Linda M. Merola

Community support for license plate recognition

Purpose – Although the use of license plate recognition (LPR) technology by police is becoming increasingly common, no empirical studies have examined the legal or legitimacy implications of LPR. LPR may be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from relatively routine checks of stolen vehicles to more complex surveillance functions. The purpose of this paper is to develop a “continuum of LPR uses” that provides a framework for understanding the potential legal and legitimacy issues related to LPR. The paper then analyzes results from the first random-sample community survey on the topic. Design/methodology/approach – Random-sample survey (n=457). Findings – The paper finds substantial support for many LPR uses, although the public also appears to know little about the technology. The survey also reveals that the public does not regard the uses of LPR as equivalent, but rather support is qualified depending upon the use at issue. Originality/value – Previous research has not systematically categorized th...

Transmitting the threat: Media coverage and the discussion of terrorism and civil liberties since 9/11

Since 11 September 2001, a significant portion of the public debate in the United States has focused upon the threat of terrorism. Previous scholarship has concluded that exposure to threatening information may result in significant alterations to individual decision‐making and, ultimately, may influence support for expansive civil liberties. Since information may critically impact support for civil liberties, the current study investigates alterations in print and broadcast media content related to civil liberties before and after 11 September 2001. The content analyses utilized here focus upon the types of content (such as threatening information, group‐specific information, and contextual information) that experimental research has suggested may influence individual decision‐making concerning civil liberties. Results suggest that threatening information in the media coverage of civil liberties escalated following 9/11 until it peaked in the year 2003. Following 2003, levels of threatening information gradually decreased, returning to pre‐9/11 levels in 2006. In comparison to broadcast media, the print media seems to have experienced fewer changes following 9/11.

Predicting public support for the use of license plate recognition technology by police

The use of license plate recognition technology (LPR) by police is becoming increasingly common. LPR may be used for many purposes, ranging from stolen vehicle enforcement to more complex surveillance and predictive functions. Existing research does not examine community support for this technology, despite its potential to impact police legitimacy. Results from the first community LPR survey are presented and multinomial logistic regression models of citizen support for the technology are developed. Regression results suggest that a number of factors significantly predict citizen support for LPR use, including increased trust in police and the belief that LPR information is public information.

The Challenges of Terrorist and Extremist Prisoners: A Survey of U.S. Prisons

Numerous policy issues surround the incarceration of religious extremists and individuals with terrorist ties. These inmates must be managed, prevented from precipitating security risks, and stopped from recruiting or encouraging others to commit terrorist acts. To systematically investigate the prevalence of these issues in U.S. prisons, we conducted a survey of wardens of state-level maximum security prisons in the United States. Results suggest that the majority of facilities currently have existing security threat groups (STGs) with extremist religious beliefs. Large majorities of wardens indicated shortages of religious service providers, with nearly all allowing volunteers to supplement existing religious services. A multinomial logistic regression model suggests that (in accordance with previous literature on gangs) wardens pursuing policies of isolating these prisoners believe these policies to be much more effective than other strategies, such as increased monitoring. Additionally, more frequent staff training relevant to managing these individuals is significantly related to wardens’ judgments that their policies are effective.

Speaking truth to power? Civil liberties debates and the language of law review articles during the post-9/11 period

Few researchers have analyzed post-9/11 alterations in the opinions or discourse of the legal community, despite this communitys influence on public opinion and legal policy. In fact, to date, no source of data exists capturing the opinions of this community across the post-9/11 period. However, their writings in law review articles provide one source of longitudinal data regarding the issues and concerns that were salient to this influential community during the years of the post-9/11 era. A content analysis of law review articles is performed to examine meaningful shifts in the expert discourse related to civil liberties issues pre- and post-9/11 and across the post-9/11 period. The analysis – the first of its kind – demonstrates significant alterations over the post-9/11 period, including greatly intensified efforts at providing policy leadership. The analysis also reveals the year 2006 as a key turning point in legal scholarship, after which these articles adopted a highly aggressive, confrontational, and non-deferential tone. These findings are important because they inform scholarly debates regarding the role of elites in maintaining expansive civil liberties protections following terrorist attacks.

Evaluating the Legal Challenges and Effects of Counterterrorism Policy

Since September 11, 2001, a significant portion of the public policy in the United States has focused upon the threat of terrorism. Following the attacks, the need for increased attention to counterterrorism resulted in substantial allocations of public funding toward these initiatives. Yet, researchers conducting systematic reviews of the literature surrounding counterterrorism strategies have suggested that very few rigorous evaluations of such strategies actually exist, despite these substantial expenditures (Journal of Experimental Criminology 2:489–516, 2006). Even more surprisingly, this shortage of evaluation research persists despite the considerable amount of scholarly attention focused on the topic of terrorism. An example of this can be seen with respect to the numerous legal issues surrounding terror prevention. Post-9/11 legal issues have often taken center stage within policy debates regarding terrorism; some examples include the legality and propriety of interrogation methods, indefinite detentions, wiretapping, and numerous other issues of legal policy. However, while legal scholars have energetically published doctrinal analyses of these issues, few empirical studies related to legal issues have been conducted and even fewer of these can be called evaluations. Thus, this chapter explores the empirical literature related to law and terrorism. Following this, suggestions for areas of research that would benefit from a more detailed investigation are discussed.

Talking about NSA Wiretapping and Guantanamo: A Systematic Examination the Language used by Different Networks to Report Post-9/11 Policy Dilemmas Concerning Rights

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, American leaders confronted difficult dilemmas involving civil liberties in the context of terrorism. Previous scholarship has made clear that exposure to threatening information may result in significant decreases in the publics willingness to support expansive civil liberties guarantees, yet relatively few researchers have systematically examined the content of information transmitted to the public during these debates. This study employs a computerized content analysis to investigate differences in broadcast media coverage following the reporting of significant post-9/11 security/rights dilemmas. The analysis focuses on two key periods: the reporting of President Bushs authorization of warrantless NSA wiretapping in late 2005 and the coverage of President Obamas 2009 proposal to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Findings suggest that broadcast sources diverged significantly in the amount of threatening information conveyed to the public during the reporting of key security/rights dilemmas.