Essays on the Role of Law in Judicial Decision Making

Forty years ago C. Herman Prichett: 1969) observed that [P]olitical scientists who have done so much to put the `political\u27 in `political jurisprudence\u27 need to emphasize that it is still `jurisprudence.\u27 In this dissertation project I seek to help correct this imbalance by providing three fresh approaches to understanding how legal factors influence the choices judges and justices make. Essay 1 focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court\u27s agenda setting decisions. Drawing from the archival papers of Justice Harry A. Blackmun, I analyze the extent to which considerations such as legal conflict among the circuit courts motivate justices to deviate from casting a policy-based agenda setting vote. Essay 2 focuses on the opinion writing process on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. In particular, I ask what factors lead judges on the circuit courts to cite some legally relevant previous opinions while omitting others? Finally, Essay 3, which also examines circuit court opinion writing, explores the determinants of how judges choose to positively or negatively interpret relevant previous decisions in a given issue area. In sum, this pro ject seeks to provide an important contribution to our substantive understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court and the circuit courts while simultaneously attempting to demonstrate that both legal and policy considerations influence judicial decision making

Smaller, Closer, Dirtier: Diesel Backup Generators in California

Quantifies the threat to air quality and human health by backup generators, and examines air quality in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and Fresno, with some analysis of San Francisco as well

Design and Evaluation of Oligonucleotide Microarrays for the Detection of Bovine Pathogens

Two microarray designs were developed and produced to screen for multiple bovine pathogens commonly found in the cattle industry today. The first microarray was designed, built, and processed in-house using conventional material and equipment and targeted Pasteurella multocida, Manheimia haemolytica, Histophilus somni, and Arcanobacterium pyogenes. For each pathogen, 12 perfect-match oligonucleotide probes, which were also designed in-house, targeted different sections of the respective 16S ribosomal genes, and were coupled with 12 corresponding mismatched probes for background. These arrays were able to produce distinct hybridization patterns for each pathogen that were easily visible without the need for computer analysis. However, the need for PCR amplification of the 16S gene prior to hybridization motivated us to explore more efficient array options. The second designed microarray, a custom Affymetrix GeneChip, targeted Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Salmonella dublin in addition to the previously mentioned pathogens and was more successful in overall performance than the in-house arrays. In addition to the 16S gene, oligonucleotide probes targeted other genes (from 2 to \u3e4500, depending on whether the genome was sequenced) that were unique to each pathogen. This array also differed from the in-house arrays in that mismatched probes were not designed. The different probe sets performed at different detection limits as P. multocida, A. pyogenes, S. typhimurium, and S. dublin were detected with as little as 250ng of hybridized genomic DNA (gDNA), while M. haemolytica, H. somni, and E. coli required as much as 1μg gDNA. These pathogens were also spiked into bovine tissue to simulate multiorgan infections in which they were individually detected with the microarray design

An Economic Alternative to the c Chart

Because the probability of Type I error is not evenly distributed beyond upper and lower three-sigma limits the c chart is theoretically inappropriate for a monitor of Poisson distributed phenomena. Furthermore, the normal approximation to the Poisson is of little use when c is small. These practical and theoretical concerns should motivate the computation of true error rates associated with individuals control assuming the Poisson distribution. An economic alternative to the c chart is described as a statistical model of upward shift from c0 to c1 and the two charts are compared in theory. For a range of c chart costs the savings associated with economic design increase linearly

The Success of Former Solicitors General in Private Practice: Costly and Unnecessary?

Article published in the Michigan State Law Review

Variable pitch fan system for NASA/Navy research and technology aircraft

Preliminary design of a shaft driven, variable-pitch lift fan and lift-cruise fan was conducted for a V/STOL Research and Technology Aircraft. The lift fan and lift-cruise fan employed a common rotor of 157.5 cm diameter, 1.18 pressure ratio variable-pitch fan designed to operate at a rotor-tip speed of 284 mps. Fan performance maps were prepared and detailed aerodynamic characteristics were established. Cost/weight/risk trade studies were conducted for the blade and fan case. Structural sizing was conducted for major components and weights determined for both the lift and lift-cruise fans