Interpretation and construction

The felony-murder rule declares that if a death occurs during the commission of a felony, all persons involved in the felony will be held culpable for the death. The rule makes every person equally culpable for the death, regardless of his or her mental state and degree of involvement during the crime. Drawing on theories of punishment and scholarship on culpability, I argue that the felony-murder rule needs to be modified. Each person involved in the crime should not be held accountable for the actions of another, but should only be held responsible and culpable for their own intended actions.

The education of profoundly intellectually disabled individuals requires identifying motivators to help them learn basic tasks and skills. When these individuals also suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorder, one promising method of therapy, multisensory therapy, has been shown to relax patients, facilitating the educational process. Relaxation drastically minimizes maladaptive behaviors such as repetitive movement (stereotypy) and self-injury, allowing the participant to learn efficiently. In this study, a multi-axis measure was developed to determine behavioral differences between an experimental group that underwent the therapy and a control group that performed a functional task in their classroom. Stereotypic behaviors were significantly reduced and gaze focus was enhanced within the therapy. The significance of these effects carried over when participants were returned to their classroom.