Executing Kasab: a new beginning or the beginning of the end of India’s death penalty?

Franklin Zimring writes for The Economic and Political Weekly, December 29, 2012

With the pressure to execute Ajmal Kasab now past, perhaps India can proceed with caution towards ending executions, as every democracy in Europe has already done. A formal moratorium on executions can be a tentative first step as has been used extensively by other jurisdictions in their journey towards abolition. Ironically, then, Kasab’s hanging may have removed the country’s best argument for retaining capital punishment.

William Bratton to aid Oakland police

Franklin Zimring quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 2012

Franklin Zimring, a UC Berkeley law professor and criminologist, said Bratton’s hiring was a good move as long as city leaders let him weigh in broadly on the operations of the department – and agreed to listen.
“The problem in Oakland has been too many cooks spoiling the Police Department,” Zimring said. “If he’s another voice in the chorus, and they’re not all singing together, we’ve got trouble.”

Homicides plummet in Richmond, once considered among the most dangerous cities in U.S.

Barry Krisberg and Franklin Zimring quoted in Contra Costa Times, December 24, 2012

“Richmond is doing a lot of things right, and that’s helping them buck a trend,” said Barry Krisberg, research and policy director at the Earl Warren Institute at UC Berkeley School of Law. “Years ago, Richmond committed itself to an evidence-based, comprehensive strategy to reduce violence, and we’re seeing the payoff.”

“You want to be cautious when pinning the tail on the causes for declines in Richmond homicides,” said UC Berkeley criminologist Franklin Zimring. “They are doing community-based policing, but they are also doing intensive policing, with a lot of cops on the streets.”

Insight: Mass shootings tend to lift gun sales, data shows

Franklin Zimring quoted in Reuters, December 21, 2012

Events that create “anxiety-producing circumstances for gun ownership” will lead to a short-term increase in sales, said Frank Zimring, a criminologist and professor at the University of California – Berkeley Law School.

California smokers may get hit with new tax

Barry Krisberg quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, December 21, 2012

“To go outside and pick someone like this is pretty remarkable,” said Barry Krisberg, director of research and policy at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at UC Berkeley.
“What this signals to me is that (Brown) is interested in really trying to move California into the forefront of corrections nationwide and also to solve a lot of the big problems they’ve been struggling with for a long, long time,” he said.

City reports drop in incarceration rate

Franklin Zimring quoted in The Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2012

Zimring said more study is necessary to establish a definite causal link between the city’s various juvenile justice programs and the low incarceration rate. “What we know from New York’s experience is that trying to change individual behaviors in community settings can work very well, but you still have to count your change very carefully, and rigorously evaluate particular people-changing exercises,” Zimring said.

Chinese leaders’ goals rational and realistic, US experts say

Robert Berring quoted in China Daily USA, December 19, 2012

Robert Berring, a professor with the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, said China’s leadership is saying all the right things. “China will stay on the right track if these goals are ardently pursued,” Berring said. “China has matured into a world economic colossus. Now it is time to make sure that the colossus has a strong foundation.”

Professor’s book on ethical issues of terrorism and torture published

John Yoo cited in Western Michigan University News, December 19, 2012

“Professor Allhoff has written a challenging work that is sure to generate controversy among both the supporters and critics of the United States’ war on terror,” writes Dr. John Yoo, professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. “He applies philosophical, legal and political approaches to deepen our understanding of modern terrorism, the ticking-time-bomb hypothetical and national security. His methodical arguments and brave conclusions will not please everyone, but it will press them all to become more rigorous in their thinking and more careful in their judgments.”

Instagram says users’ photos won’t appear in ads

Christopher Hoofnagle quoted in Associated Press, December 18, 2012

“These services are publicly advertised as ‘free,’ but the free label masks costs to privacy, which include the responsibility of monitoring how these companies sell data, and even how they change policies over time,” said Chris Hoofnagle, director of Information Privacy Programs at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology.

Who we are

Ian Haney-Lopez cited in Boulder Daily Camera, December 16, 2012

Ian F. Haney Lpez, a writer and professor of race and constitutional law at the University of California Berkeley, wrote about the idea of abolishing the concept of racial structures completely. In the beginning of the 21st Century, Lpez wrote “Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge.” In one section, “The Social Construction of Race,” he not only concludes that the thought of race is a complete social construct, but that “by choosing to resist racial constructions, we may emancipate ourselves and our children.”