Room for Debate: Would We Be Safer if Fewer Were Jailed?

Keep Out of Jail Those Who Don't Need to Be There

Julia M. Stasch, MacArthur Foundation

Jail is now for those who can't afford bail. Programs can provide services to end unnecessary jail stays and strengthen public safety.

Stop Placing the Mentally Ill in Jails

Nicholas Turner, Vera Institute of Justice

Divert those with mental health problems from jail, where their conditions are worsened by abuse, medical neglect and solitary confinement.

Local Jails Are an Important Part of the Penal System

Kent Scheidegger, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation

At the low end are the alternatives to incarceration, at the upper end is state prison, and county jail is in the crucial middle.

Reducing Inmates Can Reduce Crime

Marc A. Levin, Right on Crime

Incarceration can lead to more incarceration. Courts must use actuarial risk assessments to determine who should be released pretrial.

Make Justice Jails' Prime Purpose

Glenn E. Martin, JustLeadershipUSA

Jails have become the easy solution for the problems of addiction, poverty, mental illness, rather than instruments of justice.

Solutions Can Have Unintended Consequences

Malcolm M. Feeley, law professor

Violating a condition of pretrial release may be treated more seriously than the initial charge.

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Is Home Birth Ever a Safe Choice?

When Risks Are Low, A Safe Choice

Tekoa King, Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health

In Britain, women are actually advised to have children at home or in a birth center, rather than a hospital, when the pregnancy is low-risk.

Home Birth Is Not Safe

Amos Grunebaum and Frank Chervenak, NewYork-Presbyterian

In the United States, those who support home birth as safe are propagating junk science.

What Risk Is Acceptable?

Aaron Caughey, Oregon Health and Science University

As long as women know the risks and benefits of location of birth, hopefully they are able to make a decision that reflects their preferences.

My Experience with Home Birth

Aja Graydon, musician

The first time was motivated by the practicality of it: I was self-employed and without health insurance at the time.

Emergency Care Can Be Too Urgent for Home Births

John Jennings, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

The ability of a physician to rapidly provide care can be the difference between life or death for both mother and baby.

Hospitals Carry Their Own Risks

Marinah Valenzuela Farrell, Midwives Alliance of North America

Certified professional midwives and certified nurse midwives should be licensed to practice independently in all 50 states.

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Terror and the Palestinian Authority

A federal jury in Manhattan ruled on Monday that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization must pay $655.5 million for supporting six attacks in Israel that killed and injured Americans. The verdict, if upheld, could damage the Palestinian government, financially and politically.

What does the ruling mean for the future of the Palestinian Authority?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Homes for the Homeless

Offering Housing Could Increase Demand for It

Howard Husock, Manhattan Institute

Government support for single-parent families risk discouraging them from taking steps to improve their long-term economic condition.

For Even the Neediest, Housing Is the Solution

Rosanne Haggerty, Community Solutions

We found that even people with mental illness and addictions could remain in housing with the right combination of supportive services.

It's Fiscally Sensible and the Right Thing to Do

Sam Tsemberis, Pathways to Housing

Our approach to homelessness stems from archaic beliefs that the poor lack moral character, when, in fact, they are simply lacking cash.

More Complex Solutions Are Needed

Kevin Corinth, American Enterprise Institute

The Housing First philosophy threatens to distract us from the solutions that would most effectively address these other important needs.

Supportive Housing Could End the AIDS Epidemic

Jaron Benjamin, Housing Works

Housing could reduce H.I.V. mortality by as much as 80 percent and decrease the rate of new infections.

Ask the Homeless What They Need

William Burnett, Picture the Homeless

Homeless people have been at the receiving end of broken policies and economic dogmas, and have had no agency in sculpting them.

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Is Network News Dead?

Reports of Its Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Ray Suarez, Al Jazeera America

Because of their size, reach, resources and agenda-setting power, networks and their news departments still matter.

TV News Producers Are Everywhere Now

Michael Rosenblum, TV news consultant

With 100 hours of video uploaded each minute to Youtube, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a half-hour program is idiotic.

Its Relevance Will Evolve, Not Disappear

Joe Peyronnin, Former network news executive

Network news divisions are still profitable, and evening newscasts are more widely viewed than cable news.

An Audience Ages, Turns Away and Gets Jaded

Elayne Rapping, professor emerita, SUNY Buffalo

By turning to infotainment, with less serious news focusing on human interest, and personality anchors, things became worse.

Vanquishing Their Own Worst Enemy

Shelley Ross, Former network producer

Newsrooms can be populated with those who actually insist on producing more than a photo op for an anchor photo.

Blandness Will Succumb to Passion

Cenk Uygur, TYTnetwork

Being serious was once rewarded. Now, it's a sign of dishonesty – you've been covering the news for years and have no opinion on it?

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: How Should a Person Handle Heartbreak?

In honor of Valentine's Day, we asked for advice on that particular form of misery that touches most every person — heartbreak. Let us know what you think, and if you have any recommendations of your own, in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

How should a person handle heartbreak?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Deadlier Ties to Ukraine?

