in this issue
California’s Medical Marijuana Morass
In Northern California, where the drug laws can change with the mile markers, a supplier of medical marijuana risks going one toke over the (county) line.
In this issue
‘Orcas as Slaves’ Argument Sinks
An effort to identify five performing orcas as slaves failed in part, argues one scholar, because there’s no legal precedent establishing them as persons.
A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
San Francisco City Hall embodies the thrill of wedded bliss while it endures the fallout over Prop. 8
Prop 8 May Be Same-Sex Couples’ Least Worry
A family law professor explains why differences between states over gay marriage may lead to a deluge of court cases.
Five Orcas, Five Slaves or Five Persons?
PETA’s lawsuit on behalf of five orcas at SeaWorld could end in a splash or a belly flop for animal rights.
Lowering Flags of Convenience for Fish Poachers
New international measures to end fish poaching on the high seas would enforce laws where the poacher calls, not where their ships are registered.
Supreme Court Messes With Texas, Voting Rights
There is a way the U.S. Supreme Court can extract some sense out of a wildly politicized Voting Rights Act it heard Monday, argues a prominent redistricting specialist.
The FCC and Indecency: Here We Go Again
How far can the FCC go in regulating blue language and nipple slips on broadcast media? Three decades since tackling the seven dirty words, the Supreme Court is poised to answer that question again.
Pets, Vets and Stalking Horses
The animal rights movement may set their sights on veterinarians, warn protectors of biomedical animal research.
Should Animals Be Considered People?
In a nation where corporations are people and others want fetuses to be, a core of philosophers and attorneys are trying develop laws to declare animals “legal persons.”
Imagine There’s No Law; It’s Easy If You Try
Law professor David Friedman offers a libertarian thought experiment in which the concept of law — i.e. rights enforcement — is determined by the marketplace, and not the political process.
Neo-Nazis and ‘Defensive Democracy’
Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution, similar to America’s FBI, isn’t doing its job against all the threats its homeland faces.
Making a Case for Televising the Supreme Court
The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court debate on health-care reform offers a prime time to start televising its hearings and allowing cameras in the courtroom.
America Edges to Brink of Armed Police Drones
Europeans are lagging the United States in using aerial drones for police work – and they don’t really mind.
Cigarettes Do Have Free Speech Rights
A federal judge says tobacco companies’ complaints about the heavy hand of government forcing them to gainsay their own products have merit.
What Elouise Cobell Should Really Be Honored For
Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in efforts to force the U.S. government to better administer the Indian Trust, was a leader in having the feds pay for their mandates.
Patchwork of Gun Laws Assists Traffickers
Decentralized regulation in the gun-friendly U.S. creates ample opportunities for guns to leech from lightly regulated areas to stricter locales.
LAPD Cracks Cold Cases With Science, Grit
Since the LAPD’s cold case unit began 10 years ago, detectives have used science to arrest serial killers and dozens of others who thought they had gotten away with murder.
U.S. Crackdown Highlights Mixed-Up World of Medical Marijuana
A federal effort to shut down state-legalized marijuana dispensaries in California is the latest example of the topsy-turvy habitat that growers, users and cops live in with medical marijuana.
The Fear of a Sharia Planet
While laws preventing Islamic legal codes from supplanting American jurisprudence are often thrown out, that isn’t stopping Sharia from becoming a wedge issue in the 2012 election.
Civil Rights Groups’ Surprising Net-Neutrality Bedfellows
The fight over whether the Internet should have a meter has created some unexpected alliances in the groups lobbying the FCC.
Sex Offender Registries Not Working With the Hardcore
While giving the public notice of sex offenders living in their midst reduces sex crime overall, it doesn’t seem to keep convicted offenders from striking again.
Assessing Cigarettes’ Right to Free Speech
How far can federal regulators go in cramming ugly — if accurate — messages onto packs of cigarettes over the objections of the tobacco companies that sell them?
Law Without (As Many) Lawyers
In a podcast conversation with law and economics professor Gillian Hadfield, she expounds on ways to bring more legal services to Americans without requiring vast new armies of expensive lawyers.
Eyewitness IDs Can Be Made Better
It’s business as usual for many police agencies, even after bungled eyewitness procedures led to high-profile exonerations.
Can Computers Predict Crimes of the Future?
