Searching for Effective and Constitutional Responses to Homegrown Terrorists

Thank you, Brad, and thank you to the Law Review for inviting me here today. Protecting national security while honoring civil liberties is the greatest challenge of our generation. As a prosecutor, I am charged with protecting national security, and I understand the importance of protecting the public from acts of terrorism. But prosecutors are also sworn to uphold the Constitution. In fact, at the U.S. Attorney\u27s Office, we are also charged with prosecuting violations of civil rights. So in every case, we understand how important it is to protect people\u27s constitutional rights, such as First Amendment rights to free speech, association, and religion, and Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. How then in a democratic society do we address these potentially conflicting challenges? Lawyers in my office are confronted with these issues every day in very stark terms, and so it is a very important issue. And it\u27s one that we as a society need to get right

Prosecutors and Voters Are Becoming Smart on Crime

How to explain the recent trend of electing reform-minded local prosecutors? It may be that voters are seeing through tough talk to embrace smarter strategies to reduce crime

Not a Suicide Pact: Urgent Strategic Recommendations for Reducing Domestic Terrorism in the United States

America’s Bill of Rights protects U.S. citizens’ rights to free speech, to bear arms, and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, among other things. But, as the Supreme Court has consistently held, no right is absolute. All rights must be balanced against other societal needs, including and especially public safety. As the threat of domestic terrorism metastasizes in the United States, Americans need to use the practical wisdom that Justice Robert L. Jackson advised in 1949 to ensure the survival of the republic. In recognition of this growing threat, the Biden administration issued the nation’s first National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism in 2021. The strategy recognizes a shift in recent years in the threat the United States faces — from foreign terrorism to domestic violent extremists. The strategy document focuses on four pillars for combating domestic terrorism: enhancing research, increasing resources for prevention, enabling investigation and prosecution, and addressing long-term contributors, such as economic disparities and racism. While the strategy provides a good structure for addressing domestic terrorism, the rapid growth of this problem requires a strategy that goes even further. Perhaps recognizing the limitations of the current polarized political environment, the strategy stops short of some of the more politically fraught but essential steps to countering domestic terrorism with the urgency it requires. But concerns about politicsshould not prevent the country from taking action. As Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in his remarks regarding the strategy, government intervention is “focused on violence, not on ideology.” This paper looks at the White House strategy and the constitutional challenges of combating domestic terrorism and proposes additional steps that are essential to addressing this growing problem. While domestic terrorism is not a new phenomenon for the United States, the threat has been escalated by a toxic cocktail of social media, mental health challenges, and an abundance of high-powered assault weapons. To address this problem in a meaningful way, the country needs to overcome the political obstacles that prevent it from employing the practical wisdom that Justice Jackson advised

CLINICAL AND THERAPEUTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF OBESITY IN MELANOMA

While the FDA approval of targeted and immune therapies in metastatic melanoma (MM) have dramatically improved outcomes in this disease, de novo and/or acquired resistance can limit the clinical benefit of these agents. The IGF-1/PI3K/AKT pathway has been implicated in resistance to both targeted and immune therapy. The IGF-1/PI3K/AKT pathway has also been shown to play a key role in the pathogenesis of obesity in other malignancies. To date, the impact of energy balance on clinical outcomes and therapeutic response in MM has not been studied. I hypothesized that energy balance would impact the molecular biology, behavior, and drug sensitivity of melanoma. The association of body mass index (BMI) with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was studied in independent cohorts of \u3e1900 MM patients treated with targeted therapy [dabrafenib and trametinib (D+T) and vemurafenib and cobimetinib], immunotherapy [ipilimumab and anti-PD-1/PDL-1], and chemotherapy. The functional significance of obesity was tested using a mouse model of diet-induced obesity (DIO) injected subcutaneously with murine melanoma cells. Tumors were followed for growth and assessed by proteomics and flow cytometry. The effect of DIO on therapeutic sensitivity was tested in tumor-bearing mice treated with a) D+T and b) anti-PD1. Obesity was associated with significantly improved PFS and OS in MM patients treated with both targeted therapy and immunotherapy but not chemotherapy. Improved outcomes were not attributable to differences in clinical prognostic factors or treatment-related adverse events. The association of BMI with improved outcomes was driven by markedly improved survival in obese compared to normal BMI males, whereas no significant associations were observed in females. In a subcutaneous model of mouse melanoma, DIO led to increased tumor growth, increased PI3K pathway activation, and decreased immune infiltrates. There were no differences in sensitivity to D+T or anti-PD1 between diets in this model. Obesity is associated with markedly improved outcomes in MM patients treated with targeted and immune therapies. In a subcutaneous model of murine melanoma, DIO increased tumor growth, recapitulating clinical associations in early stage melanoma. The biological basis for the paradoxical association of obesity with improved outcomes in MM should be explored further

