Author: Matthew Clemente

County Court Clerk Fired After Providing Public Document to Exonerated Defendant

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County Court Clerk Fired After Providing Public Document to Exonerated Defendant

The most recent episode of This American Life, titled “I Was Just Trying To Help,” told the story of Sharon Snyder a clerk for circuit court judge in Missouri who provided an inmate a motion for DNA testing.  

Here is a description of the story: 

Ira speaks with Sharon Snyder. Until recently, Sharon was a clerk for circuit court judge in Missouri. While she was at work, a man and a woman approached her looking for some paperwork so they could help out their brother, who was in prison for rape. The prisoner claimed he was innocent of the crime and had decided to file a motion for a DNA test. Sharon decided to help the man with the paperwork, which didn’t please her employer. (6 minutes)

New Yorker on Civil Forfeiture

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New Yorker on Civil Forfeiture

In a recent issue of the New Yorker, Sarah Stillman discusses how local governments use civil forfeiture to raise revenue and how often citizens who have not been convicted of a crime lose their property.  Stillman sat down with Patrick Radden Keefe and Nicohlas Thompson to discuss her piece on the New Yorker: Out Loud podcast. 

Here is a description of the podcast: 

This week in the magazine, Sarah Stillman reports on how local governments around the country are invoking the powers of civil forfeiture to take money and property from people who haven’t been convicted of any crime. Here, Nicholas Thompson talks with Stillman and Patrick Radden Keefe about these abuses and what they mean for the citizens targeted and the law-enforcement agencies using it to fund their budgets.

Fareed’s Take: “Restoring the American Dream”

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Fareed’s Take: “Restoring the American Dream”

Yesterday, Fareed Zakaria GPS began with “Fareed’s Take” on poverty, education and the American Dream.

Here is a description of the commentary:

A recent OECD report points out that the U.S. is one of only three rich countries that spends less on disadvantaged students than others, largely because education funding for elementary and secondary schools in America is tied to local property taxes. So by definition, poor neighborhoods end up with badly funded schools. In general, America spends lots of money on education but most of it is on college education and most is directed towards those already advantaged in various ways.

What’s clear from all this research is that countries that invest more heavily in all their children’s health care, nutrition, and education, well-being more generally end up with a much stronger ladder of opportunity and access than America. Now, that is something we can change and with relatively little money. So if we want to restore the American dream, we now have the beginnings of a path forward.

For more, read the Washington Post column

 

Intelligence Squared Debate Retrospective: Health Care

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Intelligence Squared Debate Retrospective: Health Care

The most r recent episode of NPR’s Intelligence Squared podcast featured a retrospective of its past debates relating to health care policy. 

Here is a description of the episode: 

Since 2006, Intelligence Squared US has been hosting debates on the most divisive issues facing America, and in that time, the country’s political landscape has changed dramatically. Yet, despite these political transformations, the country’s most hotly contested topics have remained the same. Among the most divisive is health care. For this health care retrospective, Intelligence Squared has mined its vast archive of debates and created a program that illuminates the key political and philosophical differences on each side.

Story of the day: Mean Mom Genes

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Story of the day: Mean mom Genes

NPR’s All Things Considered ran a story about how, according to neutroscientists, tough economic times could affect parenting, specifically mothering.

Here is the introduction to segment:

A gene that affects the brain’s dopamine system appears to have influenced mothers’ behavior during a recent economic downturn, researchers say.

At the beginning of the recession that began in 2007, mothers with the “sensitive” version of a gene called DRD2 became more likely to strike or scream at their children, the researchers say. Mothers with the other “insensitive” version of the gene didn’t change their behavior.

But once it appeared that the recession would not become a full-fledged depression, the “sensitive” mothers became less likely than “insensitive” mothers to engage in harsh parenting.

“You have the same genes, and with a different environment it’s a completely different story,” says Irwin Garfinkel, a professor of contemporary urban problems at Columbia University. “I think that’s the most amazing part of what we found.”