Trial Court Research Articles

Bacon or Beef? ‘Fake’ Halal Scandals in the Russian Federation

Abstract This article aims at analyzing how the penetration of a commercial rational into the religious field impacts the relations between the State and the Muslim religion in the case of post-Soviet Russia. Here, the rise of a ‘halal market’ – that is the market for halal products and the market of halal certification – was punctuated by scandals. This research scrutinizes one of them, linked with halal meat products containing pork dna. This scandal is studied as it reveals the pre-existing order and is considered per se, as a critical test when common values and norms are either abandoned or strengthened, and previously established relations are transformed. First, the article presents how Islam is organized and regulated in the Russian Federation; then it analyzes the ‘scandalization strategy,’ which leads to the reconfiguration of the game of actors. Lastly, it examines how the scandal, through the use of law and court decisions, contributes to the extension, legitimization and consolidation of the certificated ‘halal’ norm beyond the circles of pious Muslims. This research is based on empirical data gathered in Moscow and Kazan in 2018: the observation of a court trial and the analysis of documents relating to the legal proceedings, semi-structured interviews and online research.

Trial Courts as Constitutional First Responders: A Historical Case Study of the Role of the Franklin County Circuit Court in Kentucky’s Biggest Legal-Political Controversies

Although courts of general jurisdiction like Kentucky’s Franklin Circuit Court are discussed by political scientists and legal commentators as purely trial courts, they are by necessity the court of first resort for issues with political import. When branches of government clash, courts of general jurisdiction must decide whether the judiciary has the right to intervene and if so how. This makes these courts crucial actors in the first scene in the drama of legal-political conflicts between branches of government or over the legality of statutes, at least until the appellate courts arrive in the last act. Their rulings are “table-setters” of debate over the issue litigated. These dramas typically play out, in Kentucky and other states, in the court of general jurisdiction that sits in the seat of the state government. This paper will explore these conflicts against the backdrop of the landscape of similar capitol-city courts. While this is not just a Kentucky issue, it is impossible to study it properly outside of the concrete details of an individual state. The paper frames the role of general-jurisdiction leading trial courts in state jurisprudence with a case-study of the modern history of the Franklin Circuit Court and then test the themes raised with an analysis of the interplay between that court and the Kentucky Supreme Court in four major cases in Kentucky’s recent history.

Involuntary Commitments: Billing Patients for Forced Psychiatric Care

Involuntary Commitments: Billing Patients for Forced Psychiatric Care

유니온 숍 협정과 부당해고, 부당노동행위 - 대법원 2019. 11. 28. 선고 2019두47377 판결을 중심으로 -

Article 81, Paragraph 2 of the Trade Union And Labor Relations Adjustment Act stipulates compulsory membership provisions, such as the union shop agreement, as one of the unfair labor practices. However, union shop agreement entered into by a dominant trade union is considered to be valid as an exception. According to interpretation of the above clause, union shop agreement might apply to the act of a new employee who directly establishes a new trade union or joins another trade union without first joining and withdrawing from the dominant trade union. In this case the dispute was over the issue of whether the dismissal of a new employee based on the union shop agreement was an unfair dismissal or not, where the employee had joined another trade union without first joining and withdrawing from the dominant trade union. The trial court decided that the firing was not an unfair dismissal because the union shop agreement justified it. On the contrary, the appellate court decided that it was an unfair dismissal. The Supreme Court ruled that it was an unfair dismissal based on a limited interpretation where it was found that the union shop agreement can only be applied to a new employee who has not joined any trade union. It appears th Supreme Court’s decision is rational based on the reasons belows. 1) It is a global trend to limit the effectiveness of the union shop agreement and it also corresponds to the development of the history of trade unions. 2) It is necessary to protect employee’s right to work and right to choose the traded union by controlling employer’s dismissal. 3) Employer’s positive right to organize is guaranteed by the Constitution and union’s positive right to organize should be treated equally among plural trade unions. I hope that based on this ruling, the meaning of the right to unite, especially passive right to organize, will be contemplated and debated deeply. It is necessary, in my view, to regulate the union shop agreement as an unfair labor practice altogether, because passive right to organize should be protected equally to the positive right to organize.

