18043 research outputs found
Sort by
“Their Futures, So Full of Dread”: How Barefoot’s Contamination of the Death Penalty Trial Process Continues
Get PDFForty years ago, in its most roundly-criticized criminal procedure decision in modern history, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Barefoot v. Estelle (463 U.S. 880 (1983))—a decision premised on testimony by the responses to a hypothetical of a witness who had never directly evaluated the defendant—ruled that such testimony as to future dangerousness (testimony that had concluded there was a “100% chance” the defendant would commit more crimes if released into society) was permissible. Over a stinging dissent by Justice Blackmun, the Supreme Court ruled in Barefoot that it was not constitutional error for psychiatrists to testify that the defendant—whom they had never interviewed, nor evaluated— would probably commit further acts of violence and represent a continuing threat to society.” The problems caused by Barefoot plague the legal system today, especially since we have learned more about the meaning of “dangerousness” in this context, the accuracy of predictivity, the use of assessment instruments, the heuristics used by jurors in coming to conclusions about dangerousness, and more. In the years since Barefoot, the Supreme Court has returned to related questions of evidence admissibility on multiple occasions, most notably (for the purposes of our inquiries) in Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. (509 U.S. 579 (1993)) and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael (526 U.S. 137 (1999)). These cases and their progeny, however, have had “negligible impact” on post-Barefoot litigation.
We know that the Fifth Circuit has been abysmal in enforcing decisions that grant criminal defendants in death penalty cases even minimal rights in cases involving adequacy of counsel and imposition of the death penalty on defendants who were either intellectually disabled or seriously mentally ill. We wrote this paper to assess how that Circuit has construed Barefoot for the past forty years.
The cases we discuss fall mainly into these groupings:
· Cases that rely on the shibboleth that the adversary process can be counted on to, in Justice White’s unfortunate phrase, “separate the wheat from the chaff.”
· Cases that reject Daubert’s potential impact on the holding of Barefoot, in some instances finding specifically that Daubert has no application to capital cases.
· Cases that reject adequacy-of-counsel arguments based on Strickland v. Washington, and
· Cases that involve the so-called “battle of the experts.”
We argue that, in spite of the Fifth Circuit’s decisions on this question, Daubert and Kumho have implicitly overruled Barefoot in this context, and that lower courts should acknowledge this. We then construe these findings through the lens of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ), focusing on the Court’s failure to take seriously defendants’ Strickland-based arguments and its obeisance to the adversarial process cliche, concluding that continued adherence to Barefoot mocks TJ principles
Crypto Currency Exchange and Mining Excel Simulations
Get PDFThe mathematics underlying blockchain-based cryptocurrencies is beyond the scope of most undergraduate finance programs. However, students should understand the intuition behind blockchain so that they might better understand how to apply this technology to future cases. In this paper, we develop a mathematically simple digital signature example and a mathematically simple proof-of-work simulation for classroom use
Reimagining the Deduction for Employee Compensation
Get PDFU.S. businesses pay trillions of dollars in employee compensation, a substantial fraction of which is deductible for tax purposes. This deduction reduces the taxable income of businesses, ultimately lowering business tax burdens by hundreds of billions of dollars. With a few exceptions, the tax code confers the same deduction to a business for every dollar of employee compensation, regardless of whether that compensation goes to an employee earning millions or an employee earning minimum wage. This is consistent with a pure Haig-Simons income tax, under which any business expense incurred ought to be deductible dollar-for-dollar. But many, if not most, tax policy objectives are inconsistent with a pure income tax, and the U.S. tax code is accordingly replete with substantial deviations from a pure income tax. This Article considers what would happen if the deduction for employee compensation also deviated from a pure income tax. It finds that allowing employers larger deductions for compensation paid to low-wage workers would counteract persistent deficiencies in the U.S. labor market. A larger deduction for low-wage workers would incentivize businesses to both hire more low-wage workers and pay them more. This would decrease the number of workers earning paltry wages, reverse the decline in U.S. labor force participation, restrain the employer market power exerted in many local labor markets, and correct the negative externalities from low-wage work. As part of its analysis, this Article considers how a larger deduction for low-wage compensation might be funded, focusing on funding sources that synergize with a larger compensation deduction for low-wage workers—including higher business tax rates and smaller deductions for high-wage workers—and it details the tradeoffs associated with these different policy options. This Article also explains why behavioral frictions may make an employer-side subsidy a more effective labor market intervention than an employee-side subsidy, such as the earned income tax credit (EITC)
Virtual Energy
Get PDFFrom employment to education, many areas of our daily lives have gone virtual, including the virtual workplace and virtual classes. By comparison, the way we generate, deliver, and consume electricity is an anachronism. And the electric industry’s outdated business model and regulatory framework are failing. For the last century-and-a-half, we have relied on ever larger power plants to generate the electricity we consume, often hundreds of miles away from the point of production. But the outsized carbon footprint of these power plants and the need to transmit their output over long distances threaten the electric grid’s reliability, affordability, and long-term sustainability. There is hope, however.