The LAPD’s Sean Malinowski wants to prevent crime with “predictive policing,” which can forecast patterns of where crime occurs using computer algorithms.
Legal Services Wanted; Lawyers Need Not Apply
Why a globalized U.S. economy requires new legal infrastructure devised and controlled by innovators (who will probably be something or someone other than law firms or lawyers).
Deadbeat Dad Policy Needs Renewed Scrutiny
Offering help to fathers who can’t — as opposed to won’t — make child support payments.
Taming the U.S. Government’s Secrecy Machine
The plodding effort to bring a modicum of common sense to how the U.S. declassifies its documents has resisted most efforts to rev it up in the digital age.
Assessing the Legality of Osama bin Laden’s Killing
There’s no black-and-white answer on the legality of killing Osama bin Laden, regardless of whether it’s approached as a law enforcement issue or as part of an ongoing war.
Male Circumcision Ban Makes Cut for November Ballot
Despite concerns that outlawing circumcision may harm efforts to limit the spread of AIDS, San Francisco’s intactivists have gotten a proposed ban on the ballot.
Demjanjuk Found Guilty of Nazi War Crimes
Even with the passage of time, the idea that “foot soldiers” responsible for the Holocaust — even in a small way — must pay their accounts remains alive.
Lee Baca Wants to Educate L.A.’s Prisoners
In this Miller-McCune Q&A, Los Angeles County’s top cop Lee Baca explains why he wants to offer an education to tens of thousands of prisoners.
Judges’ Decisions More Lenient After Lunch
Ordering in the court may be the new cry as a look at judges’ decisions made before and after lunch shows a wide difference in outcome.
Breast Cancer Court Case Pits Patients’ Genes vs. Gene Patents
A court case surrounding gene patents for high-risk forms of breast cancer puts two viewpoints of “products of nature” on the stand.
A Smarter Way to Deal With Drug Offenders
Drug courts can help ease the U.S. prison population and usher America into the civilized world when it comes to prosecuting drug-use offenses.
‘Shooting Galleries’ Take Aim at Illicit Drug Market
The idea that governments can reduce both addiction and street crime — and maybe bleed black markets dry — by managing drug distribution has gained momentum.
Cybercop Fights Organized Internet Crime
Steve Santorelli gets computing experts and law enforcers to cooperate in a global fight against organized Internet crime.
David Onek — Law Enforcement Facilitator
David Onek works to bring together stakeholders in the criminal justice system who often agree — usually without knowing they do.
The Invisible Hate Crime
Hate crimes against people with disabilities are widespread and often involve extraordinary levels of sadism. The first step in combating these shameful incidents is an acknowledgment that they exist.
Convict Commodification
Why incarceration should be just one of many strategies helping neighborhoods that produce bumper crops of crooks.
Why Victims Face the Criminals Who Hurt Them
Some crime victims find their only real healing comes from a face-to-face meeting with the criminals who hurt them. Can research into this counterintuitive process help more victims regain control of their lives?
Book Seeks True Justice for Crime Victims
Susan Herman, author of “Parallel Justice for Victims of Crimes,” wonders what if society did not see its help for victims as mere compassion or charity, but a core societal obligation?
Censorship in Shades of Black and Gray
John Kampfner, the head of the London-based Index on Censorship, discusses the threats to free expression in the world, from the dictator’s muzzle to the playwright’s pen.
For Some, Might Torture Be Its Own Reward?
The debate over the use of torture usually pivots on whether it delivers useful intelligence, but new research suggests many Americans are drawn to its aura of righteous retribution.
Marijuana, Dark Horse Savior of California Agriculture
While a legalized marijuana crop wouldn’t solve all of California’s agricultural woes, it might still keep the state in the green.
Alternative Sentencing Gaining Acceptance
Changes in attitudes, technology and finances have eroded the stance that a prison cell is the best home for every convicted criminal. Alternative sentencing is finding creative ways to deal with low-level, nonviolent offenders.
Cops and College: Do Police Need Book Smarts?
Better-educated police officers resort less often to using force, research shows.
No Port After the Storm
Post-Katrina New Orleans, still rife with blighted housing, is a lesson for recovering from future disasters.
Public Defenders as Effective as Private Attorneys
New research suggests that, in terms of influencing key judicial decisions, public defenders are as effective as their private counterparts.
Modern Marriage: Standing on Ceremony
Regarding same-sex marriage, there’s less daylight than might be expected between religious conservatives and some LGBT activists.
