noted, as are the differences. The model has implications for aeolian yardang models generally

Stop 2 Kainui silt loam and Naike clay, Gordonton Rd

At this stop are several remarkable features both stratigraphic and pedological, and a “two-storied” soil, the Kainui silt loam alongside (in just a few places) the Naike clay. Both soils are Ultisols. The sequence of tephra beds and buried soil horizons spanning about 1 million years was exposed in 2007 by road works