Prompted in part by disagreements between the United States and its NATO allies on whether to provide arms to Ukraine, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, met in Minsk, Belarus, on Wednesday to negotiate a peace agreement for Ukraine and end the conflict there. Earlier in the week — amid growing calls from Congress — President Obama said he would not rule out sending lethal aid to Ukraine.

If negotiations go sour, should the U.S. provide Kiev with lethal aid to fight Russian-backed rebels?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: You Must Be 21 to Drink?

In an effort to address student misconduct, the president of Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., announced last month that hard alcohol would be banned on campus. But many critics found the announcement bizarre, since at least half of college age kids are underage. And singling out hard liquor seemed like an ineffective solution to bad behavior.

Is there a better way to deal with underage drinking? Should the drinking age, perhaps, be lowered?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Does Helping Condo Developers Hurt the City?

A New York Times' series on the foreign purchase of high-end condos in New York City noted that the number of residences costing over $5 million has more than tripled in the past decade. While tax breaks to encourage condo developments cost a half-billion dollars a year, some say they fuel those exorbitant prices, raising housing prices in general.

Have tax breaks, zoning and other policies that have fueled condo development unfairly benefited the rich at the expense of other residents?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Are Economists Overrated?

The Pie on the Table, Not in the Sky

Diane Coyle, University of Manchester, England

Government decisions balance costs and benefits, winners and losers. It is best to do this explicitly, which is what economists do.

Don't Rely on Pseudo-Science

Orlando Patterson and Ethan Fosse, Harvard University

Implementation of mainstream economic ideas has led to massive failures after expertise of other academics were ignored.

Analyze and Explain, Don't Prognosticate

Peter Blair Henry, New York University

Economics succeeds when used as a forensic tool, employing history and data, not creating unrealistic expectations.

Exceptions Overwhelm Economic Rules

Philip N. Cohen, University of Maryland

Exploitation, dishonesty, violence, ignorance and demagoguery set vast areas of social life apart outside of economic models.

An Ambivalent Authority

Marion Fourcade, University of California, Berkeley

Much of economic science is esoteric and preoccupied with internal struggles. Ideological divisions, exploited by politicians, defy clarity.

Failures Shouldn't Obscure Widespread Success

Charles R. Plott, California Institute of Technology

Economic science is the foundation of sound policies and techniques in business and government.

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Tax Breaks for the 'Merely Affluent'

President Obama's plan to eliminate the tax breaks for college savings accounts known as 529s, which primarily benefit the 5 percent of households earning more than $200,000, was swiftly shot down as an affront to the middle class. His new budget calls for increased taxes on the wealthy to explicitly address income inequality with benefits for lower- and middle-income families.

How can federal tax policy differentiate between "rich" and the "middle class"?

Read the Discussion »

13.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: Do We Really Want to Regulate Internet Providers?

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission today proposed that the Internet be regulated as a public utility, to ensure net neutrality, prohibiting higher-priced fast lanes that would give some content providers an advantage.

It would also set up a regulatory framework to enforce certain consumer protections, like privacy. But will regulation create or stifle innovation?

Read the Discussion »

13.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: What Would It Mean to 'Fix' No Child Left Behind?

Go Back to the Basics

Diane Ravitch, author, "Reign of Error"

The original purpose of the 1965 law was to distribute federal aid to schools and districts that enrolled large numbers of poor children.

The Law Has Provided Useful Data

Terrell Halaska, former assistant secretary of education under George W. Bush

Now Congress needs to rebalance the federal-state relationship, and give states more flexibility on education and parents and educators more choice.

It's More Than Math and Literacy

Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act need to return to its roots to focus on poverty, equity, funding, the joy of learning and the whole child.

Federal Oversight of Schools Is Vital

Wade Henderson, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Critics who claim the annual assessments, reporting and accountability have been failures aren't paying attention to the vast improvements.

Better and More Diverse Assessments

Stephen Lazar, high school teacher

Because of misguided incentives in the education law, too many schools are designed to get students to do well on a one-time test.

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: The N.F.L. Takes On Domestic Violence. Can Hollywood?

While announcing the renewal of their hit series, "Empire," Fox executives said that despite accusations over the years that its star Terrence Howard has assaulted women, "our experience with Terrence has been excellent." Howard said, "I've grown so much from anything that's happened in the past," although one allegation was in 2013.

Should stars be held more accountable for their behavior? If the N.F.L. is trying to take domestic abuse seriously, should Hollywood?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Room for Debate: The N.F.L. Takes On Domestic Violence. Can Hollywood?

While announcing the renewal of their hit series, "Empire," Fox executives said that despite accusations over the years that its star Terrence Howard has assaulted women, "our experience with Terrence has been excellent." Howard said, "I've grown so much from anything that's happened in the past," although one allegation was in 2013.

Should stars be held more accountable for their behavior? If the N.F.L. is trying to take domestic abuse seriously, should Hollywood?

Read the Discussion »

13.25 | 0 komentar | Read More