When the Wheels of Justice Grind Out … Coupons
Critics draw attention to massive class actions that compensate attorneys well but recompense the afflicted with little or nothing of value.
In Crimes of Passion, Women Get Benefit of the Doubt
New research finds women who kill their cheating lovers receive shorter sentences than men in the same situation.
Nominees Not as Slippery as We Think
A look at U.S. Supreme Court nominees’ actual answers during their Senate grilling finds the perception that they’re getting cagier isn’t actually true.
‘Courts and Kids’ Argues for Equal School Funding
State courts should stand firm on equal school funding and make sure legislators and governors show kids the money, a law scholar writes.
Sometimes a Cross Is Not a Cross
Crucifixes in Italian classrooms, like a cross in the Mojave Desert, attract legal trouble.
Expecting Justice and Hoping for Empathy
Gauging views of the American people on Supreme Court justices suggests that while empathy is in the eye of the beholder, it’s a value most people favor on the bench.
Wonking Week: Pyramids and Prison Gerrymandering Edition
In this week’s podcast, we look at districts laying claim to their prison inmates, revisions to Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, why there aren’t more women in U.S. public office, and a closer look at changes to psychiatry’s “bible.”
Wonking Class Hero in Action
U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston, Miller-McCune’s most recent Wonking Class Hero, takes on the arms-length warfare of drones.
The U.N.’s Death Squad Watchdog
With few resources but the force of his title — U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions — Philip Alston holds governments accountable for the politically motivated killings they commit, or ignore.
Mixing Prayer and School
A new generation of Muslims brings Western governments to revisit old ideas about school prayer.
Criminalizing the Science You Don’t Cotton To
Researchers fear that a lawsuit aimed at the developer of the “hockey stick” temperature map is actually a political salvo at science.
In Class-Action Lawsuits, You’re Only Suing Yourself
Feeling let down by that financial firm you invested in? New research suggests class-action lawsuits should go after the people responsible for your loss, not the company.
Data Seizure at the Airport
Be prepared for a search of what’s on your laptop as you cross into the United States these days.
New Conditions of Probation
In Texas, one county’s experiment in evidence-based probation reform has cut recidivism and revocations, saved money and served as a model for other jurisdictions.
Court Decision Could Lead FCC to Redefine Internet
A good day in court for Internet providers may lead regulators to a nuclear option those providers dread.
Nelson Mandela’s Penalty Kick
As the globe catches World Cup fever, our Peter Nardi sees a little hidden scamming among the confetti.
The New Trans-Atlantic SWIFT Agreement
Will it give European intelligence agencies access to U.S. banking records?
When Bad Things Happen to Good Rogues
A century and a half after defective mules prompted a law on false claims, the federal government is still working kinks out of the process.
‘Toughness’ on Crime Linked to Racial Resentment
A new analysis finds racial resentment is a major reason behind Americans’ support for harsh sentences for criminals.
An ePassport is a Fiendishly Slippery Thing
No sooner are new electronic identification methods out on the street than do electronic tricksters (and presumably cyber bad guys) hack them.
The ePassport Revolution
How it happened, who will benefit, and how hard will it be to counterfeit these things.
Where Terror Suspects Should Be Tried
The proper, and the pragmatic, place for trying suspected terrorists is in a traditional Article III courtroom and not a military tribunal, says noted law of war professor David Glazier.
A Mind of Crime
How brain-scanning technology is redefining criminal culpability.
Some Smart Solutions Going Forward
A slew of good ideas, from high-tech UAVs to just leaving a hose out for firefighters, may help in battling tomorrow’s brush fires.
Head-Scratchers from the Nine
The recent ruling on corporate political rights left some observers to cry the sky is falling. Some past decisions really did merit Chicken Little’s exclamation.
Catching Arsonists Red-Handed
A small but significant number of wildfires are intentionally set. The fire starters often share characteristics but aren’t always cut from the same cloth.
Can Drug Policy Prevent Reefer Madness?
A cross-national comparison of alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents indicates that stricter laws may prevent high school kids from drinking, but not from smoking pot.
An Effort to Find the Missing Missing
Legislation named for a missing 31-year-old man would tie together the various data threads on the nation’s missing persons.
Is the Net Best Stuck in Neutrality?
