bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Framing Justice: Taxpayer Evaluations of Personal Tax Burdens
Authors: Kinsey Karyl A. , Grasmick Harold G. , Smith Kent W.
Published: June 2006

This study examines how taxpayers evaluate the distributive justice of personal income tax burdens. Using the concept of framing from behavioral decision theory, we suggest that taxpayers employ either an outcome-processing or a norm-processing frame of tax fairness evaluation. Framing is affected by substantive tax policies and the tax situations of individuals. Taxpayers who qualify for tax deductions and other tax preferences employ an outcome-processing frame and focus on perceived abuses of government power when evaluating fairness. Those unable to claim tax breaks employ a norm-processing frame and focus on vertical social comparisons and their inability to qualify for valued tax breaks. The findings suggest that tax avoidance policies have the net effect of increasing public perceptions of unfairness in the tax system.
Humility is a Virtue: On the Publicization of Policy-Relevant Research
Authors: Lempert Richard
Published: June 2006

In their paper in this issue Sherman and Cohn (1989) respond to arguments I made in this journal about when research is ripe for publicity. This paper continues the conversation by pointing out that policy-relevant research may be publicized at three levels: (1) in professional journals, (2) directly to those practitioners whose practice decisions might be informed by the research results, and (3) through the mass media. I then argue that the reliability of the results, the ability to communicate main findings precisely, and the likely effects of publicity are keys to responsible publicization at all levels. In weighing these factors researchers must regulate themselves, but to guide them the law and society community should seek to develop professional norms. I comment on some of the considerations that should guide such norms, using the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment and the publicity it received as an example.
The Challenge of the South
Authors: Brigham John
Published: June 2006

We make lots of things into texts these days (movies, conversation, dreams) in order to bring them into our discussions. The hope is that something is gained. Here we have a public speech that has become an essay. I hope we don't lose too much in treating it that way. In addressing the written text of Santos's “Three Metaphors …” (1995), I would like to recall the speech of which the text is a part. The speech took place in a large and fabulously ornate room in the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. It was a luncheon speech presented to gathered scholars who had, as I recall, just completed a chicken salad plate and run through a series of awards. The speech came near the end of the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association.
Three Strikes and You Are Out, but Why? The Psychology of Public Support for Punishing Rule Breakers
Authors: Tyler Tom R. , Boeckmann Robert J.
Published: June 2006

This study examines why the public supports the punishment of rule breakers. It does so within the context of a recently enacted California initiative mandating life in prison for repeat felons (the “three strikes” law). Antecedents of three aspects of people's reactions to rule breakers are explored: (1) support for the three strikes initiative, (2) support for punitiveness in dealing with rule breakers, and (3) willingness to abandon procedural protections when dealing with potential rule breakers. The results of interviews with members of the public suggest that the widely held view that public punitiveness develops primarily from concerns about crime and the courts and is primarily linked to public views about risk and dangerousness is incorrect. While these factors do influence public feelings, they are not the central reasons underlying public punitiveness. Instead, the source of people's concerns lies primarily in their evaluations of social conditions, including the decline in morality and discipline within the family and increases in the diversity of society. These concerns are about issues of moral cohesion—with people feeling that the quality and extent of social bonds and social consensus has deteriorated in American society.
Flight from Law: A Competing Risks Model of Departures from Law Firms
Authors: Kay Fiona M.
Published: June 2006

Building on job satisfaction, occupational segregation, and life course literatures, I analyze temporal dimensions of career mobility within the legal profession with a sample of Canadian lawyers. I use a continuous-time stochastic model of the underlying processes of movement across work settings to examine factors accounting for gender differences in career paths. The findings suggest that women's integration into the legal profession remains marginal: women continue to be underrepresented in law firm partnerships, moving significantly more slowly than men toward these positions. In addition, women exit law firm practice at a rate significantly higher than that of their male counterparts. Empirical evidence also suggests that the rapidly increasing size of entry cohorts to the legal profession has restricted the number of partnerships available to aspiring associates and has hastened the departure of lawyers from law firm practice. I document emerging paths from law and examine causal factors “pushing” lawyers out of law firm practice, as well as those “pulling” them toward other more attractive options.
On the Meaning and Pattern of Legal Citations: Evidence from State Wrongful Discharge Precedent Cases
Authors: Walsh David J.
Published: June 2006

This study examines citation data in state wrongful discharge precedent cases from a network analytic perspective. The main question posed is whether, or to what extent, judges use citations as indicators of substantive influence on their decisionmaking versus devices primarily intended to justify decisions reached on other grounds (i.e., for legitimation). To address this question, I obtained evidence on the usefulness of distinguishing between “strong” and “weak” citations and between citation frequency and breadth. I conclude that citations in legal decisions are meaningful data and that there is evidence of both intercourt influence and legitimation at work.
The Practice Dynamics of Solo and Small Firm Lawyers
Authors: Van Hoy Jerry
Published: June 2006