당사자 간 공평의 관점에서 바라본 조세소송 소송물의 구조 - 처분사유의 유형화와 판례 분석을 중심으로 -

초록 · 키워드 목차 오류제보하기 This article mainly deals with ‘scope of review" and ‘limit of res judicata"(or binding force) of revocation judgement, especially focusing on what degree a revocation judgement bars tax authorities from issuing another notice of deficiency. And This thesis questions whether this outcome is fair comparing that taxpayers" any further act may be blocked if their initial request is dismissed and finalized. If it doesn"t seem to be just, we need to suggest alternatives to alleviate this disparity. Hereinafter, this article introduce 4 model cases to help understanding of concept of ‘scope of review" and ‘limit of res judicata" in tax litigation. One tax agency levies income tax(as business income) on the money that A received from B(basic case). The agency changes dispositive grounds ① as interest income (because the income can not meet the requirements of business income)：alternative legal grounds, ② as income received from C (not B)：alternative factual basis, ③ as calculation by wrongful acts(although the money is included in A"s previous tax return, A reduced unreasonably income tax burden by renting his real estate to B who is related person at unusually low price：other facts derived from basic factual grounds), ④ as evasion of unrelated income (apart from basic facts). The model case ①, ②, ③ are in the same category of the identity of basic facts. According to current precedents and majority views, Changing dispositive grounds is allowed from case ① to case ④, which means that the scope of review is much extended. However, the limit of binding force (or res judicata) is so narrowly set up that the agency"s second disposition is not constrained from case ① to case ④ which is not the exact same grounds as the prior one. On the other hand, taxpayers" defeat in first lawsuit based on a specific argument means that the notice of tax payment is recognized as legitimate conclusively, even if the taxpayer finds out the nullity of the disposition belatedly. The disparity seems to be serious. There could be two alternatives to remedy taxpayers" disadvantages due to the limit of binding force of revocation judgement. First idea is that tax authorities are allowed to change dispositive grounds within the identity of basic facts and the objective extent of res juticata is set up at the same category. This opinion has strong points in that ‘scope of review" corresponds with ‘limit of res juticata" and both interests of tax payers and tax agencies are guaranteed harmoniously. However, this idea need to change judicial precedents of the supreme court on limit of res juticata drastically and face tricky problem on what degree the trial court is obliged to render conclusive judgment. Additionally, current case law admit ‘the special statute of limitation"{based on Framework Act On National Taxes Article 26-2 (2)} in the case ①. So the change of precedents or legislative move that the special statute of limitation can be applicable only if the notice of tax payment is revoked for illegality of administrative procedures need to be taken. Even before the fundamental improvement on ‘limit of res juticata’, minimum alteration that allow tax authorities change dispositive grounds within the identity of basic facts could be considered preferentially. According to this opinion, tax authorities are expected to aim at winning a lawsuit by changing dispositive grounds advertently in the initial lawsuit. If they fail to do, they are likely to bear the disadvantage of period of exclusion from imposition. Also, as tax authorities are not allowed to change dispositive grounds to evasion of unrelated income (apart from basic facts), they must issue another notice of deficiency, which is also subject to period of exclusion from imposition. This opinion could be more practical solution because it only requires to change judicial precedents of the supreme court on ‘the special statute of limitation" without changing judical precedents on limit of res juticata or facing difficult problem on the obligation of conclusive judgment. #조세소송의 소송물 #처분사유의 추가변경 #차단효 #기속력 #기판력 #탈루소득 #기본적 사실관계 동일성 #특례제척기간 #subject matter of lawsuit #changing dispositive grounds #binding force #res juticata #evasion of unrelated income #the identity of basic facts #special statute of limitation 국문요약Ⅰ. 서론Ⅱ. 소송물의 구조에 관한 개관Ⅲ 처분사유의 추가·변경의 범위Ⅳ. 기판력과 기속력의 관계Ⅴ. 조세소송에서 차단효의 범위Ⅵ. 결어 ― 납세자의 불이익 시정방안에 관한 제안參考文獻Abstract

To Avoid Unnecessary Red Tape: Vasily Tatishchev’s Proposals on Streamlining Court Proceedings