The question of ‘net neutrality’ will impact how you visit Miller-McCune.com in the future, but it’s a hot topic of debate today.
Earth to Stand on — Conservation Easements
This legal device shows that profit and protection of natural resources can go hand in hand.
Trying the Foot Soldiers
The final wave of Nazi trials focuses on now-octogenarian pawns of the end game that was the Holocaust.
The Exonerator
Self-taught private investigator Jim McCloskey has helped free more than three dozen people who were imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit.
U.S. Prison Populations Drifting Down
Hammered by budget shortfalls and seeing declines in crime rates, 20 states have reduced inmate counts.
The Low-Tech Reality of Identity Theft
Stop worrying so much about that vaguely Eastern European computer hacker and start worrying about that clerk at the DMV.
Problem-Solving (and Award-Winning) Courts
The verdict is in: Center for Court Innovation honored with national nonprofit award.
Is American Business More Progressive Than Its Consumers?
As some high-profile corporations publicly embrace the reality of climate change, are they moving faster than the American population as a whole?
The Inside Dope on Snitching
A law professor explains how to keep criminal informants from duping prosecutors, police and the rest of us.
Doctored Information
While the purpose of informed consent laws is to educate women considering an abortion, they apparently do little to dissuade them from proceeding.
A Most Uncivil Contempt
Most states have no limits on how long a witness or defendant can be held in civil contempt. Perhaps they should.
Crimes, Damn Crimes and Statistics About Crimes
Professor Howard Wainer’s exercise in presuming innocence exercised a lot of boffins eager to set the record straight.
Breaking the Minority Attorney Drought
Why it’s time to minimize use of the LSAT in law school admissions.
Americans Quite Tolerant of Activist Judges
Analysis: As the nebulous concept of ‘judicial activism’ swirls around the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, political scientist James L. Gibson examines what Americans think is in the fog.
Should Minors Ever Face Life Without Parole?
Four years ago the high court decided no minor should face the death penalty. Now it’s poised to determine if youths should face life without a chance of parole.
High Court Recognizes Imperfections at Crime Labs
A 5-4 majority at the nation’s highest court finds that the work of crime labs is not infallible, and defendants have a right to make that clear.
Bias and the Big Fingerprint Dust-Up
Cognitive neuroscientist Itiel Dror finds that analysis of fingerprint data by human examiners can be ruined by unintentional bias. But he offers some relatively simple fixes that can improve the odds of reliable results.
Keystone Cops at the Police Lab
Compromised crime laboratories are a national scandal that can’t be set straight until the labs are independent of law enforcement.
May It Diminish the Court
Hyperbolic attack ads from advocacy groups have diminished the popular esteem of the U.S. Supreme Court in the past, so as the campaign to place Sonia Sotomayor fires up, a little restraint is in order.
Get a Life? Not If You Want to Be One of the Nine
The debate building up to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings suggests that real-world experiences are of suspect value in administering the law. Really?
Jury Out on Girls-Only Juvie Programs
Despite more than a decade’s worth of attention on programs aimed at girls and crime, researchers know little about whether these programs work better than other efforts.
Top-Notch Lawyers Create a Sort of Attorneys Sans Frontières
Attorneys who put the ‘pro’ in pro bono start girdling the globe to offer free help for countries struggling to implement the rule of law.
Why Fewer Murder Cases Get Solved These Days
A new study by three FBI officials suggests that cooperation — whether by witnesses or even other departments — is the key to closing more murder cases.
Lawyer Layoffs: What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger
Pink slips, salary cuts, delayed starts and other woes hit the U.S. legal profession hard in this recession.
The Court(s) and the Election
In light of Justice David Souter’s retirement plans and speculation that a female jurist will replace him, we’re revisiting this October 2008 story that details the effect women judges can have on a panel.
Study in Contrepreneurship
In its first four years, Catherine Rohr’s Prison Entrepreneurship Program shows some success in turning drug dealers and other convicts into legit businessmen.
Taking Drug Task Forces to Task
Film takes a look at the unintended consequences of one weapon in the arsenal devoted to the war on drugs.
A Pox on Outdated Public Health Laws
As new health threats, changes in privacy requirements and shifting legal precedents advance, the laws governing public health mostly remain stuck in the past.
Re-Mapping Forensic Science’s Future
