News

By Sean Bennett To try a defendant who is not mentally competent to take part in their defense is a denial of legal due process. While the state is not constitutionally compelled to prove a defendant is competent, they must allow them to attempt to prove they are incompetent to stand trial. Competency to stand […]

By Jenna Prochnau A recent paper in Psychiatric Services co-authored by the Wilson Center’s Dr. Marvin S. Swartz explores the potential for Medicaid coverage to be used to develop and sustain peer support services for incarcerated people with mental illnesses, these are peers with shared criminal justice experience. Swartz and co-authors Dr. Andrew D. Carlo […]

DURHAM, NC – In a unique partnership with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, two district attorney’s offices are providing unprecedented access and information about the little-understood world of plea agreements in criminal cases. Durham County (NC) District Attorney Satana Deberry and Berkshire County (MA) District Attorney Andrea Harrington partnered with […]

By Annie Han Thirteen-year-old Art Tobias was convicted of murder in 2013. Witnesses said the gunman was about 20 to 30 years old, and around 200 pounds. The surveillance cameras at the scene showed a large man wearing a white shirt. Tobias was 4′ 11″, 110 pounds, and wearing a black Scooby-Doo t-shirt at the […]

By Annie Han Ketamine is used as an anesthetic in hospitals, as a treatment for depression, and – most dangerously – a forced sedative by the police. Star Tribune journalist Andy Mannix reported that police officers in Minneapolis direct paramedics to inject the drug into people to subdue them, often causing severe side effects such […]

By Ruthie Kesri The death of George Floyd in police custody last summer drew widespread outrage after a bystander’s viral video showed then-Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, a white 19-year veteran of the department, pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds as Floyd gasped for breath. Following an emotionally-charged three-week […]

By Ruthie Kesri The Durham Expunction And Restoration (DEAR) program provides free legal services to in-need Durham residents to file expunction petitions and restore suspended or revoked drivers’ licenses. DEAR’s mission centers on ensuring all people have equal access to legal relief. The program has identified that having a criminal record or a suspended driver’s […]

Yvette Garcia Missri, a leading legal and public health advocate for racial and social justice for over 20 years, joined the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law this week as the Executive Director. Garcia Missri most recently served as the Litigation Counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, where she used litigation strategies to combat […]