Vasily Tatishchev is known not only as an outstanding statesman, but also as a scientist who stood at the origin of many sciences. He gained fame as a legal scholar, an expert on the legislation of foreign countries and his homeland. Unlike any of his contemporaries, he reflected on the role of laws in the development of a country, formulated requirements for their content, raised the question of their codification, took the initiative to draft bills, and identified and prepared important legislative documents for publication. The previously unknown document presented in this article makes it possible to talk about Tatishchev’s attempt on behalf of the state to resolve another important issue, the remuneration of judges and clerical officers by introducing payments dependent on the total amount of the claim, the volume of prepared court documents, and their varieties. The author proves Tatishchev’s authorship in the development of such proposals, explaining the reasons for their appearance in terms of the upcoming reform of the plant management system based on bills developed by Tatishchev between 1734 and 1735: these were meant to regulate the relationship between the state and owners of private factories and the powers of the crown administration in state enterprises. The document adds to the existing idea of Tatishchev as a connoisseur of Russian legislation, his deep understanding of problems connected with the activities of judicial institutions, and his attempt to introduce remuneration principles enshrined in Swedish and German legislation into Russian legal practice. The implementation of these proposals would help expedite the adoption of judicial decisions and guarantee judges and clerical servants decent pay. The significance of the proposals formulated by Tatishchev cannot be overemphasised: there was hardly anyone else in Russia who was capable of offering a whole system of monetary compensation for those involved in organising court trials and drawing up documents, demonstrating deep detailed knowledge of judicial documentation.

Symbolic Significance of the Sword in the Hero’s Hand: Beowulf, The Nibelungenlied, El Poema de Mio Cid, Volsunga Saga, and Njál’s Saga

Abstract The medieval hero cannot be imagined without a significant sword. Swords often have names and a mysterious identity. Beowulf cannot kill Grendel’s mother with his own sword, but has to resort to some of the ancient weapons lying in her lair. In the Nibelungenlied, Siegfried’s sword gets into the hand of his nemesis, Hagen, after he has murdered him. Siegfried’s widow, Kriemhild, finally takes it from Hagen and decapitates him. This, however, means her own death. In the Old Spanish El Poema de Mio Cid, the protagonist conquers two most valuable swords, and he passes them on to his sons-in-law, although they prove to be unworthy of those gifts. In the final court trial, Rodrigo Diaz demands those two swords back from the villains, and he triumphs over them. Once he has the swords back in his possession, he can proceed and destroy his enemies in this trial. Swords are not simply weapons; they are synecdoches of the hero himself, and they have the power to sing before or during battle, which is often commented on in the Old Norse sagas. This article will examine how heroic poets treated the sword as a pars pro toto of the hero and hence as agents of superpower, exacting justice and providing honor.

An Analysis of Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act, 2012

The very inadequacy of Indian Penal Code and absence of any stringent legislation for effectively addressing and tackling heinous crimes such as sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children birthed the commencement of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 as the very intention of Government establishments was to protect the children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and to facilitate adequate legal machinery by establishing special courts for trial of such offences and matters incidental connected with child sexual abuse crimes. This was in due compliance of Article 15 of Constitution of India which mandates the states to protect the children of this nation and in lieu of United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child which prescribes the set of standards to be followed by state parties in securing the best interest of the child. Though this legislation is general in nature and applies to everyone irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, religion etc. particularly, it punishes the offenders committing crimes against the children in rural as well as urban areas of the country. This Article analyses the POCSO Act, 2012 in its entirety with a bird eye view. Upon making a qualitative analysis, this article provides an overview of the Act thereby enumerating the important provisions of the said legislation. Further, it elaborates the sexual offences prescribed in the Act. Thereafter, this article analyses the situations where death penalty is given by various special POCSO Courts in various states in India and enumerates the provisions on the Special Courts.

LieToMe: An Ensemble Approach for Deception Detection from Facial Cues.

Deception detection is a relevant ability in high stakes situations such as police interrogatories or court trials, where the outcome is highly influenced by the interviewed person behavior. With the use of specific devices, e.g. polygraph or magnetic resonance, the subject is aware of being monitored and can change his behavior, thus compromising the interrogation result. For this reason, video analysis-based methods for automatic deception detection are receiving ever increasing interest. In this paper, a deception detection approach based on RGB videos, leveraging both facial features and stacked generalization ensemble, is proposed. First, a face, which is well-known to present several meaningful cues for deception detection, is identified, aligned, and masked to build video signatures. These signatures are constructed starting from five different descriptors, which allow the system to capture both static and dynamic facial characteristics. Then, video signatures are given as input to four base-level algorithms, which are subsequently fused applying the stacked generalization technique, resulting in a more robust meta-level classifier used to predict deception. By exploiting relevant cues via specific features, the proposed system achieves improved performances on a public dataset of famous court trials, with respect to other state-of-the-art methods based on facial features, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Monopoly of advocates: national trends and foreign experience