The American legal profession has experienced dramatic change in the late 20th century. Attorneys have witnessed vast growth in new entrants (Curran 1986; Curran & Carson 1991; Sander & Williams 1989), the abolition of restrictions on new methods of finding clients and price competition (Abel 1989; Reidinger 1987; Seron 1992), changes in the delivery of legal services and law firm organization (Nelson 1988; Seron 1992; Van Hoy 1995, 1997), the growth of large law firms (Galanter & Palay 1991), and an increase in employed lawyers (Abel 1989; Spangler 1986).
Interrogating Richard Leo's Claims about Police Scholarship
Authors: Musheno Michael
Published: June 2006

In a recent issue of Law & Society Review, Richard Leo (1996) takes full advantage of the intellectual freedom given to review essayists in “Police Scholarship for the Future: Resisting the Pull of the Policy Audience.” He claims that most of police scholarship of the 1990s is “impoverished theoretically” and “often not worth reading” (p. 865) and blames the current generation of police scholars for falling into the grip (and deep pockets) of the policy audience. He contrasts current scholarship with a golden age of police inquiry, the 1960s, in which theoretical breakthroughs were common, and scholars were driven by their critical instincts rather than by material interests. His review of current works is narrower than most published in the Review, covering only two monographs published in the 1990s, and holding out but one (Bayley 1994) as evidence of all that is wrong with contemporary, sociolegal inquiry of policing.
Economic Deprivation and Neighborhood Crime Rates, 1960–1980
Authors: Bursik Robert J. , Grasmick Harold G.
Published: June 2006

The social disorganization model of crime and delinquency generally has argued that the socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods is related to rates of illegal behavior only to the extent that it increases the likelihood of residential turnover and racial/ethnic heterogeneity. Such an orientation reflects the traditional assumption of human ecology that urban areas are characterized by continual processes of residential upgrading as groups become progressively assimilated into the economic structure of the community and have more economic resources at their disposal. However, the validity of the indirect effect hypothesis may have become questionable in the many cities that have experienced a significant economic decline during the last few decades, thereby leading to the creation of an immobile underclass population. We examine here the relative validity of the indirect effect hypothesis in Chicago's neighborhoods during 1960 and 1980. While the findings generally support the traditional indirect effect assumption of social disorganization, they also emphasize the need to consider the economic and political contexts in which these communities are embedded.
Structural Variations in Juvenile Court Processing: Inequality, the Underclass, and Social Control
Authors: Sampson Robert J. , Laub John H.
Published: June 2006

This article develops a macrolevel framework on inequality and juvenile court processing by integrating ideas drawn from conflict theory, research on urban poverty, and recent race-specific trends in drug enforcement. Using 1985 data for more than 200 U.S. counties, we examine how structural context—especially racial inequality and the concentration of “underclass” poverty—influence the formal petitioning, predisposition detention, and out-of-home placement of juveniles. The data are generally consistent with the hypothesis that underclass blacks are viewed as a threatening group to middle-class populations and are thus subjected to increased control by the juvenile justice system. We discuss the implications of our results for a better understanding of the relationship between larger societal forces of increasing poverty and racial inequality and local systems of formal social control.
Changes in the Sex Patterning of Perceived Threats of Sanctions
Authors: Grasmick Harold G. , Blackwell Brenda Sims , Bursik Robert J.
Published: June 2006

In contrast to a recent survey conducted by Miller and Simpson, two earlier surveys of adults, one conducted in 1972 and the other in 1982, reported that women scored higher than men on measures of what Grasmick and Bursik recently have called perceived threats of shame and embarrassment, as well as legal sanctions, for violating the law. Hagan's power-control theory, coupled with trends in labor force and household composition, is used to predict a decline over time in the magnitude of the effect of sex on perceived threats of sanctions. The 1982 survey is merged with an identical one conducted in 1992 to determine whether men and women have become more alike in their perception of these threats. Evidence supporting the predictions from power-control theory is found for theft but not for assault. The findings are discussed in the context of various theories and previous research concerning gender, crime, and social control.
Authoritarianism and the Functions of Courts: A Time Series Analysis of the Philippine Supreme Court, 1961–1987
Authors: Tate C. Neal , Haynie Stacia L.
Published: June 2006

