Immigration Enforcement Crackdown, From Convict to Public Defender, DNA Databases and Crime Solving

Immigration Crackdown Guest: Carolina Núñez, JD, Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University A group of Republicans in the US House have just initiated an unusual move to bypass their leadership and force a vote on a plan to shield “Dreamers” from deportation. “Dreamers” are undocumented individuals who were brought to the US as children. Meanwhile at the US border, immigration officials have been ordered to separate children from their parents and prosecute everyone entering into the country illegally – even those seeking asylum from persecution. Ben Aldana: From Convict to Public Defender Guest: Ben Aldana, JD, Utah County Public Defender’s Office, Recent Graduate of J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University One of the newest graduates of BYU’s Law School took a highly unusual path. Ben Aldana spent six years in prison on felony drug charges. Now he’s about to take the bar exam and become a public defender in Utah County, working in the same courtrooms he passed through as a very troubled teenager. The Ethics of Using DNA Databases to Solve Crimes Guest: Sara Huston Katsanis, MS, Instructor in Science & Society, Duke University The so-called Golden State Killer’s rape and murder spree back in the 1970s terrorized Californians and stumped police. For 30 years, the case ran cold. But then a few weeks ago, police arrested former cop Joseph DeAngelo. Investigators used DNA-matching technology and a public genealogy website to link DeAngelo to the killings. The technique police used offers new promise in solving cold cases, but it also raises some questions about privacy and ethics. Securing the Internet of Things (Originally aired 4/6/17) Guest: Phil Windley, PhD, Enterprise Architect in the CIOs office at Brigham Young University and Chairman of the Sovrin Foundation These days it’s tough to buy a new electronic device that’s not WiFi enabled with the promise of cool features if you hook it up to the internet. What trouble might hackers cause if literally everything from our cars to our crockpots are connected online? Does the Internet of Things pose a threat to our digital freedom? Calvin and Hobbs and Schizophrenia (Originally aired 4/6/17) Guest: Martine Leavitt, author of “Calvin,” winner of a Governor General’s Literary Award in 2016.   What if Calvin from the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes wasn’t just a self-absorbed, hyperactive kid with an imaginary pet tiger? What if he was, instead, suffering from schizophrenia?  That thought inspired Martine Leavitt’s young adult book, “Calvin” which, in 2016, received one of the most prestigious literary awards in Canada: The Governor General’s Literary Award. Majority of Depressed Worldwide Don't Seek Help (Originally aired 4/6/17) Guest: Graham Thornicroft, PhD, Professor of Community Psychiatry at King's College London In wealthy nations like the US, it’s not unusual for Hollywood stars and prominent individuals to talk openly about struggling with – and seeking treatment for – conditions such as depression.  That is not so much the case in developing countries where only about 1 in 27 people who suffer depression get adequate treatment for it.  The estimate comes from a study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.