The author examines the key characteristics of professional legal aid considering national trends of monopoly of advocates andrelevant foreign experience. It is stressed that the special significance of guaranteeing and providing legal aid is currently caused byobjective and subjective factors, including: the growing role of law and legal institutes in satisfaction of economic, political, spiritualand other interests of individuals; the inability of the majority of citizens to defend their rights and legitimate interests, to protect themselvesfrom arbitrariness by public authorities, which is caused by lack of legal knowledge and law-enforcement background; insufficientlevel of development of legal comprehension and legal culture of citizens, which challenges the usage of basic individual rights,freedoms and legitimate interests in concrete life situations.In addition, in most countries significant problems are reported in the mechanism of providing legal aid, which does not complywith the rule of law principle. It is emphasized that only in the countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal system the monopoly of advocateshas been shaped in an absolute form. However, research by the International Bar Association suggests that, in addition to monopoly ofadvocates in court claims, most national jurisdictions prohibit noncertified advocates to provide legal assistance at all. In most Europeancountries, including Greece, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Republic of Korea,the monopoly of advocates extends far beyond the court actions.It is concluded that the monopoly of advocates does not mean restricting the freedom of the market of legal services, on the cont -rary, the adequate regulation and uniform rules that would make the legal aid services more predictable and evolutionary. This wouldguarantee everyone equal access to a highly qualified advocate, would nourish the level of legal culture in society and would improvethe quality of court trials and the functioning of the law enforcement agencies. In this way, uniform standards for the provision of legalaid should be introduced. At the same time, the lack of competent and professional staff makes the very idea of qualified legal aid mea -ningless, moreover, poor quality services create a real threat of infringement within the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of citi -zens.

“For the Party Acted Wrong”: Noble Reflection of Court Trials in Volhynia in the Second Half of the 16th — First Half of the 17th Century

The article uses documentary material from the act books of Volhynia borough courts to analyze the perception and importance of the court for the Volhynia voivodeship nobility as an institution for protecting its honor and property in the community. The social changes that started in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the conclusion of the Union of Lublin (1596) are highlighted. It is shown that those transformations were a pan-European trend determined by changes at the political, economic, social, cultural, and religious levels. The article singles out criteria which caused class discord in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and presents the two-pronged classification of the federal judicial system including the division into political and civil proceedings. It is noted that the concepts of “honor”, “freedom”, “right”, and “privilege” were crucial for the establishment of a noble corporation.The examples of four cases from borough courts show how noblemen could interpret encroachment on their status, which required the opposing party to behave ethically and respectfully despite the conflict situation. It is traced that the nobility demanded similar respect for its property, which was an important determinant of its place in the community. It is established that the main legislative source of appeal for the voivodeship gentry seeking to preserve its rights were Lithuanian Statutes, namely the Second, so-called Volhynian Statute (1566). It could be used both for the benefit of the injured party and the defense; however, the case was not always solved in favor of the injured. A legally savvy defense attorney could achieve the desired result for their party even in the event of its guilt. The article shows the connection between the noble perception of the law as a system of codification clauses, which protected noblemen from external dangers and social reality of the Commonwealth, with non-legal instruments of a stratified society, where the notions of sedentarity, patron-client relations, and clear knowledge of the specific legal system functioning were important.

An Analysis of Engagement Resources in Courtroom Closing Arguments: A Case Study of Jodi Arias Case

Closing arguments are the last chance for prosecutors and defense lawyers to persuade a judge or jury during the trial, and they play an important role in the court trial, and engagement resources can help enhance the objectivity and persuasiveness of closing arguments. Therefore, this paper adopts engagement system to make a comparative analysis in the closing arguments of the prosecutor and the defense lawyer in Jodi Arias case and to explore the effects of engagement resources in arguments. The study found that dialogic contraction resources help compress the rebuttal space of the opposed views and that dialogic expansion resources help enhance the persuasiveness and objectivity of the arguments. Lawyers on both sides often use dialogic contraction resources, while the defense lawyer uses disclamation resources more frequently and the prosecutor uses proclamation resources more frequently.

The Problematics of the Implementation of the Dominus Litis

Public prosecutors have the authority to control criminal cases, examine the results of investigators' examinations, or filter case files regarding the completeness of requirements and eligibility standards to be delegated to court. This principle is called dominus litis. Etymologically dominus (Latin), which means owner, litis means case or lawsuit. In this context, the public prosecutor as dominus litis is the owner of a criminal case submitted to the court for trial. The problem of applying the dominus litis principle from the perspective of the prosecutor's office raises many problems, which can hinder a simple, fast, and low cost judicial process. The back and forth of criminal case files between public prosecutors and investigators is not a strange thing in this context, the slow process of criminal justice is protracted, tiring, and even unclear, and creates injustice for justice seekers, and so on.

