The “San Antonio Four” appeared in court Wednesday for the first time since they were convicted and sentenced for sexual assault in the late 90’s. These four women — were sent to prison for more than a decade, after being accused of raping and threatening two young girls with a gun. The four were let… Continue reading Day one of ‘San Antonio Four’ hearing

“It’s never simple when science suffers a shakeup. The road to the truth is littered with fallen experts who were disgraced when they tried to disprove—or prove—the common wisdom, be it that the earth revolves around the sun or that witches float. Today’s researchers are fighting to restore logic in the debate over vaccinations, global… Continue reading Is Shaken Baby Syndrome the New Satanic Panic?

“Why did you write a book about the sex offender registry?” “When I saw the research on the registry I was really shocked at how pointless it is. And it was shocking because usually, when you research something, there’s ambiguity—there are some good things and there are some bad things. But with the registry, there’s… Continue reading NCRJ’s Emily Horowitz Interviewed About Forthcoming Book

(XiXinXing via iStock) “How did you arrive at taking up reform of the sex offender registry as a cause? “Well, I’m interested in keeping kids safe and I’m also interested in when our fears don’t match reality. That began when I let my son ride the subway and everyone told me, “Don’t you watch ‘Law… Continue reading Stop the Sex Offender Registry Panic

Read these articles in the Washington Post on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Tamir Kalifa “On April 22, the case will enter its final act as the two alleged victims take the stand. Now in their late 20s, one still maintains the abuse took place, and the other says the two were coerced to make a false accusation. After each is cross-examined, a judge will decide the likely… Continue reading Case of “San Antonio Four” Set to Enter its Final Act

“The growing unpopularity of the War on Drugs and the number of bipartisan moves to, supposedly, roll back mass incarceration have led some leftists to believe that, finally, the prison-state is about to be cut down to size. “Yet a new book by University of Pennsylvania political scientist Marie Gottschalk, Caught: The Prison State and… Continue reading It’s Not Just the Drug War

9 Social Panics That Gripped the Nation, Were Totally False, and Did Horrible Lasting Damage. Read the article by Janet Allon and Kali Hollway in Alternet.

“You have to feel a little sorry these days for professors married to their former students. They used to be respectable citizens—leaders in their fields, department chairs, maybe even a dean or two—and now they’re abusers of power avant la lettre. I suspect you can barely throw a stone on most campuses around the country… Continue reading Sexual Paranoia Strikes Academe

emily cooper for the boston globe “The situation on college campuses has become so dire that civil libertarians are calling for sexual assault investigations to be left to police and prosecutors. Despite the fact that conviction in a criminal court carries severe sentences and other harsh ramifications, frustrated and fearful students, parents, and lawyers seem… Continue reading The new panic: campus sex assaults