Juror Internet Misconduct: A Survey of New Hampshire Superior Court Judges

[Excerpt] “The Constitution guarantees criminal defendants the right to a fair trial before an impartial jury and the right to confront the evidence against them. When a juror improperly accesses the Internet during a criminal trial, the defendant is denied these constitutional rights. The problem of outside information entering the courtroom is as old as our judicial system. As early as 1907, Justice Holmes observed that, “The theory of our [criminal justice] system is that the conclusions to be reached in a case will be induced only by evidence and argument in open court, and not by any outside influence, whether of private talk or public print.” Yet in recent years, the issue of juror misconduct has been brought to the forefront by striking examples of jurors seeking information on the Internet, outside of the evidence presented in court. This Note examines the prevalence of Internet-related juror misconduct in the New Hampshire Superior Court and the efforts of Superior Court judges to detect and prevent such misconduct. I conducted a survey of New Hampshire Superior Court judges regarding their experience with juror Internet misconduct and solicited their feedback about a sample jury instruction. I have incorporated their feedback into a proposed set of jury instructions specifically targeted at reducing juror Internet misconduct.

The Relationship Between Large Banks Investment In Available-For-Sale Securities And The Interest Rate Risk Of Their Securities

This study presents an empirical examination of the relationship between large banks’ investment in available-for-sale securities (AFS) and the interest rate risk of their securities. It concentrates on the years, 1997-2000, when interest rates were relatively stable and regulatory capital was not affected by the unrealized holding gains and losses on AFS securities under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115. The two main findings of the study, having controlled for the interest risk position of the bank (exclusive of securities effect) and other risk management and economic considerations, are: (1) AFS securities’ ratio (to securities or to total assets) is positively related to the interest rate risk of securities; (2)a change in the AFS securities ratio is positively related to the change in the interest rate risk of securities.  These findings may well prove to be significant to supervisors of banks considering they are in charge of monitoring the effect of fair value accounting regulations on the financial risk management in banks

Collaboration to Empower Every Learner

A review of how two nonprofit agencies in Maine are collaborating with the creators of Empower the Learner, a student advocacy program, to make the materials accessible to students who are more significantly impacted by disability.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ccids_posters/1058/thumbnail.jp

The Effect Of SFAS 115 On Earnings Management In The Banking Industry

This paper presents an empirical investigation into the issue of earnings management in the Amer- ican banking system under SFAS 115. The study includes panel data on 88 bank holding compa- nies (BHCs) for the years 1997-2000 on a quarterly basis resulting in 1,408 observations. As hy- pothesized, it was found that the motivation of bank managers to engage in gains trading is nega- tively related to their earnings level before tax and securities net gains

“I Matter”: Analyzing Self-Care, Racial Performativity, and Podcasting*

The term “self-care” has recently entered pop culture through women’s magazines, feminist blogs, social media and other digital spaces. While the rhetoric has largely been about white, heterosexual, middle-to-upper class women, many Black feminists have politicized self-care and self-love as a form of resistance against a world that continuously negates their existence and humanity. The contemporary self-care movement has its roots in the Black feminist thought’s love-politics and scholar-activists Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and Kimberlé Crenshaw. Continuing in this Black feminist tradition, Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton create a digital auditory enclave with their podcast Another Round where they openly discuss their struggles with mental health issues and the importance of self-care for women of color in the face of a matrix of oppression. Through their celebration of all types of blackness, Heben and Tracy provide a community of black sociality, but more importantly, they do political work by the very nature of their commitment to survival

Collaboration to Empower Every Learner

The vision of Empower the Learner is that “Each child is unique and needs to be understood, valued and empowered to…..achieve agency, self-advocate for their learning and realize their hopes and dreams.” To support this, ETL has created a tool to help students recognize their strengths and learning challenges and express those to the educational team. The Maine Parent Federation and the Autism Society, with funding through the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, joined with ETL to modify the program to make it accessible to children who are impacted more significantly by their disability. The goal is to not only empower ALL students but to promote and encourage reasonably higher expectations for children.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ccids_posters/1054/thumbnail.jp