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- All Subjects: Law
- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
Description
Participatory Budgeting (PB) can create changes within individuals and between them and their community. PB processes allow people to determine how to spend a portion of a particular budget (in the case of School PB, a portion of the school budget). These processes help address the underrepresentation of youth in the realm of civics.
I spent time with the steering committee and teacher coordinator of school PB in Carson Junior High to explore the impact of school PB on students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices in relation to civic engagement. In the study I used quantitative and qualitative components. The participants were unique in that they all had prior experience in civic engagement programs in Carson Junior High that were organized by the teacher coordinator of school PB.
The main findings suggest that the participants reported a significant amount of learning in civic knowledge. In comparison, their overall perceived growth in attitudes, practices and skills were much lower. School PB helped the participants in the steering committee to grow in different ways than their other civic engagement programs by providing them with knowledge about budgets, their school’s mechanisms and other students within their school. They also became more familiar with the democratic process of voting and more comfortable with public speaking and presenting.
Recommendations for future research on this process include compiling quantitative and qualitative data from a larger sample consisting of students who had prior civic engagement experience and students who didn’t, and students with different ethnicities from different grades. Another recommendation for future research is to conduct a longitudinal study following school PB participants to high school and beyond to explore long-term impacts.
ContributorsKinzle, Lauren (Author) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Thesis director) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper looks at case studies, legal journals, and legal commentaries to examine the history of plea bargains and determine how such a practice slowly crept its way into the American judicial system. Next, I discern both the two specific benefits and three disadvantages of utilizing plea bargains in a system that was traditionally renowned for its unique form of adversarial / trial based justice. By analyzing case studies and legal texts, I find that the administrative advantages and cost benefits used to rationalize continued usage of plea deals does not outweigh its extremely negative effects on significant aspects of law and the American legal system. These significant negative effects as a product of the plea bargain are a definitive hindrance to justice and further characterize the system as no longer fair and certainly not equitable. Consequently, I assert that in order to maintain the ethics of the system, plea bargains should be removed. I also generally outline the Philadelphia Bench Trial as a prospective and viable alternative to plea bargains that could act as an intriguing substitute. The Philadelphia Bench Trial represents a highly viable alternative to the plea bargain and consequently preserves many of the advantages plea bargains offer the system without sacrificing the adversarial element necessary to receive correct and accurate verdicts.
ContributorsRimsza, Alex Gill (Author) / Stanford, Michael (Thesis director) / Forst, Brad (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper explores the relationship between social and cultural capital and the experience of Asian Americans in law school and after graduating from law school. Bourdieu’s (1986) conceptualizations of institutional cultural capital, embodied cultural capital, and social capital guide this analysis. Two electronic surveys resulted in participation by fourteen Asian American law students and nine Asian American law school graduates from American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the United States. The research design is qualitative, and a partial grounded theory approach based upon Charmaz’s (2006) work was utilized. Thematic coding, line-by-line coding, and focused coding were also used to analyze survey responses. Results demonstrate that there is a relationship between social and cultural capital and the experience of Asian Americans in law school and post-law school graduation. Institutional cultural capital, in the form of J.D. degrees, seems to influence the development of embodied cultural capital and social capital, particularly when considering membership in groups and forming personal and professional connections. When considering embodied cultural capital, family members appear to influence important personal characteristics that participants carry into law school and the workplace. These results may have implications for the larger trend of Asian Americans leaving large law firms; in addition, perceptions of embodied cultural capital may influence barriers to career advancement. Suggested areas for future research include the role of mentorship in Asian American career development, patterns within specific Asian American ethnic/cultural groups in the legal field, and the intersection of gender and Asian American identities in legal practice.
ContributorsSu, Yuhong (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
After the landmark case, Gideon v Wainwright was heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1963, the 6th Amendment granted counsel to indigent defendants. However, since 1963 the United States population has skyrocketed and so have arrest rates leaving many public defenders underpaid and overworked. Knowing these facts Can Justice be Bought uses interviews, real-life stories, and research to determine if the 6th Amendment is upheld in the way the system is currently working, and are indigent defendants given a fair chance at trial. After an overview of public defense in the United States as a whole, it becomes clear that in many states the way the system is operating gives them less than a fair chance at justice. This, however, is not from a lack of effort from public defenders, they are simply just so overworked by exorbitant caseloads that they cannot possibly give each of their cases the time it deserves. However, not all indigent defense systems were created equal, states like Maryland have a number of resources for their public defenders that set them up for success. In order to close the gap between private counsel and public defense in the United States, public defenders’ offices should begin to allocate more funding in order to lighten their defenders’ caseloads as well as to provide them with resources such as expert witnesses and social workers. Funding is not found overnight, so in the meantime, the implementation of “participatory defense” can also help close the gap. The advantage of wealth is not found only in the courtroom but through nearly every part of the criminal justice system. From bail to parole, wealthier defendants typically see higher rates of success and lower rates of recidivism due to their ability to pay for these programs.
ContributorsAyd, Olivia (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Moore, James (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis explores the evolution of the insanity defense throughout legal history beginning with ancient Greek and Roman times. Ideas about treating the insane separate from the sane in a criminal proceeding were first expressed by famous philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The insanity defense was codified into the Justinian Code under Roman Law, but there was no criteria to distinguish who was insane and who was not. From the 14th to 19th centuries, a number of insanity tests were developed in English common law, resulting in the milestone M’Naghten rules, which became the basis for the insanity defense as it exists in the United States today. This paper explores how M’Naghten can be interpreted, what it does well, and its criticism. The thesis then explores how a number of other insanity defense standards rose in the United States, including the Irresistible Impulse Test, the New Hampshire test, the Durham test, the Model Penal Code, the Insanity Defense Reform Act, Guilty but Mentally Ill, and abolishing the insanity defense all together. The thesis asserts why all of these standards fall short of providing adequate protections for the insane in the criminal justice system and do not accurately define legal insanity. There is an analysis of both the theoretical and practical implications of trending alternate proposals for the insanity defense, including the Mental Illness Contribution Defense and Not Criminally Responsible By Reason of Recognized Medical Condition. Then, an argument is presented for the proposal for a new standard for insanity incorporating the ideas of philosopher Herbert Fingarette.
ContributorsHartunian, Jordyn (Author) / Rigoni, Adam (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
It is interesting to reflect that the American legal system has not seriously applied any significant technological advances in many decades. It is fascinating that the same processes used to draft a will or estate plan are virtually the same as they were in the 1960’s. This seems to be a problem that should be concerning in this modern age. We would be hard pressed to observe doctors in the U.S. currently performing medical procedures as they would have in 1960 considering the technological advancements that have taken place in society since then. Many of the processes in the legal system are extremely static and even archaic. It seems to be an opportune time to revolutionize the whole system as advancements continue; but, this revolution must take into account both the positive and negative repercussions that are possible moving forward.
ContributorsWilladson, Conor Calista Carolena (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Forst, Bradley (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Technological advancements have provided ease and accessibility for musicians to produce, publish, and share music worldwide. However, contradictory court rulings in determining what is protected under copyright law have developed an environment where top-of-the-chart and up-and-coming artists fear their records will be liable for copyright infringement. Throughout the twelve circuit courts in the United States, various legal tests are applied to copyright infringement cases. Most courts use two specific legal tests; the Second and Ninth Circuit court tests. This thesis analyzes how copyright law is applied to music, focusing on the ambiguous legal tests of the Second and Ninth Circuit Courts. This analysis aims to outline the flaws in the current legal tests and establish a new legal test dedicated to providing structure and uniformity to copyright law and music.
ContributorsSidi, Joshua (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Moore, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2022-05