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Bright-Lines in Sentencing: A Legal and Moral Case Against Juvenile Life-Without-Parole
Get PDFThis paper criticizes the Supreme Court of the United States for its holding in Jones v. Mississippi (2021): the Eighth Amendment does not require a sentencing authority to find that a juvenile is permanently incorrigible before it may impose a sentence of life-without-parole. This ruling circumvents stare decisis as it undermines the substantive protections established in Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), while purporting to preserve them. Not only is circumvention of stare decisis a failure of the Court\u27s judicial duty, it is also a profound moral failure. This paper deploys Ronald Dworkin\u27s law as integrity to examine how the opinions of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas render the law incoherent regarding juvenile sentencing jurisprudence and allow for arbitrary and unjust outcomes. In addition to critiquing the jurisprudential inconsistencies in Jones, the paper analyzes bright-line rules as a solution to the epistemic and moral challenges of individualized sentencing, arguing for their necessity in both non-ideal and ideal theory. The paper concludes that life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders are unconstitutional and that a bright-line rule categorically prohibiting such sentences is required to uphold both legal coherence and moral integrity. Following from this, the paper suggests that the reasons that justify a categorical prohibition of life-without-parole may extend to all state-enforced punishment of juvenile offenders, raising further questions about the appropriateness of punitive incarceration for youth
Hippocampal Subregion Volume and Memory in Older Adults
No full textThe hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory formation and is known to decrease in volume with age, contributing to declines in memory performance. This study investigates the relationship between hippocampal subregion volumes and memory recall in aging populations using MRI and paired associate task data from the HCP-Aging dataset (n = 685). We employed the hippocampal segmentation tool FreeSurfer to analyze how volume changes in specific hippocampal subregions affect memory performance, while accounting for age, sex, and total intracranial volume. Results reveal significant age-by-recall interactions in all hippocampal subregions (p\u3c.05). Results show a significant main effect of hippocampal tail volume on recall accuracy in the right hippocampus, with a marginally significant effect in the left hippocampus (right: p = .011, left: p = .065). But, there was not a significant interaction between the anterior (head) and posterior (tail) hippocampal volumes (right: p=.996, left: p=1.000) on recall accuracy. These findings enhance our understanding of the differential impact of hippocampal subregions on memory in aging and underscore the importance of considering subregional volume changes in memory research
Social Rejection, Isolation, and Substance Use Disorders: A Neurobiological Defense of Social Network Intervention in Single-Site Housing First
Get PDFAbstract
Introduction: Rising rates of homelessness in the United States demand not only increased housing efforts but also comprehensive strategies addressing the underlying causes of chronic homelessness. Among the most prevalent factors is substance use disorder (SUD), which both contributes to and results from housing instability. Conventional abstinence-based treatment models often fail to address the root causes of substance use, particularly the chronic social isolation and rejection experienced by the unhoused. This thesis argues for the adoption of a neuroscience-informed model of recovery rooted in community reintegration and low-barrier housing with on-site support services.
The Neuroscience of Substance Use Disorders and Social Stress: Substance use disorders are deeply intertwined with neurobiological changes caused by chronic stress, especially social rejection and isolation. These adverse social experiences dysregulate key brain regions—such as the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex (PFC), and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—leading to heightened stress responses, impaired executive function, and increased sensitivity to drug-related cues. The resulting negative affect and compromised decision-making capabilities create a cycle of stress-induced drug seeking. Rodent studies further support these findings, showing that social defeat and isolation significantly increase drug self-administration and relapse-like behavior as modeled by conditioned place preference.
A Social Housing Model for Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Single-Site Housing First (SSHF) programs offer an alternative to traditional abstinence-based models by providing immediate, low-barrier, permanent housing combined with voluntary support services. SSHF prioritizes safety, autonomy, and the cultivation of positive social interactions, creating an environment conducive to both behavioral and biological healing. Residents report enhanced feelings of safety, self-worth, and motivation for recovery, as well as reduced substance use. Incorporating interventions such as Motivational Interviewing Social Network Intervention (MI-SNI) can further enhance social reintegration and reduce substance use by helping residents identify and strengthen supportive relationships.
