Washington v. Glucksberg was tragically wrong

Properly focused, there were two questions before the Supreme Court in Washington v. Glucksberg. First, in light of all of the other non-textual rights protected by the Supreme Court under the "liberty" of the Due Process Clause, is the right to assisted death a fundamental right? Second, if so, is the prohibition of assisted death necessary to achieve a compelling interest? Presented in this way, it is clear that the Court erred in Washington v. Glucksberg. The right of a terminally ill person to end his or her life is an essential aspect of autonomy, comparable to aspects of autonomy that the Court has protected in decisions concerning family autonomy, reproductive autonomy, and autonomy to engage in sexual activity. Moreover, the government's general interest in protecting life and preventing suicide has far less force when applied to a terminally ill patient. The tragedy of Washington v. Glucksberg is that every day across the country, terminally ill patients are being forced to suffer longer and being denied an essential aspect of their autonomy and personhood.     

A Note on Overfishing, Fishing Rights and Futures Markets

Introducing a futures market for fishing rights would increase utility for risk averse fishermen. We use the EV model to analyze possible reductions in (expected) profits for futures trading that would make fishermen indifferent between the situation with and without futures markets. It is found that a futures market for fishing rights enables policy makers to pursue substantial cuts in the size of annual quotas without hurting fishermen. In light of current overfishing and pressure from the sector to avoid dramatic cutbacks in effort, this is an important policy result.     

Objective Evaluation of Subclass Characteristics on Breech Face Marks

Subclass characteristics can be found on the breech face marks left on spent cartridge cases. Even if they are assumed to be rare and their reported number is small, they can potentially lead to false associations. Subclass characteristics have been studied empirically allowing examiners to recognize them and to understand in which conditions they are produced. Until now, however, their influence on the identification process has not been studied from a probabilistic point of view. In this study, we aim at measuring the effect of these features on the strength of association derived from examinations involving subclass characteristics. The study takes advantage of a 3D automatic comparison system allowing the calculation of likelihood ratios (LRs). The similarities between cartridge case specimens fired by thirteen S&W .40S&W Sigma pistols are quantified, and their respective LRs are computed. The results show that the influence of subclass characteristics on the LRs is limited, even when these features are prevalent among the potential sources considered in a case. We show that the proportion of firearms sharing subclass characteristics should be larger than 40% of the pool of potential firearms for the effect to be significant.     

Time's Up

This study tests general strain theory among a sample of 216 incarcerated women. Incarcerated women cope with many strains in prison. They frequently rely on social support from other inmates as coping mechanisms. Some even form pseudofamilies. Such relationships may impact the level of strain and negative emotions these women experience and the misconduct they engage in. The purpose of this study is to explore what relationship (if any) exists between strain, anger, depression, institutional misconduct, and pseudofamily membership. Findings suggest limited support for general strain theory and highlight the importance of women's past victimizations and impulsivity in predicting their misconduct.     

Rights and obligations of the persons concerning their genetic data.

The right to privacy is a right that is universally recognised and which encompasses the protection of the genetic codes. However, this is not an absolute right and is limited when certain interests come into play. This article highlights such limits, analysing the different uses that can be made with the genetic data, as well as the dangers that such uses can entail.