The Necessity of the Good Person Prosecutor

In a 2001 essay, Professor Abbe Smith asked the question whether a good person—i.e., a person who is committed to social justice—can be a good prosecutor. Although she acknowledged some hope that the answer to her question could be “yes,” Professor Smith concluded that the answer then was “no”—in part because she saw individual prosecutors generally as having very little discretion to “temper the harsh reality of the criminal justice system.” In this Online Symposium revisiting Professor Smith’s question seventeen years later, my answer to her question is “yes”—a good person can be a good prosecutor

Homelessness and Public Health in Los Angeles

Los Angeles faces a housing crisis of unprecedented scale. After years of underinvestment, in 2016/2017 LA County voters approved Measures H and HHH, which provided an infusion of resources for homeless services, permanent housing, and integrated outreach through the LA County Homeless Initiative (HI). An estimated 58,936 individuals in LA County remain homeless as of January 2019, 75% of them unsheltered and living on streets, in tents, or encampments. Our best estimates suggest that the homeless population has grown since 2017.HI takes a Housing First approach to homelessness, with the largest amount of total funds allocated to housing solutions. However, rehousing is often subject to delays in construction and case management. These delays, combined with persistent market forces driving new homelessness, have left the county well short of its targets. While no forecasts were issued, the initial gap analysis for HI had assumed a 34% reduction in the total homeless count from 2016 to 2019. The count has in fact increased by 26% over that period, meaning 28,000 more homeless clients than anticipated on any night. Whereas cities with comparable homeless crises such as New York have focused on increasing the availability of emergency shelters and safe havens in addition to permanent housing, LA County’s relatively low investment in transitional options has resulted in persistent levels of unsheltered homelessness.Research has shown that homelessness has severe health consequences. Homeless individuals have a high risk of mortality, with a recent LA County Medical Examiner report finding an average age of death of 48 for women and 51 for men. Homeless individuals have much higher risks of mental illness, substance abuse, infectious disease, chronic illness, violence, and reproductive health risks than the general population. Much less is known about the health burdens associated with being unsheltered, but most evidence points to substantially greater health risks given the more intense exposures to violence, weather, pollution, poor sanitation, and behavioral risk. Research is just beginning to quantify the burdens of living on the streets.Our analysis of the LA County homelessness response drew on expert interviews, data analysis, and document review. Beyond the growing numerical gap between HI’s targets and actual trends, we identified five critical service gaps that require immediate attention: Taking a person-centered approach that recognizes both the diversity of client needs and the limitations of existing resources, yet honors the principle that everyone deserves housing; Improving access to emergency shelters by reducing legal and political barriers to construction and adopting “low barrier shelters” that facilitate entry; Delivering comprehensive street medicine and other services to unsheltered homeless populations using evidence-based models that support the path to housing and recovery Adopting more extensive outreach models that engage citizens, empower homeless clients and leverage mobile technology so that case workers can focus on clients most in need; Strengthening data collection and research methods to understand the consequences of unsheltered homelessness, pilot new service models, and evaluate rehousing efforts

The Necessity of the Good Person Prosecutor

In a 2001 essay, Professor Abbe Smith asked the question whether a good person—i.e., a person who is committed to social justice—can be a good prosecutor. Although she acknowledged some hope that the answer to her question could be “yes,” Professor Smith concluded that the answer then was “no”—in part because she saw individual prosecutors generally as having very little discretion to “temper the harsh reality of the criminal justice system.” In this Online Symposium revisiting Professor Smith’s question seventeen years later, my answer to her question is “yes”—a good person can be a good prosecutor

The Anomaly of Entrapment

Now in our second decade after 9/11, we are firmly in the prevention era of law enforcement. Faced with the unacceptable consequences of identifying threats too late, government agents are moving aggressively to identify potential terrorists before they strike. Undercover agents and confidential informants necessarily play a large role in such efforts. As a result of such operations, we have seen a number of cases brought to trial in the federal courts in which defendants have asserted the entrapment defense. To date, the defense has not succeeded. However, as a consequence of these cases, the United States Supreme Court may be required to reconsider the defense for the first time in over twenty years. Thus, now is a good time to re-examine the entrapment defense that the Supreme Court first recognized eighty years ago. This Article argues that the federal entrapment defense represents a doctrinal anomaly that straddles the line between criminal procedure and criminal substance. Understanding how and why the entrapment defense evolved as it did may engender greater sympathy for this much-maligned corner of the criminal law. It could also lead to reforms in the way the defense is administered that would better serve the interests that animate the defense—some sounding in the traditional concerns of substantive criminal law (culpability and dangerousness) and others in the traditional concerns of criminal procedure (deterring overzealous and unwarranted intrusions by government agents)

