ARE FLAWS IN THE “SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME” THEORY PUTTING INNOCENT PEOPLE IN PRISON?
The NY Times Sunday Magazine has a provocative and troubling cover story that explores the a new controversy among medical experts about the condition known as “shaken baby syndrome.” Written for NYT Mag by Slate’s always excellent Emily Bazelon, the article shows how, in a rush to explain how and why some babies die from of sudden subdural brain bleeding and swelling while no accompanying external injury seems to be present, experts have relied on a theory—shaken baby syndrome— that, as it turns out, is backed by very little real science.
Yet the widespread acceptance of the SBS diagnosis has sent a bunch of caregivers to prison, many of whom—Bazelon suggests, may be innocent.
Read the story.
OHIO’S CATHOLIC BISHOPS JOIN GROWING CHORUS IN STATE SAYING NO TO EXECUTIONS
The Columbus Dispatch has the story on the anti-death penalty movement in that appears to be growing rapidly in Ohio, which is second only to Texas in number of executions, some of the voices coming from surprising quarters. Here’s a clip:
The call from church leaders comes on the heels of anti-death-penalty comments by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, a Republican who helped write the state’s original death-penalty law, and Terry Collins, a former state prisons director who witnessed 33 executions.
DID FLA FEDERAL JUDGE ROGER VINSON DISTORT THE CONSTITUTION WITH HIS HEALTHCARE DECISION?
In an LA Times op ed, Yale Law School Prof Akhil Reed Amar says he did—and makes a good case for it.
The Palm Beach Post has a different view.
AFTER SIX YEARS OF FOOT-DRAGGING A TEXAS JUVENILE PRISON OFFICIAL IS FINALLY ON TRIAL FOR HAVING SEX WTH LOCKED UP KIDS
Betsy Blaney of the AP has the story. Here’s a clip:
Six years have passed since a sex scandal involving jail administrators and teenage inmates were first investigated by Texas Rangers.
In that time, the case has prompted the resignations or firings of several top state officials responsible for jailing Texas’ juvenile criminals and sent a former West Texas jail administrator to prison.
Now, after years of court motions and alleged inaction by a local district attorney, state prosecutors have one target left in their case: John Paul Hernandez. The 45-year-old former principal at the Texas Youth Commission’s West Texas State School in Pyote is on trial this week on charges he sexually molested pupils in 2004 and 2005.
DAILY BRUIN OP ED PROTESTS CHARGES AGAINST 11 UC IRVINE STUDENTS FOR DISRUPTING SPEECH
Last Friday Orange County district attorney Tony Rackauckas charged 11 UC Irvine students with conspiracy to disrupt last year’s campus meeting and speech by Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S.
A list of groups and individuals have protested Rackauckas’ charging of the students as being over the top and representing a double standard. This op ed in the Daily Bruin by DB editorial writer, Avni Nijhawan, was posted Sunday night. among them.
Another Monday must read – or Thursday in this case – is Lawrence Wright’s profile of Paul Haggis and his revolt against the “Church” of Scientology in The New Yorker.