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Toward a Civilized System of Justice: Reconceptualizing the Response to Sexual Violence in Higher Education
Get PDFThe reporting, investigation, and prevention of sexual violence in settings that are closed off from the greater community and subject to their own laws, rules, norms and biases present special challenges for survivors of sexual violence. This essay builds on our existing scholarship that explores the pervasive problem and exceedingly high incidence of sexual violence perpetrated against women in closed institutional systems like prison, the military, and immigration detention centers. Survivors in these contexts are routinely denied access to justice internally and from the external criminal justice system; they also face major limitations (imposed by both federal law and Supreme Court jurisprudence) surrounding their ability to pursue civil litigation against the institutions for harms they endure. There are important lessons to be learned from comparing these closed systems as relates to the operationalization of sexual violence that is perpetrated within. To this end, this work significantly broadens the conversation and considers whether institutions of higher education—in which sexual violence also occurs at high rates—should be similarly contextualized
Food Labeling and Consumer Associations with Health, Safety, and Environment
Get PDFThe food supply is complicated and consumers are increasingly calling for labeling on food to be more informative. In particular, consumers are asking for the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMO) food based on health, safety and environmental concerns. At issue is whether the labels that are sought would accurately provide the information desired. The present study examined consumer (n = 181) perceptions of health, safety and the environment for foods labeled organic, natural, fat free or low fat, GMO, or non-GMO. Findings indicated that respondents consistently believed that foods labeled GMO are less healthy, safe and environmentally-friendly compared to all other labels (ps \u3c .05). These results suggest that labels mean something to consumers, but that a disconnect may exist between the meaning associated with the label and the scientific consensus for GMO food. These findings may provide insight for the development of labels that provide information that consumers seek
Reasonable Standards for Contract Interpretations under the CISG
Get PDFThe United Nations ( UN ) Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Good ( CISG ) offers the promise of harmonizing international sales law and facilitating international trade and global commerce. But there is a homeward trend bias that may encourage domestic courts to construe the gaps in the CISG broadly and fill them with non-uniform domestic legal rules. Questions about contract interpretation under the CISG raise the same concerns about a homeward trend bias as questions about the interpretation of express CISG provisions. The CISG has express provisions governing contract interpretation but their application may not provide an unambiguous interpretation. This presents two risks. One is that courts might reinterpret questions to be about the validity of contracts rather than their interpretation; in that case the CISG will not apply and courts will therefore apply domestic legal rules to answer the questions. The other possibility is that courts might rule that the interpretive questions are not governed by the CISG and might therefore use private choice of law rules to identify domestic legal rules to answer the questions. Neither of these possibilities should be welcomed. Courts that use non-uniform domestic laws to answer questions about the interpretation of CISG contracts will undermine the intent and purpose of the CISG no less than courts that answer other questions about matters that should be governed by the CISG using non-uniform domestic laws. All questions about contract interpretation under CISG contracts should therefore be governed either by the CISG\u27s explicit provisions or by the CISG\u27s general principles. This essay provides an analysis of the CISG\u27s express contract interpretation provisions and illustrates how they can result in ambiguities. It argues that when there are ambiguities, the general principles on which the CISG is based imply that courts should interpret the contracts to promote reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade
Reporting Sexual Victimization During Incarceration: Using Ecological Theory as a Framework to Inform and Guide Future Research
No full textThe U.S. Department of Justice estimates that between 149,200 and 209,400 incidents of sexual victimization occur annually in prisons and jails. However, very few individuals experiencing sexual victimization during incarceration report these incidents to correctional authorities. Federal-level policy recommendations derived from the Prison Rape Elimination Act suggest mechanisms for improving reporting as well as standards for the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of prison-based sexual victimization. Despite these policy recommendations, sexual assault persists in prisons and jails, with only 8% of prisoners who experience sexual assault reporting their victimization. This review focuses on gaps in the existing research about what factors influence whether adult victims in incarcerated systems will report that they have been sexually assaulted. Using ecological theory to guide this review, various levels of social ecology are incorporated, illuminating a variety of factors influencing the reporting of sexual victimization during incarceration. These factors include the role of individual-level behavior, assault characteristics, the unique aspects and processes of the prison system, and the social stigma that surrounds individuals involved in the criminal/legal system. This review concludes with recommendations for future research, policy, and practice, informed by an ecological conceptualization of reporting
