Dead Man Waiting: Death Row Delays, the Eighth Amendment, and What Courts and Legislatures Can Do

Is there a point at which a person’s tenure on death row has lasted so long or has become so stressful that his sentence begins to violate the Constitution? This argument, dubbed the Lackey claim, has surfaced before in both the international and domestic arenas. Whereas over the last five years the Eighth Amendment has substantially chipped away at the constitutionally permissible parameters of capital punishment in the United States, the current legal landscape surrounding the death penalty may be poised for more upheaval. My article, entitled “Dead Man Waiting: Death Row Delays, the Eighth Amendment, and What Courts and Legislatures Can Do,” confronts the renewed relevance of the Lackey claim and explores how it might be applied in today’s legal climate. The first step is convincing courts to recognize the “cruel and unusual” implications of the “death row phenomenon,” explained in Part I by a closer examination of death row conditions, death penalty justifications, and foreign opinion surrounding the issue of delay. If the courts do decide to acknowledge the potential of such a claim, the next step is to then identify the sensitive line at which a constitutional confinement on death row becomes unconstitutionally lengthy. Part II discusses the many considerations which must factor into this sort of delicate balancing act, so that state legislatures and courts alike can guard against future Eighth Amendment violations in a system where efficiency may be at odds with civility

The Use of Material Culture and Recovering Black Maine

Malaga Island, Maine, was home to a small mixed-racial fishing community from the late 1860s to 1912. The community was forcibly evicted by the state of Maine in 1912 after more than a decade of negative attention in the local and regional press, which drew the ire of state officials. After their eviction, several residents were institutionalized at the Maine School for the Feeble Minded at Pineland, and the state attempted to erase any evidence of their community from the island. Archaeological excavations in the early 2000s led to a museum exhibit in 2012. The excavation and exhibit have helped solidify a large descendant community.L’île de Malaga, dans le Maine, abritait une petite communauté de pêcheurs issue de la mixité raciale entre la fin des années 1860 et 1912. Cette communauté fut expulsée de force par l’État du Maine en 1912 après plus d’une décennie de dénigrement par la presse locale et régionale, qui lui avait attiré les foudres des fonctionnaires de l’État. Après leur expulsion, plusieurs membres de cette communauté furent institutionnalisés à « l’école pour les simples d’esprit » de Pineland, dans le Maine, et l’État s’efforça de faire disparaître de l’île toutes les traces de leur communauté. Des fouilles archéologiques au début des années 2000 aboutirent à une exposition muséale en 2012. Les fouilles et l’exposition ont contribué à resserrer les liens d’une importante communauté de descendants

“A Sufficient Number : The Historic African American Community Of Peterborough in Warren, Maine

Warren, Maine is located in the midcoast region of southeastern Maine. The small town has a long history that is intrinsically linked to the maritime activities of the region, which began in the mid-seventeenth century. Sometime around 1782, Sarah Peters was brought to Warren as a slave on a ship owned by Captain James McIntyre. After slavery was outlawed in Massachusetts in 1783/1784, Sarah successfully sued for her freedom and married a man named Amos Peters. Together, they raised a large, mixed-racial family, and settled near South Pond, a good distance away from the main village. By the 1820s, they had their own school district, were part of the Baptist church, and had a good deal of land. Their population and wealth peaked in the 1850s and 1860s, with as many as eighty-two mixed-race people living in the village of Peterborough. This thesis focuses on how African American and mixed-racial communities were able to establish themselves in maritime northern New England in the years prior to the Civil War, particularly during the antebellum period. Peterborough is a case study toward understanding African American communities outside of the plantation setting, and their relationships between agriculture and the sea

Computational insights into the inhibition of β-haematin crystallization by antimalarial drugs

During the red blood cell phase of their life cycle, malaria parasites digest their host's haemoglobin, with concomitant release of potentially toxic iron(III) protoporphyrin IX (FePPIX). The parasites’ strategy for detoxification of FePPIX involves its crystallization to haemozoin, such that the build-up of free haem in solution is avoided. Antimalarial drugs of both historical importance and current clinical use are known to be capable of disrupting the growth of crystals of β-haematin, which is the synthetic equivalent of haemozoin. Hence, the disruption of haemozoin crystal growth is implicated as a possible mode of action of such drugs. However, the details of β-haematin crystal poisoning at the molecular level have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we have used a combination of density functional theory (DFT) and molecular modelling to examine the possible modes of action of ten different antimalarial drugs, including quinine-type aliphatic alcohols, amodiaquine-type phenols, and chloroquine-type aliphatic diamines. The DFT calculations indicate that each of the drugs can form at least one molecular complex with FePPIX. These complexes have 1 : 1 or 2 : 1 FePPIX : drug stoichiometries and all of them incorporate Fe–O bonds, formed either by direct coordination of a zwitterionic form of the drug, or by deprotonation of water. Most of the drugs can form more than one such complex. We have used the DFT model structures to explore the possible formation of a monolayer of each drug–haem complex on four of the β-haematin crystal faces. In all cases, the drug complexes can form a monolayer on the fast-growing {001} and {011} faces, but not on the slower growing {010} and {100} faces. Additional modelling of the chloroquine and quinidine complexes shows that individual molecules of these species can also obstruct the growth of new layers on other crystal faces. The implications of these observations for antimalarial drug development are discussed

