A study examined what critiques, if any, encourage debaters to think about their debating in the most productive ways. It evaluated oral critiques and revealed decisions as components in influencing the debaters'"self-talk" or internal dialogues as the more important messages. The study used R. Petty and J. Cacioppo's (1986) elaboration…

A survey of the participants explored the competing interests involved at a national debate tournament, including: (1) how the desire to maximize competitive prowess trades off against socialization among students; (2) how increasing the number of elimination rounds for reasons of judge equalization adds another round to an already crowded…

Guidelines for citing sources in forensic competition are needed for use by students, as well as by coaches and judges. The first step toward developing standardized guidelines could be an adaptation of the Modern Language Association's American Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which provides clear-cut definitions of plagiarism,…

The Bill of Rights contains a set of simple statements about the rights which citizens may claim in disputes with the government. Those who suggest that the First Amendment has always represented a strong commitment to free speech ignore the historical lesson offered by the Sedition Act of 1798. The early American republic maintained careful…

All 199 circuit court judges in Wisconsin were surveyed to explore the relationship between judges and the news media, to determine how judges communicate with the public through the news media, and to examine the influence of individual, organizational, and institutional variables on judges' use of the news media as a link with the public.…

The history and conditions of the use of English and French in the exercise of justice in Quebec are outlined in the context of the problems, sociopolitical realities, and procedural impact of language usage. The history is chronicled in six segments: 1760-1764, a period of British military government and political standoff between British and…

The purpose of the three papers that make up this document is to explore and redefine the role of debate judges. The first paper, by Leslie Phillips, begins with the assertion that the debate judge is first and foremost an educator, notes that judging is one of the forces that shape and direct competitive forensics, and goes on to consider…

This document provides guidelines for judges in child support enforcement. The first chapter discusses the child support problem in detail, identifies its effects on society at large and the legal system in particular, and assesses the effectiveness of the federal Child Support Enforcement Program, including the Child Support Enforcement…

Noting that the ethics of forensics is a complicated and controversial subject, this paper outlines some of the issues that should be addressed in preparing codes of ethics. The following issues are discussed: (1) the nature of professional ethics; (2) the functions of an ethics code; (3) approaches to ethical systems in forensics; (4) standards…

Within the realm of forensic oral interpretation, concern over the use of profanity in presentations has aroused repressive criticism from some judges, who then express their offense by ranking the performance negatively. This judicial opposition is deleterious not only to the precepts of oral interpretation, but also--in a larger sense--to the…

Preventive law is needed to limit the role of the courts in public policy-making, for several reasons. The judiciary usually lacks expertise in a particular policy area, litigation is expensive and time-consuming, judicial solutions are usually too simple, and attorneys representing public agencies in the future will probably be of lower quality,…

Data were collected over a three-year period from 10 sections of an advanced public speaking course at a midwestern university in a study to determine (1) the extent to which debaters who are not ego-involved can accurately judge classroom debate speeches, and (2) the specific variables that affect this accuracy. All 10 sections were taught by the…

A study of the criminal justice system in New York City led to the publication in December 1982 of "A Guide to Our Criminal Justice System." A portion of the guide dealt with the steps involved in the arrest to disposition of a juvenile. On July 1, 1983, the New York State Legislature's Act to "Recodify the Family Court Act"…

The goals of this study of the relationship between judges and elderly offenders were: (1) to describe beliefs and attitudes held by judges about the elderly and elderly delinquents, (2) to catalogue sanctions judges use and recommend as ideal for elderly shoplifters and other elderly misdemeanants, and (3) to poll judges about their willingness…

Eighteen judges with backgrounds in assessment, decision making, and learning disabilities were asked to use an array of information to differentiate learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled students. Each judge was provided with forms containing information on 42 test or subtest scores of 50 school-identified LD students and 49 non-LD…