In Vitro Fertilization, State Wrongful Death Statutes and State Fetal Homicide Statutes: The Reaction to LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine.

The Alabama Supreme Court recently held, in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, that the parents of human embryos that were negligently destroyed at a fertility clinic could bring an action for damages under the State's wrongful death statute. Although the Alabama legislature promptly enacted a law essentially overturning the state supreme court's decision, concerns have been raised that the court's decision might influence courts in other States to interpret their wrongful death statutes, or possibly even their fetal homicide statutes, to apply in similar circumstances, thereby threatening the availability of in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology. This article addresses those concerns.With respect to wrongful death statutes, only fourteen States (excluding Alabama) have interpreted their statutes to apply to unborn children without regard to their stage of gestation or development. The majority of States impose a gestational requirement (typically, viability) which would preclude their application to the destruction of human embryos. Even with respect to the minority of States that impose no limitation on the cause of action, those statutes, either by their express language or by fair interpretation, would not apply to unimplanted human embryos.With respect to the fetal homicide statutes in thirty-one States that do not have any gestational or developmental limitation, the statutes in twenty-six of those States apply only to acts causing the death of an unborn child in utero. As to the statutes in the other five States, the structure of the statute, considered in light of the applicable case law, strongly suggests that there would be no liability for causing the death of an unborn child before implantation. In sum, the Alabama Supreme Court's decision in LePage is not likely to be followed as a precedent in interpreting either the wrongful death statutes or the fetal homicide statutes of any other State.

States' Abortion Laws Associated With Intimate Partner Violence-Related Homicide Of Women And Girls In The US, 2014-20.

Women who are pregnant or recently gave birth are significantly more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than nonpregnant, nonpostpartum women of reproductive age, implicating the risk of fatal violence conferred by pregnancy itself. The rapidly increasing passage of state legislation has restricted or banned access to abortion care across the US. We used the most recent and only source of population-based data to examine the association between state laws that restrict access to abortion and trends in intimate partner violence-related homicide among women and girls ages 10-44 during the period 2014-20. Using robust difference-in-differences ecologic modeling, we found that enforcement of each additional Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law was associated with a 3.4 percent increase in the rate of intimate partner violence-related homicide in this population. We estimated that 24.3 intimate partner violence-related homicides of women and girls ages 10-44 were associated with TRAP laws implemented in the states and years included in this analysis. Assessment of policies that restrict access to abortion should consider their potential harm to reproductive-age women through the risk for violent death.

State Firearm Laws and Firearm-Related Mortality and Morbidity.

This Viewpoint highlights the challenges to passing federal legislation that limits gun ownership and accessibility and summarizes some of the state laws used to successfully lower rates of firearm-related death and injury.

Analysis of "Stand Your Ground" Self-defense Laws and Statewide Rates of Homicides and Firearm Homicides.

Importance: Most US states have amended self-defense laws to enhance legal immunities for individuals using deadly force in public. Despite concerns that "stand your ground" (SYG) laws unnecessarily encourage the use of deadly violence, their impact on violent deaths and how this varies across states and demographic groups remains unclear. Objective: To evaluate the association of SYG laws with homicide and firearm homicide, nationally and by state, while considering variation by the race, age, and sex of individuals who died by homicide. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used a controlled, multiple-baseline and -location interrupted time series design, using natural variation in the timings and locations of SYG laws to assess associations. Changes in homicide and firearm homicide were modeled using Poisson regression analyses within a generalized additive model framework. Analyses included all US states that enacted SYG laws between 2000 and 2016 and states that did not have SYG laws enacted during the full study period, 1999 to 2017. Data were analyzed from November 2019 to December 2020. Exposures: SYG self-defense laws enacted by statute between January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were statewide monthly rates of homicide and firearm-related homicide (per 100 000 persons) from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2017, grouped by characteristics (ie, race, age, sex) of individuals who died by homicide. Results: Forty-one states were analyzed, including 23 states that enacted SYG laws during the study period and 18 states that did not have SYG laws, with 248 358 homicides (43.7% individuals aged 20-34 years; 77.9% men and 22.1% women), including 170 659 firearm homicides. SYG laws were associated with a mean national increase of 7.8% in monthly homicide rates (incidence rate ratio [IRR],1.08; 95% CI, 1.04-1.12; P < .001) and 8.0% in monthly firearm homicide rates (IRR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.13; P = .002). SYG laws were not associated with changes in the negative controls of suicide (IRR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.01) or firearm suicide (IRR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.98-1.02). Increases in violent deaths varied across states, with the largest increases (16.2% to 33.5%) clustering in the South (eg, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana). There were no differential associations of SYG laws by demographic group. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that adoption of SYG laws across the US was associated with increases in violent deaths, deaths that could potentially have been avoided.

