As of May 2016, the U.S. State Department officially declared a priority date for all green cards for applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that capped the number of visas granted to individuals from these three countries to just 10,000 per year. This inherently created a two to three-year backlog for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applicants from these countries as well, meaning that SIJS petitioners will remain undocumented for periods of up to six years until their petition is adjudicated by USCIS and their priority date arrives. I research whether the increasingly difficult path to obtaining permanent residency through a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petition is a result of a change in federal administrations––– between former President Obama’s covert mechanisms of marginalization and deportation of Central Americans to the overtly anti-immigrant rhetoric stemming from Trump––– or if SIJS backlogs are an inevitable phenomenon resulting from U.S. imperialism in Central America throughout the 20th century. I ground my research on pre-existing literature that explains the legal processes of obtaining permanent residency through a SIJS petition and include scholars’ criticisms of the interpretation of the policy by state and federal courts. To exemplify the complications that youth face while petitioning for SIJ status, I also incorporate the perceptions and experiences of several attorneys who have represented SIJS applicants and my own interpretations of how judges treat SIJS applicants courtrooms throughout Los Angeles County.

Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / MPM

In the presented thesis the author analyses the possible influence of the membership of judges in political parties, churches, and religious societies, on independence and impartiality. On one side, there stands a political orientation and expression of political opinions, which is quite significantly repressed in the Czech Republic for all the judges. On top, the draft of the amendment of the Courts and Judges Act presently discussed in the Parliament includes a prohibition of membership of judges in political parties. On the other side, there stands a religious belief and a membership of a judge in a church and in a religious society that does not raise nearly any doubts about judges' independence and impartiality. That is why the author has decided to analyze both of the memberships together in the presented thesis and compare them to each other. The thesis itself is systematically written in eight parts which are divided into chapters and subchapters. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to the basic terms - independence and impartiality of judges. Then the author continues presenting rules of judicial ethics that aim to upheld independence and impartiality. Consequently, the author analyses the influence of political orientation and religious belief on judges' decision making. Generally...

Society and institutions of government reinforce norms that constrain the behavior of individuals. Heteropatriarchal norms traditionally favor the perspective of white, male, heterosexual, reason, judicial restraint, and democratic authority over their binary, and minority, counterparts: black, female, homosexual, desire, judicial activism, and individual rights. According to the theory of Queer New Institutionalism, these dichotomous pairs are mutually dependent upon each other for definition and maintenance. The perpetuation of these binarisms is made through language, often assumed and unquestioned. However, the use of sexualized language and metaphors are identified in efforts to draw suspicion and consternation for these minoritized Others. When the presence of an Other is missing, those that would reinforce these norms being to skirt the line between the pairings, taking the position of the individual they would otherwise criticize. By utilizing critical discourse analysis, Supreme Court nomination hearings during the 109th and 111th Congresses were reviewed for support for the theory of Queer New Institutionalism. Senators and witnesses before the committee operated within the constraints of binary thinking and instances of sexualized and gendered language, as well as metaphors, were used to perpetuate these norms and link the nominees to the suspicion surrounding Others.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This paper examines the history that influences the rate at which female justices are elected and appointed to state supreme courts. There are different variables like judicial campaign activity, limited pool, role expectations of women and advocacy that influence the selection process. I pick the states with the earliest history of selecting female justices (Ohio and New Mexico) and the states that selected female justices last (South Dakota and West Virginia) to address some of the variables mentioned above that have influenced the use of feminist jurisprudence on the bench. After selection, I examine if it is possible for said judges to use feminist theories (like liberal feminist theory) in decision-making processes on the bench. Specifically, can we, in fact use feminist theory to understand the decision making of female state Supreme Court justices? For the most part, I find that we can imply that they do and are additionally interested in creating policy and programs based on the decisions made. Does this change with political party affiliation, race and sexual orientation of the female judges? I determine that more research needs to be conducted in this area on the courts of last resort at both the federal and state level.

