Should states ban religious exemptions for student vaccinations? Researchers weigh in
Three recent studies examine the effectiveness and unintended consequences of banning religious exemptions to childhood vaccinations in California schools.
California
Expert Commentary
Maternal death rate lowered in California, but racial disparity remains
After the launch of an initiative to reduce maternal mortality in California, the maternal death rate fell by nearly half.
Expert Commentary
California’s Prop 47 reduced felony drug arrest rates, racial disparities
After the passage of California’s Proposition 47, which reduced criminal penalties for drug possession, felony drug arrest rates declined and racial disparities among these arrests decreased.
Expert Commentary
Forced sterilization in California targeted Latina women
California’s eugenic sterilization program disproportionately targeted Latinos, and especially Latina women, new research finds.
Expert Commentary
Juvenile delinquents: Boys with hostile fathers commit more crime
Teens with harsh fathers commit more crime and use a larger variety of drugs and alcohol, a new study suggests.
Expert Commentary
Number of U.S. felons tripled in three decades
One-third of African American men have been convicted of a felony, according to data recently published in Demography. For white men, the figure is less than half that.
Expert Commentary
Wildfire smoke: Some elderly more vulnerable
Among the elderly, women and black people are more likely to be admitted to the hospital from exposure to wildfire smoke than men and people of other races.
Expert Commentary
The health effects and costs of air pollution: Research roundup
2015 review of scholarship on impact of air pollution in the United States, including health effects, economic costs and automotive and transportation causes.
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Long-term perspective on wildfires in the western United States
2012 study in PNAS on the frequency of wildfires in the American West over the past 3,000 years and the implications for larger wildfires.
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Comparing price and non-price approaches to urban water conservation
2014 and 2009 studies from U.C. Riverside, Yale and the Harvard Kennedy School on the relative merits of policies to encourage efficient use of scarce water resources.
Expert Commentary