Core Resources for a Cooperative Program in Diaconal Ministry

Abstract

This article provides an annotated listing of print and electronic resources to support a graduate Diaconal Ministries program based at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Suggested resources are categorized and related to all facets of the curriculum of the program that involve academic preparation in the areas of Lutheran theology, ministry and social service.     

Apolitical courts? Rape sentencing in Montana

This analysis examines dockets of the state courts of Montana for the years 1987-1989 in rape cases to determine whether sentencing decisions are significantly related to three political variables: the percentage of women in county executive office as a measure of a relevant judicial constituency, the extent to which the county in which a court is located is Democratic, and whether the judge who enters a decision was appointed or elected. The analysis suggests that two legally relevant facts—the crime rate and multiple charges against a defendant—are significantly related to outcome. Political factors do not appear to influence state court sentencing decisions in rape cases since: (1) sentencing decisions in rape cases are not ‘major’, publicized issues; (2) the selection of state court judges (appointed and elected) is nonpartisan; and (3) interest groups were not involved in rape sentencing cases.     

Reaction of mock jurors to testimony of a court appointed expert

A study was conducted to assess the impact of court appointed experts on the judgments of mock jurors. A civil proceeding was adopted for the experiment. Mock jurors heard testimony about a plaintiff's injury in an automobile accident. In some conditions, medical testimony for the plaintiff and defendant was provided by experts hired by each side. In other conditions, a medical expert appointed by the court testified in addition to the two adversarial experts. In one of these conditions, the court expert sided with the plaintiff; in another, the expert sided with the defendant. The plaintiff in the case was always an individual. The defendant was sometimes a corporation and sometimes an individual. The results showed that mock jurors sided with the court appointed expert in every condition except when the expert favored a corporate defendant. The results were discussed in terms of heuristic processing of persuasive information.     

The role of competency to stand trial in mental health courts

Concerns have been raised in the literature about the competency to stand trial and competency to make treatment decisions of defendants referred to mental health courts. However, there is little information reported about the evaluation and prevalence of incompetence, characteristics of incompetent mental health court defendants, and disposition of mentally ill defendants too disturbed to be diverted from the criminal justice system through mental health courts. This study reports on the 85 potential mental health court defendants referred for trial competency evaluations during the first three years of operation of the Akron Ohio Mental Health Court. Of the 80 defendants who could be located for evaluation, 77.5% were found incompetent, and 53% of the incompetent defendants were not restored to competence even after an average of 49 days of treatment in a state psychiatric hospital. The implications of these findings in terms of the diversion potential of mental health courts for the severely mentally ill are discussed.     

Crafting a policy statement: Some observations

In 2016, a task force appointed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America began drafting a policy statement which in 2018 appeared with the title “A Declaration of Inter‐Religious Commitment.” This article explains the production of that document and explores its main themes. The document appeals to vocation—that is, the calling to serve one's neighbor and community—as its framework. It encourages engagement, resisting stereotypes, cooperation for the common good, and standing up for those who are harassed or mistreated. It goes on to explore the relationship between evangelism and inter‐religious understanding, affirming both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.     

Betreuungsrecht

Patient care comprises all measures for legally settling the affairs of persons unable to do so due to illness or physical handicap. Honourary or professional custodians appointed by the guardianship court [Vormundschaftsgericht; in the future: Betreuungsgericht, care court] perform the duties for their charges as determined by the court.  The care legislation passed in 1992 was revised several times, both structurally and fundamentally. With the latest changes, which were made on 18.06.2009 and will come into force on 01.09.2009, basics of the living will were incorporated into the law. Serious decisions as to whether medical assistance shall be given or withheld can thenceforth be made by the guardianship court.     

