Juvenile restorative justice has become an increasingly common alternative to punitive justice in recent decades. This project evaluates best practices and strategies that have been effective in reducing recidivism while upholding the key tenets of restoration. The goal of this project is to compile a reference for best practices and recommendations for the implementation of a juvenile restorative justice program at the Tempe Municipal Court. Through a comparison of two court-based restorative programs in the United States and a compilation of relevant research, a recommendation of Circle Conferencing is appropriate for the needs of the Tempe Municipal Court.

The completion of this thesis analyzes the growing influence of social media in criminal cases. As social media has made a growing impact on our society, it by virtue is also impacting courtroom outcomes. This paper explores five current criminal cases, in which the primary component of evidence was usage of social media. The primary component of evidence was derived by social media and was used to determine the verdict of a case. Using a case study methodology, each case was analyzed in terms of how it was used in court, how social media influenced the final verdict, and possible justice implications. The findings of this paper determined how “beyond reasonable doubt”, authenticity, and reliability were the main issues that emerged when using social media as primary evidence. This project discusses how the given issues leave reason for questioning, and how it plays a part in the judicial implications that come along with using this kind of evidence. Overall, the findings demonstrated how the questions of reliability, that social media entails, create problems within the courtroom requiring judicial interpretation and decision making.

This thesis explores the connection between how the stigmatization of mental illness may be perpetuated by health care workers and the effect this has on individuals using mental health care services, focusing on how it negatively impacts the outcome of treatment. Much research and studies have been done on the topic of stigma, but few have surveyed how mental health care service users are directly impacted by stigma, specifically from members of the health care community. The Tempe Mental Health Court, a local alternative program for individuals who have diagnosed serious mental health issues and have committed misdemeanor offenses, is an exemplar of a treatment program that may be impacted by this stigma. Literature research collected for this paper analyzed how stigmatization is perpetuated through actions and words, and how this negatively impacts the stigmatized. Additionally, research was also gathered on how mental health care workers may play a part in the stigmatization of mental illness. A survey based off of The Stigma Scale developed by Michael King and his associates was administered at the Mental Health Court to be taken by participants of the program (2007). The survey aimed to figure out whether stigma was present at the court, if so, how it was being presented, and what role health care professionals and other members of the court had in perpetuating it. The survey was administered online and totaled 30 questions. Afterwards, survey data was compared and analyzed to the information gathered through literature research. Solutions for intervening in the stigma were derived from the survey as well as outside research. Based on these survey results as well as the outside research conducted, proposals for further research were suggested at the end of this paper.

There is a widely held assumption that a good chief executive in the business world will
be a good chief executive in the government. In the past, there have been many Chief Executives
in the government who have had either military experience, or some congressional experience.
President Ulysses S. Grant was a General, President Zachary Tayler was a Major General,
President Herbert Hoover was the Secretary of Commerce, and contributed to the Treaty of
Versailles, and therefore cannot be criticized on the basis of having no practical government
experience, as well as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was also a Commanding
General. On the other hand, with many well-known entrepreneurs, people tend to focus on the
achievements that those people accomplish, and thus see that as something that can be
transitioned from business to politics. However, I would argue that this is generally not the case.

The purpose of this document is to explore the aspects of the UNABOM investigation in search of the key factors that contributed to Theodore J. Kaczynski’s ability to evade capture from law enforcement for 17 years. Kaczynski, the Unabomber, was a serial bomber, domestic terrorist, intellectual, mathematician, ersatz philosopher, and published author-by-extortion of the late twentieth century. His actions resulted in the deaths of three individuals and injured twenty-three others. As such, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a full-scale manhunt over the span of almost two decades to catch Kaczynski. This paper analyzes the factors that allowed for Kaczynski to avoid detection through a multi-step process of first listing off the chronological timeline of events in Kaczynski’s life, then examining his three major bombings that resulted in fatalities, using results/concepts from forensic linguistics to identify key information that might allude to his ability to avoid detection, and conducting a overall analysis of the societal, economical, technological, and law enforcement capabilities of the late 20th century. This present-day look into Kaczynski’s reign of terror will not only unveil any trends, factors, and methodologies used in his crimes, but it will most importantly signify that if Kaczynski’s actions were to be repeated in the exact manner today, the manhunt would take just as long and be equally as tragic as it was three decades ago. The end goal is to reveal that the only factor that allowed Kaczynski to evade capture for as long as he did was Kaczynski himself.