A critical report from the National Academy of Sciences calls for national standards in forensics science, validation of new technology and crime lab ethics.
Arson Convictions, Fire Investigations Feel the Heat
As decades of flawed and unscientific fire investigation techniques call arson convictions into question, new recipes emerge for a system-wide overhaul.
Debunking Arson Indicators
Sidebar: ‘Flashover defense’ gets two arson convictions reversed in the 1980s.
Grant All Americans Their Day in Court
Miller-McCune’s experts offer solutions to problems that were under-discussed during the presidential campaign.
Return Balance to the Federal Judiciary
Miller-McCune’s experts offer solutions to problems that were under-discussed during the presidential campaign.
The Real Crime Fighters: Conservatives or Liberals?
A new study finds that both more police officers and more community building are essential in reducing crime.
Juvenile Justice and the Theater of the Absurd
The route to a law that will help keep kids out of adult prisons.
Voting Prison Blues
There’s a movement to restore voting rights to felons who’ve served their time. Whether you’re for or against it likely depends on whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat.
Federal Courts’ Bad Apples Prompt Look at Orchard
Spate of disciplinary cases unlikely to erode federal judiciary’s prerogative to judge itself.
Innocent Until Reported Guilty
The simple prescription for reducing wrongful convictions: better journalism about crime and punishment.
Academics Oppose 21 as Legal Drinking Age
Those suggesting a discussion on the legal drinking age appear to have focused on a specific outcome.
Succor. Succor in the Court.
There’s a problem with problem-solving courts: Taxpayers don’t understand how well they work.
Law and Terror
A legal analyst argues for a novel solution to the legal wars over anti-terrorism policy: Congress doing its job.
Nastier, Noisier, Costlier — and Better
Why letting judges speak out during political campaigns enhances democracy and serves justice.
Study: Gun Laws Have Little Effect on Homicide Rate
A new study finds the highly publicized gun-crime laws of recent years have had little effect on the homicide rate. But a new bipartisan bill just signed into law by President Bush may do some good.
GIS: Cops Favor New Kind of Plotting
Spatial representation provides genuine clues to crime prevention for urban police forces.
Nuclear Weapons and Future Justice
Opinion: The head of the nonprofit Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, which calls for global nuclear disarmament, suggests criminalizing the mere possession of nuclear weapons.
Legislating Uncertainty: An Evolving Strategy
Rebuffed in the courtroom, critics of evolution head to the statehouse to see their views represented in the classroom.
Righting Wrongs by Writing Writs
A documentary looks at historic injustice in the Texas prison system — and comments on the habeas corpus battles of the war on terror.
‘Stranger Danger’ Takes Back Seat to Family Fiend
A lot of mythology surrounds criminal sexual offenses, and, in many cases, these assumptions can hamper attempts to reduce recidivism.
Sex Offender Boundaries Deemed Ineffective
Prohibiting sex offenders from living near schools sounds like a good idea, but such residency restrictions may make it harder to supervise offenders — and without preventing new sex crimes.
Supreme Confidence
New research examines how controversial Supreme Court decisions affect American confidence in the nation’s highest court.
Creating Superfelons at the Supermaxes
Inmate calls type of prison facility ‘the ultimate whetstone of human behavior, sharpening those who survive its rigors and deprivations to a keen edge.’
Cigarette Ads Unfiltered
Presenting 10 cigarette commercials from TV’s ‘golden era’ featuring recognizable faces and truly astounding health claims.
The Miller-McCune Tobacco Documents Research Contest
Enter our contest and vie for a prize while unearthing dirt on past tobacco industry associates or practices.
Tobacco Papers Expose Foul Scents Across Industries
UCSF’s Legacy Tobacco Documents Library demonstrates how the tobacco industry pioneered modern techniques for manipulating politics, scientific research and public opinion. It’s a sort of Rosetta Stone for deciphering coporate propaganda.
AMBER Alerts Largely Ineffective, Study Shows
The touted AMBER Alert system is so inherently flawed it amounts to little more than "crime-control theater," according to a new report by researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Archive
Health
Humayun Finding Medical Advances in Plain Sight
Mark Humayun taps the burgeoning field of bioelectronics to help the blind to see and the lame to walk.
Miller-McCune Cover Story
Teacher Collaboration Gives Schools Better Results
The world’s best school systems depend on teacher collaboration, but the concept has not caught on in the U.S. We found schools where teamwork is making a difference.