The Assassination of Medgar Evers.

In 1995, Dr Martin Dalton published a recounting of his involvement with the first human lung transplant in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. As recalled in that account, the first lung transplant took place in the summer of 1963 in the context of another historical event, the assassination of Medgar Evers. This article is written in follow-up to Dalton's report in hopes of providing more insight into the events surrounding the assassination. This review will discuss the details of the assassination, attempted resuscitation, and the medical evidence presented in the trial of his assassin.

Matricide, parricide, and filicide: Are major mental disorders or personality disorders involved? Assessment of criminal responsibility in Brazilian cases.

Violence committed by individuals with severe mental disorders has become a growing focus of interest among physicians, law enforcement officials, and the general population. Homicide involving relatives, specially parricide, matricide, and filicide, despite the relatively low incidence of these crimes, may be enigmatic, so forensic psychiatrist are frequently called on the courts to answer questions about insanity and criminal responsibility. The current study aims to describe Brazilian cases of parricide, matricide, and filicide associated with presence of major mental disorders and personality disorders, discussing the assessment of criminal responsibility in each case. The case series described were specifically related to people with mental illness, as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and borderline personality with comorbidity of drug abuse. Two of them were considered not guilty by reason of insanity, and the other one was considered partially criminally responsible, according to Brazilian Law and Forensic Psychiatric Reports of the cases. The justice determined compulsory psychiatric treatment for all of them. The question of criminal responsibility of individuals with mental disorders is challenging for criminal justice, psychiatry, and society. Adequate treatment is mandatory to prevent crimes involving mental disorders, as shown in literature. The verification of criminal responsibility is essential for persons' adequate referral in any system of criminal law, thus protecting human rights and referring those who need psychiatric treatment.

Behavioral Variant of Frontotemporal Dementia and Homicide in a Historical Case.

Criminal behavior is a clinical feature of the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), ranging from socially inappropriate behavior and minor offenses (such as shoplifting, driving-related violations, housebreaking, trespassing) to the more extreme acts of sex crimes and violence. To our knowledge, no homicide case involving bvFTD is well illustrated in the scientific literature, and only a few anecdotal annotations are available about bvFTD and homicide. This is surprising considering the inclination of individuals with bvFTD to lack impulse control, to manifest disinhibition, to display diminished emotional awareness and loss of empathy, and to show behavior indicative of disordered moral reasoning. Here, we describe the 19th-century homicide case of Benjamin Reynaud, a man whose clinical characteristics suggest the bvFTD diagnosis. Reynaud's case may represent a rare instance of homicide committed by an individual with bvFTD and provide a basis for some reflections regarding the relationship between homicidal behavior and bvFTD.

Homicide impunity in Brazil between 2006 and 2016.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the level and temporal trends of homicide impunity in Brazil. METHODS: This is an ecological study that calculated two impunity indexes by dividing the total number of homicides committed in a 5-year period by the number of individuals arrested for murder (homicide impunity) or any other cause (general impunity) two years after this period. The Prais-Winsten linear regression model with serial autocorrelation correction was used to estimate the temporal trend of the impunity indexes. RESULTS: Between 2009 and 2014, 328,714 homicides were recorded in Brazil, but only 84,539 prisoners were serving sentences for this kind of crime in 2016. This shows that the number of homicides in Brazil exceeded in 244,175 the number of individuals in prisons for this crime. The impunity index ranged from 3.9 in 2006 to 3.3 in 2014. All states reached values above 1. Rio de Janeiro stood out negatively, with values above 20. São Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Distrito Federal showed the lowest impunity indexes for homicide, with values below 2. Eight states showed a downward trend in the overall impunity index. CONCLUSIONS: Most Brazilian states presented extremely high impunity indexes values. However, from 2010 to 2012, Brazilian society started to effectively combat impunity for serious violent crimes, including homicide. In São Paulo, this positive trend arose in the mid-1990s and that state currently shows impunity indexes values similar to those of developed countries.