Comparing Individualized Instruction in the Form of a Differentiated Jigsaw to Cooperative Learning in the Mathematics Classroom

The purpose of this study is to compare the similarities and differences between cooperative learning and differentiation, focusing on whether one shows a higher level of student success than the other. This study is going to put forth many new ideas in the minds of educators. When planning to incorporate an activity into the curriculum, there are many factors consider. One thing to keep in mind is grouping of students within an assignment. Even in homogeneous groups it is important to remember that competition and competence within the group can result in a threatening learning environment (Buchs & Butera, 2009). It is also important to promote dialogue within the groups of students, ensuring that they are on-task and working in an environment advantageous to learning (Webb, 2009)

Jack Weinstein: Reimagining the Role of the District Court Judge

This essay, for a symposium issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter dedicated to the impact of Judge Jack Weinstein on the occasion of his retirement from the federal bench, highlights how Judge Weinstein has re-imagined the role of the district court judge. Through his judicial opinions, extrajudicial writings and speeches, and his innovative use of the court’s supervisory authority, Judge Weinstein has challenged, and in some cases altered, the status quo in the realm of criminal sentencing. In doing so, he has established a forceful example of how district court judges can use their position to advocate for and effect reform more broadly in the system they are called upon to administer – an example that some other judges already have embraced. In his scholarship, Judge Weinstein also has turned his critical lens inward and examined whether this work is consistent with the judicial role. He concludes that it is, but offers valuable guidance for other judges considering following in his footsteps for how to do so in a way that minimizes concerns about partiality. In the end, Judge Weinstein concludes that such work is not only permissible but required when judges perceive injustice. Few will be as creative, prolific, or persuasive as Judge Weinstein has been. But he leaves behind a fully articulated vision of an active district court judge and invites other judges to consider the kind of judge they want to be given the limits and possibilities that accompany their position. https://doi.org/10.1525/fsr.2021.33.3.16

Informant Witnesses and the Risk of Wrongful Convictions

Several studies in the last two decades have revealed that false criminal informant testimony is a leading factor in wrongful convictions, along with false confessions, eyewitness misidentification, and faulty forensic science. Although a great deal more remains to be done, many jurisdictions have implemented evidence-based reforms to these last three categories of evidence. Policy about criminal informants, however, seems to be stubbornly stagnant, and relevant social science is virtually nonexistent. This Article questions the relative lack of attention to informant testimony and suggests that the dangers posed by informant testimony are both greater and different than previously thought. Unlike much of the prior literature on the subject, this Article carefully distinguishes between jailhouse informants and other types of informant witnesses, especially accomplices. Although both categories of informants pose some of the same risks to the reliability of proceedings, accomplice witnesses pose additional risks-many enabled by rules of evidence, trial practices, and psychological phenomena-that have not yet been fully appreciated in the literature. After identifying these concerns, this Article concludes with recommendations for reform--and areas requiring further study-with the aim of developing a set of evidence-based best practices for the use of informant testimony

Therapie der Riesenzellarteriitis: Effekt auf Symptomatik und Entzündungsaktivität in der 18F-FDG-PET/CT-Bildgebung

