Ties out of bloodshed: Collective memory, cultural trauma, and the prosecution and execution of Timothy McVeigh

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, processes of reconstructionremembering victims, caring for family members and survivors, and punishing the perpetrators- -began even as dcbris from the Murrah Federal Building was bcing cleared. This dissertation explores how collective memory of the bombing among family members and survivors was constructed through their participation in groups tormed after the bombing and in the legal proceedings against perpetrators Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. These acts cultivated the formation of various relationships-between family members and survivors as well as between these victimized populations and the perpetrators-that both helped and hindered individual and communal reconstructions of meaning. Based upon data obtained through intensive interviews with victims\u27 family members and survivors, this research studies the impact of membership in advocacy groups on memory work, the tensions that Timothy McVeigh\u27s presence and actions introduced into the lives of family members and survivors, and McVeigh\u27s execution as an event which freed memory work that had stymied in the years since the bombing. The implications of this case study illustrate in what ways concepts such as victimhood and justice are continually being expanded, with the implication that the law as a social institution is called upon to mediate cultural trauma and cultivate collective memory more consciously

Blood Relations: Collective Memory, Cultural Trauma, & the Prosecution & Execution of Timothy McVeigh

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, processes of reconstruction - remembering victims, caring for family members and survivors, and punishing the perpetrators - began even as debris from the Murrah Federal Building was being cleared. Based on conclusions obtained from intensive interviews with 27 victims\u27 family members and survivors, this article explores how memory of the bombing as a culturally traumatic event was constructed through participation in groups formed after the bombing and participation in the legal proceedings against perpetrators Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. These acts cultivated the formation of various relationships - between family members and survivors as well as between these victimized populations and the perpetrators - that both helped and hindered individual and communal reconstructions of meaning. This article will first address the efficacy of a collective memory and cultural trauma perspective for analyzing two collective processes of sense-making - group membership and legal proceedings - in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. It will then briefly describe the mental context in which family members and survivors joined groups in the wake of the bombing, and the functions those groups played in trauma recovery, after which it will summarize the impact of group membership on punishment expectations. Next, it will discuss the involuntary relationship that formed between McVeigh and family members and survivors predicated on the social and media representations of McVeigh; due to this relationship, McVeigh was felt to be a constant presence in victims\u27 lives until his 2001 execution. Finally, this article will examine family members\u27 and survivors\u27 perceptions of communicative interchange with McVeigh in the venues of the trial and execution. The implications of this case study illustrate in what ways concepts such as victimhood and justice are continually being expanded, with the implication that law is not only a social institution that mediates cultural trauma and cultivates collective memory, but also is manifestly conscious of these roles

Introduction to the Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Law and Emotion

The role of emotion in law has long been shrouded in mystery. The legal system is built on assumptions about human behavior, including assumptions about emotion. Thus, unavoidably, understanding emotion is an essential part of building a fairer, more effective system. Yet the emergence and growth of Law and Emotion as a field of study has been slowed by the belief that merely by acknowledging emotion, scholars and jurists would undermine the rule of law. It has been further hampered by the suspicion that emotions are too ephemeral or subjective to be understood in any systematic way. For too long, the result has been a strange, unproductive stasis: a legal system buffeted by emotional influences it refuses to investigate—or even to name

Societal pressures and procreative preferences for gay fathers successfully pursuing parenthood through IVF and gestational carriers