A propósito de un caso de migración de proyectil / Concerning about a case of projectile migration

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Mujeres Filicidas: Análsis desde una perspectiva psicojurídica / Filicidal women: Analysis from a psycho-legal perspective

Resumen El presente escrito tiene por objetivo, identificar si existe una perspectiva psicojurídica del delito de homicidio de una madre hacia sus hijos (Filicidio) y sus características principales. Se trata de una revisión documental, en la cual se seleccionaron 67 artículos entre los años 2005-2017 en idiomas inglés y español, de bases de datos como; Science Direct, Redalyc, MedLine, PubMed, Scielo. Como resultado de esta revisión no se encontró ningún documento que contenga un enfoque desde la psicología jurídica que aborde este delito. Se propuso clasificar esta conducta punible según dos tipologías en las cuales se tiene en cuenta, la motivación de la agresora y características de la víctima, se consideran varios vacíos en las leyes, lo cual pretende trazar un camino para investigaciones desde esta área, que puedan contribuir a la prevención y mitigación de este tipo de hechos y aportar a futuras políticas publicas

Abstract This paper aims to identify if there is a psycho-juridical perspective of the crime of homicide of a mother towards her children (Filicide) and its main characteristics. It is a documentary review, in which 67 articles were selected between the years 2005-2017 in English and Spanish, databases such as; Science Direct, Redalyc, MedLine, PubMed, Scielo. As a result of this review we did not find any document that contains a legal psychology approach that addresses this crime. It was proposed to classify this punishable conduct according to two typologies in which the motivation of the aggressor and characteristics of the victim are considered, several gaps are considered in the laws, which intends to chart a way for investigations from this area, that can Contribute to the prevention and mitigation of this type of events and contribute to future public politics

Análisis epidemiológico de la violencia de género en la Unión Europea / Epidemiological analysis of gender violence in the European Union

Existe una gran heterogeneidad regional y desconocimiento de la situación actual de la violencia de género (VdG) en los diferentes países de la Unión Europea (UE-28). El objetivo del presente trabajo es determinar la prevalencia actual de la VdG y de feminicidios en la UE-28 y en particular en España. Consiste en un estudio descriptivo observacional (análisis de documentos) seleccionando y analizando datos de las diferentes modalidades de la VdG y de feminicidios en los 28 países de la UE. Letonia, Dinamarca, Reino Unido, Suecia, Bélgica, Finlandia, Eslovaquia y Luxemburgo tienen tasas más altas que la media de la UE en todos los tipos de VdG y Finlandia, Hungría, Irlanda del Norte y Letonia poseen índices de prevalencia más altos en feminicidios. Con respecto a España, el 0,13% de las mujeres fueron víctimas de VdG y se producen 2,3 feminicidios por cada 1.000.000 mujeres, situándose España entre los países con tasas más bajas. Se concluye que el maltrato psicológico es el más prevalente en la UE-28, sin embargo, existe una dificultad para la comparación de datos de los diferentes países debido a la inexistencia de una conceptualización legal común de la VdG

There is a great regional heterogeneity and ignorance of the current gender-based violence (GBV) situation in the different countries of the European Union (EU-28). The aim of this paper is to determine the current prevalence of GBV and femicides in the EU-28 and in Spain in particular. This study consists of an observational descriptive study (document analysis) which selects and analyses data belonging to the different modalities of GBV and femicides in the EU-28 countries. Latvia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Slovakia and Luxembourg possess higher rates than the EU average in all types of GBV while Finland, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Latvia possess higher prevalence rates in femicide. With respect to Spain, 0.13% of women were victims of GBV and 2.3 femicides occur for every 1.000.000 women, with Spain being among the countries with the lowest rates. It is therefore concluded that psychological abuse is the most prevalent within the EU-28, however, it is difficult to compare said data from different countries due to the lack of a common legal conceptuaisation of GBV

Bride burning: A unique and ongoing form of gender-based violence.