The Decision-Making Ideology of Federal Judges Appointed by President Trump

What is the ideological direction of the judges appointed by President Donald Trump during his first four years in office? To answer this question we analyzed 395 U.S. district court decisions handed down by 87 judges appointed to the federal trial court bench by President Trump. These decisions were studied along with over 117,000 opinions by over 2,400 judges published in the Federal Supplement from 1932 through 2020. We find that judges appointed by Trump are significantly more conservative than judges appointed by other Republican presidents in recent decades. In particular, the Trump judges are much more conservative in the areas of civil liberties/rights and labor/economic regulation than judges appointed by any previous Republican or Democrat dating back to JFK.

Confronting Racist Prosecutorial Rhetoric at Trial

Racist prosecutorial rhetoric is an oft-overlooked component of structural racism within the criminal justice system. Social psychology and neuroscience research explain how racist rhetoric affects decision-making, as well as how to avoid biased decision-making. But current law tolerates and even encourages prosecutors to use racist rhetoric to ensure convictions. This article educates judges, prosecutors, and other scholars about how to recognize racist prosecutorial rhetoric, how to prevent it in most cases, and how to effectively deal with it when it occurs. Specifically, it focuses on trial courts for solutions, providing them with a checklist of how to draw lines between proper and improper argument. It recommends prohibiting many common rhetorical choices prosecutors use, such as animal imagery and us/them arguments. It also recommends requiring prosecutors to file a motion in limine to justify proposed references to race in individual cases; courts should only allow these references when their probative value significantly outweighs the potential prejudicial effect. The article also contains strategies for effectively preventing biased decision-making when prosecutors use racist rhetoric and a method for tracking repeat violators for more systemic solutions. These solutions would help ensure fair trials and contribute to the racial reckoning in the criminal justice system.

Juridical Study on Implementation of Village Chairman Using E-Voting Method

Evidence is a problem that plays a role in the process of trial court examination which aims to find material truth. From the evidence, it is determined whether the defendant is guilty or not. At this stage of evidence, according to Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the defendant has the right to present mitigating evidence as a defense to give rise to the judge's conviction that he is innocent. The defendant's submission of mitigating evidence is to protect the rights of the defendant and uphold the principle of equality before the law. The evidence presented by the defendant to prove his innocence was documentary evidence. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the use of documentary evidence submitted by the defendant in a murder crime case and to find out the weaknesses and solutions to the use of documentary evidence submitted by the defendant in a murder crime case. This legal research uses empirical juridical research methods, by conducting descriptive analysis. This research uses a statutory approach, documents and field research. This legal research is also supported by the results of interviews with informants. Results of the study: The panel of judges accepted the use of documentary evidence by the panel of judges, but the strength of evidence could not be considered in the verdict. The reason is because documentary evidence is not independent evidence and must be supported by other evidence. In accordance with Article 183 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which regulates the minimum number of at least two valid pieces of evidence. The weaknesses of documentary evidence submitted by the defendant include: (a) From a formal perspective, that the power of proof of documentary evidence in a criminal case is controlled by the rules, namely Article 187 KUHAP, they must determine the conviction of the judge. Evidence in a criminal case to seek material truth, the judge is free and not bound by evidence. (b) In terms of material, whereas what is sought in criminal procedural law is material truth, then the consequence is that the judge is free to use or set aside a letter. Although there is no special regulation, according to the negative evidence system (negatief wettelijk bewijstheorie) adopted by the Criminal Procedure Code, namely there must be confidence from the judge regarding the evidence presented at trial. Even though from a formal perspective, the evidence is an official letter, but the value of perfection does not support it to stand on its own and must comply with the principle of the minimum limit of proof stipulated in article 183 KUHAP.