Focusing on the independent and powerful pre–martial law Philippine Supreme Court, we investigate the impact of the establishment and breakdown of authoritarianism on the court's performance of the functions of conflict resolution, social control, and administration. We develop hypotheses concerning and models of the impacts of the onset, consolidation, and breakdown of martial law authoritarianism under Ferdinand Marcos on that court's handling of the three functions. Using Box-Jenkins time series analysis methods, we assess the impacts of the onset, consolidation, and breakdown of Marcos's authoritarianism on the Supreme Court's functional performance. In our analysis, authoritarianism had no impact on the Court's performance of the conflict resolution function; authoritarianism's onset increased and its breakdown decreased the Court's performance of the routine administrative function; and authoritarianism's onset decreased but its consolidation increased the Court's performance of the social control function.
Legislating Organizational Probation: State Capacity, Business Power, and Corporate Crime Control
Authors: Lofquist William S.
Published: June 2006

This study examines the development of organizational probation. That this sanction emerged from the long process of developing organizational sentencing guidelines as a clearly specified, widely available, and often binding sanction represents an unexpected statutory outcome: an interventionist, nonmarket sanction during a time of deregulatory free market policy and ideology. This outcome is explained through a multi-theoretical framework emphasizing the structural capacity of the primary lawmaking agency, the United States Sentencing Commission, the role of middle-level state workers, and the bounded rationality of strategic decisions made by business strategists and lobbyists.
Miranda's Revenge: Police Interrogation as a Confidence Game
Authors: Leo Richard A.
Published: June 2006

By requiring that police issue fourfold warnings to silence and appointed counsel prior to any custodial questioning, Miranda v. Arizona (1966) created universalistic criteria for the legal regulation of police interrogations. While Miranda appears to be partly responsible for the dramatic decline in violence in the interrogation room in the 20th century, American police have become skilled at the practice of manipulation and deception during interrogation. Drawing on more than 500 hours of participant observation fieldwork in three police departments, I argue that the sequence, structure, and process of contemporary American police interrogation can best be understood as a confidence game based on the manipulation and betrayal of trust. Understanding interrogation as a confidence game, I argue, goes a long way toward explaining (1) the paradoxical observation that criminal suspects continue to provide police with incriminating statements, admissions and confessions in the majority of cases; (2) the nature of the social interaction during interrogation more generally; and (3) how contemporary police interrogators both exercise and mystify their power inside the interrogation room.
A Reassessment of the D.C. Gun Law: Some Cautionary Notes on the Use of Interrupted Time Series Designs for Policy Impact Assessment
Authors: Britt Chester L. , Kleck Gary , Bordua David J.
Published: June 2006

Interrupted time series designs are commonly used to assess the impact of gun control legislation, as well as other legal and policy changes. Three common problems in the use of these designs—(1) selection of an appropriate control series, (2) specification of the intervention model, and (3) specification of the time series studied—raise questions about the validity of the conclusions reached in research on the impact of gun control. We illustrate these problems with a critical reassessment of Loftin et al.'s (1991) evaluation of the 1976 District of Columbia Gun Law. We then use monthly homicide data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Center for Health Statistics to illustrate how careful consideration of these three design issues results in a significantly different conclusion about the effectiveness of the District of Columbia Gun Law.
Using Quasi-Experiments to Evaluate Firearm Laws: Comment on Britt et al.'s Reassessment of the D.C. Gun Law
Authors: McDowall David , Loftin Colin , Wiersema Brian
Published: June 2006

The strength of research designs is relative. Compared with true experiments, quasi-experimental designs are weak. Compared with cross-sectional designs, they are strong. One can further strengthen inferences from quasi-experiments by examining a broader pattern of data. We agree with Britt, Kleck, and Bordua when they recommend that researchers expand the range of inquiry. We disagree with them when they recommend that researchers restrict it. The District of Columbia study is largely consistent with the available evidence, but it does not prove that restrictive handgun licensing will always reduce firearm deaths.
Avoidance and Misunderstanding: A Rejoinder to McDowall et al.
Authors: Britt Chester L. , Kleck Gary , Bordua David J.
Published: June 2006

McDowall, Loftin, and Wiersma (1996) avoid our criticisms of the univariate interrupted time series design (ITSD) by misstating our criticisms, by addressing what they claim we “implied” rather than what we plainly stated, and by ignoring crucial points in our article in this issue (Britt et al. 1996). We reiterate: McDowall et al.'s (1992) conclusions regarding the alleged efficacy of the Washington, D.C., handgun ban (mislabeled by McDowall et al. as a licensing law) collapsed once any of three improvements were made to their analysis: (1) use of a more appropriate control series, (2) use of a more appropriate, theoretically based specification of the intervention model, and (3) use of an alternative, extended time series beyond the period studied by McDowall et al. (1992). Nothing McDowall et al. (1996) write has rebutted our assertions.
Another Look at the Judicial Power of the Purse: Courts, Corrections, and State Budgets in the 1980s
Authors: Fliter John
Published: June 2006

