US

Denise A. Herd, University of California, Berkeley As the video goes public of Black police officers in Memphis beating Tyre Nichols to death, it is a stark reminder of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. That set up the largest protests in U.S. history and a national reckoning with racism. But beyond any protests, every police killing – indeed, every violent act by police toward civilians – can have painful and widespread consequences. Each year, U.S. police kill about 1,000 people, which equals approximately 8% of all homicides for adult men. This risk is greater for

Jillian Peterson, Hamline University and James Densley, Metropolitan State University The two men who shot dead 18 people in separate incidents just days apart in California are the latest perpetrators in America’s long history of mass gun violence. But something about these public shootings, and the men held responsible, stands out. The median age of mass shooters in the United States is 32. Yet the man who is alleged to have shot dead 11 people in Monterey Park on Jan. 21, 2023, before turning the gun on himself was 72 years old – the oldest mass shooter in modern American

William E. Butler, Penn State The release from Russian prison of WNBA star Britney Griner has been greeted with general delight in the United States. Announcing the deal that saw her freed on Dec. 8, 2022, President Joe Biden lauded the “painstaking and intense negotiations” that made it happen. Others may have legitimate concerns over the equivalence of the exchange, which saw convicted arms merchant Viktor Bout returned to Russia. As a longtime scholar of Russian law, I believe the episode prompts a reflection on the application of Russian law in Griner’s case, and more broadly consideration about such exchanges

Linda C. McClain, Boston University and Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University The first major election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade saw abortion rights on the ballot in a record number of states. The outcomes of these initiatives suggest that when Kansas voters in August 2022 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment declaring there is no state right to abortion, it was not a fluke. Indeed, results following the close of polls on Nov. 8 revealed that voters in Kentucky had followed suit and rejected a similar constitutional amendment. And in three other states — California, Michigan and Vermont —

John W. Diamond, Rice University Social Security is set to boost the benefits it provides retirees by 8.7%, the biggest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981. It comes as sky-high inflation continues to eat into incomes and savings. The changes are set to take effect in January 2023 and were announced following the release of the September 2022 consumer price index report, which showed inflation climbing more than expected during the month, by 0.4%. The automatic adjustment will surely come as a relief to tens of millions of retirees and those who receive supplemental security income who may be struggling to afford