Model For Other Jurisdictions Research Articles

An Overview of Government Ethics Standards

Federal, state and local governments impose detailed ethics restrictions on their employees. The substantive ethics restrictions vary in their details across federal, state and local jurisdictions. Some place significant restrictions on the kinds of partisan political activities their employees can engage in; others do not. The precise contours of gift restrictions vary considerably, from how broadly the gift ban is defined to how many exceptions exist. While most jurisdictions have anti-nepotism statutes, there is considerable variation regarding what types of relatives are covered. These variations reflect the fact that ethics standards are generally the result of legislative action, and legislatures often come up with different solutions to the same problem. This memorandum describes restrictions on the financial interests, associations and activities of current and former government employees that fit under the rubric of “government ethics.” It does not catalog every government ethics restriction adopted by all federal, state and local jurisdictions. Instead, it uses as a template the standards that apply to the federal government’s executive branch. The federal executive branch ethics standards may not be a perfect model for other jurisdictions to emulate, but it is a mature system of government ethics regulation, having been developed and implemented over several decades. It provides one example of what a comprehensive system of ethics regulation looks like. Part II of this memorandum describes in some detail the full range of ethics restrictions that apply to federal executive branch employees, from conflicts of interest to restrictions on the types of work they can perform after leaving the government. In discussing government ethics, it is important to focus not just on substantive restrictions but also on the mechanisms and structures that implement those restrictions. Ethics laws are not self-executing, and a jurisdiction that has tough ethics standards but fails to implement them leaves itself vulnerable to corruption and abuse. The third part of this memorandum discusses these different designs for implementing government ethics restrictions. The fourth part of the memorandum then examines the degree to which other jurisdictions have adopted variations of these restrictions. For example, with regard to financial interests, the federal government imputes to the employee the financial interests of some – but not all family members: the employee’s spouse and minor children. Other jurisdictions have taken a broader approach, imputing the interests of domestic partners, adult children, siblings, parents, or members of an employee’s household. While there is a consensus that governments should regulate the financial interests of their employees, there is not a consensus about how broadly or narrowly to define those interests.

The role of science in MPA establishment in California: a personal perspective

SummaryCalifornia has now largely completed a process for establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) that may be considered a model for other jurisdictions seeking to meet obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity. In the Californian process, a team of scientists established guidelines on the size and spacing of MPAs, as well as requirements for habitat representation and replication. The final outcomes, in terms of proportion of the coast encompassed by MPAs and the distribution and sizes of MPAs, were largely a result of decisions taken by the advisory scientists, rather than by the designated decision makers. Future legislation must recognize the uncertainties associated with benefits of MPAs and specifically allow for adaptive management including explicit experimental tests of uncertainties. The science team should define at the outset the major uncertainties about impacts, and deliberate experimentation and adaptive management should be essential parts of each design. Future legislation should be much more specific about the objectives of the MPAs and specify the percentage of the area that should be set aside as MPAs. Finally, quantitative models rather than guidelines should be used to evaluate the consequences of alternative designs.

Juvenile Detention Reform in New York City: Measuring Risk Through Research

This article is excerpted from Jennifer Fratello, Annie Salsich, & Sara Mogulescu's longer article of the same name published by the Vera Institute of Justice in April 2011. In 2006, faced with the challenges of a juvenile justice system nearing crisis, New York City officials concluded that they had to rethink the city's juvenile detention policies and practices. The development and implementation of the risk-assessment instrument (RAI) and community-based alternatives to detention (ATD) programs represent an important shift in New York City's juvenile detention policy. The RAI provides reliable guidance on risks of failure to appear or rearrest. The ATDs provide effective program alternatives to detention for moderate-risk youth. Given early outcomes, it appears that New York City's reform effort could serve as a model for other jurisdictions seeking to improve outcomes for youth while preserving public safety.

Integrated coastal zone management at Marina di Carrara Harbor: sediment management and policy making

Sediment management is becoming a critical issue around the world, particularly where the development of Harbor facilities, the conservation of coastal environments and needs of tourism compete for sustainable use of sediment resources. In order to apply an Integrated Coastal Zone Management policy, new approaches for management of the dredged harbor material need to be considered by the scientific community and local stakeholders. The information contained in the Italian Ministry of the Environment Acts related to dredging of Carrara Harbor determined the sediment volume dredged between 1993 and 2008 (849,500 m 3) and allows us to estimate an average rate of material dredged from the harbor mouth (10,000–13,000 m 3/yr). Different management options were chosen by the authorities based on the contamination level of dredged sediment: nourishment (344,500 m 3), offshore dumping (305,000 m 3), disposal in landfill (10,000 m 3) or in Confined Disposal Facilities (215,000 m 3). The present study’s goal is to determine the sedimentary budget of the Apuo-Versilian coast and to use the result to guide a compensation strategy to reduce the sediment deficit caused by the disposal of sediments out of the sand-sharing system. In particular, the present study provides a detailed reference frame that can lead to adopt a compensation strategy to balance the eroding evolutionary trend of the coastline adjacent to shallow water dredging areas. The procedure described in the paper is a policy initiative based on scientific results and could provide a model for other jurisdictions developing their own sediment quantitative estimation within an ICZM approach and a sustainable development of sedimentary resource’s management.

