Plaintiff Cities

When cities are involved in litigation, it is most often as defendants. However, in the last few decades, cities have emerged as aggressive plaintiffs, bringing forward hundreds of mass-tort style claims. From suing gun manufacturers for the scourge of gun violence, to bringing actions against banks for the consequences of the subprime mortgage crisis, to initiating claims against pharmaceutical companies for opioid-related deaths and injuries, plaintiff cities are using litigation to pursue the perpetrators of the social harms that have devastated their constituents and their communities. Many courts and commentators have criticized these plaintiff city claims on numerous grounds. They argue that, as a doctrinal matter, cities lack standing, fail to meet causation standards, and stretch causes of action like public nuisance beyond all reasonable limits. Further, they argue that, as a theoretical matter, plaintiff cities are impermissibly using litigation as regulation, overstepping their limited authority as creatures of the state, and usurping the political and legislative process. This Article demonstrates that each of these critiques is mistaken. Plaintiff city claims are legally, morally, and sociologically legitimate. And, as a practical matter, they are financially feasible even for cash-strapped or bankrupt cities. Moving beyond mere economic accounting, though, plaintiff city claims have value of a different sort: for plaintiff cities, litigation is a form of state building. By serving as plaintiffs and seeking redress for the harms that impact a city\u27s most vulnerable residents, plaintiff cities are demanding recognition not just for those impacted constituents, but also for themselves, as distinct and meaningful polities. In so doing, plaintiff cities are renegotiating the practical and theoretical meaning of cities within the existing political order, and opening up new potential paths for urban social justice

Discriminatory Dualism

This Article identifies and theorizes a significant butpreviously overlooked feature of structuraldiscrimination: it frequently develops into two seeminglyopposing, yet in fact mutually supportive practices. This“discriminatory dualism” occurs in multiple contexts,including policing, housing, and employment. Inpolicing, communities of color experience overpolicing(i.e., the aggressive overenforcement of petty crime) at thesame time as they experience underpolicing (i.e., thepersistent failure to address violent crime). In housing,redlining (i.e., the denial of credit to aspiringhomeowners based on race) combines with reverseredlining (i.e., the over-offering of credit on exploitativeterms) to suppress minority homeownership. And inemployment, sexual harassment (i.e., unwanted sexualattention) combines with shunning (i.e., the refusal toengage with women workers at all) to deny equalopportunity in the workplace.While scholars working in these discrete fields havenoted each of these individual paradoxes, this Articleargues that these paradoxes are iterations of the samebroader phenomenon. Three critical insights flow fromthis recognition. First, understanding discriminatorydualism as a common technology of oppression allowspolicymakers to better anticipate its movements andidentify discriminatory dualism as it arises in othercontexts. Second, this frame diagnoses why previousreform mechanisms have failed. Third, it surfaces the distinct harms caused by discriminatory dualism.Because each paradox is made up of two co-existing,contradictory strands that simultaneously deny andsupport each other’s existence, discriminatory dualismcreates destabilizing systems that confoundconceptualization and countermobilization efforts. Theconceptualization challenges create hermeneuticalinjustices, and the countermobilization challenges makediscriminatory dualism difficult to combat.Nevertheless, understanding the dynamic and systemicprocesses of discriminatory dualism offers tools to beginthe necessary work of dismantling it

Physical activity and nutrition interventions for older adults with cancer: a systematic review

Purpose: The aim of this review was to summarize the current literature for the effectiveness of activity and nutritional based interventions on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults living with and beyond cancer (LWBC). Methods: We conducted systematic structured searches of CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Cochrane CENTRAL databases, and bibliographic review. Two independent researchers selected against inclusion criteria: (1) lifestyle nutrition and/or activity intervention for people with any cancer diagnosis, (2) measured HRQoL, (3) all participants over 60years of age and (4) randomized controlled trials. Results: Searches identified 5179 titles; 114 articles had full text review, with 14 studies (participant n = 1660) included. Three had nutrition and activity components, one, nutrition only and ten, activity only. Duration ranged from 7days to 1year. Interventions varied from intensive daily prehabilitation to home-based gardening interventions. Studies investigated various HRQoL outcomes including fatigue, general and cancer-specific quality of life (QoL), distress, depression, global side-effect burden and physical functioning. Eight studies reported significant intervention improvements in one or more QoL measure. Seven studies reported using a psychosocial/theoretical framework. There is a gap in tailored nutrition advice. Conclusions: Among the few studies that targeted older adults with cancer, most were activity-based programmes with half reporting improvements in QoL. Future research should focus on or include tailored nutrition components and consider appropriate behaviour change techniques to maximize potential QoL improvement. Implications for Cancer Survivors: More research is needed to address the research gap regarding older adults as current recommendations are derived from younger populations

This Is Just A Test: Overcoming High-Stakes Test Anxiety through Relaxation and Gum Chewing When Preparing for the ACT

This study was a replication of a previous study (in which) participants were given relaxation and deep breathing training to help manage test anxiety. The study examined the correlations between relaxation strategies, gum chewing and variables including socioeconomic status, class rank, GPA, and importance of going to college. Participants included 96 high school students (36 males, 60 females), preparing for the ACT (American College Testing). Results indicated that the relaxation intervention had a significant effect in reducing test anxiety

This Is Just A Test: Overcoming High-Stakes Test Anxiety through Relaxation and Gum Chewing When Preparing for the ACT

This study was a replication of a previous study (in which) participants were given relaxation and deep breathing training to help manage test anxiety. The study examined the correlations between relaxation strategies, gum chewing and variables including socioeconomic status, class rank, GPA, and importance of going to college. Participants included 96 high school students (36 males, 60 females), preparing for the ACT (American College Testing). Results indicated that the relaxation intervention had a significant effect in reducing test anxiety

Implementing the battery-operated hand-held fan as an evidence-based, non-pharmacological intervention for chronic breathlessness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a qualitative study of the views of specialist respiratory clinicians

INTRODUCTION: The battery-operated hand-held fan ('fan') is an inexpensive and portable non-pharmacological intervention for chronic breathlessness. Evidence from randomised controlled trials suggests the fan reduces breathlessness intensity and improves physical activity in patients with a range of advanced chronic conditions. Qualitative data from these trials suggests the fan may also reduce anxiety and improve daily functioning for many patients. This study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to the fan's implementation in specialist respiratory care as a non-pharmacological intervention for chronic breathlessness in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: A qualitative approach was taken, using focus groups. Participants were clinicians from any discipline working in specialist respiratory care at two hospitals. Questions asked about current fan-related practice and perceptions regarding benefits, harms and mechanisms, and factors influencing its implementation. Analysis used a mixed inductive/deductive approach. RESULTS: Forty-nine participants from nursing (n = 30), medical (n = 13) and allied health (n = 6) disciplines participated across 9 focus groups. The most influential facilitator was a belief that the fan's benefits outweighed disadvantages. Clinicians' beliefs about the fan's mechanisms determined which patient sub-groups they targeted, for example anxious or palliative/end-stage patients. Barriers to implementation included a lack of clarity about whose role it was to implement the fan, what advice to provide patients, and limited access to fans in hospitals. Few clinicians implemented the fan for acute-on-chronic breathlessness or in combination with other interventions. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the fan in specialist respiratory care may require service- and clinician-level interventions to ensure it is routinely recommended as a first-line intervention for chronic breathlessness in patients for whom this symptom is of concern, regardless of COPD stage

Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning

Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security