The Jurisprudence of Willfulness: An Evolving Theory of Excusable Ignorance

Ignorantia legis non excusat-ignorance of the law does not excuse-is a centuries-old criminal law maxim familiar to lawyer and layperson alike. Under the doctrine, an accused finds little protection in the claim But, I did not know the law, for all are presumed either to be familiar with the law\u27s commands or to proceed in ignorance at their own peril. The ignorant must be punished along with the knowing, the maxim teaches, to achieve a better educated and more law-abiding populace and to avoid the easy-to-assert and difficult-to-dispute claim of ignorance that would otherwise flow from the lips of any person facing criminal punishment. Despite this country\u27s long-standing allegiance to the hoary maxim, over the last century, and in particular over the last decade, the courts have seriously eroded the ignorantia legis principle by frequently construing the mens rea term willfully to require proof of an accused\u27s knowledge of the law. The erosive effect that these constructions have had on the ignorantia legis maxim is referred to in this Article as the jurisprudence of willfulness. Professor Davies demonstrates that, contrary to the maxim, the number of federal criminal statutes that have been construed to impose such a heightened mens rea requirement is already quite large. The Article reveals that, if the courts continue to employ their current interpretive approach to the term willfully, at least 160 additional federal statutes containing the term are at risk of similar treatment. The author argues that contemporary constructions of the troublesome scienter term to impose a knowledge of the law element have been grounded on doubtful, unchallenged logic and have bequeathed a legacy of grave interpretive confusion. Professor Davies maintains that much of the jurisprudence of willfulness is inimical to congressional judgments and, therefore, violative of rule of law and separation of powers principles. The Article urges a return to the ignorantia legis principle in all cases in which a clear legislative intent to abandon the maxim when employing the term willfully is missing

Study Habits: Probing Modern Attempts to Assess Minority Offender Disproportionality

Oregon, Washington and Utah have recently taken empirical steps to assess the extent to which minorities are overrepresented in their respective criminal justice systems and to seek out the root causes of any overrepresentation observed. Davies contrasts and critiques the disparate analytical approaches utilized by these states and offers some thoughts about how people might improve the chances of success of future similar efforts

‘Aboriginality and Educational Excellence’

From Broome to Oxford and back: A Blackfella Abroad. Sharon Davis, a Bardi Gija woman and mother of two from Broome recently graduated from the University of Oxford with a Master of Science. Sharon is currently the Western Australian State Coordinator of The Aspiration Initiative; an academic enrichment program designed to provide Indigenous students with unique and effective educational support. Sharon developed a passion for Aboriginal education while completing her Bachelor of Education at the University of Notre Dame in Broome. Coming to understand the significant role of Aboriginal English in literacy learning and identity development, Sharon decided to investigate this area further. As a result, Sharon became the first Aboriginal Australian from a remote Community to graduate from the University of Oxford. Share in Sharon’s journey that explores how Aboriginality was central to her academic achievements and Sharon’s push for other Aboriginal students to unlock their academic potential

Organizational Change and the Health and Well-Being of Home Care Workers

Objective: The objective of this research is to study the impact of health care restructuring and other organizational changes on the mental and physical health of home care workers. Methods: This study covers 11 agencies and 7 union locals. We interviewed 59 key decision-makers, 171 workers in 29 focus groups, and surveyed 1,311 workers (70% response rate). Qualitative data are analyzed for themes and quantitative data analysis consists of descriptive statistics and associations between variables. Results: The restructuring of the health care sector and organizational change have increased stress levels and musculoskeletal disorders of home care workers. Physical health problems among this workforce are much higher than the comparable group in the Canadian population. Restructuring and organizational change are significant factors in decreasing job satisfaction, while increasing absenteeism rates, fear of job loss, and propensity to leave. Conclusions: Occupational health problems experienced by these workers are preventable. It is important to acknowledge that occupational stress can result from incremental changes in the work and external work environment, affecting physical health, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and propensity to leave. Sufficient government funding to provide services, avoiding continuous changes in the work environment, and creating supportive work environments can positively contribute to workers' health.health care restructuring; home care workers; occupational stress

An investigation of the effects of various environmental parameters on underwater foraging behaviour of the American mink, Mustela vison Schreber