Wonking Class Hero
Profile: Reddy Stayed Steady During Gulf Oil Spill
Marine chemist Christopher Reddy offered dispassionate and scientific analyses of the Gulf oil spill last year when others were losing their heads.
Profile
Viewing Illegal Immigration Through Desert Debris
In the litter scattered across the desert floor, professor Jason De León finds truths about the miserable business of illegal immigration.
News & Options
Street Makeovers Put New Spin on the Block
How community activists are taking city planning into their own hands and creating pedestrian-friendly blocks via pop-up urbanism.
European Dispatch
Something’s Fishy About That Red Snapper
Preventing seafood fraud won’t be easy, but a new law has potential to stop fish poaching and laundering, which involves mislabeling fish in restaurants.
The Greening of Angela Merkel
German Chancellor (and physicist) Angela Merkel did a 180 on nuclear energy after Fukushima, setting off an "energy revolution" in the process.
Science
Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
How hard is it to design a humanlike robot? Harvard's Steven Pinker highlights how simple human accomplishments represent formidable robotics challenges.
20,000 Robots Under the Sea
Jules Jaffe of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is developing an army of underwater explorers that researchers hope will produce a fine-grained, real-time map of the movements of the sea.
Culture
The Science Behind TGIF
Economist John F. Helliwell has data that backs up why Americans are significantly happier on weekends and public holidays than during the workweek.
Study: Ethical People More Satisfied With Life
University of Missouri economist Harvey James finds a relationship between life satisfaction and low tolerance for unethical conduct.
Grandma’s Apple Pie Is Better Than Apple Pie
Researchers find that food products sell better when they're labeled with descriptive phrases that elicit warm family memories.
Graphic Art
Do You Know Where Your Medicine Came From?
Here's look at where the stuff in your medicine cabinet was manufactured. Just don’t ask if these foreign-made drugs are safe, because in many cases, it’s impossible to say.
Bridging the Budget Gap With Stolen Lunch Money
Results of a survey from the American Association of School Administrators shows how K-12 school officials across the country made cuts to their schools' programs.
Battling World Hunger Through Innovative Technology
From innovation in architecture and robotics to mobile apps and interactive games, technology is reshaping our understanding of and approach to world hunger.
Business & Economics
Can a Bad Economy Save Your Marriage?
Spouses who blame the economy for their woes, rather than pointing the finger at their partner, are more likely to be satisfied with their marriages.
How Foreclosures Feasted on Some Cities, Not Others
A look at foreclosures in two Southern California cities shows why some fared better than others in the housing crisis.
Old Money Caught in the Great Redistribution
How the recession transfers wealth from the old to the young.
The Cocktail Napkin
Women Eye Dance Moves to Find Thrill Seekers
How to spot thrill-seeking men on the dance floor, "sweet" personalities in public, and bidding fever on eBay.
Does This Make My Antenna Look Big?
Researchers mix technology with fashion, analyze a pharaoh's skin condition, measure the smarts of Scrabble players, and more in this edition of Miller-McCune's "Cocktail Napkin."
As if Commercials Weren’t Bad Enough Already
Do we really need to smell the items featured in TV programming? A materials expert has created a function for your TV or portable device that can generate thousands of odors.
Education
No Debate: Kids Can Learn By Arguing
Columbia professor Deanna Kuhn says teachers should foster some debate to help kids learn the lost skill of thinking critically.
Teaching Religious Literacy in California’s Bible Belt
A Central California community has added a fourth "R" to the core curriculum in its public schools: Religion. Sociologist Emile Lester answers our questions about the experiment.
Bad Teachers Improving With Help From Peers
How one California school district turns bad teachers over to their peers to help them improve their skills and save their jobs.
What Would Diane Ravitch Say?
Diane Ravitch, the former assistant U.S. secretary of education, tells Miller-McCune what she thinks about No Child Left Behind now.
Research in Summary
We’re Sorry: Not All Apologies Are Apologies
Politicians take note: Research shows the fine line between claiming regret and taking responsibility.
Studying Flags, Pins, Hope From 2008 Election
The Stars and Stripes are subliminal, class cleavages are overrated, and other academic analyses we should consider from the last election.
Showing Where Community Colleges Pass, Fail
As the fall semester begins, we look at some of the ways community colleges are meeting — or failing to meet — the needs of their students.