In measuring the impact of court-ordered prison reforms on state budgets, Taggart (1989) challenged Harriman and Straussman's (1983) conclusion that court decisions have affected state spending for corrections. This Research Note explores important questions left unanswered by both studies: (1) What impact did the courts have on cases litigated during the 1980s? (2) Why are the courts able to influence spending in some states but not others? The results support Taggart's conclusion that spending for corrections follows an incremental pattern. Judicial influence on state budgets declined during the 1980s as courts narrowed the scope of prison reforms.
Injury, Liability, and the Decision to File a Medical Malpractice Claim
Authors: Sloan Frank A. , Hsieh Chee Ruey
Published: June 2006

The authors used two data sets based on interviews with families who suffered an adverse birth outcome in Florida—either a stillbirth, an infant death, or a permanent birth-related injury—to assess the decision to file a medical malpractice claim. These data were supplemented by medical evaluations of liability. The authors found that cases in which the physician evaluators thought the physician had been negligent were much more likely to have become claims, as were more serious injuries. Overall, the view of critics of the current medical malpractice system that innocent physicians are just as likely, or more likely, to be sued than the guilty ones and that patients sue when they do not obtain a “perfect result” is not confirmed. Claims were less likely to result when the family had health insurance, either private or public, and when families who had been told by the physician that there might be a problem with the child. The mother's educational attainment and family income had no effect on the probability of claiming. Mothers who admitted to consuming alcohol during pregnancy were more likely to claim.
The Cultural Grounding of Tax Issues: Insights from Tax Audits
Authors: Smith Kent W.
Published: June 2006

Income tax laws are the primary motivation for many to learn and use the basics of accounting. Three stages of preparing tax returns—collecting records, organizing the information into tax and accounting categories, and abstracting the information on tax returns—successively draw individuals further into the culture of accounting. The issues raised during tax audits provide a window into the problems taxpayers have understanding and following accounting concepts and procedures. An analysis of the stages of return preparation provides insights into how issues are handled during audits and how the accounting skills of taxpayers may affect their outcomes. Data from a sample of state audits generally confirm the hypotheses and illustrate the grounding of taxpaying in accounting. Tax laws may draw individuals into this culture, but the information taxpayers collect and process to meet the needs of the government often, after the fact, has utility for the taxpayers themselves.
Gendered Lawyering: Difference and Dominance in Lawyer-Client Interaction
Authors: Bogoch Bryna
Published: June 2006

This article addresses the debate about the significance of gender differences by analyzing patterns of interaction between lawyers and clients. It examines features of the language of lawyers and clients associated with the dominance and difference paradigms that are at the center of feminist theory. Talk characterized by dominance includes the control of discourse space, interruptions, topic control, and challenges. Features associated with a particular female “voice” include cooperative responses, affiliative requests, indirection, politeness, and the expression of emotion. Results show that women lawyers' talk is role behavior rather than gendered behavior, with little difference between men and women lawyers. Clients' speech is tempered by gender considerations, with both men and women clients expressing greater deference to men lawyers and women clients expressing cooperation and solidarity with all lawyers. It was mainly in reference to the occasional willingness to grant legitimacy to the clients' emotional concerns, as well as the stress on professional identity, that marked women lawyers' specific style of lawyering.
Crisis and Transition in Corporate Governance Paradigms: The Role of the Chancery Court of Delaware
Authors: Sullivan Daniel P. , Conlon Donald E.
Published: June 2006

Contemporary crisis in the idea and practice of corporate governance prompts a consideration of future resolution based on historical imperatives. We review periods of analogous crisis in corporate governance in the mid-1800s, 1930s, and 1960s to evaluate the catalyst, process, and outcome of paradigmatic change. Framing our analysis are the rulings made by the Court of Chancery of Delaware during those times of change. The Chancery Court's historical role as the legitimator of governance norms grounds our consideration of its recent opinions. Recent case law, we conclude, signifies the advent of a multifiduciary model of governance. Measurement of shareholders' reaction to dilution of their fiduciary status corroborates the state of crisis and underscores the normative code of the emergent multifiduciary governance model. We close by discussing the implications of the multifiduciary model for shareholders, executives, and society.
Sexual Violence, Victim Advocacy, and Republican Criminology: Washington State's Community Protection Act
Authors: Scheingold Stuart A. , Olson Toska , Pershing Jana
Published: June 2006

