A Natural Experiment to Test the Effect of Sanction Certainty and Celerity on Substance-Impaired Driving: North Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety Program.

Objectives: Evaluate the deterrent effect of a program that increases the certainty and celerity of sanction for arrestees ordered to abstain from alcohol and other drugs on substance-impaired driving arrests.

Methods: We examine participant compliance with orders to abstain from alcohol and other drug use via breathalyzer, body-worn continuous alcohol monitoring (CAM) devices, transdermal drug patches, and urinalyses. We then evaluate the impact of the 24/7 Sobriety program on substance-impaired driving arrests.

Escalation and Withdrawal of Treatment for Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe decisions about the escalation and withdrawal of treatment for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Summary Background Data: Interventions premised on facilitating patient autonomy have proven problematic in guiding treatment decisions in intensive care units (ICUs). Calls have thus been made to better understand how decisions are made in critical care.

COVID and crime: An early empirical look.

Data from 25 large U.S. cities is assembled to estimate the impact of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on crime.

Relaxing household liquidity constraints through social security.

More than a quarter of working-age households in the United States do not have sufficient savings to cover their expenditures after a month of unemployment. Recent proposals suggest giving workers early access to a small portion of their future Social Security benefits to finance their consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. We empirically analyze their impact.

Legal implications of antibiotic stewardship programs.

Infectious diseases professional societies, public health agencies, and healthcare regulatory agencies call for antibiotic stewardship programs (ASP) in many healthcare settings. However, medical legal implications of these programs remain largely uncharted territory. Although there is no legal precedent addressing issues of liability and standards of care on this subject, anticipating how the courts may assess questions of medical liability with respect to the various components of ASPs is important to define best practices in ASP operations, not only to manage the potential risk but also to improve patient care.

Missed opportunities to advance knowledge on traffic safety: Accessibility of driver licensing and crash data for scientific research.

Objective: Identifiable individual-level driver licensing and motor vehicle crash data are essential to advancing transportation safety research. However, epidemiologic studies using such data are rare, which may reflect their inaccessibility. We conducted a legal mapping study to evaluate US state laws regulating access to driver licensing and motor vehicle crash data for use in scientific research.

The effect of California's paid family leave policy on parent health: A quasi-experimental study.

The U.S. is the only high-income country without a national paid family leave (PFL) policy.

The Brain of Dexter Morgan: the Science of Psychopathy in Showtimes Season 8 of .

This article identifies and discusses on the ways in which biological influences to psychopathy are thematically portrayed in the eighth season of to describe Dexter's psychopathy, particularly focusing on fatalism and the inevitability of succumbing to one's "biological self." This paper, utilizing traditional content analysis, focuses on seven qualitative themes surrounding "biological fatalism" and psychopathy in this final season of As lay theories of psychopathy are thought to originate from the media's conceptualization of the disorder, such thematic portrayals serve to potential affect lay understandings of psychopathy and correspondingly, how the disorder is treated and perceived in the criminal justice process as a modern psychopathy-related "CSI Effect." The conclusion focuses on the messages that this final season of Dexter sends to the lay public about the biological influences to psychopathy and how this may create implications for the criminal justice system.

Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture, by Mark Fallon.

Fallon documents the source of misguided interrogations and torture after 9/11.

Shopping on the Public and Private Health Insurance Marketplaces: Consumer Decision Aids and Plan Presentation.

Background: The design of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) health insurance marketplaces influences complex health plan choices.

Objective: To compare the choice environments of the public health insurance exchanges in the fourth (OEP4) versus third (OEP3) open enrollment period and to examine online marketplace run by private companies, including a total cost estimate comparison.

Design: In November-December 2016, we examined the public and private online health insurance exchanges.

Does filler database size influence identification accuracy?

Police departments increasingly use large photo databases to select lineup fillers using facial recognition software, but this technological shift's implications have been largely unexplored in eyewitness research. Database use, particularly if coupled with facial matching software, could enable lineup constructors to increase filler-suspect similarity and thus enhance eyewitness accuracy (Fitzgerald, Oriet, Price, & Charman, 2013). However, with a large pool of potential fillers, such technologies might theoretically produce lineup fillers too similar to the suspect (Fitzgerald, Oriet, & Price, 2015; Luus & Wells, 1991; Wells, Rydell, & Seelau, 1993).

Baby M Turns 30: The Law and Policy of Surrogate Motherhood.

This article marks the 30 anniversary of the Supreme Court of New Jersey's Baby M decision by offering a critical analysis of surrogacy policy in the United States. Despite fundamental changes in both science and society since the case was decided, state courts and legislatures remain bitterly divided on the legality of surrogacy. In arguing for a more uniform, permissive legal posture toward surrogacy, the article addresses five central debates in the surrogacy literature.

The Science of Addiction and Criminal Law.

Although there is debate in the scientific and clinical literature about how much choice addicts have concerning the use of drugs and related activities, this article demonstrates that Anglo-American criminal law is most consistent with the position that addicts have substantial choice about engaging in crimes involving their addiction. It suggests that the criminal law's approach is consistent with plausible and reasonable current scientific and clinical understanding of addiction and is therefore defensible, but it also suggests that the law is unduly harsh and far from optimum.

Food Labeling and Consumer Associations with Health, Safety, and Environment.

The food supply is complicated and consumers are increasingly calling for labeling on food to be more informative. In particular, consumers are asking for the labeling of food derived from genetically modified organisms (GMO) based on health, safety, and environmental concerns. At issue is whether the labels that are sought would accurately provide the information desired.

The psychology of defendant plea decision making.

Every day, thousands of defendants, prosecutors, and defense attorneys must make guilty plea decisions, such as whether to accept a plea offer or proceed to trial. Most defendants opt to plead guilty; approximately 95% of state and federal convictions result from guilty pleas. In light of a newly emerging body of research and recent Supreme Court decisions on guilty pleas, this article asks and answers 2 questions: First, who pleads guilty and why? We describe the characteristics of those who are more or less likely to plead guilty, and examine the reasons why individuals plead guilty instead of proceeding to trial, exploring the cognitive, social influence, and developmental factors that underlie decision making.

Predicting the knowledge-recklessness distinction in the human brain.

Criminal convictions require proof that a prohibited act was performed in a statutorily specified mental state. Different legal consequences, including greater punishments, are mandated for those who act in a state of knowledge, compared with a state of recklessness. Existing research, however, suggests people have trouble classifying defendants as knowing, rather than reckless, even when instructed on the relevant legal criteria.