Scholars and The Big Lebowski: Deconstructing The Dude
In honor of the 10th annual Lebowski Fest in Louisville, Ky., Miller-McCune looks at the scholarly papers inspired by the Coen brothers' 1998 film "The Big Lebowski."
Views Reviews and Interviews
Does Black History Need More Than a Month?
The documentary "More Than a Month" asks: Does Black History Month still inspire reflection, or just Nike sales?
PBS to Show ‘Where Soldiers Come From’
A PBS documentary follows a group of friends before, during, and after their time in Afghanistan.
‘If a Tree Falls’ Revisits the Earth Liberation Front
PBS looks at the radical environmentalists whose turn to terrorism discredited their quixotic campaign in "If a Tree Falls."
Teaching Kids to Love Nature (and Buy Less Stuff)
A new book, "The Failure of Environmental Education," says schools are failing to teach kids how to save the planet.
News and Options
U.S. Planting Seeds of Peace in Afghanistan
U.S. soldiers work to undo some of the damage done to Afghanistan's agricultural communities from decades of war.
Returning Warriors Go to Work, in the Fields
Facing high unemployment rates, returning U.S. veterans are finding work on the farm.
Tattoo Remorse Spawns New Business
Tattoo remorse is leading many of the painted masses to rethink their ink, which is fueling a burgeoning business: specialty tattoo removal shops.
Turning Cellphones Into Mobile Microscopes
Researchers across California are working to bring medical microscopes to our cellphones — and vastly improve field medicine.
Work-Life Balance Benefits Low-Wage Workers, Employers
A growing body of research reveals myriad benefits — for employers and employees alike — when company policies promoting work-life balance are offered to low-wage workers.
Beyond PTSD: Soldiers Have Injured Souls
Now that modern militaries accept that war creates psychological trauma, therapists wonder about its toll on the spirit.
Magazine Feature Story
Where Have All the Doctors Gone?
Communities with more primary care doctors enjoy better health, yet those physicians are a dying breed. Here is what some schools are doing to combat the looming shortage.
Was Lou Gehrig’s ALS Caused by Tap Water?
A toxic molecule found in pond scum may trigger neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Parkinson's. Could a group of scientists, led by a botanist, hold the key to a cure?
Placebo Effect Stronger Than We Thought?
Double-blind trials have long been considered the gold standard to determine drugs’ effectiveness. Do we need to rethink that assumption, given the power of the placebo effect?
Nixon’s Presidential Library: The Last Battle of Watergate
Who controls the Nixon Library? A dispute over how to tell the story of his presidency raises questions about the purpose, and legitimacy, of presidential libraries.
Alligator River Refuge Rolls Back From Rising Sea
As coastlines are battered by rising seas, staff at North Carolina’s Alligator River Wildlife Refuge look for ways to make an orderly retreat.
Vehicle-to-Grid: A New Spin on Car Payments
Buried in the high hopes for electric cars is the very real possibility that they can make money by powering and regulating the grid.
Post-Gadhafi: What’s Next for Libya’s Government?
As our correspondent in Libya has learned, rushing to the ballot box might be the biggest mistake there is.
The Physics of Terror
After studying four decades of terrorism, Aaron Clauset thinks he's found mathematical patterns that can help governments prevent and prepare for major terror attacks. The U.S. government seems to agree.
Rescuing the Rural Edge — It Takes a Village
New planning initiatives protect agriculture and nature, while still accommodating growth.
9/11 Memorial: Ground Zero as Dark Tourist Site
Visitors are expected to flock to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum when it opens, even as memories of that day fade away.
Chicago Charter Schools Aim to Lift Urban Education
The University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute runs charter schools and uses innovative practices to provide inner-city children a pathway to college.
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Five Orcas, Five Slaves or Five Persons?
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Prop Planes: The Future of Eco-Friendly Aviation?
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Japan's Earthquake: Deciphering the Fury
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Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
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Learning to Read When a School System Falters
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The Real Science Gap
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Was Lou Gehrig's ALS Caused by Tap Water?
Featured Articles
California’s Medical Marijuana Morass
In Northern California, where the drug laws can change with the mile markers, a supplier of medical marijuana risks going one toke over the (county) line.