This retrospective study surveyed decision-making and challenges among 78 gay cisgender male couples utilizing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and a gestational carrier. While most couples (67.1%) found the decision to actively pursue fertility treatment ‘not difficult’, 32.9% felt that it was ‘somewhat difficult’ or ‘very or extremely difficult’. Almost 30% of couples had not undertaken financial planning for treatment, which introduced delays of N2 years for 25.3% of participants. Conceiving twins was ‘important to very important’ in 52.3% of couples, and 84.2% of couples chose to transfer two embryos to ‘increase the odds’ or reach an ideal family size in a single attempt despite increased complications with multiple pregnancies. Paternal leave was granted for one partner in 47.3% of couples, and for both partners in 43.2% of couples. One-third of couples reported experiencing discrimination, prompting a partner to seek employment, and 38% changed jobs or careers. For 80.3% of couples, the estimated cost exceeded US$100,000. Couples where one partner was aged N50 years were significantly more likely to find the decision to actively pursue fertility treatment ‘very or extremely difficult’ (28.6%), and less likely to agree on becoming parents (64.3%). Gay male couples undergoing assisted reproduction face challenges regarding decision-making, lack of infertility benefits and discrimination, which appear to be influenced by age and country of residence. Policy and educational changes are needed, including broader fertility benefits, more egalitarian parental leave, and greater awareness of risks inherent to multiple gestation

Allies Already Poised to Comply: How Social Proximity Affects Lactation-at-Work Law Compliance

This study demonstrates how legal compliance may be better achieved when organizations include individuals who will advocate for newly codified rights and related accommodations. To understand compliance with a new law and the rights it confers, this article examines as its case study the Lactation at Work law, which amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to mandate basic provisions for employees to express breast milk at work. In particular, this study interviewed those organizational actors who translate the law into the policies affecting workers\u27 daily lives: supervising mangers and human resources personnel. Those studied in this article were “Allies Already:” friends or relatives of breastfeeding workers, or ones themselves, who held pro‐breastfeeding values and understood the complexities of combining lactation and employment. They mobilized within their organization to comply with the law swiftly and fully—often even overcomplying. This article demonstrates how heightened compliance, particularly with new laws, may be achieved even without directly affected actors mobilizing their own rights if allies champion needed accommodations

A Secret Weapon?: Applying Privacy Doctrine to the Second Amendment

For the past 80 years privacy has been of increasingly important legal concern. In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia et al. v. Pollak et al. that plaintiffs had no legal right to avoid radio broadcasts in Washington, D.C. city trolleys and buses. The U.S. Supreme Court distinguished a bus, a public space, from a home, a private space, and ruled that the broadcasts were not inconsistent with public convenience, comfort, or safety because individuals in public are “subject to reasonable limitations in relation to the rights of others.” The lone dissenter, Justice William Douglas, urged, “Liberty . . . must mean more than freedom from unlawful governmental restraint; it must include privacy as well, if it is to be a repository of freedom. The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.

Blood Relations: Collective Memory, Cultural Trauma, & the Prosecution & Execution of Timothy McVeigh

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, processes of reconstruction - remembering victims, caring for family members and survivors, and punishing the perpetrators - began even as debris from the Murrah Federal Building was being cleared. Based on conclusions obtained from intensive interviews with 27 victims\u27 family members and survivors, this article explores how memory of the bombing as a culturally traumatic event was constructed through participation in groups formed after the bombing and participation in the legal proceedings against perpetrators Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. These acts cultivated the formation of various relationships - between family members and survivors as well as between these victimized populations and the perpetrators - that both helped and hindered individual and communal reconstructions of meaning. This article will first address the efficacy of a collective memory and cultural trauma perspective for analyzing two collective processes of sense-making - group membership and legal proceedings - in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. It will then briefly describe the mental context in which family members and survivors joined groups in the wake of the bombing, and the functions those groups played in trauma recovery, after which it will summarize the impact of group membership on punishment expectations. Next, it will discuss the involuntary relationship that formed between McVeigh and family members and survivors predicated on the social and media representations of McVeigh; due to this relationship, McVeigh was felt to be a constant presence in victims\u27 lives until his 2001 execution. Finally, this article will examine family members\u27 and survivors\u27 perceptions of communicative interchange with McVeigh in the venues of the trial and execution. The implications of this case study illustrate in what ways concepts such as victimhood and justice are continually being expanded, with the implication that law is not only a social institution that mediates cultural trauma and cultivates collective memory, but also is manifestly conscious of these roles