This article focuses on the Community Protection Act (CPA), the State of Washington's legislative effort to control sexual violence, and on the victim advocacy groups that played a prominent role in this effort. It is argued by some, most recently by republican criminologists, that victim advocates serve democratic ideals and introduce into criminal process important values and interests that are neglected by professionals. Others argue that victim advocacy tends to promote punitive policies that empower the state, jeopardize constitutional rights, and divert attention from causes to symptoms. The evidence gathered in this research lends credence to the critics of republican criminology. Victim advocates were not reliable carriers of republican values in their strenuous support of the CPA, the central provisions of which reduce civil liberties and promote exclusion rather than reintegration.
Governing amid Diversity: The Effect of Fair Decisionmaking Procedures on the Legitimacy of Government
Authors: Tyler Tom R.
Published: June 2006

The research reported tests the influence of judgments about the fairness of government lawmaking procedures on evaluations of the legitimacy of a national-level governmental authority through studies—two experiments and a survey—examining judgments about Congress. The influence of procedural justice on legitimacy is contrasted with the effects of self-interested judgments indexing agreement with congressional decisions. Although a sizable empirical literature already suggests the importance of procedural justice in shaping reactions to personal experiences with legal, political, and managerial authorities, recent studies have been inconsistent about the degree to which procedural justice findings generalize to national-level institutions. The findings of the studies reported here strongly support the argument that procedural justice judgments influence evaluations of the legitimacy of a national-level political institution. A further exploration seeking to find an influence of ethnicity, gender, education, age, income and/or ideology on the psychology of legitimacy suggests that demographic differences do not influence the criteria respondents use to assess the fairness of decisionmaking procedures. The findings suggest that procedures provide a viable basis for maintaining public support in the face of differences in individuals' policy positions and background characteristics.
Complexity, Pluralism, and the Constitutional State: On Habermas's Faktizität und Geltung
Authors: Bohman James
Published: June 2006

Jürgen Habermas has from the start had the goal of developing a normative democratic theory based on rational consensus. From The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1989a; first published in 1961) to The Theory of Communicative Action (1984, 1987), Habermas has sought to elaborate the underpinnings for such a critical theory of democracy, one that is oriented to the participation of reasoning citizens. In many respects, Habermas's recent Faktizität und Geltung, while cast as a philosophy of law, bears the fruit of that labor by offering his long-awaited “radical” democratic theory. Habermas calls his theory of democracy “deliberative politics,” clearly aligning himself with those contemporary political theorists who emphasize public deliberation and participation. However, many faithful readers of Habermas may find his approach to legal and political legitimacy in Faktizität und Geltung somewhat surprising. Rather than defending participatory democracy directly, he instead embeds these radical democratic principles in a complex account of the political and legal institutions of constitutional democracies.
Queer Acts and the Politics of “Direct Address”: Rethinking Law, Culture, and Community
Authors: Bower Lisa C.
Published: June 2006

A question intimated by some contemporary scholarship (but not yet fully explored) is how cultural practices that law both enables and limits might be related to new styles of politics and redefinitions of community. This query is first explored in the context of Queer Nation's response to the decision in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), which reduced homosexual identity to a single behavior. Queers' subsequent embrace of a cultural politics of “direct address” suggests that the transformation of identities and communities must be built from social and cultural practices that seek to redefine citizens' affiliations. While “turning away from the law” is one strategy for redefining political practice, the case of Karen Ulane—a transsexual who was fired after having sex reassignment surgery—suggests another: The articulation of a queer notion of “nonidentity” within the legal field may afford possibilities for destabilizing dominant legal classifications such as “sex” and “gender.”
Between Choice and Sacrifice: Constructions of Community Consent in Reactive Air Pollution Regulation
Authors: Levine Noga Morag
Published: June 2006

The author examines the images of community that lie behind the Environmental Protection Agency's decision not to extend proactive, uniform regulation of the Clean Air Act to the problem of local industrial odor. Under this decision, the regulation of such odors remains dependent on complaints and local initiatives rather than on proactive governmental intervention. The legitimacy and economic logic of the reactive structures the agency endorsed rely on two assumptions: (1) industrial odors are an aesthetic annoyance rather than a toxic threat; and (2) local environmental conditions reflect conscious decisionmaking by homogenous local communities as to trade-offs, and preferences for environmental quality will differ among these communities. The author uses three case studies to cast doubt on the validity of these assumptions; they demonstrate in particular the mythical character of the “community” posited by the EPA as a foundation for viable reactive enforcement. Indeed, to trigger enforcement, it has been necessary to undertake heroic organizational efforts and to create novel forms of social groupings hardly characterizable as “communities.”
Of Native Americans and Tribal Members: The Impact of Law on Indian Group Life
Authors: Goldberg-Ambrose Carole
Published: June 2006