Enforcing Firearms Laws at the Local Level: A Case Study of the Virginia Beach Police Department's Gun Trace Unit

Gun violence remains a serious threat to public safety throughout the United States. Numerous federal and local agencies have taken a variety of steps in an attempt to deal with this perennial problem. One of the most common tactics has been the development of task forces between local agencies and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). This is the approach that the Virginia Beach Police Department took until recently. In April 2008, however, the department disbanded its task force and developed its own internal unit tasked with the investigation of firearms-related crimes called the Gun Trace Unit. This article details the new unit's mission, how it functions, and what advantages it has over the previously instituted task force approach. The Gun Trace Unit has been a successful innovation in Virginia Beach and may serve as a useful model for other jurisdictions.

Public Utilities, Eminent Domain, and Local Land Use Regulations: Has Texas Found the Proper Balance?

Using Texas as a case study, this article reviews the relevant Texas law on the subject and (expanding on the reasoning employed by the recent federal decision) argues that Texas law in fact provides a constructive balance between a utility's interests and those of the local government. Moreover, the balanced approach established by the Texas cases provides a model for other jurisdictions due to the incentives it provides for bargaining between the utility company, the local government, and community leaders.

THE VALUE OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN RESTORATIVE/COMMUNITY JUSTICE: LESSONS FROM VERMONT

The Vermont Reparative Probation board program is one of the earliest and most extensive statewide restorative initiatives in the United States. There is, therefore, a great deal to learn from such a bold experiment. Yet the “quaintness” of the State seems to place limitations on its utility as a model for other jurisdictions across the country. As a near neighbor to Vermont, I have encountered scathing skepticism at the suggestion that Vermont criminal justice policy is relevant to the city neighborhoods of Boston, Springfield, Lowell, or New Bedford. The image of Vermont as predominantly rural, homogenous, and relatively crime-free is largely accurate. Vermont is different, and it certainly is quaint. What other state is itself listed as endangered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation? But dismissing Vermont’s policies because of its uniqueness is specious and does not bear on the question of the relevance of the model to other communities. In reality, every state (and community) has its own unique characteristics and set of players, and no innovative program is ever simply “replicated” elsewhere, least of all, restorative justice programs, which are philosophically committed to local control. The question is, what is to be learned from the Vermont experiment, and how does it inform public policies that might support the development of restorative community-based programs? My remarks focus on the role of citizen participation through volunteering. In addition to the direct participation of victims and offenders, restorative justice prioritizes active involvement of the community, both because communities are seen to be (direct and indirect) victims of crime and because communities are viewed as responsible stakeholders in the maintenance of social norms within the community. From the citizen perspective, participation in restorative justice is a uniquely valuable form of civic participation. If we believe (as I do) that crime is a community responsibility as well as an individual responsibility, then it is necessary for citizens to see “crime” up close and personal. Most restorative forums provide an opportunity to humanize the offender, and in a democracy, I believe it is important for citizens who do not commit crime to meet and get to know those who do, in order to understand their

Fish habitat is everyone's business, Canada's fish habitat management programme

AbstractThe conservation and protection of fish habitat in support of Canada's coastal and inland fisheries is the mandate of Canada's Fish Habitat Management Programme. The programme's objective of a net gain of the productive capacity of habitat is achieved by a variety of actions that protect fish habitat but allow works and undertakings in and around water. Some of the core activities include a review of works and proposals for adherence to the requirements of the Fisheries Act, the issuance of letters of mitigation advice, and authorisation and enforcement activities for compliance with legislation and policies. The programme is enhanced through working with partners in community outreach activities, the generation of mitigation guidelines and fact sheets, as well as compliance monitoring and assessment. This paper presents an overview of the Canadian Fish Habitat Management Programme and focuses on how an expanded programme is being managed within the Province of Ontario. Habitat managers’ tools used to protect the resource are detailed. In 1997, an expanded programme for habitat management was initiated. Subsequently, there has been greater emphasis on advice to clients, agency partnerships and public education. Focussing on redesign and relocation of projects and mitigation of harmful effects has likely resulted in the reduction of the number of authorisations for habitat destruction in this period, despite an overall increase in project referrals for review. Once the Habitat Management Programme is fully implemented across Canada, it will be possible, through monitoring and review, to assess whether there is a greater achievement of no net loss of the productive capacity of habitat and potentially a net gain. This programme of habitat protection and conservation could serve as a model for other jurisdictions.