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of changes in various environmental parameters on the underwater foraging behaviour of the American mink, Mustela vison. The study was conducted in an indoor pool. The effects of changes in the following parameters were investigated: (i) Water Depth. This was altered from 0.3 m to 1.65 m. (ii) Current Flow. Presence of either a deep or a surface current was compared to no current flowing. (iii) Prey Density. Four prey densities were used, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. (iv) Habitat Complexity. Hides were arranged in a regular, random or clumped pattern. The effects of habitat complexity were investigated in conjunction with prey density. Results are presented for gross changes in foraging behaviour, i.e. dive rate (number of dives per min), successful dive rate, hide visit dive rate, proportion of dives visiting a hide, proportion of successful dives and proportion of successful hide visits, and for finer changes within each dive, i.e. dive duration, time on bottom, number of hides visited per dive, mean time in hide, proportion of time on bottom spent hide searching, distance travelled underwater, proportion of direct to indirect dives, mean number of turns per dive, directionality of dives and revisiting of hides. The results showed that as depth increased, animals made fewer dives, but the dives were of longer duration. The extra time on bottom appeared to be used for locating hideswhich could no longer be located aerially before diving. Deep current was found to be not strong enough to seriously affect foraging behaviour. However, the surface disruption caused by the surface current, led to an increased dive rate, possibly in an attempt to locate hides that could no longer be located aerially, although other parameters such as proportion of dives visiting hides, dive duration etc., were generally unaffected by current flow. The conclusion was that mink were well able to continue foraging with current speeds of up to 0.86 m s(^-1). It was found that as prey density increased, animals, generally, made fewer dives of shorter duration, more of which were successful, although there was considerable individual variation. For habitat complexity, animals, generally, behaved similarly if hides were arranged randomly or in clumps, but when hides were regularly distributed, fewer hide visit dives were performed. However, mean time on bottom tended to be longer, resulting in little difference in foraging efficiency between the three conditions. A brief review of individual strategies revealed that there were considerable individual differences in foraging strategy. These were not related to sex, thus, some individuals consistently used a strategy of many short duration dives, generally visiting only one hide per dive. Others opted for fewer, longer duration, dives, generally involving more than one hide visit. Further, mean dive duration was not related to body weight. An investigation into the maximum underwater swimming speed achieved by mink showed that animals could reach speeds of over 1 m s(^-1). However, comparison with swimming speeds of fish species preyed on by mink, revealed that the fish swam faster. A review of the habits of the fish eaten, however, revealed that most were sedentary, bottom dwellers. The implications from this are that commercially important fish, e.g. salmon and trout, may well be taken mainly as diseased or spent individuals. The overall conclusion reached was that mink are highly versatile mustelids, and have 'specialised' in the ability to utilize both terrestrial and aquatic habitats

Justice in the Time of Terror

On my drive into work recently I found myself behind a Ford pickup truck and noticed its bumper sticker: When the going gets tough, I get a machine gun. Not a doctor. Not a counselor or mediator. Not a shelter for cover. Not the wisdom of a favored advisor or a proven friend. But a machine gun. How odd, I thought, to prefer a weapon incapable of identifying with any precision, any careful thought, where the enemy of the wielder of it might actually be hidden. A weapon as apt to injure non-targets as targets. A weapon mindless of its unintended consequences, and one that exhibits no inkling that such acts of aggression, whether capable of justification or not, are more likely to be met with hatred and more violence than concessions of desert and a laying down of arms. How odd, and yet how disturbingly familiar. I wondered about the thought processes that might have led the driver of the truck to place such a sentiment on his bumper for all the world to see. What emotion, what belief might lead a person to conclude that, out of all the options available, a machine gun was the right choice to deal with goings tough? And then I had it: Fear

Where Have All The Home Care Workers Gone?

Because of the on-going need to co-ordinate care and ensure its continuity, issues of retention and recruitment are of major concern to home care agencies. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting turnover decisions among visiting home care workers. In 1996, 620 visiting nurses and personal support workers from three non-profit agencies in a mid-sized Ontario city participated in a survey on their work and health. By the fall of 2001, 320 of these respondents had left the agencies. Analysis of the turnover data showed a temporal association between the implementation of managed competition and turnover. We mailed a self-completion questionnaire asking about their reasons for leaving the agency and about their subsequent work experience. One hundred and sixty nine (53%) responded to this survey. Respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the implementation of managed competition, with pay, hours of work, lack of organizational support and work load as well as health reasons, including work-related stress, as reasons for leaving. Less than one-third remained employed in the home care field, one-third worked in other health care workplaces and one-third were no longer working in health care. Their responses to our 1996 survey were used to predict turnover. Results show that nurses were more likely to leave if they had unpredictable hours of work, if they worked shifts or weekends and had higher levels of education. They were more likely to stay with the agency if they reported working with difficult clients, had predictable hours, good benefits, had children under 12 years of age in the home, and were younger. Personal support workers were more likely to leave if they reported higher symptoms of stress, and had difficult clients. They were more likely to stay if they worked weekends and perceived their benefits to be good.turnover, home care workers, nurses, personal support workers, managed competition, home care sector, policy, for-profit agency, non-profit agency

Self-regulated learning in digital environments: theory, research, praxis

From a metacognitive perspective, self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to the cyclical processes of understanding the required task, developing a plan and implementing strategies to satisfy task requirements and monitoring the effectiveness of those strategies in achieving the desired outcome. A considerable volume of research establishes that the instructional tools available in digital learning environments are particularly useful in supporting SRL. This paper reviews current theoretical models and recent empirical investigations germane to applications of digital technology to promote SRL. SRL is promoted by teachers who provide instruction architecture that encourages students to ensure that the task is fully understood, select and execute effective plans and strategies and monitor personal progress toward task completion. Such instructional architecture is more readily applied in digital, as opposed to traditional, learning environments. Based upon such review of theoretical and applied research, a comprehensive instructional framework of SRL in digital environments is presented. This framework functions to inform those who design and teach in digital environments to reflect and explicitly address the degree to which their learners have the capacity to self-regulate