No description available.

This research study analyzes whether or not there is any relationship between sentencing and conviction and certain defendant characteristics in the US legal system. In the midst of a time where the nation is strongly divided politically, the topic is often the center of research projects and discussions in academic journals. Specifically, this research explores the 3 characteristics- race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Within this article, multiple case studies from other journals are cited in which research and experiments have suggested that these factors do have influence on both whether or not a defendant gets convicted or for how long the defendant is sentenced. With these cases in mind, we try to test the theory for ourselves in a survey experiment amongst college students. The survey tests cases with instances of academic dishonesty in university with the defendant characteristics being manipulated for race, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, the results were inconclusive of any sort of link between those characteristics and the "sentencing" in the study.

The thesis examines the archaeological and epigraphic data from Canaan during the Late Bronze Age in order to evaluate the historicity of the Israelite Conquest accounts in the books of Joshua and Judges. The specific sites examined in detail include Jericho, Ai, Hazor, Shechem, and Dan. Additionally, the chronology and setting for the period of the alleged Israelite Conquest is explained through both textual and archaeological sources, and several ancient documentary sources are examined which demonstrate the presence of Israel in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. The thesis concludes that a vast amount of archaeological evidence indicates that the sites of Jericho, Hazor, Shechem, and Dan were occupied, destroyed, and resettled at the specific times and in the manner consistent with the records from the books of Joshua and Judges, and that ancient documents indicate that the Israelites had appeared in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

Text in Afrikaans / Die verhandeling behels 'n holistiese benadering tot die geskiedenis van die Israelitiese stamme/clans gedurende die 'tyd van die Rigters' (soos in die Ou Testament gereflekteer). Na my mening het 'n holistiese benadering die potensiaal om 'n meer komprehensiewe beeld van die 'Rigtertyd' te verkry. 'n Vierledige ondersoek na die situasie van die Israelitiese stamme/clans word daarom aan die hand van die politieke konteks, die sosio-kulturele en ekonomiese situasie, die godsdienstig-ideologiese aspek en die literere dimensie gedoen. In die laaste hoofstuk is daar gepoog om die verskillende dimensies op mekaar te betrek. Opsommend kan gese word dat byna alle aktiwiteite gedurende hierdie periode ongestruktureerd en sonder orde was, dit wil se daar was anargie in die Beloofde Land. · Elkeen het gedoen wat reg was in sy eie oe' (Rgt 21 :25). / This dissertation deals with a holistic approach towards the history of the Israelite tribes/clans throughout the 'period of the Judges' (as referred to in the Old Testament). In my opinion, a holistic approach has the potential to offer a more comprehensive analysis of the 'period of the Judges'. A fourfold investigation into the situation of the Israelite tribes/clans is carried out involving the political context, the socio-cultural and economic situation, the religious-ideological aspect and the literary dimension. In the last chapter an attempt is made to integrate the different dimensions. To conclude, it can be said that nearly all phenomena in the tribal period was characterized by a lack of structure or order, in other words, there was anarchy in the Promised Land. 'Everyone did what was right in his own eyes' (Jdg 21 :25). / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Bybelkunde)

The thesis examines the archaeological and epigraphic data from Canaan during the Late Bronze Age in order to evaluate the historicity of the Israelite Conquest accounts in the books of Joshua and Judges. The specific sites examined in detail include Jericho, Ai, Hazor, Shechem, and Dan. Additionally, the chronology and setting for the period of the alleged Israelite Conquest is explained through both textual and archaeological sources, and several ancient documentary sources are examined which demonstrate the presence of Israel in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. The thesis concludes that a vast amount of archaeological evidence indicates that the sites of Jericho, Hazor, Shechem, and Dan were occupied, destroyed, and resettled at the specific times and in the manner consistent with the records from the books of Joshua and Judges, and that ancient documents indicate that the Israelites had appeared in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)