Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval in the Making of the Spanish Pacific

This chapter studies the history of Our Lady of the Rosary La Naval from her foundational miracles in Japan, Ternate, and Mindoro to her divine intervention in the Dutch war of 1646, the event that gave her the name of “La Naval.” It shows that Manila was “the gate” through which one entered the other provinces and kingdoms of Asia, and Our Lady of the Rosary became the saint who stood loyally by her Spanish soldiers, regardless of their ranks or criminal histories. More specifically, it reveals that Spanish devotees embraced her cult because her miracles reinforced what they believed to be Spain’s predestined role in the Pacific as the cross-bearer against all heathens and heretics.

Why Are Federal Meth Sentences Getting Longer?

While sentence lengths for most federal drug trafficking offenses have decreased in recent years, methamphetamine sentences are moving in the opposite direction, lengthening by 12% between FY2015 and FY2019. Using data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission and other sources, I consider several possible reasons for this increase. I conclude that four recent trends have jointly produced longer meth sentences: (1) drug volumes have increased, (2) the criminal history of the average offender has become more extensive, (3) weapon enhancements and charges have become more common, and (4) cases have grown increasingly likely to be sentenced as high-purity “ice” or by “actual” meth content, which carry much more punitive mandatory and guideline minimums than meth mixture. How much of the increase in sentence lengths has been attributable to shifting case characteristics (e.g., growing drug volumes, changing criminal histories, and increased weapons use) versus efforts to charge and pursue offenses that carry greater penalties? I use USSC data to conduct several simulations estimating how sentence lengths would have evolved if all meth cases were sentenced as the same meth type. I predict that the average meth trafficking sentence would have lengthened by 27–33% less, or 3.3–4.0 fewer months, if all cases were sentenced as the same meth type but all other case attributes remained unchanged. The remainder of the growth is attributable to case and offender characteristics. However, this prediction assumes that relief and leniency decisions would not change if statutory and guideline minimums were altered; to allow for this possibility, I run another set of simulations, taking these possible offsetting effects into account. My latter simulations predict that trafficking sentences might have increased 13–16% less than they did in reality, a smaller magnitude than my initial estimates. I briefly consider the underlying reasons for these trends. Some, but not all, of the changing offense characteristics may be linked to the recent shift to Mexican methamphetamine production. The timing of the shift in meth type charged suggests it may largely be the result of a change in Justice Department charging policy enacted in 2017; this shift cannot be attributed to any change in drug purity.

Shifting Peaks and Cumulative Consequences: Disqualifying Convictions in High-security Jobs

Objectives: Disqualifying conviction lists (DCLs) bar applicants with certain convictions within specified timeframes from employment. Using proposed federal legislative changes in the aviation sector as a case study, we examine whether convictions under the existing policy are associated with subsequent arrest. Then we consider the implications of proposed expansions—arrests instead of convictions and a longer look-back window—on employment restrictions. Methods: Since DCLs exclude ineligible applicants with conviction records, we use a large, single-state sample of diverse criminal histories. We compare subsequent arrest rates across offense types, consider variations in hazard patterns, and project exclusion estimates based on current and anticipated policy reforms. Results: Only half of the disqualifying offenses have consistently higher recidivism rates than non-disqualifying offense types. Over 20 percent of the sample would be barred from employment, policy extensions double this estimate, and exclusions are age-graded, shifting a peak conviction age of 20 years old to a peak “consequence age” of 28. Conclusions: Including a narrower set of offenses would reduce those automatically disqualified in our study context by nearly 20 percent, or 39,000 individuals. Instead of expanding the DCL scope, successful criteria should be both effective in prediction and narrow in application.

Criminal Histories of Intimate Partner Homicide Offenders

This exploratory study investigates intimate partner homicide (IPH) offenders’ criminal histories to examine opportunities for criminal justice system intervention. Data were collected from the Michigan Violent Death Reporting System and Michigan State Police for the 117 IPHs committed in 2014 and 2015 in Michigan. Descriptive statistics on types of criminal charges and convictions for the 103 IPHs committed by aggressors (e.g., not in self-defense) are presented, with relatively few domestic violence charges or convictions. Twenty-nine percent of offenders had no criminal history. Findings highlight a need for more effective and greater implementation of interventions for both criminal justice system-involved and not-involved offenders.

