刚看到枪枪贴的这个《 电影12 Angry Men中没有女陪审员 》，仔细读完感到有趣。女性的陪审团义务是通过 Taylor v. Louisiana 这个1975年的案子由最高法院裁决的。这是一个什么案子呢？ 案子里上诉人 比利-泰勒 （Billy J. Taylor，男性）被控绑架，审他时陪审团全是男性，没有女的。他被判刑后上诉，说没有女陪审团员侵犯了他在刑事案中有无偏颇陪审团的宪法基本权利。美国 宪法第六修正案 说：“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State..." 泰勒称女性占人口50%以上，但路易斯安那州的法律虽然并不排除女性，但是实际运作结果是使他的陪审团一个女的没有，因此陪审团不具有代表性，他的审判因此不公平，侵犯了他的基本权利。这个论证被美国最高法院欣然接受。认为确实是，公平的陪审团应该是反映社区构成的一个横截面，系统性地排除女性就改变了这个代表性。 在之前有个1961年的案子，Hoyt v. Florida, 368 US 57 （1961），上诉人衮多琳-霍伊特 （ Gwendolyn Hoyt，女性）被控用棒球棒杀死亲夫，她的陪审团也是全是男性。被定罪后，她不服上诉。给出的理由是，她是女的，而当地法律虽然表面不排斥女性陪审团，但允许女性选择不当陪审团员，结果她的陪审团里一位女性没有。其论据似乎是性别歧视。 但是在美国司法审核的 Equal Protection 分析中，不同类型的歧视的审核标准不同。涉及种族歧视的法案属于可疑分类 （suspect classification) ，需要进行严格审核（strict scrutiny)：政府必须证明法案是necessaryfor achieving a compelling state interest (是一个强烈政府利益必须的），也就是说除了歧视别无选择，才能通过。但 性别歧视不像种族或者肤色歧视，不属于所谓”可疑分类“ 。 性别歧视只需要”中级审核“。在中级审核下，政府之需要证明其歧视政策 substantially related to an important government interest （与重要的政府利益有相当关联）。这样一 compute ，该州允许女性不参加陪审团的法律就没有违宪。我没有仔细看法院的分析，但由于女性在家庭中的重要性，允许其不参加陪审团可以算重要了。 由此可见，同一件事情，有时候换个说法，结果很不相同。 不过光看 Taylor v. Louisiana 案是依据第六修正案，只是针对刑事案而言，不适用于民事案。更何况，民事案有陪审团的权利是第7修正案， 第7没有通过第14修正案被”选择并入” (selectively incorporated)到州 ， 只对联邦政府有效。
最新一项研究发现，养猫的女性更容易患精神疾病、且会有自杀倾向。原因是猫砂中有一种寄生虫极易被人体感染，然后潜藏于人脑和肌肉细胞内，而这种寄生虫感染多与精神疾病有关。研究人员称，这种寄生虫叫弓形虫，接触猫的粪便、食入未烹制熟肉以及未清洗的蔬菜时都有可能感染该寄生虫。在这项针对超过4.5万名女性的研究中，研究人员发现，感染弓形虫的女性自杀的几率是未感染女性的1.5倍，而且随着体内弓形虫抗体的增加，自杀几率也随之上升。 Women who own cats are more likelyto have mental health problems and commit suicide because they canbe infected by a common parasite that can be caught from catlitter, a study has found。 Researchers found women infectedwith the Toxoplasmagondii (T. gondii) parasite, which is spreadthrough contact with cat faeces or eating undercooked meat orunwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attemptingsuicide。 The study involved more than 45,000women in Denmark. About a third of the world’s population isinfected with the parasite, which hides in cells in the brain andmuscles, often without producing symptoms。 The infection, which is calledtoxoplasmosis, has been linked to mental illness, such asschizophrenia, and changes in behavior。 The study’s senior author DoctorTeodor Postolache, an associate professor of psychiatry at theUniversity of Maryland School of Medicine in the United States,said: “We can’t say with certainty that T. gondii caused the womento try to kill themselves, but we did find a predictive associationbetween the infection and suicide attempts later in life thatwarrants additional studies。 “We plan to continue our researchinto this possible connection。” Doctor Albert Reece, vice presidentof medical affairs at the University of Maryland, said: “T. gondiiinfection is a major public health problem around the world, andmany people don’t realize they’re infected。 “Dr Postolache is a leading experton suicide neuroimmunology. Suicide is a critically importantmental health issue. About one million people commit suicide andanother 10 million attempt suicide worldwide each year. We hopethat this type of research will one day help us find ways to savemany lives that now end prematurely in suicide。” The study is the largest ever of T.gondii and attempted suicide and the first prospective study todocument suicide attempts that occurred after the infection wasdiscovered。 Dr. Postolache’s research team atthe University of Maryland was the first to report a connectionbetween T. gondii and suicidal behavior in 2009. He iscollaborating with researchers in Denmark, Germany and Sweden toconfirm and investigate the mechanism leading to thisassociation。 The T. gondii parasite thrives inthe intestines of cats, and it is spread through oocysts passed intheir faeces. All warm-blooded animals can become infected throughingestion of these oocysts. The organism spreads to their brain andmuscles, hiding from the immune system within “cysts” insidecells。 Humans can become infected bychanging their infected cats’ litter boxes, eating unwashedvegetables, drinking water from a contaminated source, or morecommonly, by eating undercooked or raw meat that is infested withcysts。 Not washing kitchen knives afterpreparing raw meat before handling another food item also can leadto infection. Pregnant women can pass the parasite directly totheir unborn babies and are advised not to change cat litter boxesto avoid possible infection。 Babies don’t produce antibodies toT. gondii for three months after they are born, so the antibodiespresent in their blood represented infection in the mothers. Thescientists scoured Danish health registries to determine if any ofthese women later attempted suicide, including cases of violentsuicide attempts which may have involved guns, sharp instrumentsand jumping from high places。 The study found that women infectedwith T. gondii were one and a half times more likely to attemptsuicide compared to those who were not infected, and the riskseemed to rise with increasing levels of the T. gondiiantibodies。 Dr Postolache noted limitations tothe study, such as the inability to determine the cause of thesuicidal behavior。 He added: “T. gondii infection islikely not a random event and it is conceivable that the resultscould be alternatively explained by people with psychiatricdisturbances having a higher risk of becoming T. gondii infectedprior to contact with the health system。” The findings were published onlinein the Archives of General Psychiatry。
标签: 女性
