Texas Pays Men for Being Wrongly Incarcerated

The Innocence Project, a New York organization that works to free prisoners who are mistakenly convicted, announced that 38 men will receive payments from the State of Texas after DNA evidence prompted their release from prison ("Texas DNA Exonerees Find Prosperity after Prison" - Associated Press, September 4, 2009). For each year of prison time served, the exonerees will receive $80,000 in addition to "job training, tuition credits, and access to medical and dental treatment." Earlier payments to the wrongly convicted in Texas stood at $50,000 until several of the 38 men were "advised to drop their federal civil rights lawsuits" by their attorney who then pushed for passage of a new law that granted the larger sum.

Review selected library titles related to the DNA evidence and judicial error at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• DNA fingerprinting
• false imprisonment
  
• forensic genetics
  
• judicial error

DNA Evidence and Forensic Science by David E. Newton - Facts On File, 2008.
call number: 363.25 New
". . . Provides an overview of DNA evidence and forensic science, covering forensic tools and DNA typing and their history, and legal issues and specific cases in the U.S." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System by Jon B. Gould - New York University Press, 2008.
call number: 347.755 Gou
"After describing the history of innocence investigations, Gould calmly dissects 11 cases from the ICVA files to illustrate some tragic errors in the criminal justice system. The book benefits from the use of trial testimony and detailed case descriptions, and the section on federal and state procedures for requesting post-conviction relief, model police identification procedures, and recommendations for prosecutors is especially useful." - Library Journal review excerpt

Justice and Science: Trials and Triumphs of DNA Evidence by George "Woody" Clarke - Rutgers University Press, 2007.
call number: on order
". . .Nonfiction page turner that should appeal just as much to true crime buffs as those concerned with the workings of the criminal justice system. . . (the author is) a leading world expert on the use of DNA in establishing probable guilt or innocence." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

After Innocence [videorecording] American Film Foundation & Showtime Independent Films - New Yorker Video, 2007.
call number: DVD Nonfiction 614.1 Aft
"Tells the dramatic and compelling story of seven men that were exonerated after being imprisoned for decades and released after DNA evidence proved their innocence." - video producer summary

Cheney Defends Terrorism Interrogation Methods

In a recent televised interview, Former Vice-President Dick Cheney said that C.I.A. "enhanced interrogation techniques" including waterboarding were essential to defending the nation against terrorism ("Cheney Offers Sharp Defense of C.I.A. Interrogation Tactics" - New York Times, August 30, 2009). Cheney also stated that Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation into C.I.A. tactics would be detrimental to national security, noting that the inquiry must be politically motivated. Republican Senator John McCain disagreed with Cheney's assessment on the value of "extreme interrogation methods" and said that use of them went against provisions of the Geneva Conventions against torture and "produced unreliable intelligence."

Review selected library titles related to the terrorism investigations and torture at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• military interrogation
  
• torture
• war and emergency powers
  

Torture edited by Debra A. Miller - Greenhaven Press, 2009.
call number: 364.67 Tor
Includes several pro/con essays on such topics as "Is torture morally wrong?" and "Torture has a place in the war on terror." - publisher's table of contents excerpt

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer - Doubleday, 2008.
call number: 973.931 May
"This hard-hitting expose examines both the controversial excesses of the war on terror and the home-front struggle to circumvent legal obstacles to its prosecution . . . the author looks at the use of techniques like waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation against prisoners by the American military and CIA; her chilling account compellingly argues that this 'enhanced interrogation' regimen constitutes torture." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond by Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh - Columbia University Press, 2007.
call number: 341.65 Jaf
". . . The most detailed account thus far of what took place in America's overseas detention centers, including a narrative essay in which Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh (American Civil Liberties Union litigators) draw the connection between the policies adopted by senior civilian and military officials and the torture and abuse that took place on the ground." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration by Jack Goldsmith - W.W. Norton, 2007.
call number: 342.73 Gol
"The author served as the head of George W. Bush's Office of Legal Counsel from October 2003 to July 2004, where he spent his short tenure challenging his colleagues' over-broad legal reasoning on such issues as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, the Geneva Conventions, military commissions, interrogation techniques, and Guantanamo Bay." - publisher's summary excerpt

Alternative Medicine Expenses on the Increase

A new report from the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (affiliated with the National Institutes of Health) notes that alternative medical care "accounts for 1.5 percent of all health-care costs in the United States, but 11.2 percent of all out-of-pocket costs" mostly spent with "self-care therapies" that don't require consultation with a practitioner ("Americans Spend Billions on Alternative Medicine" - U.S. News and World Report, July 30, 2009). Purchase of "non-vitamin, non-mineral natural products" such as fish oil and echinacea accounted for some $14.8 billion of the total spent on alternative medicine.

Review selected library titles related to alternative medicine at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• alternative medicine
  
• homeopathy
  
• holistic medicine
  
• herbs therapeutic use
  

Alternative Therapies edited by Debra A. Miller - Greenhaven Press, 2009.
call number: 615.5 Alt
Includes information on alternative therapy regulation, safety, benefits/drawbacks, and use with children. - publisher's table of contents excerpt

Mosby's Complementary & Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach by Lyn Freeman - Mosby Elsevier, 2009.
call number: 615.522 Fre
"This text includes practical, clinically relevant coverage of complementary and alternative medicine, with commentary by well-known experts, descriptions of recent medical advances, case studies, and the history and philosophy of each discipline, along with indications, contraindications, practical application, and clinical trials for each topic." - publisher's summary excerpt

Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine by Simon Singh & Edzard Ernst - W.W. Norton & Co., 2008.
call number: 610 Sin
"Noted science writer Singh and British professor of complementary medicine Ernst offer a reasoned examination of the research on acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine and other alternative treatments. . . a stimulating and informative account that will be indispensable to anyone considering an alternative treatment, though it may not dissuade true believers." - Publisher's Weekly review excerpt

Prescription for Drug Alternatives: All-Natural Options for Better Health without the Side Effects by James F. Balch, Mark Stengler, and Robin Young-Balch - John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
call number: 615.535 Bal
"Verdict: The evidence supporting the efficacy of some suggested supplements is weak, and there are no caveats to readers that supplements themselves act as drugs. The bulk of the book consists of a listing of disease conditions with causes; prescription drug treatments with associated benefits, side effects, and risks; and natural alternatives." - Library Journal review excerpt

Alternative Medicine: An Introduction to Holistic and Integrative Therapies [videorecording] produced by Revodition LLC, 2008.
call number: DVD Nonfiction 615.88 Alt
"The program features 7 practitioners who have become successful in their respective forms of complementary and inclusionary medicine. They provide powerful insight on their experiences and methods of healing individuals who had nowhere else to turn for help." - publisher's summary excerpt