Organised crime and criminal careers: findings from an Australian sample

A growing number of international studies have shown members of organised crime groups have different criminal career trajectories to volume crime offenders. This study analysed the recorded criminal histories of a sample of 3,007 individuals affiliated with known organised crime groups. Trajectory analysis revealed four distinct offending trajectories, differentiated by their onset, peak and frequency of offending. Consistent with overseas studies, there was a large group of late-onset offenders. Groups also differed in offending versatility, seriousness and escalation. Further analysis, including of offence types, revealed that individuals varied in their criminal careers prior to their involvement in organised crime offending, indicative of the different recruitment pathways that exist.

Criminal Careers and Immigration: An Analysis of Offending Over the Life Course Among Homicide Inmates in Texas

The purpose of this study is to examine differences in patterns of criminal arrests between US citizens and foreign citizens among a sample of individuals incarcerated for homicide in Texas. Data for this project come from administrative records of inmates incarcerated in Texas for homicide. Drawing from the criminal careers literature, official arrest records are assessed to compare differences in criminal histories with growth curve models for the examination of criminal careers of non-Texas born US citizens and foreign citizens. Notable findings are that the age-crime curves are remarkably similar between the two groups, but the curves differ in degree, with those of US citizens peaking significantly higher across all crime types examined.

Criminal Histories and Rates of Recidivism Among Two Subtypes of Psychopathic Individuals

Although it is well established that individuals with psychopathic traits are a high-risk group for criminal recidivism, there is considerable evidence that psychopathy is a heterogeneous personality disorder comprised of two subtypes who differ on levels of negative affect (NA). However, few studies have examined differences in criminal histories, and fewer still have investigated differences in recidivism among subtypes of psychopathy. The current study compared criminal histories and recidivism rates between psychopathy subtypes differing in NA (high-NA vs. low-NA) within a sample of adult males incarcerated in state prisons. The high-NA and low-NA psychopathy subtypes did not differ on histories of total, nonviolent, or violent crime, and did not differ on rates of total, nonviolent, or violent recidivism. This finding highlights equally high levels of criminal risk associated with both subtypes of psychopathic individuals. Intervention strategies should be prioritized for both subgroups to effectively reduce the criminal costs associated with psychopathy.

Age, Gender, and Crime in a Stockholm Birth Cohort to Age 64

We study the criminal histories of 14,608 males and females in a full Stockholm birth cohort born in 1953 to age 64. Using an update of The Stockholm Birth Cohort Study data, we explore the amount of crimes recorded in the cohort before and after the advent of adulthood. We break down the age/crime curve into separate parameters, including onset, duration, and termination. Throughout, we utilize the large number of females (49%; n = 7 161) in the cohort, and compare long-term patterns of male and female criminal careers. Next, we focus on adulthood, and explore the existence and parameters of the adult-onset offender and its contribution to the overall volume of crime in the cohort. While crime peaks in adolescence, the main bulk of crimes in the cohort occurred after the dawning of adulthood. Nearly half of all male, and more than two-thirds of all female, crimes in the cohort occurred after age 25. In the case of violence, the majority of offences — around two-thirds for both genders — took place in adulthood. Around 23% of all males and 38% of all females with a criminal record in the cohort were first recorded for a criminal offence in adulthood. While a majority were convicted only once, a proportion of adult-onset offenders had a considerable risk of recidivism and repeated recidivism. These results suggest that quite a substantial proportion of the population initiate crime in adulthood, and that these offenders account for a nonnegligible proportion of adult crime.

Challenging the Carceral Imaginary in a Digital Age: Epistemic Asymmetries and the Right to Be Forgotten

This paper argues that debates regarding legal protections to preserve the privacy of data subjects, such as those involving the European Union’s right to be forgotten, have tended to overlook group-level forms of epistemic asymmetry and their impact on members of historically oppressed groups. In response, I develop what I consider an abolitionist approach to issues of digital justice. I begin by exploring international debates regarding digital privacy and the right to be forgotten. Then, I turn to the long history of informational asymmetries impacting racialized populations in the United States. Such asymmetries, I argue, comprise epistemic injustices that are also implicated within the patterns of racialized incarceration in the United States. The final section brings together questions regarding the impact of such epistemic injustices on incarcerated peoples and focuses specifically on the public availability of criminal histories in online search databases as a fundamental issue within conversations regarding digital justice. I thus conclude by building from the work of contemporary abolitionist writers to argue that the underlying concerns of an individualized right to be forgotten should be transformed into a collective effort to undermine societal carceral imaginaries.