Using of Letter Evidence by Defendant in Murder Crime

Evidence is a problem that plays a role in the process of trial court examination which aims to find material truth. From the evidence, it is determined whether the defendant is guilty or not. At this stage of evidence, according to Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the defendant has the right to present mitigating evidence as a defense to give rise to the judge's conviction that he is innocent. The defendant's submission of mitigating evidence is to protect the rights of the defendant and uphold the principle of equality before the law. The evidence presented by the defendant to prove his innocence was documentary evidence. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the use of documentary evidence submitted by the defendant in a murder crime case and to find out the weaknesses and solutions to the use of documentary evidence submitted by the defendant in a murder crime case. This legal research uses empirical juridical research methods, by conducting descriptive analysis. This research uses a statutory approach, documents and field research. This legal research is also supported by the results of interviews with informants. Results of the study: The panel of judges accepted the use of documentary evidence by the panel of judges, but the strength of evidence could not be considered in the verdict. The reason is because documentary evidence is not independent evidence and must be supported by other evidence. In accordance with Article 183 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which regulates the minimum number of at least two valid pieces of evidence. The weaknesses of documentary evidence submitted by the defendant include: (a) From a formal perspective, that the power of proof of documentary evidence in a criminal case is controlled by the rules, namely Article 187 KUHAP, they must determine the conviction of the judge. Evidence in a criminal case to seek material truth, the judge is free and not bound by evidence. (b) In terms of material, whereas what is sought in criminal procedural law is material truth, then the consequence is that the judge is free to use or set aside a letter. Although there is no special regulation, according to the negative evidence system (negatief wettelijk bewijstheorie) adopted by the Criminal Procedure Code, namely there must be confidence from the judge regarding the evidence presented at trial. Even though from a formal perspective, the evidence is an official letter, but the value of perfection does not support it to stand on its own and must comply with the principle of the minimum limit of proof stipulated in article 183 KUHAP.

Сокращение особого порядка судебного разбирательства: «начало движения» или «конец маршрута»?

The article is devoted to actual problems of the institution of special procedure of a court trial in case of agreement of the accused person with the accusation. Appreciating the amendments made in July 2020 to the Chapter 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure dramatically reducing this institution, the author justifies a necessity of the further reforming and suggests particular steps for improvement of the legislation. Such steps include further reduction of the special procedure, new rules of the cases consideration relating to the persons concluded pre-trial cooperation agreements, and also establishment of particular research mechanism of the evidences by the court.

Amicus Brief of Tax Scholars in Support of Appellants

It is hard to describe tax law succinctly. The federal Internal Revenue Code is over 6,000 pages and contains over 4 million words. As scholars who write about taxation, we are well aware of this challenge. Nevertheless, the 100-word summary that appeared on Invest in Education’s petitions accurately describes its proposed change to Arizona tax law. Arizona's Invest in Education initiative would establish a new, separate surcharge of 3.5% on taxable income above certain threshold amounts. This new surcharge shall be imposed “[i]n addition to any other tax imposed by this chapter” and, it will be “collected regardless of whether the income tax rate brackets in this chapter are changed, replaced or eliminated by an act of the legislature.” Invest in Education’s 100-word summary described this provision as “establishing a 3.5% surcharge on taxable income above $250,000 annually for single persons or married persons filing separately, and on taxable income above $500,000 annually for married persons filing jointly or head of household filers.” This description straightforwardly describes the tax law change proposed in the initiative text. The Arizona trial court held there were three tax-related problems with the 100-word summary. The trial court concluded that the use of the term “surcharge” rather than “tax” was misleading, and it held that the description omitted two principal provisions: the relative percentage change in the marginal tax rate and the fact that the definition of taxable income includes income that individuals earn as owners of pass-through entities. The trial court’s conclusions are based in confusion about tax law and a misreading of the Arizona Supreme Court's decision in Molera v. Reagan. As this brief explains, there is nothing misleading about the 100-word summary, and it accurately described the principal tax provision.

LEChain: A blockchain-based lawful evidence management scheme for digital forensics

Lawful evidence management in digital forensics is of paramount importance in police investigations because such evidence is used to convict suspects of crimes. Existing studies have adopted cloud computing to collect evidence and then leveraged blockchain to support the transparency, immutability, and auditability of the evidence. Unfortunately, such studies only rely on a weak security model and do not cover the entire life cycle of the evidence or address the key privacy issues, i.e., witness privacy in evidence collection and juror privacy in court trials. In this work, we propose LEChain, a blockchain-based lawful evidence management scheme to supervise the entire evidence flow and all of the court data (e.g., votes and trial results), extending from evidence collection and access during the police investigation to jury voting in the court trials. Specifically, we utilize short randomizable signatures to anonymously authenticate witnesses’ identities to protect the witness privacy. Then, we leverage fine-grained access control based on ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption for evidence access. Next, we design a secure voting method to protect juror privacy. In addition, we build a consortium blockchain to record evidence transactions. Finally, we formally analyze the security and privacy of LEChain and evaluate its computational costs and communication overhead by implementing a prototype based on a local Ethereum test network.