Before the Cell Door Shuts: Justice Reform Efforts Should Focus on Steps besides Sentencing

Mark Osler writes that criminal justice reform efforts have been hampered by what he calls “the slows.” He explains that despite bipartisan support, which resulted in the First Step Act of 2018,2 criminal justice reform remains elusive. He then offers some insightful suggestions for how to increase the pace

Restructure and Reform: Products-Liability Law in North Carolina

This Article suggests that, although previous revisions to the North Carolina Products Liability Act brought progress, more revisions are needed, and these revisions will be best accomplished by incorporating additional measures into the act, especially those that have gained wide acceptance elsewhere. Part I of this Article provides a brief introduction to the early development of products liability law. Part I.A discusses tort-law influences in products liability, and Part I.B focuses on contributions from contract law. Parts II.A and II.B briefly describe MUPLA and the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability, respectively. Part III discusses the current state of products-liability law in North Carolina and suggests a number of proposed improvements to North Carolina’s products-liability act

Allostatic Load Markers as Predictors of Melanoma Outcomes

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp23/1046/thumbnail.jp

A combination of amino acids and caffeine enhances sprint running capacity in a hot, hypoxic environment

Heat and hypoxia exacerbate central nervous system (CNS) fatigue. We therefore investigated whether essential amino acid (EAA) and caffeine ingestion attenuates CNS fatigue in a simulated team sport–specific running protocol in a hot, hypoxic environment. Subelite male team sport athletes (n = 8) performed a repeat sprint running protocol on a nonmotorized treadmill in an extreme environment on 4 separate occasions. Participants ingested one of four supplements: a double placebo, 3 mg.kg⁻¹ body mass of caffeine + placebo, 2 × 7 g EAA (Musashi Create)+placebo, or caffeine + EAA before each exercise session using a randomized, double-blind crossover design. Electromyography (EMG) activity and quadriceps evoked responses to magnetic stimulation were assessed from the dominant leg at preexercise, halftime, and postexercise. Central activation ratio (CAR) was used to quantify completeness of quadriceps activation. Oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex was measured via near-infrared spectroscopy. Mean sprint work was higher (M = 174 J, 95% CI [23, 324], p < .05, d = 0.30; effect size, likely beneficial) in the caffeine + EAA condition versus EAAs alone. The decline in EMG activity was less (M = 13%, 95% CI [0, 26]; p < .01, d = 0.58, likely beneficial) in caffeine + EAA versus EAA alone. Similarly, the pre- to postexercise decrement in CAR was significantly less (M = −2.7%, 95% CI [0.4, 5.4]; p < .05, d = 0.50, likely beneficial) when caffeine + EAA were ingested compared with placebo. Cerebral oxygenation was lower (M = −5.6%, 95% CI [1.0, 10.1]; p < .01, d = 0.60, very likely beneficial) in the caffeine + EAA condition compared with LNAA alone. Coingestion of caffeine and EAA appears to maintain muscle activation and central drive, with a small improvement in running performance.13 page(s