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DeJuan Strickland has self-published two comic books, hoping that young, Black superheroes would inspire a greater interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.

For decades, the FCC has maintained an arguably pathetic definition of “broadband,” allowing the telecom industry to under-deliver substandard access. And despite some new rhetoric from the agency under Biden, that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Broadband was originally defined as any 200 kbps connection. In 2010, that pathetic definition was changed to […]

by Duaa Eldeib

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Legal experts from two universities will convene a group to study a dubious forensic test that has helped send some women to prison for murder though the women insisted they had stillbirths.

Last month, ProPublica reported on what’s known as the lung float test, which some medical examiners use to help determine whether a child was stillborn or was born alive and took a breath.

In response to the investigation, Aziza Ahmed, a professor at Boston University School of Law, and Daniel Medwed, professor of law and criminal justice at Northeastern University, announced they will lead the Floating Lung Test Research Study Group. The group, which will consist of lawyers and medical professionals, will be sponsored by the Boston University Program on Reproductive Justice and the Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration at Northeastern University School of Law.

“This is entirely due to the ProPublica report,” Ahmed said last week. “We realized it was time to take action.”

The aim of the group is to study the medical underpinnings of the lung float test, also referred to as the floating lung test, and determine whether it should be used in court. ProPublica’s reporting found that although several medical examiners said the test is unreliable, it had been used in at least 11 cases since 2013 in which women were charged criminally, and it has helped to put nine of those women behind bars. Some later had their charges dropped and were released.

The test, which has been around for centuries and remains essentially unchanged in spite of medical advances, is typically used in cases when births occurred outside of a hospital. Critics have likened the test to witch trials, when women were deemed to be witches based on whether they floated or sank.

When told about the study group, Dr. Joyce deJong, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, said the organization “supports initiatives that aim to enhance forensic tests’ scientific rigor and reliability.” It doesn’t have an official stance on the test, but deJong said a primary role is to “promote best practices and standards in forensic pathology and death investigation.”

If the study group asks for board-certified forensic pathologists to participate, the organization could share the request with its members, deJong said.

The group leaders plan to spend the next several weeks assembling a team and hope to have their first meeting early next year.

“The process will be robust and comprehensive,” Medwed said. “We will explore and interrogate any argument, pro and con.”

Many medical experts say that air can enter the lungs of a stillborn child even without breathing. Air can enter when the baby’s chest compresses as it squeezes through the birth canal, through CPR or during the ordinary handling of the body. If the body is decomposed, gases may cause the lungs to float.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion, experts fear the test may play a larger role in cases when police and prosecutors raise questions about the circumstances of a birth.

“There’s a concern that more women would be vulnerable to prosecution, especially if they tried to self-induce later in pregnancy,” Ahmed said. “In this environment, the floating lung test is something that prosecutors would rely on.”

Medical and legal experts have pointed to wide variations in how the test is conducted, including the fact that some medical examiners use a whole lung while others use pieces. Experts have said the lack of standardization required by other forensic disciplines, such as DNA testing, has led to the lung float test producing inaccurate results.

Medwed, who also is a founding member of the board of directors of the Innocence Network, a coalition of organizations dedicated to fighting wrongful convictions, said that nearly 25% of wrongful conviction cases since 1989 involved some type of flawed science.

Because the lung float test is conducted by medical examiners, Medwed said, he worries the “mystique of the white coat” leads judges and jurors alike to overvalue the test. Similar concerns have been raised about shaken baby syndrome, which has faced increased scrutiny in recent years. There’s a natural deference to the expert, he said, and specifically the expert best at persuading a jury.

“The downstream consequence,” he said, “could be a wrongful conviction.”

Even supporters of the test acknowledge its drawbacks, conceding there are many ways to perform it and that they shouldn’t rely solely on the test when investigating a death. Despite those shortcomings, judges have allowed prosecutors to use it as evidence in court.