We here make the case for “virtual energy” as a diverse suite of widely dispersed resources that can combine and interconnect to provide, in the aggregate, the same services as a far-away conventional power plant. In computing, “virtual” refers to something simulated by software to appear real when, in fact, it does not exist. A virtual computer exists only in the cloud—and commonly consists of multiple computers that interconnect to maximize performance. In the same vein, solar panels, battery storage, electric vehicles, and other virtual energy resources (VERs) can coordinate to become virtual power plants that mimic, and ultimately replace, conventional power plants. Along the way, VERs offer a cost-effective strategy for making our electricity system more sustainable, more reliable, and more democratic.
To realize virtual energy’s full potential, however, requires a radical rethinking of how the electric grid is managed, and by whom. While large-scale power plants connect to high-voltage transmission networks run by independent operators, most VERs tap into the low-voltage distribution grid. For much of the country, that grid is owned and operated by electric utilities who view virtual energy as a threat to their business model of delivering electricity they generate in-house. For VERs to renew America’s ailing electricity sector, they must first gain easier access to the grid. To achieve this goal, we propose a novel approach to grid governance: the creation of Independent Distribution System Operators (IDSOs) to level the playing field and promote competition among traditional and virtual sources of energy. Incumbent utilities may be reluctant to embrace such radical change but, we argue, can be persuaded to enter into a grand bargain modeled after the great compromise over workers’ compensation that reshaped relations between employers and employees at the dawn of the 20th century
From Community Science to Community Justice: Protecting Data Usability in Community Air Quality Monitoring Networks
Get PDFCommunity science holds significant promise for empowering communities to address air quality disparities and advocate for policy change. However, the usability and legal defensibility of community-collected data pose significant challenges. This article argues that with the help of low-cost tools such as air quality monitors, community members can take an active role in combating the disproportionate distribution of air pollutants hidden by our current regulatory scheme. By examining the regulatory frameworks under the Clean Air Act and opportunities for procedural justice at federal, state, and local levels, the article identifies pathways for incorporating community-collected data into air quality regulation and environmental justice initiatives. It emphasizes the need for collaboration between community scientists, regulatory agencies, and local governments to develop and implement quality assurance protocols that ensure the credibility and effectiveness of community-led air quality monitoring efforts. Through proactive engagement and adherence to quality assurance standards, community science can emerge as a powerful tool for advancing environmental justice and promoting healthier, more equitable communities
Democratically Engaged Assessment on Civic Learning for Bonner Scholars
Get PDFThis report will cover the multi-step process to identify and define the most critical civic learning outcomes for Bonner Scholars at the University of Richmond (UR). We will detail a democratically engaged assessment (DEA) involving diverse stakeholders to gather perspectives and insights. We do this by highlighting the work that has taken place and then making suggestions to improve the overall process. Some of this work includes using surveys to capture community experiences, involving students in creating definitions and implementing reflective journaling. We will also discuss the revision of reflection essay assignments to align with the identified outcomes and the recruitment of Bonner alumni to improve the scoring rubric. Additionally, we will introduce self-assessment components, workshops for preliminary feedback, and peer review processes. The curriculum integration of civic learning outcomes across various courses and activities will be examined. Community engagement organizations are encouraged to use this information to facilitate meaning-making discussions with the Student Engagement Team (SET) staff and to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on civic engagement, thereby highlighting the need for continuous improvement in the Bonner Scholars program
A Model for Community-Led Energy Planning and Climate Justice: Renewable Energy Development on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai
Get PDFThis Essay studies the ongoing clean energy transition on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Efforts to reduce the island’s reliance on imported diesel fuel and exposure to volatile petroleum prices requires improving access to energy resources and mitigating climate change impacts. Rather than relying on or retrofitting inequitable legacy models, Molokai has opted to pursue low-cost, clean, and affordable distributed local energy. This essay posits that the contemporary model of the Molokai Community Energy Resilience Action Plan (CERAP), through the use of citizen involvement to generate community empowerment and integration of the work of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) and the State of Hawaii, can be used as a model for community-driven energy planning on the United States mainland. Molokai’s clean energy transition is an important example of how to mitigate climate impacts through incorporating renewable energy projects into existing energy infrastructure while responding to energy justice concerns
From Redlining to Greenlining
Get PDFFor generations, marginalized communities have been impacted by discriminatory land use, zoning, and property valuation policies, from redlining in the 1930s to the siting of undesirable land uses that persists today. Because of these policies, marginalized communities are forced to contend with low property values, substandard infrastructure, and increased health risks. The very same mechanisms that created these injustices, however, may now be key to addressing them. This Article introduces “greenlining” as a land use planning mechanism that seeks to remediate historical housing, siting, and economic disparities while forging a path toward energy and environmental justice. Greenlining, the productive and equitable reimagining of redlining, uses the tripartite structure of sustainability—environment, economy, and equity. Where redlining was a marker for discrimination and injustice, greenlining lies at the crossroads of land use planning and environmentalism, serving the dual purpose of mitigating climate change and prioritizing social justice. Ultimately, greenlining is about investing in marginalized communities that have borne the brunt of regulatory and environmental harms while equitably grappling with the most pressing issue of our time: climate change