LAPD Cracks Cold Cases With Science, Grit
Since the LAPD’s cold case unit began 10 years ago, detectives have used science to arrest serial killers and dozens of others who thought they had gotten away with murder.

Teacher Collaboration Gives Schools Better Results
The world’s best school systems depend on teacher collaboration, but the concept has not caught on in the U.S. We found schools where teamwork is making a difference.

CSI: Wildlife — Solving Mysterious Animal Deaths
Carol Meteyer solves cases of mysterious wildlife death using advanced forensic skills to help prosecute people who kill animals in violation of federal law.

Solar Showdown: Are New Solar Power Projects Anti-Environmental?
Big money, big energy and big environmentalism join forces to support big solar energy projects on federal land in the Southwest. But could these “green” projects actually be anti-environmental boondoggles in the making?

How to Stop Suicide by Cop
A growing movement is training police officers not to kill citizens — even when they seem to be asking for it.

The Bad Daddy Factor
Drinking, smoking, taking prescription meds or failing to eat a balanced diet can influence the health of men’s future children.

Ocean Carbon Sequestration: The World’s Best Bad Idea
Putting carbon dioxide in the ocean is a terrible way to deal with climate change. Maybe we should do it.

The Best Fiscal Stimulus: Trust
How the potent hormone of empathy, oxytocin, is shaking up the field of economics.

The Real Science Gap
It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career.

Make Birth Control, Not War
The human tendency toward war is based on biology, but the right family planning policies can redirect the world toward peace.

Can China Turn Cotton Green?
Producing ‘natural’ cotton clothing is a huge and filthy global business that, Chinese-commissioned research shows, will be extremely difficult to clean up.

Finding Water from Outer Space
A globe-trotting geologist uses satellites and other remote-sensing platforms to find water under some of the world’s thirstiest places.

The Ecstasy and the Agony
MDMA holds promise as part of a therapy that helps post-traumatic stress patients confront and extinguish their fears. But ecstasy’s recreational reputation has slowed research.

Racism’s Hidden Toll
Does the stress of living in a white-dominated society make African Americans get sick and die younger than their white counterparts? Apparently, yes.

Lessons From the Reverse Engineering of Nature
A Miller-McCune Research Essay by Columbia University professor Shahid Naeem on the importance of biodiversity and the true significance of the human species.

Pssst. Mr. President.
Because it’s not just the economy, our experts offer some solutions to problems that were under-discussed during the campaign.

First, Reduce Harm
Faced with a horrific drug problem, Vancouver is trying a radical experiment: Let junkies be junkies.

The Court(s) and the Election
In light of Justice David Souter’s retirement plans and speculation that a female jurist will replace him, we’re revisiting this October 2008 story that details the effect women judges can have on a panel.

Derailing the Boondoggle
A Danish professor promotes a cure for billion-dollar cost overruns in government megaprojects: Use past boondoggles as a baseline.

Pax Americana Geriatrica
An unprecedented era of great-power aging makes it likely the 21st century will, again, be American.

Should the Government Make Us Happy?
In Europe and elsewhere, governments are using ideas from the new science of well-being to try to make citizens more content. Will America follow their lead?



