By: Alexi DeLara Every year, Duke University offers the opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in Bass Connections, year-long research projects spanning a variety of topics. These students work as a team alongside faculty with a common end goal, which is dependent on the project. This year, there are two projects that individuals […]
Category: Student Work
Eyewitness Conference Examines Importance, Pitfalls of Evidence
By: Sydney Gaviser Eyewitness testimony is one of the oldest and most basic forms of trial evidence. If a witness sees a person commit a crime, reports to the police, and is able to identify the culprit in a lineup procedure, the system must have worked. Unfortunately, research tells us that eyewitnesses can and do make […]
Upcoming Paper Encourages Redistribution of Police Power
By De’Ja Wood Over the summer, the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sparked national protests and discourse about the need for radical police reform. Organizers across the nation called on their local and state governments to defund the police, invest in community resources that address the conditions that create violence within communities, and […]
Firearms Testimony: Should it be the Smoking Gun?
By Alexi DeLara In recent decades, researchers, judges, and journalists have raised questions regarding the reliability of a range of widely utilized forensic techniques. This includes, but is not limited to, forensic comparison methods, such as latent fingerprint and firearm comparisons. The article, “Mock Jurors’ Evaluation of Firearm Examiner Testimony Notes,” written by Brandon L. […]
Forward Justice’s Atkinson Estimates 5,000 Could Vote This Election Thanks to Lawsuit over Felony Disenfranchisement
By De’Ja Wood and Sydney Gaviser Felony disenfranchisement rates are highest in Southern states, including in North Carolina, where voting restrictions passed during the Jim Crow era aimed to limit the political power of Black men. The Sentencing Project estimates that more than 5 million people across the nation will not be able to vote […]
ADA Event Panelists Discuss Vital Protections for Disabled People, Concerning Future for Law
By: Jeremy Yu When George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act into law in 1990, he famously said “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” In celebration this year of the 30th anniversary of this landmark piece of civil rights legislation, the Wilson Center’s Dr. Marvin Swartz, Professor in Psychiatry […]
Student Post: Winston-Salem Police Should Adopt Reform to Exhaust All Alternatives Before Shooting
Editor’s note: There are several Duke University and Duke Law students working with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice this semester, including some who are working on a “blog team.” Those students are learning about the intersection of the criminal system with communications. As part of a recent assignment, four students wrote op-ed-style articles […]
Student Post: Wilmington Police Policies Should Reflect Mental Health Best Practices
Editor’s note: There are several Duke University and Duke Law students working with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice this semester, including some who are working on a “blog team.” Those students are learning about the intersection of the criminal system with communications. As part of a recent assignment, four students wrote op-ed-style articles […]
Student Post: Updated Greensboro Police Department Policies a Good Start with Room to Grow
Editor’s note: There are several Duke University and Duke Law students working with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice this semester, including some who are working on a “blog team.” Those students are learning about the intersection of the criminal system with communications. As part of a recent assignment, four students wrote op-ed-style articles […]
Student Post: It’s Time for Raleigh Police to Defer Mental Health Crises to Trained Professionals
Editor’s note: There are several Duke University and Duke Law students working with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice this semester, including some who are working on a “blog team.” Those students are learning about the intersection of the criminal system with communications. As part of a recent assignment, four students wrote op-ed-style articles […]