Active music

We are a group of eleven young people with intellectual disability and three music therapists. We did action research at a university. We wanted to find out how a music group might be helpful for young people with intellectual disabilities. We wanted to tell our own story and use our own words because we have a lot to say. We wanted people to read our story and to use our ideas to help young people with intellectual disabilities to have good lives. We went to twenty sessions of music research, and five more sessions of research analysis. We also did a lot of research work in between sessions. We found out that music groups can be fun. They can also be hard work. They help us develop skills like listening and waiting. They are places where we can be independent. But music groups are also good places to practice working as a team. They can be safe places for people to express emotions. Music helps us to know people. It brings us together. Playing musical instruments can also help physical development. A good life for us would include having the chance to play music with others or to have music lessons. But it is not always easy for us to go to ordinary lessons or music groups. It might be important for young people with intellectual disability to have support from people who understand them at first. We want to be independent but we need help to develop our dreams in practical ways. We found that doing research is fun and interesting. We were all researchers but we had different things to do. The adults had to be the organisers, setting up the research. We knew from the start the research would be about what young people think about music. The adults had done their reading and had written the literature review. The young people decided on other questions, and gathered data in lots of different ways. They also did some of the analysis, and decided on the findings of each cycle. The findings of each cycle, with more of the young people’s words, are in the appendices. Later, the adults wrote the main findings, the discussion and conclusion. We all discussed the things we wrote along the way and at the end of the research. The adults have tried to help the young people understand what has been written. The research took a lot of time and it was hard work for everybody. To be a good researcher you need to learn research skills. It is important that young people with intellectual disabilities are not exhausted by research. They need to be able to enjoy the things they are doing. We all liked being involved in research even though it was hard work. We think that research is important and helpful. Young people should be involved in research that is about them. We learnt that young people with intellectual disabilities can go to university. Going to university was scary at first but we got used to it and we started to enjoy it. We need to do more research to make sure universities are ready to welcome students with intellectual disabilities. We can use our research to show universities that it can be a good idea to support people with intellectual disabilities to go to university. We can also use our research show people what we can do; what we like to do; and what we want to do in the future. Most of us would like to do more music and research in future

Inequality in the survival of patients with head and neck cancer in Scotland

Background: Socioeconomic inequalities impact on the survival of head and neck cancer patients, but there is limited understanding of the explanations of the inequality, particularly in long-term survival. Methods: Patients were recruited from the Scottish Audit of Head and Neck cancer from 1999 to 2001 and were linked to mortality data as at 30th September 2013. Socioeconomic status was determined using the area-based Carstairs 2001 index. Overall and disease-specific survival were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method with 95% confidence intervals (CI’s) at one-, five- and 12-years. Cox proportional hazard models with 95% CIs were used to determine the explanations for the inequality in survival by all-cause mortality and disease-specific mortality with 95% CIs. Net survival at one-, five- and 12-years was also computed with 95% CIs. Results: Most patients were from the most deprived group, and were more likely to smoke, drink, have cancer of a higher stage and have a lower WHO Performance Status. A clear gradient across Carstairs fifths for unadjusted overall and disease-specific survival was observed at one-, five- and 12-years for patients with HNC. Multiple patient, tumour and treatment factors play a part in the inequality observed, particularly by five- and 12-years when the inequality could be explained in fully adjusted models. However, the inequality at one-year survival remained. The inequality in 12-year net survival was very small, suggesting that the inequality in the long-term may be partly attributable to background mortality. Conclusion: Explanations for the inequality in the survival of patients with HNC are not straightforward, and this study concludes that many factors play a part including multiple patient, tumour and treatment factors

Determinants of long-term survival in a population-based cohort study of patients with head and neck cancer from Scotland

Background: We investigated long‐term survival from head and neck cancer (HNC) using different survival approaches. Methods: Patients were followed‐up from the Scottish Audit of Head and Neck Cancer. Overall survival and disease‐specific survival were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Net survival was calculated by the Pohar‐Perme method. Mutually adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the predictors of survival. Results: A total of 1820 patients were included in the analyses. Overall survival at 12 years was 26.3% (24.3%, 28.3%). Disease‐specific survival at 12 years was 56.9% (54.3%, 59.4%). Net survival at 12 years was 41.4% (37.6%, 45.1%). Conclusion: Determinants associated with long‐term survival included age, stage, treatment modality, WHO performance status, alcohol consumption, smoking behavior, and anatomical site. We recommend that net survival is used for long‐term outcomes for HNC patients—it disentangles other causes of death, which are overestimated in overall survival and underestimated in disease‐specific survival

