Within the Bill of Rights is the sixth Amendment, which gives a person the right to a speedy trial by jury. It is considered one of the fundamental rights that citizens of this country are assured. Today there are many trials that are covered on television that people intensively follow. Because of this, it is somewhat surprising to learn that about ninety-percent of all criminal cases each year never even make it to trial, instead, those cases are plead down with the help of plea bargaining. Why would someone want to forgo one of the most basic rights of this country, and instead submit themselves to punishment without a fight? However, with steep legal fees and the amount of time a trial takes, a quick bargain with the prosecution may not seem too terrible to some people. But there are many who believe this process is diminishing the public’s trust in the legal system and the legitimacy of the courts in the United States. Some people believe that the judicial process in this country has become too bureaucratic - depersonalizing the judiciary and the court system. Throughout this presentation the process of plea bargaining, its pros and cons, and the arguments in favor of and against plea bargaining will be analyzed based upon research gathered from numerous law reviews, journals, and an in-depth interview with a former deputy district attorney.

In recent years increased fears of illegal migration, drug trafficking, and potential terrorists crossing the United States border have resulted in a dramatic rise in Border Patrol agent numbers from the 1990’s to the present. The purpose of this paper is to examine how increased Border Patrol agent staffing has affected crime rates along the northern border of the United States and Canada. To determine if there was a correlation between crime rates and agent numbers I gathered arrest data and agent staffing numbers from the Border Patrol. The information I gathered was from the Havre Sector in north central Montana. After the information was gathered I used a linear regression analysis to determine if there was a correlation between Border Patrol agent numbers and arrests between 1999-2011. The linear regression analysis suggests that there is a correlation between increased Border Patrol agent numbers and a decreasing number of apprehensions by the Border Patrol. This paper suggests that further investigations of the data and comparisons with other border sectors should be conducted to better understand deterrence theory and help determine possible policy changes that could be put into place.

Maintaining a household, food-producing garden has the potential to create an affordable, healthy, localized and sustainable food source for Missoulians. Recognizing this, 1,000 New Gardens is a University of Montana student group that provides free garden bed installation for Missoula community members. After installing 131 garden beds since 2009, 1,000 New Gardens’ organizers feel that the organization has reached the limits of its ability to serve the community within a student group format and has begun to explore incorporating as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. With the first step to starting a 501(c)(3) nonprofit being determining a need in the community, this research will explore the benefits and barriers of household gardening within two Missoula neighborhoods and if the current services of 1,000 New Gardens are needed to encourage and support new and continuing household gardeners within the Missoula community. It will also provide an overview of other gardening and sustainable food system organizations in Missoula and how they compare and contrast with the mission of 1,000 New Gardens. This information will be used to determine if there is sufficient community need to continue to pursue 501(c)(3) status and if 501(c)(3) status is the best approach to addressing organizational shortcomings. This research has the potential to greatly assist 1,000 New Gardens become a sustainable and highly useful organization within the Missoula community. It will also provide valuable information for governmental and independent organizations and businesses that serve gardeners in Missoula.

Business is rapidly and continually becoming more global, especially within the digital world. Tools such as social media are of particular interest to companies in attaining and retaining clients at a low cost. While companies are becoming familiar with the best practices to use in popular social media sites in the United States, there is a gap in common knowledge about the best international sites to leverage as a modern global company. This information is of increasing interest to market researchers, small businesses looking to expand their client base and even large international companies trying to increase brand loyalty. In this paper, I examine the most popular social media sites in the European Union, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and Asia. For each of those regions, I determine the ideal social media site that global business-to-business (B2B) companies should utilize in order to gain an online market in that region. Sites are chosen based primarily on number of users and type of content. I also recommend the most important procedures the company should put into practice and touch on how B2B professionals can measure the outcomes of their marketing efforts.

While many nations are recognizing environmental degradation as problematic, there are still several countries that do not have protective measures established and essentially, are not complying with the world’s efforts to reduce the causes of this problem in order to fight drastic changes. From climate change, water, land, and air pollution to extinction of fossil fuels and native species, environmental degradation is a serious threat to the worlds’ ecosystem and future generations. Many businesses are now going ‘green’ by implementing more practical ways to manufacture products; however, the current laws governing the world of business merely regulate and modify the many ways people are harming the environment with pollution. Using both scientific and legal information to study and map the use of law as a management tool, Legal Atlas is a new venture that aims to bring awareness to these issues. Legal Atlas’ focus is to help better manage resources and foster economic development, as well as improving environmental sustainability and reducing social conflict. Drawing on my volunteer experience with Legal Atlas’, this project focuses on New Zealand tourism businesses as an example of best practices in relation to environmental sustainability for the Legal Atlas database. Today New Zealand is a nation that has gone above and beyond the requirements of government authorities to establish eco-friendly and long lasting businesses, as well as make conservation of natural beauty a priority. In order to bring awareness of the innovative solutions this country has established, all best practices presented will be contributed to the Legal Atlas database for use globally.