Discussion: SSHF not only facilitates housing stability but also addresses the neurobiological effects of social stress that perpetuate substance use. The model allows for a self-directed approach to recovery, enabling residents to re-engage with community resources and build supportive networks. While current research on SSHF and substance use outcomes is limited, especially for long term SUD outcomes, preliminary findings indicate improvements in social integration, reduced relapse risk, and enhanced housing stability. These benefits highlight the necessity of social connection in overcoming addiction and suggest that promoting high-quality social networks should be a core component of SUD treatment.
Conclusions: The intersection of neuroscience, housing policy, and social support intervention offers a compelling framework for addressing substance use in unhoused populations. SSHF, especially when combined with social network interventions, represents a promising evidence-based approach to breaking the cycle of chronic homelessness and SUD. By reconceptualizing substance use as a maladaptive response to social stress, we can develop more effective, client-centered treatment plans
Reframing Progress: The battle over the Lower Snake River dams
Get PDFIn December 2023, the Biden Administration signed the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, pausing more than 30 years of litigation over the decline of salmon in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia and Snake Rivers. A huge win for the groups fighting for salmon recovery, the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement intends to breach the Lower Snake River dams, the first large federal dams ever earnestly recommended for removal in the United States. The struggle over the Lower Snake River dams offers a case study that explores how groups who have historically been prevented from getting their concerns on the political agenda, including Tribes and environmental groups, can use formal institutions and discursive power to reframe the debate over progress versus the environment. Using historical research and qualitative coding, my research explores how a movement to breach the Lower Snake River dams has been able to win approval for the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement despite private interests, politicians, and federal agencies working to preserve the dams
The Problem of Redress After Crime: Is Restorative Justice the Solution?
No full textThis thesis centers on the following question: can restorative justice satisfy a victim’s need for redress following a crime? Ultimately, my answer is as follows: kind of. If we understand redress as a sufficient form of justice, then restorative justice- when all parties willingly participate- can fulfill this standard. In such cases, victims and their communities often experience meaningful compensation and the ability to move forward, as the relationships damaged by crime are at least partially repaired. However, because restorative justice is voluntary, it is not always a viable option: some victims may decline to participate, some offenders may be unwilling or unable to engage, and in cases involving severe harm, the victim may be deceased. In these instances, traditional retributive justice may be necessary to ensure redress. Still, when feasible, restorative justice can adequately meet the victim’s need for redress
Sales Tax Revenue Forecast
No full textThis report forecasts Claremont’s sales tax revenue through 2026 using data from 2010–2024 and accounts for economic trends, consumer behavior, and COVID-19 recovery. Revenue is projected to grow by 3.32% in 2025 and 3.70% in 2026, led by the auto and hospitality sectors. Our model outperforms the City’s 2% baseline and incorporates key variables like unemployment and weather. To boost revenue, we recommend implementing policies supporting local businesses and improved data collection to enhance future forecasts
Cold Water Immersion: communal intimacy and embodied wellness
Get PDFOn the shores of Lake Superior, many residents of Duluth engage in cold water immersion, or as many call it, dipping. Through the lenses of embodied experience, magical language and modes of storytelling, and communal intimacy, dipping emerges as a uniquely bonding practice. Dippers cite cold water immersion as an immune-boosting ritual, drawing on biomedical and non-biomedical conceptions of health. Immersion in cold water, especially in nature, requires a strong sense of communal trust. By deliberately encountering danger in their day to day lives, dippers\u27 relationships with each other and with the lake often deepen over time, hinging on the mystical and magical. Lake Superior\u27s social significance, especially to the local indigenous population, is one of power, pain, and pleasure
Thinking in Circles and Thinking Out of the Box: Reflective Rumination, Creative Performance, and the Incubation Stage
