Black on black crime

He has published extensively on health and social welfare policy issues and is coauthor of Urban America and Public Policiesand The Chronically-Limited Elderly: The Case for a National Policy for In-Home and Community-Based Services.     

Death following accidental sodium azide ingestion

Two college students developed symptoms of poisoning following ingestion of a salt solution during a college physiology laboratory exercise. Symptoms included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and altered consciousness. The ingested solution was identified as isotonic buffered saline containing sodium azide in a concentration of 1.0 g/L. The solution was commercially prepared for instrumentation use only and was used inadvertently for the exercise instead of freshly preparing sodium chloride in water. One student drank three sips of the solution and survived. The other student drank 700 to 800 mL and over several days became progressively ill, suffering myocardial damage and cardiac dysrhythmias, and, finally, died. Toxicologic studies confirmed the presence of azide in an antemortem urine sample from the deceased. Sodium azide is an uncommon but potent poison which can cause serious illness and death.     

The Overrepresentation of Juvenile Crime Proportions in Robbery Clearance Statistics

Many, especially casual observers, interpret juvenile arrest statistics to bea measure of crime committed by juveniles. Others argue that clearancestatistics are a more representative index of the relative responsibility ofjuveniles. Using data from the FBI's National Incident-Based ReportingSystem, this paper explores the likelihoods of arrests for juvenile andadult robbery offenders. The findings show that juvenile robbery suspectsare 23% more likely to be arrested than adults, and 32% more likely aftercontrolling for other incident characteristics. Analyses also found anincreased likelihood of arrest in robbery incidents in which (1) the victimwas a juvenile, a female, or white; (2) the offender was white or female;and (3) the victim was injured. The presence of a weapon was not relatedto the likelihood of arrest. The differential influences of specificincident characteristics on the likelihood of arrest for juveniles andadults highlight the underlying biases of law enforcement statistics inassessing the juvenile component of crime.     

The dichotomy of the expert witness

The expert on either side is either right, partially right, wrong, or wrong and dishonest. Even strongly opposed testimony is not evidence of dishonesty, although it is clear at least one expert is wrong. Some differences are the result of legitimate differences of opinion. However, the author has identified several categories of testimony that show dishonest intent. It is clear that the growth of financial incentives has increased the number of cases in which there are opposing experts. If some kind of corrective action is not taken, expert witnesses will no longer be an effective force in the legal system. A multidisciplinary testimony review board separate from the ethics function is clearly one answer to the problem.