Separating Crime from Punishment: The Constitutional Implications of United States v. Halper

Last Term, the Supreme Court in United States v. Halper, unanimously created a rule of law that will disrupt federal, state, and local governments\u27 ability to enforce a vast array of important regulatory schemes, including environmental protection, securities regulation, and tax collection. This likely disruption flows from the Court\u27s recognition that certain constitutional protections, previously thought only available to criminal defendants, are at times equally accessible to civil defendants from whom government is attempting to collect civil penalties for proscribed activity. While the Court\u27s decision in Halper focused only on the extension of the double jeopardy clause to civil penalty proceedings, its reasoning and holding are sufficiently broad to allow the application of other constitutional protections to government-initiated civil penalty cases. These additional constitutional protections could include the eighth amendment, the self-incrimination clause of the fifth amendment, and the trial guarantees of the sixth amendment. In essence, all of the positions taken by the Halper Court lead to the overarching principle of the case: Once a court determines that awarding a civil penalty in a particular case serves the aims of retribution and deterrence, then the civil penalty as applied to that case creates the kind of punishment which triggers certain constitutional protections traditionally afforded only criminal defendants. The simplicity of this principle hides the radical points of departure it signals. This Article will discuss and analyze these points of departure in order to establish the danger the Halper doctrine poses to the orderly process of government

Combined Forward-Backward Asymmetry Measurements in Top-Antitop Quark Production at the Tevatron

The CDF and D0 experiments at the Fermilab Tevatron have measured the asymmetry between yields of forward- and backward-produced top and antitop quarks based on their rapidity difference and the asymmetry between their decay leptons. These measurements use the full data sets collected in proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt s =1.96$ TeV. We report the results of combinations of the inclusive asymmetries and their differential dependencies on relevant kinematic quantities. The combined inclusive asymmetry is $A_{\mathrm{FB}}^{t\bar{t}} = 0.128 \pm 0.025$. The combined inclusive and differential asymmetries are consistent with recent standard model predictions

Efficacy of Roflumilast Foam, 0.3%, in Patients With Seborrheic Dermatitis: A Double-blind, Vehicle-Controlled Phase 2a Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE: Current topical treatment options for seborrheic dermatitis are limited by efficacy and/or safety. OBJECTIVE: To assess safety and efficacy of roflumilast foam, 0.3%, in adult patients with seborrheic dermatitis affecting the scalp, face, and/or trunk. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This multicenter (24 sites in the US and Canada) phase 2a, parallel group, double-blind, vehicle-controlled clinical trial was conducted between November 12, 2019, and August 21, 2020. Participants were adult (aged ≥18 years) patients with a clinical diagnosis of seborrheic dermatitis for a 3-month or longer duration and Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) score of 3 or greater (at least moderate), affecting 20% or less body surface area, including scalp, face, trunk, and/or intertriginous areas. Data analysis was performed from September to October 2020. INTERVENTIONS: Once-daily roflumilast foam, 0.3% (n = 154), or vehicle foam (n = 72) for 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The main outcome was IGA success, defined as achievement of IGA score of clear or almost clear plus 2-grade improvement from baseline, at week 8. Secondary outcomes included IGA success at weeks 2 and 4; achievement of erythema score of 0 or 1 plus 2-grade improvement from baseline at weeks 2, 4, and 8; achievement of scaling score of 0 or 1 plus 2-grade improvement from baseline at weeks 2, 4, and 8; change in Worst Itch Numeric Rating Scale (WI-NRS) score from baseline; and WI-NRS success, defined as achievement of 4-point or greater WI-NRS score improvement in patients with baseline WI-NRS score of 4 or greater. Safety and tolerability were also assessed. RESULTS: A total of 226 patients (mean [SD] age, 44.9 [16.8] years; 116 men, 110 women) were randomized to roflumilast foam (n = 154) or vehicle foam (n = 72). At week 8, 104 (73.8%) roflumilast-treated patients achieved IGA success compared with 27 (40.9%) in the vehicle group (P \u3c .001). Roflumilast-treated patients had statistically significantly higher rates of IGA success vs vehicle at week 2, the first time point assessed. Mean (SD) reductions (improvements) on the WI-NRS at week 8 were 59.3% (52.5%) vs 36.6% (42.2%) in the roflumilast and vehicle groups, respectively (P \u3c .001). Roflumilast was well tolerated, with the rate of adverse events similar to that of the vehicle foam. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results from this phase 2a randomized clinical trial of once-daily roflumilast foam, 0.3%, demonstrated favorable efficacy, safety, and local tolerability in the treatment of erythema, scaling, and itch caused by seborrheic dermatitis, supporting further investigation as a nonsteroidal topical treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04091646