Law has influenced the shape of Indian group life by providing economic or political incentives for groups to organize along particular lines, by forcing groups into closer proximity with one another or separating them, and by creating an official vocabulary for the discussion of group life. The most striking effect of law has been to focus the expression of Indian political identity at the level of the “tribe.” Although largely a construct of non-Indian legal forces, the tribe has become a powerful vehicle for assertions of Indian autonomy, even when it has not always been the traditional locus of political legitimacy. Modern Indian identity and community thus reflect conflicts over and distinctive ways of appropriating the institution of the tribe. A second effect of law has been the developing support among tribal members for a supratribal Native American political community. Significantly, however, most tribal members view their support for such a community as a means of strengthening tribal units.
Constructive Approaches to Law, Culture, and Identity
Authors: Greenhouse Carol J.
Published: June 2006

This commentary responds to the essays by Espeland and Gooding as ethnographic studies of the cultural construction of identity with a discussion of the concept of “cultural construction.” Sophocles' Antigone provides an extended illustrative example of how the poetics of identity are tied to the materiality of power. In the world of events, the concept of cultural construction is useful—as Espeland's and Gooding's essays show—as an alternative (and remedy) for the overuse of the concept of “choice.” To refer to identities as “cultural constructions” focuses attention on how powerful institutions and subjectivities are mutually implicated, without implying that people's needs and world-views are commensurable—or that the outcomes of their contests are fated.
Differential Treatment of Corporate Defendants by Juries: An Examination of the “Deep-Pockets” Hypothesis
Authors: MacCoun Robert J.
Published: June 2006

Evidence that juries treat corporate defendants less favorably than individual defendants is often cited in support of the widely held view that juries are biased against wealthy “deep-pocket” defendants. Such evidence confounds defendant wealth and defendant identity. In two juror simulation experiments involving citizens on jury duty, these factors were separated by manipulating whether the defendant was described as a poor individual, a wealthy individual, or a corporation; the defendant's assets were described identically in the latter two conditions. In Experiment 1, liability was significantly more likely, and awards were significantly greater, for corporate defendants than for wealthy individual defendants, but verdicts against poor versus wealthy individuals did not differ. In Experiment 2, awards were larger against wealthy individuals who engaged in commercial rather than personal activities, and awards in the personal activity condition were larger against corporations than wealthy individuals. There was little evidence for a defendant wealth effect on juror judgments. While juries do appear to treat corporations differently, the explanation may have more to do with citizens' views about the special risks and responsibilities of commercial activity.
The Internal/External Distinction and the Notion of a “Practice” in Legal Theory and Sociolegal Studies
Authors: Tamanaha Brian Z.
Published: June 2006

This article analyzes the growing trend in legal and sociolegal theory to place a pivotal emphasis on the internal/external distinction. To provide a better understanding for the application of this distinction, the author elaborates on its origins in the philosophy of social sciences. Using detailed legal examples, he then develops a theory of a practice to help serve as an organizing concept for many applications of the distinction. Finally, applying this background and the notion of a practice, the author analyzes the different uses of the distinction in legal and sociolegal theory.
Sentencing (and) the Underclass
Authors: McCoy Candace
Published: June 2006

Le primary principle underlying the physician's oath is nonmaleficence: “first, do no harm.” These five books present the best contemporary thinking about trends in criminal sentencing and philosophies of punishment; taken together, they offer the physicians’ wise counsel to modem politicians, judges, and citizens across the globe.
Thai Muslims and the Royal Patronage of Religion
Authors: Ishii Yoneo
Published: June 2006

Thailand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries transformed its legal and administrative structure from one based on the principles of sacred kingship to one based on the symbols of a constitutional monarchy in a Western-style nation-state. This transformation had important implications for the status of the Muslim minority population residing primarily in the four southernmost provinces of Thailand. Traditionally, one of the most important responsibilities of the Thai king was to uphold and protect Thai Buddhism and to oversee and purify the Buddhist clergy. In the new nation-state, these governmental responsibilities were generalized to some extent to include other religions of Thai citizens, such as Islam. This process of generalization, however, was associated with certain conceptual and political problems, whose analysis in this article sheds light not only on the status of the Muslim minority in contemporary Thailand but also on modern concepts of religion, law, and kingship in the Thai polity.
Between Two Worlds: Modern State and Traditional Society in Indonesia
Authors: Rahardjo Satjipto
Published: June 2006

Indonesian political leaders in the mid-20th century attempted to create a new state founded both on the rule of law and on their understandings of traditional Indonesian communal life. They sought simultaneously to “advance” toward modernization and industrialization and to preserve older, village-level norms and values which they projected onto the national legal and political screen. This article examines the inconsistencies inherent in these twin aspirations and the continuing tensions, during a period of rapid growth and economic development, between rights-based conceptions and those based on an ideology of harmony and communal village life.
Inheritance and Equal Rights for Toba Batak Daughters
Authors: Ihromi T. Omas
Published: June 2006

