Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Capital Punishment
- All Subjects: White collar crimes--China.
- Creators: Cavender, Gray
- Creators: Berry, Megan Cheyenne
Description
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court found that the death penalty was being applied too arbitrarily in the United States and that this arbitrary application constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment (Furman V. Georgia, 1972). This lead to a moratorium on capital punishment until the case Gregg V. Georgia, which outlined guidelines for the states in applying the death penalty in order to ensure that its application was constitutional (Gregg V. Georgia, 1976). These guidelines included enumerated aggravating factors and a bifurcated capital trial (Gregg V. Georgia, 1976). Despite these findings from the Supreme Court, the application of the death penalty in Arizona has remained problematic. In practice, Arizona has adopted a death penalty statute that appears to conform to the standards set by Furman and Gregg. Arizona state law includes a list of aggravating factors to help guide juries in capital trials and these trials are bifurcated. However, Arizona's aggravating factors are both numerous and inclusive, to the point that it is challenging to commit a first-degree murder in Arizona that does not include an aggravating factor. The statute fails to limit the crimes that qualify for the death penalty so state budgetary concerns become the limiting factor. Arizona's application of the death penalty remains arbitrary, in consistent, and as a result, unconstitutional as defined by the United States Supreme Court.
ContributorsPerez-Vargas, Maricarmen Contreras (Author) / Cavender, Gray (Thesis director) / Corey, Susan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
By providing vignettes with manipulated scientific evidence, this research examined if including more or less scientific detail affected decision-making in regards to the death penalty. Participants were randomly assigned one of the two manipulations (less science and more science) after reading a short scenario introducing the mock capital trial and their role as jury members. Survey respondents were told that a jury had previously found the defendant guilty and they would now deliberate the appropriate punishment. Before being exposed to the manipulation, respondents answered questions pertaining to their prior belief in the death penalty, as well as their level of support of procedural justice and science. These questions provided a baseline to compare to their sentencing decision. Participants were then asked what sentence they would impose \u2014 life in prison or death \u2014 and how the fMRI evidence presented by an expert witness for the defense affected their decision. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used to identify how the level of scientific detail affected their decision. Our intended predictor variable (level of scientific detail) did not affect juror decision-making. In fact, the qualitative results revealed a variety of interpretations of the scientific evidence used both in favor of death and in favor of life. When looking at what did predict juror decision-making, gender, prior belief in the death penalty, and political ideology all were significant predictors. As in previous literature, the fMRI evidence in our study had mixed results with regards to implementation of the death penalty. This held true in both of our manipulations, showing that despite the level of detail in evidence intended for mitigation, jurors with preconceived notions may still disregard the evidence, and some jurors may even view it is aggravating and thus increase the likelihood of a death sentence for a defendant with such brain abnormalities.
ContributorsBerry, Megan Cheyenne (Author) / Fradella, Hank (Thesis director) / Pardini, Dustin (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
ABSTRACT
Since it was officially established, China’s stock market has witnessed rapid cultural, social, economic, and legal transformations during the last two decades. But the development of China’s stock market brought with it the frequent occurrence of securities crimes and other types of white-collar crimes that harmed vast numbers of public retail stockholders.
This study reviews sociolegal theories, especially law and finance theories, to shed light on the construction of regulatory mechanisms for the Chinese stock market. The critical point for stock market regulation is to curb securities irregularities and protect investors. This study applies white-collar criminological theories, especially crime-as-choice theories, to link the theoretical analyses of the causes of securities crimes to the laws, policies and practices governing the Chinese stock market. Historical, documentary and policy analyses, case analyses, and analysis of interviews, and observations of weibos and blogs are employed in this study. The data sources consist of: (1) historical information on the development of China’s stock market and its regulation, both in terms of legislation and practice; (2) interviews with 40 retail stockholders, each of whom has more than ten years of experiences in stock trading, in two Chinese cities, Shenzhen and Haikou; and (3) online statements and comments of 30 well known Chinese economists, law scholars, financial commentators, lawyers, and securities experts in Sina weibos (microblogs) and blogs.
Based on the analyses, this study suggests revising relevant laws and establishing supporting mechanisms to reduce securities irregularities and crimes in China’s stock market and strength the protection of stock investors. My study also draws attention to the growth of rights consciousness of public retail stockholders, which has potential to propel political and legal reform for the development of the Chinese stock market.
Since it was officially established, China’s stock market has witnessed rapid cultural, social, economic, and legal transformations during the last two decades. But the development of China’s stock market brought with it the frequent occurrence of securities crimes and other types of white-collar crimes that harmed vast numbers of public retail stockholders.
This study reviews sociolegal theories, especially law and finance theories, to shed light on the construction of regulatory mechanisms for the Chinese stock market. The critical point for stock market regulation is to curb securities irregularities and protect investors. This study applies white-collar criminological theories, especially crime-as-choice theories, to link the theoretical analyses of the causes of securities crimes to the laws, policies and practices governing the Chinese stock market. Historical, documentary and policy analyses, case analyses, and analysis of interviews, and observations of weibos and blogs are employed in this study. The data sources consist of: (1) historical information on the development of China’s stock market and its regulation, both in terms of legislation and practice; (2) interviews with 40 retail stockholders, each of whom has more than ten years of experiences in stock trading, in two Chinese cities, Shenzhen and Haikou; and (3) online statements and comments of 30 well known Chinese economists, law scholars, financial commentators, lawyers, and securities experts in Sina weibos (microblogs) and blogs.
Based on the analyses, this study suggests revising relevant laws and establishing supporting mechanisms to reduce securities irregularities and crimes in China’s stock market and strength the protection of stock investors. My study also draws attention to the growth of rights consciousness of public retail stockholders, which has potential to propel political and legal reform for the development of the Chinese stock market.
ContributorsHuang, Xuanyu, Ph.D (Author) / Zatz, Marjorie S. (Thesis advisor) / Cavender, Gray (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Ning (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015