Despite legislation, dowry is still widespread in many parts of India and adjacent countries. It refers to the transfer of goods, money, and property to a bridegroom, his parents, or his relatives from a bride's family as a condition of the marriage. One of the consequences of the dowry system has been the murder or abetted suicide of young wives, either because more dowry goods were not provided to her husband or his family, or to secure the goods after marriage. In 2015 7634 women died due to dowry harassment, representing approximately 21 cases per day in India. The majority of dowry deaths occur within the first three years of marriage. Common types of dowry death homicides involve fire ('bride burning', drowning, poisoning and hanging/strangulation. In addition to legislation, an organized and multipronged approach is need by investigating police officers, women's' welfare organizations, responsible public servants, and the judiciary with consistent applications of deterrent penalties. Full and properly conducted medicolegal investigation is mandatory which must include scene examinations, full autopsies with photographic documentation and ancillary investigations such as headspace analyses. Significant burns in young Indian women living in traditional circumstances should raise the possibility of dowry-related crime.

For Victims of Fatal Child Abuse, Who Has the Right to Consent to Organ Donation?

In rare circumstances, children who have suffered traumatic brain injury from child abuse are declared dead by neurologic criteria and are eligible to donate organs. When the parents are the suspected abusers, there can be confusion about who has the legal right to authorize organ donation. Furthermore, organ donation may interfere with the collection of forensic evidence that is necessary to evaluate the abuse. Under those circumstances, particularly in the context of a child homicide investigation, the goals of organ donation and collection and preservation of critical forensic evidence may seem mutually exclusive. In this Ethics Rounds, we discuss such a case and suggest ways to resolve the apparent conflicts between the desire to procure organs for donation and the need to thoroughly evaluate the evidence of abuse.

The Death of Freddie Gray and Its Impact on Homicides in Baltimore and Maryland.

This study evaluated the impact that Freddie Gray's death on April, 19, 2015, had on homicides within Baltimore, Prince George's County, and the rest of Maryland. The numbers of these deaths were compared in the 2 years prior and after his death. The average number of homicide per month in Baltimore and Prince George's County, but not the rest of Maryland, showed a statistically significant increase in the 2 years after his death, with a sudden spike in homicides in Baltimore immediately following his death. Spatial density ("heat") maps of homicides showed an increase in clustering of deaths after Freddie Gray's demise in portions of Baltimore, particularly near his arrest site. Hot spot maps showed a massive expansion of statistically significant clusters of homicides in areas of West and East Baltimore after his death. An emerging hot spot analysis revealed consecutive hot spots in large areas of West Baltimore with new hot spots prominent along the southern edge of this area. A review of the history of Baltimore, as well as discussions with Baltimore homicide detectives, revealed that prior socioeconomic and political trends likely primed Baltimore for the protests and violence that occurred after Freddie Gray's death. It is probable that a perceived "overcharging" of officers involved in his death by the State's Attorney resulted in a "pullback" from policing that directly led to increased homicides in Baltimore.

What is suicide? Classifying self-killings.

Although the most common understanding of suicide is intentional self-killing, this conception either rules out someone who lacks mental capacity being classed as a suicide or, if acting intentionally is meant to include this sort of case, then what it means to act intentionally is so weak that intention is not a necessary condition of suicide. This has implications in health care, and has a further bearing on issues such as assisted suicide and health insurance. In this paper, I argue that intention is not a necessary condition of suicide at all. Rather, I develop a novel approach that deploys the structure of a homicide taxonomy to classify and characterise suicides to arrive at a conceptually robust understanding of suicide. According to my analysis of suicide, an agent is the proximate cause of his death. Suicide is 'self-killing,' rather than 'intentional self-killing.' Adopting this understanding of suicide performs several functions: (1) We acquire an external standard to assess diverging analyses on specific cases by appealing to homologous homicides. (2) Following such a taxonomy differentiates types of suicides. (3) This approach has application in addressing negative connotations about suicide. (4) As a robust view, adding intention is an unnecessary complication. (5) It is more consistent with psychological and sociological assessments of suicide than 'intentional self-killing.' (6) It has useful applications in informing public policy. This paper's focus is on classifying types of suicides, rather than on the moral permissibility or on underlying causes of suicidal ideation and behaviour.