Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Abstract: This paper discusses the challenges that feminist researchers face when they use the positivist case study approach. The mainstream approach to case comparison requires feminist researchers to clearly define variables and work with a moderately sized “n.” I first describe why this perspective frustrates feminist researchers, for example, incorporating multiple cases could mean less expression of the complexity of gender. Despite challenges, in the second half of the paper, I argue that positivist principles and the comparative method can be beneficial to feminist researchers, specifically because they encourage sub-national and cross-national analyses – both of which are essential in a world that is both local and global in terms of politics and identities.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This essay has as its primary purpose the detailing of a procedure to calculate
the extent of descriptive and substantive representation offered by a given districting
plan, and to compare proposed plans with a baseline in order to assess retrogression.
We also apply our procedure to the Georgia Senate redistricting plan at issue
in Ashcroft and show that it would have, in fact, increased the substantive
representation of minority interests. We conclude with some thoughts about the
current state of race and representation in the United States, and the implications
of our findings for Section 5 renewal.

Publication Type: Informal Discussion Roundtable
Abstract: A recent study (Finer 2007) suggests that about 95% of Americans have had premarital heterosexual vaginal sex by age 44. Not only is this indication alarming but it also calls into question publicly funded programs aimed at promoting abstinence among teenagers. Furthermore, this finding underscores the need for continued research geared towards the explication of the phenomenon of premarital sex.

The proposed Roundtable joins and furthers the discourse on the nature of premarital sexuality. The discussion will be guided by data that derived from a convenience sample at a conservative religious university. 656 students from a total school population of close to 3000 responded to the survey.

While there is an indication that more than 50% of respondents have not had premarital sex, logistic regression outputs distinguished respondents’ premarital sexual behavior by academic performance, religious involvement, and parent/child relationship. Specifically, the odds of participants engaging in premarital sex are inversely related to their grade point averages, their frequency in personal prayer and church attendance, and the perception of their relationship with their parents.

The Roundtable will discuss the implications of these findings and suggest possible policy measures.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: Precatory language is often insufficient to create a legally binding trust. Men and women choose different language to express themselves. What is the connection between these two statements?

This article reviews the current status of the law of precatory language, concluding that whether a will including precatory words (such as wish, ask, or recommend) will be construed to create a trust is at best a hit or miss proposition. The article continues to explore the psychology literature on differences in language ability and expression between men and women. Finally, the article ties these two disciplines together, analyzing original empirical data collected from 324 subjects and concluding that women are indeed more likely to use precatory language than men. The article concludes by noting the impact our heightened understanding of gender and precatory language has for courts, legal scholars, and practicing attorneys.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A 1996 Human Rights Watch Report entitled “Human Rights Violations in Drug Enforcement in Georgia” revealed that at the end of the 20th century, racial disparities in the treatment of African American and white drug users were prevalent. Specifically, the reports states that “Georgia's drug laws by their terms are racially neutral, but application of these drugs laws has had a disproportional effect on blacks. Before the "war on drugs" was launched in the mid 1980s, more whites than blacks were arrested for drug offenses. By the end of the decade, blacks were arrested for drugs more than twice as often as whites. The disparity continues into the 1990s. Although blacks make up less than one-third of the population of Georgia, 64.2% of those arrested for drugs between 1990 and 1995 were black. In each of those years, comparing the rate of arrests per 100,000 adult males the black arrest rate was five times greater than the white arrest rate. Comparing the ratio of actual arrests to population reveals that whites were arrested for cocaine offenses (447.2 per 100,000 adults) at a rate of one-seventeenth the rate for blacks (7668.4 per 100,000 adults).”

At the turn of the 21st century, the color line still appears to be in existence as it relates to law enforcement. In spite of the progress of African Americans in Georgia in the political arena, from mayors and state legislatures, to congress, the prison system has continued to be a mechanism to control elements of the African American population. The War on Drugs has resulted in long-term prison sentences even for non-violent drug offenders. This paper will explore the evolution of drug sentencing laws in the state of Georgia and the subsequent enforcement of those laws with an attempt to provide an understanding of why the disparities in arrests, convictions and sentencing exists. The paper will rely on resources from the state legislature of Georgia, the Georgia Crime Information Center, the Georgia Department of Corrections, and the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and other pertinent research data and literature in this field.