The Decline of Academic Theology at Göttingen

Until recently, the transfer of an academic theologian to another faculty as a result of objections by ecclesiastical officials was limited to Catholic professors. Now for the first time in the annals of the German university a Protestant professor faces such an action by a church body. Professor Gerd Lüdemann, who since 1983 has taught New Testament Studies in the University of Göttingen, has become the target of criticism by the Confederation of Lutheran Churches in Lower Saxony. As a result of a decision by the President of his University, theology students can no longer receive credit for attending his courses, nor can he serve as director or advisor of graduate studies. Professor Lüdemann tells the story of his censure and describes the present situation which is now before a court of law.     

Factors affecting jail detention of defendants adjudicated incompetent to proceed

The movement of defendants through the legal process who have been adjudicated incompetent to proceed is little studied, yet it is important. The purpose of this study was to provide empirical data regarding factors that affected the amount of time defendants adjudicated incompetent to proceed and ordered to undergo hospitalization remained in jail while awaiting transfer to a state hospital. Statewide data collected in Florida between July 2005 and June 2008 were used to determine the lengths of time incompetent defendants spent at certain stages in the legal process. The addition of forensic bed capacity following media attention and litigation resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of time defendants adjudicated incompetent to proceed waited in jail for transfer to a state hospital for treatment. The amount of time it took for completed commitment orders to be submitted to the state mental health authority by the Clerks of Court of each county accounted for a meaningful portion of days defendants spent in jail awaiting transfer to a state hospital, with considerable variation across counties with respect to waiting times. These findings reflect how various stakeholders can affect the amount of time defendants spend in jail while awaiting hospitalization. These issues are discussed in the context of controversy related to Florida's forensic mental health system, as well as issues related to the political process and funding of the state's mental health authority.     

Diagnostic Differences and Demographic Predictors of Respondents Adjudicated Civilly Incompetent Versus Competent

The purpose of this study was to determine if diagnostic and demographic variables predict civil competency adjudications, a topic that has received scant research attention. Respondents (i.e., individuals alleged to be incompetent) were evaluated by a licensed psychologist to assist the court in civil competency and possible guardianship determination. Prior research using some of the same participants demonstrated select differences on activities of daily living between these groups (Quickel & Demakis, 2013 ), but the current set of analyses was not conducted. The current study included 107 competency evaluations in Mecklenburg County North Carolina and, at conclusion of the case, the public record of the adjudication was obtained. Based on prior legal theorizing in related criminal areas—focused on discrimination of individuals with mental illness—we predicted that cases involving respondents with psychiatric diagnoses would be likely to be overrepresented in those referred for evaluation as well as those subsequently adjudicated incompetent. A series of analyses indicated no statistical differences between competency groups (psychiatric/substance abuse, neurological, both psychiatric and neurological, and intellectually disabled). In a series of exploratory logistic regression analyses, we found that respondents who were single versus in a relationship and those not living at home versus living at home were significantly more likely to be adjudicated incompetent, even after controlling for difference in activities of daily living. There were no differences in incompetency adjudication by age, education, gender, race, or relationship status. Results are discussed in terms of implications for individuals with mental illness in incompetency hearings, as well as specific issues for psychologists evaluating a broad range of respondents. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Roadmaps to Grace: Five Types of Lutheran Confessional Subscription

Abstract: Though all pastors in North American Lutheran churches are expected to “subscribe” to the Lutheran Confessions, there are many different understandings as to what this means, each of which is tied to a particular understanding of the Lutheran Confessions themselves. Through the use of a methodological tool, the “Confessional Spectrum,” five approaches are presented. The author maintains that one of these approaches, “Roadmaps to Grace,” is the most helpful method for Lutheran Confessional theology in the 21^st Century.     

The aftermath of Ford v. Wainwright

Whatever happened to Alvin Ford? This paper describes the aftermath of the Supreme Court's 1986 ruling in Ford v. Wainwright. The Ford decision held that exempting the mentally incompetent from execution is a matter of constitutional right, and hence the determination of who is competent for execution cannot be left solely in the hands of the executive branch of the government. We describe the hearing in Ford's case in federal district court that occurred after the Supreme Court's decision, the judge's ruling, and Ford's subsequent (and final) appeal. We conclude that despite the decision in Ford, it remains all but impossible for defense attorneys to prove that psychotic death row clients are incompetent for execution.     