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.

This study aims to gain an understanding of higher education interventions taking place in refugee camps around the world that implement hybrid online and on-site models. Through an archival, database study, this uncovers the most salient characteristics of 8 international interventions (Australian Catholic University, Borderless Higher Education for Refugees, Jesuit Worldwide Learning: Higher Education at the Margins, InZone, Kepler, Mosaik, Global Border Studies, and Education for Humanity) in regard to logistics, academics, technology, and pedagogy. The study found multiple ways in which these programs seek to increase inclusion and success of refugee learners. These techniques include (1) free tuition, (2) nutrition, security, and transportation accommodations, (3) gender equity provisions, (4) course accreditation, (5) preparatory courses, (6) student support and development, (7) durable solutions related to employment, (8) tailored curricula, (9) flexibility of course structure, (10) critical thinking & reflection, (11) hybrid, adaptable, and portable course delivery, (12) on-site technology support, and (13) accommodations related to electricity and internet connectivity.

Sustainability and environmental justice, two fields that developed parallel to each other, are both insufficient to deal with the challenges posed by institutional environmental violence (IEV). This thesis examines the discursive history of sustainability and critiques its focus on science-based technical solutions to large-scale global problems. It further analyzes the gaps in sustainability discourse that can be filled by environmental justice, such as the challenges posed by environmental racism. Despite this, neither field is able to contend with IEV in a meaningful way, which this thesis argues using the case study of the Flint Water Crisis (FWC). The FWC has been addressed as both an issue of sustainability and of environmental justice, yet IEV persists in the community. This is due in part to the narrative of crisis reflected by the FWC and the role that knowledge production plays in that narrative. To fill the gap left by both sustainability and environmental justice, this thesis emphasizes the need for a transformational methodology incorporating knowledge produced by communities and individuals directly impacted by sustainability problems.

Tempe, and the greater justice system, consistently seeks to re-evaluate its operations and processes to meet the ever-increasing conflicts that are brought into the courts purview. Nationally, municipal courts have seen a decrease in civil matters, however, this is not the case in Tempe. My goal for this project was to assess and reflect on the circumstances that surround civil matters within the municipal court. As a case study, I observed and evaluated several civil court cases. In doing so, I analyzed the ways in which legal consciousness and discourse are used to solve existing civil court matters. I then took these data and considered the ways in which mediation could be used as a justice alternative. In proposing mediation as an alternative, I focus on the ways in which mediation better serves to build positive legal consciousness and address all forms of discourse that can be presented in specific civil cases. Finally, I discuss a strategy that can be used within the Tempe Courts to implement mediation as a long-term problem-solving court strategy.

Much research has been conducted regarding the current state of public education within the United States. Very little of that research bodes well for the system’s current circumstances or for the direction our system is headed. The debate stems around two opposing ideologies. One believes that there needs to be more accountability via high-stakes testing and the continuum of the status quo that the country has maintained for centuries, regardless of the effect it may be having on the students’ well-being. While the opposing view sees high-stakes testing as a contributing factor to the seemingly unproductive, chaotic, and even harmful conundrum of bias and hegemony that shows a positive correlation of deleterious effects to student well-being. Although this paper references the research of highly esteemed scholars, it asserts that the voices of those that are most relegated to that of undervalued and ignored are precisely the voices that need to be gleaned most relevant. This paper’s purpose is to hear what the ‘experts’ in the field of education, the students themselves, have to say.