Development and Synthesis of Utrophin Actin Binding Domain 1 (ABD1)

University Honors Capstone Project and Poster, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2016. Kate McMahon authored paper and poster; Ben Horn, Dr. Jacob Gauer, and Dr. Anne Hinderliter authored poster.Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked genetic disease containing point mutations in the muscle protein Dystrophin causing the protein to lose its function. Specifically, Dystrophin is critical for dissipating the mechanical stress placed on muscles during physical activity. Although Dystrophin is nonfunctional in DMD patients, its fetal homolog, Utrophin, is often present in higher amounts than common to adult cells. Because Utrophin and Dystrophin share 85% homology in their first actin binding domains (ABD1), the interrelatedness of structure and function validate Utrophin as a proposed therapeutic tool for combating DMD. To test this hypothesis, the thermodynamic character of Utrophin ABD1 and Dystrophin ABD1 will be compared. As Utrophin is not regularly studied, the gene for Utrophin ABD1 was designed, synthesized, and expressed in E.coli cells. Prokaryotic cells were utilized to express a eukaryotic protein because of rapid growth rate and the presence of an extra, self-replicating, circular DNA called a plasmid. A plasmid is evolutionarily advantageous because it can be passed quickly from prokaryotic cell to prokaryotic cell without the entire genome replicating, thus increasing variability. This unique attribute was utilized to express Utrophin ABD1 in E. coli cells. Although eukaryotic systems often have posttranslational modifications, this did not pose a threat for the prokaryotic cell amplification. The gene encoding the protein was designed using specific amino acid residues, not nucleotide sequences; the splicing of nucleotide sequences was irrelevant as posttranslational modification occurs before the amino acids are assembled into their primary structure. Specifically, Utrophin ABD1 was designed with BamHI and XhoI restriction enzymes flanking the 246 amino acid Utrophin ABD1 construct which was synthesized in a pUC57 E. coli plasmid. Using BamHI and XhoI, the amino acid sequence was restriction digested and subcloned into an expression vector containing components critical for nickel column chromatography like a histidine tag, TEV protease cut site, and maltose binding protein. The expression vector also contains a selective marker to find the correct ligated species such as the antibiotic Kanamycin. These plasmids were transformed into competent E. coli cells so the E. coli cells would replicate the inserted DNA the same way it replicates a plasmid. During the rapid growth, inclusion bodies, protein aggregates of overexpressed protein, are accounted for by the addition of the maltose binding protein which maintains solubility. The transformed cells were stored in a glycerol stock. Synthesis of this gene then allows growth and purification of the Utrophin ABD1 protein in a similar manner to those already classified for histidine tagged proteins. Purification is carried out at a pH of 8 so that the six histidines will be deprotonated and bind to the nickel column, thus washing out all other protein expect for the Utrophin bound to the column. Purification is important in that it insures pure protein by cleaving off the maltose binding protein using the tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease that recognizes a specific nucleotide sequence rarely found in the eukaryotic genome. Finally, thermodynamic analysis of this protein will give insight into the structure and function of Utrophin ABD1 and its potential capabilities as a therapeutic agent for patients with DMD

The SCUBA Bright Quasar Survey (SBQS): 850micron observations of the z>4 sample

We present initial results of a new, systematic search for massive star-formation in the host galaxies of the most luminous and probably most massive z>=4 radio-quiet quasars (M(B) 10^13Lsun). A total of 38 z>=4 radio-quiet quasars have been observed at the JCMT using SCUBA at 850microns: 8 were detected (>3sigma) with S(850microns)>~ 10mJy (submillimetre-loud). The new detections almost triple the number of optically selected, submillimetre-loud z>~4 radio-quiet quasars known to date. We include a detailed description of how our quasar sample is defined in terms of radio and optical properties. There is no strong evidence for trends in either detectability or 850microns flux with absolute magnitude, M(B). We find that the weighted mean flux of the undetected sources is 2.0 +/- 0.6mJy, consistent with an earlier estimate of \~3mJy based on more sensitive observations of a sample z>~4 radio-quiet quasars (McMahon et al., 1999). This corresponds to an inferred starformation rate of \~1000Msun/yr, similar to Arp220. The typical starformation timescale for the submillimetre-bright sources is ~1Gyr, 10 times longer than the typical accretion-driven e-folding timescale of ~5x10^7 years. Our 850micron detection of the z=4.4 quasar PSS J1048+4407 when analysed in conjunction with 1.2mm single-dish and interferometric observations suggests that this source is resolved on angular scales of 1-2" (6-12 kpc). In addition, we present a new optical spectrum of this source, identifying it as a broad absorption line (BAL) quasar. The new redshift is outside that covered in a recent CO line search by Guilloteau et al., (1999), highlighting the need for accurate redshifts for the obervation and interpretation of high-redshift line studies.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