ProPublica wrote about the case of Moira Akers, a Maryland mother who insisted she had a stillbirth but last year was sentenced to 30 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of child abuse and murder. The medical examiner in the case relied on the lung float test. The state’s attorney’s office declined to comment while the case was on appeal.

The Appellate Court of Maryland is set to hear Akers’ appeal in early January.

In 2016, California Democratic state Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva sat with then-California Gov. Jerry Brown at an event where he signed baseball-type cards featuring the image of his dog, Colusa. But many of the recipients of the cards couldn’t read his cursive signature, Quirk-Silva recalled, much to the Democratic governor’s dismay. “The governor asked me what […]

The post Around the country, some states are mandating cursive writing in public schools appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Resolution 2308 prohibits certain immigrants from coming to the region.

Leaders in St. Charles County voted 3-3 on a controversial immigration resolution Monday night. The measure opposes a program allowing Latino immigrants to come to the region. On Nov. 13, the resolution was tabled at the council meeting because two of the co-sponsors weren't in attendance. Three of the other council members, however, didn't support the measure in its form at the time. On Monday, the St. Charles County Council met again to discuss and vote on Substitute Resolution 2308. It failed…

State Sen. Angela Walton Mosley and state Rep. Jay Mosley are being sued a second time by MSD for past due bills.

Google tried to withhold practically every critical detail from the public in its monopolization case. A band of advocates and journalists fought back.

How the National Security Council is trying to take over regulation of global data flows on the basis of what’s good for Big Tech

As the genocide in Gaza continues, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking notes.

Laumeier Sculpture Park’s 2023 Visiting Artists in Residence are Pittsburgh-based artists Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis. This collaborative duo utilizes innovative approaches to conceptualism and minimalism to realize their […]

The post A Number of Tragedies appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

After several contentious months, members of the board tasked with overseeing operations at St. Louis’ troubled City Justice Center will be allowed access to the jail this afternoon for 50 minutes.  Detention Facility Oversight Board members Pamela Walker and Reverend Darryl Gray confirmed to the RFT that they, alongside board member Ornetha Lewis-Walls, will conduct a walk through of the jail today at 2 p.m. 

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival brings all the fun and festivity of the holiday season to the National Blues Museum with a music-infused show suitable for all ages. The Q Brothers Christmas Carol pulls the characters, story and language from A Christmas Carol to create an incredibly entertaining and refreshed version, infused with the history of hip hop and the spirit of the Charles Dickens classic.

The names of school board members representing the Francis Howell School District weren’t familiar to some queer students in the district. Then a new board policy sought to control where they went to the bathroom. 

The St. Louis American first hit newsstands on March 17, 1928. At that time, the Black weekly newspaper was an eight-page tabloid with a circulation of about 2,000.  More than 95 years later, The American reaches about 300,000 people each month through the print newspaper and website. It’s the largest weekly newspaper in Missouri and […]

The post Donald Suggs’ legacy with St. Louis American: ‘Local history would look entirely different’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state lawmaker wants to ban Palestinian refugees from coming to Missouri. Iron County Republican Chris Dinkins says she's concerned for the safety of Missourians. Dinkins wrote a letter to Governor Mike Parson saying, "I lack faith in the Biden administration to properly vet refugees from Gaza to ensure we are [...]

On a small farm near Laddonia, Brian Willott waded through fields of dried corn stalks that had already been crushed into the ground. He had just finished harvesting his corn and soybeans and was preparing his empty fields to plant cover crops, which will hold his soil together and replenish its nutrients over the winter. […]

The post Missouri farmers adopt practices that improve their land, support environment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

ST. LOUIS -- A civilian board created to help oversee the troubled St. Louis City Justice Center will get its first tour of the facility today. This comes after a long wait for members to tour the jail. The Detention Facilities Oversight Board has existed for 18 months. Until today, members have not been able [...]

“I lack faith in the Biden (administration) to properly vet refugees from Gaza to ensure we are not brin(g)ing a terrorist threat to American soil," said Rep. Chris Dinkins, R-Lesterville.