By: Brandon L. Garrett Today we celebrate international Wrongful Convictions Day, for the sixth time. In those years, we have seen exonerations mount in the U.S. and around the world. New laws directed at recognizing claims of innocence, preserving and testing new evidence, improving forensic science, and combating false confessions, eyewitness misidentifications, and jailhouse informant […]
Category: Blog
Dr. Allison Robertson Discusses Medication-Assisted Treatment Research Successes, Challenges
There is strong evidence to show the effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with justice-involved individuals but still a number of barriers in place to implementing it, according to Dr. Allison Robertson, a member of the Behavioral Health Core at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law. Robertson – who is an associate […]
Upcoming Event: Experts to Discuss Qualified Immunity
Join us this Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. on Zoom (Webinar ID: 993 5469 1485) for an event on called Unqualified Immunity? The Challenges of Holding Federal Officials Accountable. The event features Anya Bidwell from the Institute for Justice, who is working on a case called Brownback v. King which will be in front of the […]
Celebrating National Recovery Month through Awareness of Psychiatric Advance Directives
By Dr. Marvin Swartz National Recovery Month is a national observance every September to educate Americans that persons with behavioral health disorders can live healthy and rewarding lives. Recovery month is also an opportunity to reflect on the struggle to achieve recovery and the critical value of treatment and other support services. Unfortunately, some individuals […]
What Prisons Could Still Do to Save Lives
By Deniz Ariturk Six months after the first nationwide shutdown, US prisons and jails continue to be top COVID hot spots. Case numbers have continued to increase rapidly in prisons even as they plateaued nationwide in early summer, and new weekly cases peaked in August. By September 8, a total of 121,217 incarcerated people had […]
Brandon Garrett to Moderate Sanford’s Stand for Justice Event
Wilson Center Director Brandon Garrett on Monday will moderate a criminal justice event hosted by the Sanford School of Public Policy, titled Stand for Justice. The panelists at the event are Kassandra Frederique of Drug Policy Alliance, Bianca Tylek of Worth Rises, and Alec Karakatsanis of Civil Rights Corps. The talk, about criminal justice reform, […]
New Duke Law Post: Faculty, Alumni Discuss N.C. Racial Justice Act Repeal
From Duke Law News: Duke Law faculty and alumni involved in challenging the reinstatement of death sentences after the retroactive repeal of North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act hailed a state Supreme Court decision that the move was unconstitutional — a ruling that is expected to spare the lives of four inmates on death row. On […]
Upcoming Event: Impact of COVID on Black Americans, Other People of Color
The Duke Center for Science and Justice is cohosting another upcoming Duke Science & Society event as part of its Coronavirus Conversations series. The virtual event is titled “Impact of COVID on Black Americans and Other People of Color” and will start at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11. Online registration ahead of time is required. Find more information […]
Houston Bail Monitor 6-Month Report Shows Increased Releases, Reduced Use of Cash Bail
HOUSTON, T.X. – The independent monitors overseeing Harris County’s historic bail reform agreement filed its report this morning describing their first six-months of work and findings with the federal court, noting an increase in releases and a reduced use of cash bail. The implementation of the ODonnell Consent Decree in Harris County, Texas – which encompasses Houston […]
Ronnie Long is Finally Free
From Duke Law news: On Wednesday, the State of North Carolina filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to initiate a process leading to Long’s freedom. The state asked the court to immediately issue a mandate in Long’s case and said it planned to move immediately in the district court […]