Donald H. Wallace

Social science research and policy in education: An interdisciplinary approach

There exists a concern over the lack of policy relevance for crime-related academic research. This lack reflects a continuing separation between theory and its application in crime-related education. The use of research by policy makers is inhibited by the divisions in crime-related educational organizations, the relationship of the academic community to the profession, and the difference between the philosophical bases of social science and those of present crime policies. The issues raised by crime-related education and crime control policy show that the concern about policy relevance is not of recent origin. The experience of the Legal Realist movement shows that this concern is not unique to criminal justice. Suggestions are made for incorporating the contributions of a Social Science in Law perspective into a criminal justice educational program.

Bloodbath and Brutalization: Public Opinion and the Death Penalty

Abstract The number of condemned individuals awaiting execution in the U.S. has far surpassed historic highs. Two hypotheses, used in death penalty debates by opponents, present contrasting predictions about the effects of large numbers of executions upon public opinion. Research about death penalty attitudes has revealed various underlying factors: fear of crime, belief in deterrence, desire for retribution, and concern with crime control. It appears that concern with crime control has been subsumed in the symbolic attitudes concerning the death penalty that are a part of the socio-political nature of the prevailing self-image. The developmental features of these symbolic attitudes and the weakening of societal restraints against violence in general suggest that a brutalization hypothesis which predicts a public acceptance of high levels of executions is more supportable than a bloodbath reaction hypothesis.

ARBITRARINESS AND DISCRIMINATION IN MISSOURI CAPITAL CASES: AN ASSESSMENT USING THE BARNETT SCALE

ABSTRACT Guided discretion sentencing and proportionality review are methods used by death penalty jurisdictions to control for arbitrariness and discrimination in sentencing. From trial judge reports of capital cases collected by the Missouri Supreme Court, this paper uses the three dimensional classification system developed by Barnett to assess the adequacy of the Missouri Supreme Courts death penalty review. The findings show that very few death penalty cases are presumptively proportionate. By pooling cases of similar levels of culpability using the Barnett Scale, we conclude that at least eight of the 107 death sentences are presumed to be comparatively excessive, and a much larger number are suspect. Using logistic regression procedures, evidence was found of discrimination based on the race of the victim in the prosecutorial decision to proceed to penalty trial and in sentencing. Evidence from the Supplemental Homicide Reports also suggest racial disparities based on the race of victim and offend...

The Overseas Exchange of Human Rights Jurisprudence: The U.S. Supreme Court in the European Court of Human Rights

A recent study indicated that even though courts around the world have long looked to the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) for guidance, a diminishing number of foreign courts are citing the writings of American justices. By contrast, foreign courts in developed democracies often cite the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). However, this study did not specifically examine citations by the ECtHR of USSC decisions. The use by the ECtHR of law of other jurisdictions is now relatively commonplace. This article discusses the use of the individual rights decisions of the USSC by the ECtHR. Included is a discussion of the methodology used by the ECtHR and an analysis of decisions citing USSC decisions where the government loses. This examination adds to the literature on the evolving relationship between domestic institutions and legal norms from extra-jurisdictional sources.

Comparative proportionality review: A nationwide examination of reversed death sentences

A required part of the appellate review of death sentences in many capital punishment jurisdictions is comparative proportionality review. This procedure requires the court to compare the death sentence under review with sentences in similar cases to determine whether it is excessive. This article examines those death sentences from across the country that have been reversed on comparative proportionality grounds. Relatively few death sentences have been reversed on these grounds, and the number of reversals is decreasing. The reviews that reverse sentences infrequently compare only to other death sentences, commonly use a method that requires more than a mere common aggravating factor for selecting comparison cases, and rarely use the frequency method of comparative proportionality review.

Criminal Justice Decisions of Various International Courts of 2004

This review summarizes the jurisprudence for the calendar year 2004 of international tribunals and courts that are contributing to the development of international legal norms for the accountability of human rights violations involving criminal justice issues. The pertinent jurisprudence for international criminal law is summarized for the two ad hoc international criminal tribunals: the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Also the legal developments from two major sources of legal norms for international human rights are summarized here for the U.N. Human Rights Committee and for the European Court of Human Rights.

Martial Law as a Counterterrorism Response to Terrorist Attacks: Domestic and International Legal Dimensions:

This article examines the extent to which severe U.S. counterterronsm measures, such as martial law, would fare by domestic and international legal standards. The primary concern in this article is with the indefinite detention of American citizens and noncitizens by executive order, without judicial oversight, under the executive branchs military authority. The article beginswith a discussion of the U.S.jurisprudence on emergency authority. The second part of the article examines the international legal regime regarding the suspension of civil liberties or human rights during times of national emergency; in this part of the article, selected U.S. counterterrorism measures are compared with international legal standards. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these international standards for U.S. domestic law.

The Challenges of Information and Communication Technologies for Transnational Efforts at Homeland Security Education

The dawn of the 21st century brought with it recognition of the challenge presented by terrorism. To address this challenge, there has been an invigoration of national and multinational security efforts. The academic communities across the Atlantic have taken notice of the need for research and instruction in a Homeland Security (HS) based curriculum. U.S. universities have largely developed entire HS academic programs, but this has not been replicated in the European Union (EU). This article analyzes aspects of HS education provision in the United States and EU and examines the impact of new information and communication technologies upon HS programs.

Transnational & Comparative Curricular Offerings in U.S. Post-Baccalaureate Programs: Benchmarking a Link from the U.S. to the EU in Homeland Security Education

It is vital that U.S. academic institutions pay heed to the important global challenges that HS academics and practitioners must face. This article finds in an overview of the development of prescriptions for curricular outcomes and competencies for homeland security education in the U.S. that there has been little emphasis on curricular goals in the U.S. of the transnational and global application of homeland security strategies and operations. Transatlantic links in homeland security education between U.S. universities and their counterparts in Europe will be hampered by the virtual lack of explicit academic programs in this field in that continent. An examination of program goals and curricular offerings in U.S. post-baccalaureate programs indicates a modest attempt to provide students some grounding in transnational and global applications of homeland security strategies and operations.

Redress of Human Rights Abuses in Criminal Justice in International Human Rights Jurisprudence in 2012

This overview highlights the jurisprudence for the year 2012 for international human rights obligations of nations involving their criminal justice systems. The jurisprudence derives from several major human rights treaties; their guarantees share similar language impacting criminal justice systems. There are United Nations human rights treaty bodies that monitor implementation of the human rights treaties through an individual petition process; thus, the 2012 jurisprudence included that from the Human Rights Committee (HRC) for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Committee Against Torture (CmAT) for the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CmERD) for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CmEDAW) for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Regional regimes have judicial bodies that seek compliance with human rights norms. For 2012, jurisprudence came from the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), for which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) monitors member states’ compliance. The judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) are binding on states that have accepted the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). Final judgments on the merits in criminal justice–related cases, available in English, are the focus of this review. Of the 2,090 judgments by the Grand Chamber and Chamber panels of the ECtHR in 2012, there were 303 judgments listed of highest importance; of these, 27 judgments are substantially related to criminal justice. There were 22 cases decided in 2012 by the HRC involving criminal justice system issues. The CmEDAW and CmERD each decided one case involving national criminal justice systems. The CmAT decided five such cases. The IACtHR reached nine final pertinent judgments. For 2012 neither the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights nor the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights decided any cases relevant for this review. The discussion of this jurisprudence is organized by the order of the processes of a criminal justice system, beginning with the rule of law issues, followed by concerns in criminal investigation (interrogations and