First in fear and dread: Cancer control in Saskatchewan, the first decade - 1929-1939.

In 1931 Saskatchewan became the first jurisdiction in Canada to introduce a province-wide program for the control of cancer. The program was conceived in 1929 by the cancer committee of the Saskatchewan Medical Association. The provincial government promptly took up the committee's recommendations for centralization of cancer care in two clinics and emphasis on radiotherapy as a mode of treatment. The following year the Saskatchewan Assembly approved The Saskatchewan Cancer Commission Act, as prepared by Health Minister F.D. Munroe, himself a physician. The Regina Cancer Clinic opened at the end of 1931 and the Saskatoon Cancer Clinic at the beginning of 1932. This initial phase of the conception and introduction of cancer control in Saskatchewan is notable for the harmony of agreement among its planners and for the rapidity with which it was introduced. Progress during the remainder of the first decade was much slower, as competing interests and priorities among a larger group of individuals and institutions, together with the Depression, help back the initial momentum. Initially, however, weaknesses accompanied the strengths of the program. Weaknesses included the reluctance of some physicians to cooperate wholeheartedly as they feared the perceived effects of the incursion of a government agency in patient care plus the increasing financial burden placed on the hospitals. The strengths of the program included the existence of the program where none had been present earlier, the availability of a diagnostic and therapeutic service for patients, and a comprehensive system of patient records. In particular, the cancer control program in its first decade was the basis for notable progress in later decades and a model for other jurisdictions.

The dead poets society: The copyright term and the public domain

In a victory for corporate control of cultural heritage, the Supreme Court of the United States has rejected a constitutional challenge to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 (U.S.) by a majority of seven to two. This paper evaluates the litigation in terms of policy debate in a number of discourses ? history, intellectual property law, constitutional law and freedom of speech, cultural heritage, economics and competition policy, and international trade. It argues that the extension of the copyright term will inhibit the dissemination of cultural works through the use of new technologies ? such as Eric Eldred's Eldritch Press and Project Gutenberg. It concludes that there is a need to resist the attempts of copyright owners to establish the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 (U.S.) as an international model for other jurisdictions ? such as Australia.

Stalking Laws and Implementation Practices: A National Review for Policymakers and Practitioners

In 1990, California enacted the first criminal law specifically directed at stalking. Since that time there has been considerable research on the dynamics of stalking, including, for example, who stalks and why stalkers stalk. However, little research has been conducted on the stalking laws themselves and how they have been implemented. The present research was conducted to fill that knowledge gap. The research examined state and federal anti-stalking laws, court decisions, social science and medical research on stalking and stalkers, and anti-stalking actions by law enforcement, prosecutor, and victim service agencies around the country. Although the researchers initially contemplated evaluating the effectiveness of the new stalking laws, that was deemed not feasible. Instead, developing a best practices catalogue became the study's second focus. This report presents the findings of the multi-layered research. Key findings include these: -Stalking is pervasive and injurious. It affects between 2 million and 6 million victims annually, depending on the definition of stalking used. Official recognition of stalking actions falls far below this number. This failure is significant because stalking often has serious injurious effects on its victims. -Implementation of the new stalking laws is still limited. Most law enforcement and prosecution agencies lack policies for responding to stalking complaints and do not have personnel with expertise in stalking cases. Such expertise is important because stalking is a different type of crime. It combines elements of assault, threat, harassment, intimidation, and invasion of privacy. It occurs repeatedly and often must be investigated prospectively (by gathering evidence as stalking behaviors continue to occur after the initial complaint). -A number of agencies have established special stalking units or assigned specialized staff to handle stalking cases. These efforts both demonstrate the importance of stalking case expertise and provide a model for other jurisdictions to emulate. This report first presents findings from a review of the prior research on stalking and some original information gathering; this combination resulted in a reassessment of the significance of stalking as a policy issue for criminal justice. The review also examines stalking's definitions, prevalence, and impact on victims. Next comes an examination of criminal law, namely, the enactment of stalking laws and their reception in the courts. The report then discusses how stalking laws have been implemented, based on (1) surveys of law enforcement, prosecutor, and victim service agencies, and (2) field work with agencies having specialized anti-stalking units. The empirical findings from the field work together with a review of training and other materials used by these agencies combine to produce a best practices synthesis. The report concludes with recommendations for legislators, agency administrators, funders, and researchers.