No full textThis study investigates the relationship between reflective and brooding rumination styles and creative performance, with a specific focus on the incubation stage of creative cognition. Drawing on theories of attention and cognitive control, the research examines whether adaptive rumination facilitates performance improvements during incubation periods in a creative thinking task. Seventy-one participants completed the Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS) and then performed the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) both before and after a 10-minute incubation period involving a low-demand distraction designed to promote spontaneous mind-wandering, a form of thinking hypothesized to share cognitive qualities with reflective rumination. Contrary to hypotheses, neither brooding nor reflective rumination predicted changes in creative fluency or originality. However, baseline fluency significantly predicted post-incubation improvement, while baseline originality negatively correlated with originality change, suggesting ceiling effects or metric limitations. These findings challenge prior self-report-based links between creativity and rumination, highlighting a gap between perceived and measured creative ability. The results emphasize the importance of grounding creativity research in objective performance metrics and suggest directions for future work, including longer incubation periods, alternative creativity tasks, and the use of rumination induction to better isolate cognitive mechanisms
STICKING OUT AND FITTING IN: EXPERIENCES OF BLACK AND ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER DESI AMERICAN STUDENTS AT SCRIPPS COLLEGE
Get PDFThere is a lack of research about the experiences of students of color at predominantly white women’s colleges. Women’s colleges are institutions that have evolved over hundreds of years to support the education of marginalized genders, including transgender women and nonbinary people in recent years. Many women’s colleges have a white majority of students, which can have adverse effects on students of color pursuing their education. Collecting data from Scripps College, a women’s college with 40% students of color, 12 interviews were conducted with students who self-identified as Black or Asian American. Results found that students of color who experience alienation from the institution and their peers form their own community networks to uplift one another
The Effect of Exercise on Soleus Muscle Fiber Types in TtnΔ112-158 Mice and Wild Type Mice
No full textThe goal of this study is to understand titin’s role in muscle fiber type composition in response to resistance exercise. Titin is a long protein with spring-like properties which allows it to play a role in passive force production during muscle activation. Due to its large size and central location in the sarcomere, titin has been linked to many signaling pathways, including hypertrophic signaling. These signaling pathways can influence muscle fiber type, which can be categorized by myosin heavy chain isoforms (most commonly–type I, type IIa, type IIb). Type I fibers are highly oxidative and common in larger muscles used for endurance activities. Type IIb fibers have few mitochondria and fatigue rapidly, but are used in fast, forceful movements. Type IIa is an intermediate fiber and functions between type I and type IIb. This study compared the muscle composition of TtnΔ112-158 mice with a 75% deletion of the PEVK region of titin to wild-type mice at varying physical activity levels. We hypothesize that titin’s spring-like and cell signaling properties are essential to exercise-induced change in muscle composition. Using immunohistochemistry we measured the size (area and diameter) of the muscle fibers and identified the amount/type of fiber (type I, type IIa, or type IIb) within a soleus muscle section of a specimen. Due to the multiple known functions of titin, we have two conflicting expected results. Since titin acts as a molecular spring, a shorter titin protein would require more force for contraction. Therefore, mutant mice may be expected to have more Type IIb fibers to perform exercises. However, because titin also contributes to cell signaling, the TtnΔ112-158 mice presumably have an impaired ability to convert type I fibers to type IIa and type IIb. Therefore, exercise would have less of an effect on the TtnΔ112-158 mice and we would not expect to see many type IIa or type IIb fibers in TtnΔ112-158 mice. Our results showed a decrease in type IIa fiber area in TtnΔ112-158 mice. There was no significant change in the percentage of fiber types in the wild-type and TtnΔ112-158 mice in response to exercise. However, trends in the data show an increase in type IIa fibers in TtnΔ112-158 following resistance exercise. Though the PEVK region of titin plays a role in cell signaling (and is likely linked to hypertrophic signaling) its role as a molecular spring contributes most to its effect on muscle composition during physical activity