An Ounce of Prevention

The recent social upheaval in the wake of George Floyd’s death is reminiscent of the country’s turmoil in the late 1960s. In response to that social upheaval, President Lyndon Johnson charged what came to be known as the Kerner Commission with investigating the riots’ causes across 20 major American cities and recommending what could be done to prevent their reoccurrence. Among the most prominently mentioned causes of the riots was “inadequate recreation areas and facilities” in impoverished urban areas (National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968, p. 104). In its recommendations, however, the Kerner Commission largely ignored the importance of recreation areas and facilities. Our commentary discusses why that was the case then, and why that should not be the case now.

Fātiḥa Marriage in Morocco

This paper investigates the debates over, and the promulgation of, the new Moroccan laws on unregistered customary marriages and on establishing the paternity of offspring resulting from such marriages, and it analyzes how those laws have been implemented by the judiciary. The paper closely examines the relevant deliberations of the Moroccan Royal Advisory Commission, and analyzes 24 court cases involving the laws. I argue that, while monogamous registered marriage is depicted in the national legal system as the basis for establishing a modern Moroccan society, legislators regard fātiḥa marriage as a social reality that has its roots in customs and religious practices. The paper shows that judges abide by the conditions specified in law but differ in their interpretation of “force majeure” when it comes to a couple’s having not registered their marriage. The study also reveals how the laws create legal loopholes in terms of underage marriage and polygyny, which are strictly restricted in the code.

Route selection, migration speed, and mortality of silver eel passing through two small hydroelectric facilities

The European eel is a highly threatened species according the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The recruitment of this species has collapsed over the last fifty years primarily because of the destruction of free migration routes and overfishing. One of the most important factors linked to population decline is mortality during catadromous migration caused by hydroelectric facilities. The aim of the present study was to assess the mortality rate of silvers eel passing through two small hydroelectric facilities. Total mortality at the site was 5%, but it was 15% for fish passing through the two hydroelectric facilities. However, the cumulative mortality in the river basin studied, which has many hydroelectric facilities, indicated that silver eel escapement from the Słupia drainage basin was very low.

Perceptions of Racial Progress and Mistreatment Today

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders to examine why race relations in the United States were in such a state of confusion that it had resulted in civil disturbances. By 1968, the trajectory of race relations and racial disparities, with regard to the quality of life and standards of living, were such that the commission wrote, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one Black, one White, separate and unequal.” Since the start of the twenty-first century, economic recessions, natural disasters, and civil unrest have exposed the continuation of pervasive differences in the perceptions of racial progress between Blacks and Whites. This article aims to examine perceptions of racial progress and the continuation of unfair racial treatment within the context of the commission’s “two nations” thesis. The findings of this article suggest that Blacks remain considerably more pessimistic than Whites about the state of racial affairs in the US today. How do we explain this conundrum in light of the passage of the civil rights legislation of the 1960s? We begin with the premise that race is still a problem in today’s society, but it is a problem in ways that are very different from when the Kerner Commission report was released.

Komisja Kestenbauma i jej sukcesorzy: zadania statutowe i działalność

Studia nad federalizmem przybrały na kontynencie europejskim szybsze tempo wraz z rozwojem Unii Europejskiej, która zdaje się obecnie przechodzić kryzys w kontekście „Brexit-u” i głosów państw członkowskich o nierównym traktowaniu. Federalizm stał się również atrakcyjną teorią w związku z rozwojem innych organizacji międzynarodowych oraz ponadnarodowych. Analizowane jest jego znaczenie dla wyzwań współczesnej ekologii, wpływu na przezwyciężenie kryzysu finansowego na świecie. Podejmowana jest jednocześnie kwestia, jakie są skutki federalizmu dla rozwoju demokracji i ochrony praw człowieka. Celem artykułu jest identyfikacja działań utworzonej w 1953 r. Komisji Kestenbauma (the Commission on Intergovernmental Relations) oraz Amerykańskiej Komisji Doradczej ds. Stosunków Międzyrządowych (the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations), która powstała w 1959 r. Organa te odegrały znaczącą rolę w rozwoju amerykańskiego federalizmu. ACIR dzięki szerokiej reprezentacji był w stanie opracować długoterminowe rekomendacje i analizy odzwierciedlające różnorodność i uwzględniające podobieństwa poszczególnych stanów. Komisja nakreśliła swój własny program, biorąc pod uwagę doświadczenia swoich członków, kontakty w systemie federalnym, a także sugestie urzędników publicznych, grup obywateli i bieżące problemy w stosunkach międzyrządowych. ACIR w drugiej połowie XX w. odegrał wyjątkową rolę w monitorowaniu amerykańskiego systemu federalnego, a także w identyfikowaniu pojawiających się problemów oraz regularnym przekazywaniu informacji na poziomie federalnym i stanowym w celu rozważenia modyfikacji organizacji systemu federalnego, aby zwiększyć jego efektywność.

Religion, Morality, and Public Policy

This chapter explores how religious convictions have functioned in the debate about whether human reproductive cloning should be banned, regulated, or permitted—a debate that erupted in 1997 following the belated announcement of “Dolly’s” birth. This historical case study examines and assesses the arguments that arose at the time, particularly in the context of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) report Cloning Human Beings. The NBAC hearings included testimony on religious views on human reproductive cloning, and its report examined and assessed those views. The chapter also considers NBAC’s deliberations about federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research that further illuminates the place of religious convictions in public bioethics. It concludes that in public bioethics the process of reaching a decision—or, in NBAC’s case, a recommendation—should attend to the widest possible range of positions and rationales, but that the outcome in substance and in public justification needs to involve, as Robert Audi argues, a sufficient or adequate secular reason.

Accountability and media literacy mechanisms as a counteraction to disinformation in Europe

Today’s digital media environment and the widespread proliferation of propaganda-driven disinformation confront professional media entities with numerous new challenges, and place a heavier burden on journalists and standards of journalism. This article reviews the pursuit for truth as a basic principle that stays for professional journalism, and further examines the current good practices on self-regulation of disinformation in Europe, in particular the rulings of the Advisory Commission on Counteracting the Propaganda in Eastern Europe. It takes a look at the recent efforts by media associations and companies to self-regulate and to promote media literacy as an antidote to disinformation, as well as the relevant intergovernmental policies in Europe. The conclusions provide recommendations on fine-tuning existing mechanisms to counteract disinformation through media accountability and literacy.

Network television writers and the ‘race problems’ of 1968

This article examines the development of television scripts in the crime drama genre within the context of US commercial broadcasting in the network era. In 1968, public discourse around race relations, civil rights and violence reached a height following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert F. Kennedy, and the release of a government study on urban uprisings by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Ironside (1967‐75, NBC) and N.Y.P.D. (1967‐69, ABC) are two crime dramas that drew on recent events related to black militants and white supremacy in order to appeal to viewers with socially relevant entertainment during this time. The archival records of screenwriters Sy Salkowitz and Lonne Elder make it possible to trace the development of one episode from each series over the course of multiple drafts. This analysis of the script development process explores the relationship between public discourse, industrial context, commercial agendas and creative priorities. Ironside and N.Y.P.D. are both crime dramas, but an examination of both series yields points of divergence which help to illustrate the norms of the network system in terms of act structure, genre tropes, and the oversight of standards and practices.