The author examines the persistence of discriminatory inheritance practices that exclude daughters from inheriting land, houses, and other unmovable property from their parents among urban Toba Batak people in Indonesia. These practices persist in spite of national legal policy mandating equal rights for men and women. Drawing on Sally Falk Moore's concept of the semi-autonomous social field, the essay argues that traditional forms of inheritance are maintained through the marga-association, which brings together people who share the same name and affirms principles of patrilineal descent as the defining characteristics of Batak identity in contemporary urban settings. Both men and women voluntarily affirm these principles, arguing that because a woman becomes part of her husband's lineage at the time of marriage, she is not entitled to her father's estate. The marga-association thus acts as an insulating mechanism between state law and traditional (adat) law, protecting the latter from the legal transformations imposed by the state.
The Northern Thai Land Tenure System: Local Customs versus National Laws
Authors: Ganjanapan Anan
Published: June 2006

Although the Thai government's 1986 Land Titling Project was designed to enhance security of tenure, promote efficient use of farmland, and increase agricultural productivity in Thailand, a study of villages in Chiang Mai province suggests that the project-in conjunction with population growth, rising land prices, and increases in commercial crop production-may have stimulated conflicts among villagers, encouraged rural indebtedness, increased small farmers' risk of losing their lands, and exacerbated economic differences between rich and poor. In order for the Thai government to realize the expected benefits of land titling, it should also prevent the accumulation of large estates by limiting the size of landholdings and should provide security for small farmers by guaranteeing prices for agricultural commodities.
Law, Land, and the Natural Environment in the Kedungombo Greenbelt Area at the Central Javanese Village of Giliredjo
Authors: Rajagukguk Erman
Published: June 2006

After a dam was built in Central Java, Indonesia, farmers who elected to move to higher ground rather than resettle in a another region remain poor and practice agricultural techniques that promote soil erosion. Due to population pressure and the lack of arable land, displaced villagers are cultivating greenbelt areas and tidal lands around the reservoir, encouraged by the government, which granted them oral permission to do so in order to calm unrest generated by farmers' complaints over the meager monetary compensation they received for lands flooded by the dam. Although the government requires farmers to plant tree crops, villagers are also planting annual crops to meet daily food needs, thus promoting erosion and rapid silting of the reservoir.

Mbesuk ing rejaning zaman yen ono iwak bader mangan manggar iku pratanda tlatah kene bakal antuk kemakmuran

(Tomorrow, in modern times, when the bader fish eats coconut flowers, that is a sign that prosperity will come to this area)
Exit, Voice, and the Depletion of Open Access Resources: The Political Bases of Property Rights in Thailand
Authors: Christensen Scott R. , Rabibhadana Akin
Published: June 2006

The authors argue that the depletion of the open land frontier in Thailand has not led to the development of a strong central state, even though it has led to demands for innovations in the formal-legal order governing access to land. Institutional factors preventing the state from providing formal rule enforcement for the population combined with the lack of a landed aristocracy have maintained the discrepancy between legal rules and customary practices that prevailed when an open land frontier allowed people to avoid conflict by moving away. Since the mid-1980s, when the Royal Forestry Department drafted a new policy to promote commercial tree plantations, conflicts over forest reserves have increased, centering on the commercial tree plantations, on squatters who refuse to leave the reserves, and on the preservation and management of so-called community forests.
Dubious Development Concepts in the Thai Highlands: The Chao Khao in Transition
Authors: Kesmanee Chupinit
Published: June 2006

Thai government policies for highland development are creating serious problems for ethnic hill tribes, among them environmental pollution, prostitution, AIDS, increasing opium addiction, and social disruption. Three questionable assumptions underlie government policies. Concern for opium eradication not only directs attention and funds away from groups who do not produce opium but has also failed, thus far, to find substitute crops that do not require extensive use of polluting chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The flawed assumption that shifting cultivators, rather than logging concerns, are major destroyers of the forests has led to fruitless efforts to relocate hill peoples. And the questionable theory that ethnic peoples pose a threat to national security has led to educational efforts that undermine traditional forms of village authority.
The Governance of Trial Judges
Authors: Jacob Herbert
Published: June 2006

The role of the bench as the sponsoring organization of trial judges largely remains a mystery to political science. Borrowing from organizational theory the metaphor of loose coupling, a characteristic of many American political institutions, this article explores the tension between elements of loose and tight coupling within the sponsoring organization of judges (the bench) and the consequences of that tension for the distribution of services to clients of trial courts. The article identifies three sets of consequences: (1) The locus and style of innovation is acutely circumscribed by these tensions; in the court that is studied, assertive leadership and punctuated change are less likely than conciliar leadership and incremental change. (2) The juxtaposition of loosely and tightly coupled elements promote responsiveness to powerful clientele interests. (3) Responsiveness to powerful clientele interests leads to a distribution of resources that short-changes less influential clients of the court.
Institutional Design and the Politics of Constitutional Modification: Understanding Amendment Failure in the United States and Canada
Authors: Manfredi Christopher P.
Published: June 2006

