Episodes

A Credibility Gap in Cases of Rape. In cases of sexual assault, the credibility of the victim is crucial to whether law enforcement will investigate the assault, prosecutors will bring charges, and whether the jury will ultimately find the defendant culpable. Time and again, victims who come forward recount being disbelieved at each stage of the criminal justice system, a function of what Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer calls credibility discounting. The credibility discount is biased disbelief of...

A Credibility Gap in Cases of Rape. In cases of sexual assault, the credibility of the victim is crucial to whether law enforcement will investigate the assault, prosecutors will bring charges, and whether the jury will ultimately find the defendant culpable. Time and again, victims who come forward recount being disbelieved at each stage of the criminal justice system, a function of what Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer calls credibility discounting. The credibility discount is biased disbelief of...

Forensic science is often viewed as the silver bullet in modern criminal convictions, but not all forensic science disciplines are backed by sound empirical data. M. Chris Fabricant of Innocence Project explains how junk science leads to injustice, wrongful convictions, and the failure to apprehend violent criminals responsible. He explains that the term "poor people science" refers to how the courts seem to employ one system to adjudge experts in civil cases against wealthy corporate defendants...

Forensic science is often viewed as the silver bullet in modern criminal convictions, but not all forensic science disciplines are backed by sound empirical data. M. Chris Fabricant of Innocence Project explains how junk science leads to injustice, wrongful convictions, and the failure to apprehend violent criminals responsible. He explains that the term "poor people science" refers to how the courts seem to employ one system to adjudge experts in civil cases against wealthy corporate defendants...

Forensic science is often viewed as the silver bullet in modern criminal convictions, but not all forensic science disciplines are backed by sound empirical data. M. Chris Fabricant of Innocence Project explains how junk science leads to injustice, wrongful convictions, and the failure to apprehend violent criminals responsible. He explains that the term "poor people science" refers to how the courts seem to employ one system to adjudge experts in civil cases against wealthy corporate defendants...

America's infrastructure is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers graded the national infrastructure a D+ in 2017, with transit rated a D- and drinking water, dams and roads rated a D. Despite broad bipartisan recognition for the need to rebuild and expand, government spending on infrastructure fell by nearly $10 billion over the past decade, with increased spending on maintaining existing systems and decreased spending on capital projects. Professor Michael Graetz, co-author of The...

America's infrastructure is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers graded the national infrastructure a D+ in 2017, with transit rated a D- and drinking water, dams and roads rated a D. Despite broad bipartisan recognition for the need to rebuild and expand, government spending on infrastructure fell by nearly $10 billion over the past decade, with increased spending on maintaining existing systems and decreased spending on capital projects. Professor Michael Graetz, co-author of The...

America's infrastructure is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers graded the national infrastructure a D+ in 2017, with transit rated a D- and drinking water, dams and roads rated a D. Despite broad bipartisan recognition for the need to rebuild and expand, government spending on infrastructure fell by nearly $10 billion over the past decade, with increased spending on maintaining existing systems and decreased spending on capital projects. Professor Michael Graetz, co-author of The...

A dispute over the proper owner of Barry Bonds’ million-dollar home run ball, the right to grow California redwood trees that are shading a neighbor’s solar panels, the legality of shooting down a drone flying over private property: the common thread among all these seemingly unrelated cases is that these are conflicts about ownership design. Ownership design is a powerful social engineering tool that shapes how we live our lives. It determines who gets what and why. Professor Michael Heller, co...

A dispute over the proper owner of Barry Bonds’ million-dollar home run ball, the right to grow California redwood trees that are shading a neighbor’s solar panels, the legality of shooting down a drone flying over private property: the common thread among all these seemingly unrelated cases is that these are conflicts about ownership design. Ownership design is a powerful social engineering tool that shapes how we live our lives. It determines who gets what and why. Professor Michael Heller, co...

A dispute over the proper owner of Barry Bonds’ million-dollar home run ball, the right to grow California redwood trees that are shading a neighbor’s solar panels, the legality of shooting down a drone flying over private property: the common thread among all these seemingly unrelated cases is that these are conflicts about ownership design. Ownership design is a powerful social engineering tool that shapes how we live our lives. It determines who gets what and why. Professor Michael Heller, co...

The United States has a long history of racial discrimination in juries. In 1875, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which prohibited race-based discrimination in jury service. Yet, states continued to remove Black prospective jurors, by instituting vague requirements for jury service or designating prominent citizens to compile juror lists, and then shifted to excluding jurors from jury selection from around the 1960s. Despite the landmark 1986 case Batson v. Kentucky in which the Supreme Cou...

The United States has a long history of racial discrimination in juries. In 1875, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which prohibited race-based discrimination in jury service. Yet, states continued to remove Black prospective jurors, by instituting vague requirements for jury service or designating prominent citizens to compile juror lists, and then shifted to excluding jurors from jury selection from around the 1960s. Despite the landmark 1986 case Batson v. Kentucky in which the Supreme Cou...

The United States has a long history of racial discrimination in juries. In 1875, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which prohibited race-based discrimination in jury service. Yet, states continued to remove Black prospective jurors, by instituting vague requirements for jury service or designating prominent citizens to compile juror lists, and then shifted to excluding jurors from jury selection from around the 1960s. Despite the landmark 1986 case Batson v. Kentucky in which the Supreme Cou...

When does a lawyer have a duty to investigate her own clients? If a lawyer suspects, but does not know, that a client or potential client is seeking their services to engage in criminal activity, can they still offer legal counsel? In its Formal Opinion 491 issued in 2020, the American Bar Association addressed lawyers’ obligations to inquire further to determine whether a client may be attempting to perpetrate a crime or fraud. Professor Peter Joy, legal ethics scholar, explains the ethics rule...

When does a lawyer have a duty to investigate her own clients? If a lawyer suspects, but does not know, that a client or potential client is seeking their services to engage in criminal activity, can they still offer legal counsel? In its Formal Opinion 491 issued in 2020, the American Bar Association addressed lawyers’ obligations to inquire further to determine whether a client may be attempting to perpetrate a crime or fraud. Professor Peter Joy, legal ethics scholar, explains the ethics rule...

When does a lawyer have a duty to investigate her own clients? If a lawyer suspects, but does not know, that a client or potential client is seeking their services to engage in criminal activity, can they still offer legal counsel? In its Formal Opinion 491 issued in 2020, the American Bar Association addressed lawyers’ obligations to inquire further to determine whether a client may be attempting to perpetrate a crime or fraud. Professor Peter Joy, legal ethics scholar, explains the ethics rule...