\u3ci\u3eEnallagma Anna,\u3c/i\u3e A Damselfly New to the Great Lakes Region (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

Enallagma anna, a predominantly western North America damselfly, is now recorded from southwestern Michigan and southwestern Ontario for the first time

Putting the Guesswork Back Into Capital Sentencing

In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court deemed it “incon-testable” that a death sentence is cruel and unusual if inflicted “by reason of [the defendant’s] race, religion, wealth, social position, or class, or if it is imposed under a procedure that gives room for the play of such prejudices.” Arbitrary and discriminatory patterns in capital sentencing moved the Court to strike down death penalty statutes that required judges or juries to cast thumbs-up or thumbs-down verdicts against offenders found guilty of capi-tal crimes. The issue of innocence was barely a footnote in Furman; the Court’s concerns focused on race, class, and fairness in the imposition of the ultimate punishment. Four years later, Gregg v. Georgia cautiously put the executioner back in business, conditioned upon a system of guided discretion designed to mini-mize the death penalty’s arbitrary and discriminatory inclinations. On the same day it decided Gregg, the Court in Woodson v. North Carolina held that a reasoned, moral response to any crime required consideration of the unique circumstances of each offender, and struck down statutes that pro-vided for the automatic imposition of the death penalty for defendants convicted of murder. It thus made individualized consideration of the back-ground and character of the accused “a constitutionally indispensable part of the process of inflicting the penalty of death.” Further, because of the enor-mous implications of erroneously taking a human life, the Court found a strong constitutional “need for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case.” The Court then, in Godfrey v. Georgia, cautioned that “if a State wishes to authorize capital punishment it has a constitutional responsibility to tailor and apply its law in a manner that avoids the arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death penalty.

Capital Defense Lawyers: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Professor Welsh S. White\u27s book Litigating in the Shadow of Death: Defense Attorneys in Capital Cases collects the compelling stories of a new band of dedicated lawyers that has vigorously represented capital defendants, seeking to prevent their executions (p.3). Sadly, Professor White passed away on New Year\u27s Eve, 2005, days before the release of his final work. To the well-deserved accolades of Professor White that were recently published in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, I can only add a poignant comment in a student blog that captures his excellence as a scholar and educator: I wanted to spend more time being taught by him. Another colleague stated, He believed very strongly that the way [in] which the death penalty is carried out in the United States is unfair and inhumane and violates the Constitution. He stood up for what he believed and was very influential in doing that. Professor White\u27s book is a wonderful parting gift from a scholar and humanitarian. The book advances his cause by exposing the Achilles Heel of capital punishment: the Court\u27s unwillingness to guarantee adequate legal representation to every person accused of a capital crime. It may be his most influential publication on the death penalty

Montana Wildlife Federation v. Bernhardt

A federal court in Montana vacated the lease sale of several large oil and gas developments in Montana and Wyoming because BLM’s revised guidance documents, which facilitated the lease sales, failed to prioritize development outside of sage-grouse habitat, as required by BLM land use plans. BLM adopted the prioritization requirement in 2015 as part of an effort to prevent the sage-grouse from being listed under the Endangered Species Act. The court held BLM violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act when it essentially eliminated the prioritization requirement and approved the lease sales without properly amending the land use plans

Missouri\u27s Public Defender Crisis: Shouldering the Burden Alone

Though this Article criticizes the quality of defense provided by overburdened defenders, it is written with the hope that adequate resources may one day make it possible for them to perform their vital function effectively. Public defenders perform socially and legally significant work every day. They are not to blame when the conditions under which they labor make it impossible to do their jobs. To fix this broken system, Missouri must first understand the scope and roots of the problem. Part II of this Article discusses Missouri\u27s reluctant implementation of right to counsel since Gideon v. Wainwright and the State\u27s chronic post-Gideon funding deficiencies. Part III examines the depth of the current crisis and discusses the impact of the Public Defender System\u27s long-standing funding deficiencies on the quality of criminal justice. Part IV discusses permanent and temporary solutions to the public defender\u27s perpetual funding problems

Putting the Guesswork Back Into Capital Sentencing

In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court deemed it “incon-testable” that a death sentence is cruel and unusual if inflicted “by reason of [the defendant’s] race, religion, wealth, social position, or class, or if it is imposed under a procedure that gives room for the play of such prejudices.” Arbitrary and discriminatory patterns in capital sentencing moved the Court to strike down death penalty statutes that required judges or juries to cast thumbs-up or thumbs-down verdicts against offenders found guilty of capi-tal crimes. The issue of innocence was barely a footnote in Furman; the Court’s concerns focused on race, class, and fairness in the imposition of the ultimate punishment. Four years later, Gregg v. Georgia cautiously put the executioner back in business, conditioned upon a system of guided discretion designed to mini-mize the death penalty’s arbitrary and discriminatory inclinations. On the same day it decided Gregg, the Court in Woodson v. North Carolina held that a reasoned, moral response to any crime required consideration of the unique circumstances of each offender, and struck down statutes that pro-vided for the automatic imposition of the death penalty for defendants convicted of murder. It thus made individualized consideration of the back-ground and character of the accused “a constitutionally indispensable part of the process of inflicting the penalty of death.” Further, because of the enor-mous implications of erroneously taking a human life, the Court found a strong constitutional “need for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case.” The Court then, in Godfrey v. Georgia, cautioned that “if a State wishes to authorize capital punishment it has a constitutional responsibility to tailor and apply its law in a manner that avoids the arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death penalty.

The Promise of Inclusion for Female Student Health

Despite extensive inclusion and diversity initiatives, females do not feel valued or included and still report higher stress, discrimination and microaggressions than males. Cumulative effects of social devaluation on health were examined for students at a STEM University. A sample of 292 undergraduates were asked about daily and chronic experiences of inclusion using surveys assessing personal perceived stress and subtle and overt social devaluation. Females reported significantly higher microaggressions and perceived stress, associated with lower physical and mental health. Females in high social devaluation (SD) reported lower total well-being (TWB) across several domains. An exploratory factor analyses examined factor loadings on perceptions of devaluation and extracted three factors; results showed that females and males perceive the poor treatments for markedly different reasons. Stress, low sense of control, objectification, and lack of positive exemplars varied by sex. These data suggest persistent implicit biases remain entrenched for females in STEM. This was unexpected since multiple early inclusion interventions exist. Inclusion initiatives may need to be reviewed specifically to address implicit attitudes and internalized acquiescence, training female students to explicitly interface with such experiences

An Overview of Pet Bird Nutrition

The clinically ill bird is often presented to the avian veterinarian with a variety of signs that are often vague. They include lethargy, weight loss, poor feathering, and loss of condition. The avian practitioner at this time begins to take a history and do a physical examination. In reaching a good definitive diagnosis, one aspect of avian disease is often overlooked. Improper nutrition is one of the most prevalent problems in avian medicine today. The practitioner must realize that a particular disease may be the result of a nutritional deficiency. Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals are essential elements in the diet of a healthy bird. When a deficiency occurs, the body\u27s ability to resist disease is damaged. Nutritional deficiencies are also a sequelae to systemic diseases. When a bird is ill, its feed intake declines, therefore, its requirement for basic nutrients is not satisfied. Proper nutrition of the ill bird is essential for prompt recovery from other systemic illnesses. Hence, primary systemic disease and nutritional deficiency often occur simultaneously