The Bible among Lutherans in America: The ELCA as a Test Case

Abstract: This article describes the biblical hermeneutics that inform the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by comparing the ELCA's tradition of biblical interpretation with that of the Lutheran Church‐Missouri Synod. It sets both against the great social and intellectual challenges of the early twentieth century, including the modernist/fundamentalist controversy. One commonality that surfaces is that both church bodies appropriated pre‐modern hermeneutical impulses for “counter modern” biblical apologetics. In this process the LC‐MS privileged the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy (17^th century) while the ELCA constructed its hermeneutical paradigm through a recovery of the early Reformation (Luther). This observation suggests that both interpretive trajectories need further historical as well as theological review and revision.     

Can Bioethics be Lutheran?

Abstract :  A Lutheran bioethics must rest on a reconstructed version of Martin Luther's ethics. In the article it is shown that this ethics is Christian in that it has faith in Jesus Christ as its source. But the ethics of neighbor love is practiced in the secular world where it to some extent corresponds with natural law ethics. A Christian believer acts ethically both as an individual and as a citizen. Against the background of this understanding of Lutheran ethics, the position of Ted Peters and Gilbert Meilaender on genetics and stem cells is presented and criticized. One conclusion is that there is no Lutheran doctrine on the status of the human embryo.     

After justification: Toward a Dalit public Lutheran theology

The aim of this article is to construct a “Dalit public Lutheran theology” as an “after‐justification” conversation, which drafts an agenda for the future of Lutheran theology in the twenty‐first century. In moving toward that construction, I first briefly explain Dalit theology, public theology, and Lutheran theology and shall discuss the rationale for a Dalit public Lutheran theology. From there I propose that Lutheran theology needs to take a contextual, post‐colonial and subaltern turn. Then I discuss the contours of Dalit public Lutheran theology by discussing one of the pivotal doctrine of Luther, “justification by grace through faith,” by engaging in a Dalit public discourse and propose “hospitality by love” as what comes after justification. Finally, I bring out the relevance of such a theology for our present‐day context. The method I employ in this article is subaltern methodology, which is to “read from below” or “read against the grain.” “After justification” is understood as “beyond” the understanding of doctrine of justification, as a forward‐looking public theological understanding of justification, where it finds fecundity and validity.     

The Contemporary Constructive Task

Lutheran theology is noted for its excellent contributions to historical theology. Contemporary times, however, require that Lutheran theologians become attuned to the urgent demands of the present and take up the discipline of constructive theology to address these demands. Taking the lead from contemporary feminist Lutheran theologians, constructive approaches utilizing Lutheran theological resources must articulate vigorous critique of a corrosive neo‐liberal culture by articulating divine judgment on human greed as well as witnessing to divine grace that always favors truthful living.     