This article examines the recent failure of formal constitutional amendments in the United States and Canada by closely analyzing the institutional environment in which constitutional modification takes place. I focus first on the instrumental objectives of constitutional reform to develop an institutional design model of constitutional modification and identify the structural factors that affect the level of controversy generated by proposed amendments. I then revisit the failed ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to demonstrate more explicitly how these institutional factors affected the amendment's fate. Finally, I extend the analysis by undertaking a comparative case study of the recent politics of constitutional modification in Canada. In particular, I focus on the failure of comprehensive constitutional change between 1987 and 1992. I argue that the same institutional design model, which focuses on institutional rigidity, interpretive flexibility, and litigation potential, enhances our ability to understand both the U.S. and Canadian cases of amendment failure.
Law Student Idealism and Job Choice: Some New Data on an Old Question
Authors: Erlanger Howard S. , Epp Charles R. , Cahill Mia , Haines Kathleen M.
Published: June 2006

Numerous commentaries and empirical studies have suggested that while a substantial proportion of incoming law students are interested in careers in “public interest law,” by the time they graduate only a small minority take jobs in that sector. However, none of these studies have been based on a panel study having data on both job preference before students began their studies and information about the actual first job taken. This Research Note fills that gap by updating an earlier study of the University of Wisconsin Law School class of 1976. We find that while over half the respondents expressed some interest in public interest law before beginning law study, only 13% actually took a job in legal aid, as a public defender, or in a nonprofit organization. Analysis of respondents who initially expressed an interest in nontraditional jobs shows that political orientation and participation in a social action law program during law school are the strongest predictors of who in fact took a nontraditional job.
Toward an Understanding of Legal Culture: Variations in Individualism and Collectivism between Kurds, Lebanese, and Germans
Authors: Bierbrauer Günter
Published: June 2006

Legal culture is a socially derived product encompassing such interrelated concepts as legitimacy and acceptance of authorities, preferences for and beliefs about dispute arrangements, and authorities' use of discretionary power. This study investigated five attributes of legal culture by comparing subjective notions of law and the legal system of respondents from Turkey (Kurds), Lebanon, and Germany. Our samples fell into two distinct groups on cultural orientation: the German group showed a distinct individualistic orientation; the two other groups (Kurds and Lebanese) showed a relative collectivistic orientation. The findings suggest a substantial variety of legal preferences and practices between the two orientations. Collectivistic groups had a greater preference for abiding by the norms of tradition and religion and were less willing to let state law regulate in-group disputes; individualistic respondents showed a clear preference for formal procedures and guidelines. The study suggests that legal norms prevailing in Western societies may be inconsequential to people socialized in other cultures. Implications of diverse conceptions of law, legal expectations, and legitimacy for various cultural groups in multiethnic and plural societies are discussed.
The Supreme Court and the Protection of Minority Rights: An Empirical Examination of Racial Discrimination Cases
Authors: Sanders Romero Francine
Published: June 2006

This inquiry provides a basic assessment of the impact of three potential determinants of racial discrimination cases in the U.S. Supreme Court since 1954. The research design provides two improved methods of explicating this issue. First, the model allows for a comparison of basic Hamiltonian institutionalism (i.e., the bulwark thesis), majoritarianism, and attitudinalism in a single test, as opposed to previous studies that tended to examine only two theoretical approaches at a time. Second, the majoritarian approach is given more careful consideration through the use of theoretical and empirical evidence, which allows the subtleties of public opinion in this area to be assessed. The findings show some support for the basic bulwark prediction over majoritarianism—decisions fail to reflect majority opinion trends. The bulwark thesis fails to receive full support, however, since the ideologies of the Justices also display a significant influence on outcomes.
Slavery as an Interpretive Issue in the Reconstruction Congresses
Authors: Brandwein Pamela
Published: June 2006

Constitutional scholars have conceptualized Reconstruction debate mainly as a debate over the meaning of the original Constitution. However, Civil War narratives that identified “the problems” with slavery and emplotted the events of slavery politics were a major vehicle by which the Fourteenth Amendment was debated. Dispute over a text (the original Constitution) and dispute over the description of events intertwined. This article elucidates the content of slavery/war narratives and applies them to the domain of constitutional law. Crucial elements of the Northern Democratic war narrative were endorsed by the Supreme Court in the Slaughter-House Cases (1873), even though the Democrats were the legislative losers. Democratic history, grounded on a strong strain of white supremacy extending back to Stephen Douglas, played a crucial role in legitimating the Court's narrow doctrinal interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment.