Emily Bazelon, the author of last winter’s New York Times Magazine piece questioning SBS, has published a gratifying criticism of the recent, unfortunate Supreme Court decision in the Shirley Ree Smith case. Her new article is on slate.com, at:
As usual, the posted comments are especially interesting: Most responders are focused on the legal issues, especially whether or not the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals should be allowed to reverse a jury’s decision.
For those with personal experience in the arena, following Ms. Bazelon’s link to the November 2011 Posner decision is well worth the time.
A number of attorneys have also posted what read to me like critical analyses of the Smith decision, including:
Sherry F. Colb, The Supreme Court Preserves the Chain of Command by Returning a Grandmother to Prison
and
Vikram David Amar, The First Supreme Court Ruling of the Year.
I’m encouraged by the overall feeling I get of discomfort with the Smith decision. Please do let me know if you have a different take on it.
-Sue Luttner
On Shaken Baby 