Hintergrund und Ziele: Bislang existieren wenige Studien, die sich mit der Bildgebung im klinischen Verlauf und unter Therapie bei Patienten mit Riesenzellarteriitis (RZA) beschäftigen. Diese Arbeit soll eine komplette Kohorte von RZA-Patienten mit 18F-Fluor-Desoxyglukose-Positronenemissionstomographie in Verbindung mit einer Computertomographie (18F-FDG-PET/CT) charakterisieren und die Effektivität der unterschiedlichen Therapien betrachten. Methoden: Einbezogen wurden alle RZA-Patienten (N=54), die mindestens eine 18F-FDG-PET/CT in der Universitätsklinik Erlangen, Medizinische Klinik 3, Rheumatologie und Immunologie erhalten hatten. Erfasst wurden: klinische Symptome, aktuelle Medikation mit Dosierungen, 18F-FDG-PET/CT (radiologische Bewertung, PET Vascular Activity Score=PETVAS), Entzündungsparameter und Komorbiditäten. Die Patienten wurden retrospektiv einer von drei Therapiegruppen zugeordnet: Glukokortikoid-Monotherapie (GK), conventional synthetic Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (csDMARD) allein oder in Kombination mit GK, Tocilizumab (TOC) allein oder in Kombination mit GK/csDMARD. Um die Effektivität der einzelnen Therapien bezüglich Symptomfreiheit und Senkung des PETVAS zu untersuchen, wurden Regressionsmodelle berechnet. Ergebnisse und Beobachtungen: Insgesamt wurden 96 18F-FDG-PET/CT-Untersuchungen von 54 verschiedenen Patienten ausgewertet. Die durchschnittliche Zeit zwischen Erstdiagnose und Verlaufsaufnahmen lag bei 27,6 (Verlauf1), 54,1 (Verlauf2) bzw. 109,3 Monaten (Verlauf3). Die mittleren Werte für das C-reaktive Protein (CRP) zwischen den diagnostischen und den Verlaufsaufnahmen unterschieden sich deutlich (76,9 gegenüber 17,1 bzw. 9,1 und 11,3mg/l). Zum beobachteten Rückgang kann auch die Therapie mit TOC beigetragen haben, das die Synthese des CRP in der Regel vollständig supprimiert. Als häufigstes Symptom bei Diagnosestellung wurden Symptome im Kopfbereich beschrieben, im Gegensatz zum Verlauf. Für die jeweils letzte erfasste Untersuchung (mediane Erkrankungsdauer 33,6 Monate) waren Abgeschlagenheit (38,1%) und Beschwerden, die eine Polymyalgia rheumatica (28,6%) kennzeichnen, die häufigsten Symptome. Symptomfrei nach bzw. unter einer Behandlung waren 17% der Patienten der GK-, 31% der csDMARD- und 60% der TOC-Gruppe (Odds Ratio je Therapie im Vergleich zu keiner Therapie bei Diagnose: 2,63 für GK; 6,76 für csDMARD; 31,94 für TOC). Bei Betrachtung der Zahlenwerte der deskriptiven Analyse war der Anteil der als eindeutig aktiv bewerteten 18F-FDG-PET/CT-Untersuchungen bei den Verlaufsaufnahmen kleiner als zum Diagnosezeitpunkt (diagnostische PET: 81,8%; Verlauf1: 18,6%; Verlauf2: 5,9%; Verlauf3: 0%). Ebenso war der durchschnittliche PETVAS geringer (diagnostische PET: 16,3; Verlauf1: 9,3; Verlauf2: 8,4; Verlauf3: 6,6); der zahlenmäßig größte Rückgang im PETVAS war zwischen diagnostischer 18F-FDG-PET/CT und der ersten Verlaufsbildgebung. Eine Veränderung des PETVAS zwischen zwei Aufnahmen 3 ergab für Patienten, die GK erhielten, -2,83 (95%-Konfidenzintervall (KI): -8,63 bis 2,98), für csDMARD-Patienten -5,73 (95%-KI: -9,79 bis -1,68) und in der TOC-Gruppe -6,37 (95%-KI: -11,62 bis -1,13). Schlussfolgerung und Diskussion: Bei Betrachtung der deskriptiven Analyse sank die Entzündungsaktivität in der Bildgebung, gemessen am PETVAS, im Verlauf der Erkrankung erheblich; ebenso ging der Anteil an positiven 18F-FDG-PET/CT-Untersuchungen deutlich zurück. Eine schwere Augensymptomatik trat im Verlauf nicht mehr auf. In der untersuchten Gruppe zeigt TOC eine etwas stärkere Wirkung in Bezug auf Symptomfreiheit und Reduzierung des PETVAS. Die Ergebnisse sind statistisch nicht signifikant, sodass sich für keine Behandlung eine Überlegenheit ableiten lässt. TOC und csDMARD sind jedoch gerade bei älteren Patienten wichtig, um GK zu sparen und GK-bezogene Nebenwirkungen zu vermeiden

Why Criminal Defendants Cooperate: The Defense Attorney\u27s Perspective

Cooperation is at the heart of most complex federal criminal cases, with profound ramifications for who can be brought to justice and for the fate of those who decide to cooperate. But despite the significance of cooperation, scholars have yet to explore exactly how individuals confronted with the decision whether to pursue cooperation with prosecutors make that choice. This Article—the first empirical study of the defense experience of cooperation—begins to address that gap. The Article reports the results of a survey completed by 146 criminal defense attorneys in three federal districts: the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Our study provides an entirely new and enriching perspective on the cooperation decision, building on prior theories from the cooperation and plea-bargaining literature, and providing for a more nuanced understanding of cooperation and its motivations. In several closed- and open-ended responses, attorneys shared their opinions—at times remarkably consistent, at times strikingly and informatively different—about cooperation practices in their respective districts. The results of this study can be used to further explore the theoretical foundations of cooperation and plea bargaining and can be used to build experimental studies to test causal relationships that are otherwise nearly impossible to determine