Lutheranism in Russia: Amidst Protestantism,Orthodoxy and Catholicism

When religious confessions that were suppressed or seriously persecuted in Soviet times are regenerating themselves, the result is sometimes quite novel religious movements that have no prerevolutionary precursors. To some extent this applies to all confessions. Even postsoviet Orthodoxy is nothing like the prerevolutionary Russian Orthodox Church. The metamorphosis of Russian Lutheranism, however, goes a good way beyond the norm for novelty in Russian confessions. In Russia today Lutheranism is unexpectedly becoming quite different, doctrinally and psychologically, from what it ever has been anywhere before. It could well play its own unique role on the future Russian religious scene. Until the 1980s virtually the only Lutherans in Russia were communities of Germans, most of which had been deported from European Russia to the Urals and Siberia by Stalin. These were mostly old people with not much education, and their numbers were rapidly declining because of increasing emigration. All the signs were that there was no future for Lutheranism in Russia. Over the last 15 years, however, the situation has changed radically. Most Russian cities now have Lutheran parishes, and most of the parishioners are Russians. In some cities - for example Izhevsk, Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk - the Lutheran parishes are several hundred strong. In some of these cities the number of practising Lutherans is comparable to the number of practising Orthodox. There has been just as much of a radical change in the social makeup of the Lutheran parishes, with young people, students and people with higher education now playing a prominent role. They are a living refutation of Dostoyevsky's famous dictum that 'Russian means Orthodox': they see themselves as Russian patriots but at the same time faithful followers of Lutheran teachings. There is a widely held conviction among them that they are more faithful disciples of the Wittenberg reformer than today's Germans or Swedes. At the start of the twenty-first century Lutheranism has turned out to be the religious niche most suitable for many Russians who are seeking God but have failed to find him either in Orthodoxy or in more radical forms of Protestantism.     

The meaning and legacy of the Reformation in a global perspective

When reviewing the non‐European perspectives of Lutheran theology presented in the contributions of this issue of Dialog, it is easy to recognize a dominant, unifying theme and a common task in a confrontation with the new Pentecostal churches. It then makes sense to refer to the two central themes and tasks of Lutheran theology mentioned in this volume: the development of a Lutheran pneumatology in contrast to the Pentecostal/charismatic movements; and an interpretation of the Lutheran doctrine of justification that concentrates on how the pure grace and love of God can be witnessed in good works. As a future focal point of Lutheran theology, the contributions from non‐European Lutheran Christianity presented here show that the connection between the theology of the cross as a central element of the grammar of Lutheran Christianity and the dialectics of law and gospel for the interpretation of the salutary efficacy and experienceable nature of the Spirit requires further reflection.     

Luther Research and Ecumenism

Abstract : The article discusses the fundamental conceptual problems underlying the ecumenical vocabulary. These problems result from issues present available in academic studies that often aim at emphasizing the great divide between Luther and medieval theology, as well as providing a justification for the specific and distinctive characteristics of Lutheran theology. The author aims at overcoming the problematic confessionalism which results from these conceptual presuppositions.     

Suicide and the Standard of Care: Optimal vs. Acceptable

ABSTRACT: The accepted standard of care in the treatment of suicidal patients is discussed from the perspectives of the law, malpractice insurance claims, the mental health professions, and the ideal. A review of decisions of professional liability in suits for wrongful death provides guidelines for what the court considers to be adequate care. Out of court settlements further connote accepted standards of reasonable care. Although attention to potential malpractice issues is necessary and appropriate, what appear to result are an acceptance of minimal standards and the practice of defensive care. It is argued that by demanding more optimal standards the consequent quality of care not only serves the patient best but provides the best legal protection as well.     

Applying statistics to the gatekeeping of expert evidence: Introducing the Structured Statistical Judgement (SSJ)

Daubert required judges to base their decisions about the admissibility of expert witness testimony in large part on the reliability and validity of empirical observations. Because judges have a wide array of duties and may not be equipped to understand the complexities of statistical analysis, some jurists have recommended that court‐appointed experts assist judges in their gatekeeping function. To assist such experts in scrutinizing empirical papers, we propose a Structured Statistical Judgement (SSJ) that takes advantage of advances in the various statistical methods – such as effect sizes that adjust for error – which have allowed researchers to report increasingly more reliable and valid observations. We also include supplementary materials that court‐appointed experts can use both as a codebook to operationalize the SSJ and as a quick reference that will aid consultation with judges. An initial application of the SSJ examined all 93 empirical articles published in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law and Law and Human Behavior in 2015 and resulted in excellent interrater reliability (π = 0.83; π = 0.95; π = 0.97), at the same time it indicated that a majority of the articles fail to include the comprehensive and transparent statistical analysis that would be most useful to courts.