A framework for an industry supported destination marketing information system

This article provides guidelines for the establishment of a comprehensive state/provincial destination marketing information system (DMIS). More specifically, it describes the process by which the tourism industry in Alberta, Canada developed a framework for the acquisition of timely research and intelligence to maintain and enhance its competitiveness as a travel destination. In keeping with a government mandate for greater public–private sector partnership, consideration was given to two equally important, but functionally distinct end users: (1) Travel Alberta, the province's destination marketing organization, which uses information to guide strategic marketing priorities and create cooperative marketing opportunities for industry, and (2) local tourism operators, who demand information to improve their marketing decisions in service of individual business objectives. The needs of these key audience groups were identified and addressed using a comprehensive three-step approach: (1) Interviews were conducted with key industry players to identify research and intelligence needs, (2) information sources were sought to respond to the identified needs, and (3) solutions were identified to deliver high-quality information at an affordable cost. The end result of this process is a framework that can serve as a useful model for other jurisdictions seeking to develop a DMIS. While the Alberta framework will require ongoing evaluation to ensure its validity and accuracy, it possesses an important quality frequently lacking in this type of endeavor: the broad-based endorsement of tourism operators.

Development of Sediment Quality Values for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: A Possible Model for Other Jurisdictions

A procedure for using “international” sediment quality values to derive non-criteria screening values for a specific jurisdiction, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong), is described, related to dredging activities. Recommendations are provided for collecting and using site-specific data to confirm, refine or revise these values, including incorporation of such values into regulatory frameworks and defining the limits of their utility. The procedure and recommendations could provide a model for other jurisdictions developing their own sediment quality values. Recent developments involving adaptation of the recommended values by regulators in Hong Kong are also described

Preventive Reassignment of Pregnant or Breast-Feeding Workers: The Québec Model

This article examines the Québec legislation regarding the preventive reassignment of pregnant or breast-feeding workers, a program designed to enable pregnant workers to obtain safe work or paid leave during pregnancy. The author describes the program, considers the role of treating physicians and public health physicians in its application, and concludes with an analysis of its qualities and drawbacks. Conclusions are based on the analysis of 349 Appeal Tribunal decisions representing all final appeal decisions relating to the program that circumscribe conditions of application, particularly in relation to definition of hazards and the role of doctors in adjudication. Although this program is currently unique in North America, the author suggests that it may serve as a model for other jurisdictions, providing a progressive alternative to traditional fetal protection policies.

The Function of the Auditor‐General: Independence, Competence and Outsourcing – the Policy Implications

Privatisation, outsourcing or restructuring the public‐sector audit office in Victoria will have implications ‐ economic, political and even moral. The authors believe that a more competitive system will, if operational independence can be put in place, bring significant benefits to the people of Victoria and will be a model for other jurisdictions. While the implications are enormous, the challenges that will need to be dealt with are just as great.

Use of Cocaine During the Immediate Prepartum Period by Childbearing Women in Ohio

Despite widespread concern about exposure of infants in utero to cocaine, population-based data regarding the prevalence of such exposures are limited. An official task force in Ohio called for studies to generate such data for that state. During three weeks in late 1990, urine was obtained within 48 hours of birth from 1,819 infants born in 25 Ohio hospitals randomly selected from a pool of hospitals accounting for over 80% of Ohio births. Maternal age, race/ethnicity, and residence information were collected so that results could not be linked to individual mothers or infants. Urines were screened for benzoylecgonine (BZE), a cocaine metabolite, using a commercially available immunoassay. The crude prevalence of BZE positivity was 2.0%. When adjusted for unequal cluster sizes and race/ethnicity, the prevalence was 1.4%. The adjusted prevalence for infants born to black mothers was 7.2%, for infants born to white mothers, 0.3%. Ninety-seven percent of the mothers whose infants tested positive were residents of a city of 20,000 or more people. The use of hospital maternity units as a basis for anonymous sampling, as demonstrated in this study, may be a useful model for other jurisdictions seeking population-based data concerning perinatal drug exposures. Such methods may be especially useful for trend studies and program evaluation. In this study, we found widely distributed prepartal cocaine usage in Ohio. Black newborns were significantly more likely than white newborns to show evidence of recent cocaine exposure.

AN ANTIDEGRADATION POLICY FOR PRESERVING SURFACE WATER QUALITY IN FLORIDA1

ABSTRACT: As part of its overall system for protecting aquatic systems from unnecessary degradation, the State of Florida provides special protection for water bodies of unusual importance. Such water bodies are designated as “Outstanding Florida Waters” (OFW5). New discharges to OFWs are possible only if certain stringent criteria are met. A new point source direct discharge to an OFW is usually not allowed if it would cause any lowering of ambient water quality. A new indirect discharge (upstream from an OFW boundary) may be allowed only if it would not significantly degrade the OFW.To date, the advantages of the OFW system have clearly outweighed the disadvantages, and OFW designations are helping to protect Florida's most valuable waters from additional degradation. Florida's system could be a useful model for other jurisdictions wanting to provide special protection to special water bodies.