Advice and Consent: A Four Era Model Exploring the Evolution of the Appointments Clause…

This paper details the evolution of the Advice and Consent Clause of Article Two of the United States Constitution from the Constitutional Convention to the present. It also covers the history of failed Supreme Court nominations from John Rutledge in 1795 to present times. Finally, it analyzes the debate over whether or not it is appropriate for senators to consider a nominee\u27s ideological bent when performing their advice and consent function. More broadly the paper tracks the ever-changing role of the Senate in the Advice and Consent process, and offers a new era-based model to organize the history of failed Supreme Court nominees

Intercountry adoptive families in Western Australia: The well-being of their four to sixteen-year-old adoptees

The study investigated the well-being of 283 four to sixteen-year-old intercountry adopted (ICA) children in general and in relation to two specific adoption variables. The sample represented 80% of the estimated 4-16 year old ICA population of Western Australia (W A). Well-being was defined in terms of competence, happiness, health and problem behaviours. The primary source of information was Achenbach\u27s parent reported Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) as used by the Western Australian Child Health Survey (WACHS). Bowlby\u27s attachment theory provided the theoretical framework for the prediction that adoption after the age of 6 months, and the experience of adversity prior to adoption, negatively affected later well-being. Adversity was based on parental reports of knowledge about the ICA child\u27s experiences of neglect, abuse, and changes of care. A search of the archives of the ICA organisation Australia for Children Society identified most of the target population. The response rate of the mail survey was 86%. This provided data on 87% of the traced children. Parents completed one 16-item Family Questionnaire and a 4 part Child Questionnaire for each ICA child. The results of the study indicated that the majority of children were considered to be happy (88%), healthy (92%), competent (82%) in activities, social and school functioning, and with a level of problem behaviours within the normal range (86%). Girls were rated higher in well-being than boys, particularly in the area of competence. The well-being of the ICA children was of a similar level to that of their WACHS peers. ICA parents tended to rate their children\u27s competence and progress more often very positive or negative than the WACHS parents. The prediction that adoption after the age of 6 months and adverse pre-adoption experiences would negatively affect later well-being, was only partially supported. Adversity was significantly related to age at adoption (1(282)=.42, p\u3c .001). Adoption after the age of 6 months negatively affected school functioning (F{I,262)=8.62, p\u3c .01, \u271\u27=.03). In a small sub-sample (n=52) the experience of pre-adoption adversity resulted in a significantly higher level of problem behaviour (F{I,47)=6.567, p\u3c .05, rl= .12). The strongest association for adversity was found between neglect and problem behaviours (r=.l3)

The well-being and identities of 14- to 26-year-old intercountry adoptees and their non-adopted migrant peers in Western Australia

Intercountry adoption is a globally politicised institution that triggers strong discourses about whether transplantation to a markedly different country and culture, often into families with racially different parents, negatively affects the children \u27 s well-being and identity. Although empirical intercountry adoption research has increased elsewhere, Australian-based research has lagged behind. This thesis presents a body of evidence about the well-being and identity of over half the population of 14- to 26-year-old intercountry adoptees in Western Australia, how their well-being changed from 1994 to 2004, how they compare with non-adopted migrant peers and the influence of risk and threat factors. In 2004, participants consisted of 110 intercountry adoptees, three partners, 120 adoptive parents of 160 adoptees, 80 migrant peers and 44 parents of 56 peers. Data were collected by mail survey. From theoretical perspectives in subjective well-being, identity processes and transracial adoption, well-being was examined in terms of physical health, happiness, satisfaction with life and adoption/migration, self-esteem, self-efficacy, competence and adaptive and problem behaviours. Identity was examined in terms of adoptive/migrant status, heritage, community membership, ethnicity, culture, race and place

Death Wish: What Washington Court Should Do When a Capital Defendant Wants to Die

The Washington Supreme Court held in State v. Dodd that a capital defendant may waive general review of conviction and sentence, and failed to determine whether a defendant may also withhold all mitigating evidence from the sentencing proceeding. The holding limits appellate oversight of death sentences to a degree that fails to ensure Washington\u27s interest in reliable capital punishment. The court should have required general review of both conviction and sentencing in all capital cases. It also should have established a procedure for third-party presentation of mitigating evidence on behalf of capital defendants who insist on withholding such evidence

Drawing the line : an exploration of Otto Kernberg and Marsha Linehan\u27s understanding of borderline personality disorder

This study was undertaken in order to examine the insight and treatment of borderline personality disorder by cognitive-behavioral therapist Marsha Linehan, and psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg. The report considers the two theorists\u27 beliefs on the importance of individual temperament and invalidating environment towards the development of borderline personality. It then focuses on the modified treatments that the two theorists have developed to work with this population, specifically Linehan\u27s Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Kernberg\u27s Transference Focused Psychotherapy. The study looks at the difficulties encountered by Linehan and Kernberg in working with this population, and then concentrates on the strengths and weaknesses that are brought to the work by the two clinicians. The study concludes that both theorists have different fortes to bring to this work, and each is equally, albeit differently, critical for the progression of appropriate treatment for borderline individuals in clinical social work

A Tangled Web: The Dynamics of Endosymbiotic Infections in a Linyphiid Spider

Many arthropods are infected with bacterial endosymbionts that manipulate host reproduction, but few bacterial taxa have been shown to cause such manipulations. Mermessus fradeorum (Linyphiidae) is a sheet-weaving spider that displays both feminization and cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). To correlate reproductive manipulations to endosymbionts, I surveyed the bacterial community of M. fradeorum using high throughput sequencing and found that individuals can be infected with up to five different strains of bacteria from the genera Wolbachia, Rickettsia, and Rickettsiella. Rickettsiella was found in all 23 tested spider matrilines. I used antibiotic curing to generate uninfected matrilines that I reciprocally crossed with individuals infected with Rickettsiella. Only 13% of eggs hatched when uninfected females were mated with Rickettsiella-infected males, while at least 83% of eggs hatched in the other cross types. This is the first documentation of Rickettsiella, or any Gammaproteobacteria, causing CI. I then characterized symbiotypes of M. fradeorum in central Kentucky to determine the variation in endosymbiotic community composition among host populations. Overall, regional populations of M. fradeorum share endosymbiont strains, but the frequency of infection varied among populations. These results suggest that endosymbiotic infections of M. fradeorum are dynamic and that populations are composed of a mixture of symbiont-induced phenotypes