What’s a kidney worth?

A reader, Jen Rhee, sent me this graphic illustrating the worth of various body parts, and it’s intriguing, although I have no direct knowledge of its accuracy. 

Life and disability insurers calculate the worth of certain recurrent injuries. In the olden days, work comp funds published guidelines. Here’s one chart and a CNBC slide show. “Key man” insurance on actors, singers, and dancers may feature in your story — Betty Grable’s legs were insured for $1 million. Time Magazine reports on “Top 10 Oddly Insured Body Parts.”

$600,000 for Dolly Parton’s breasts and $6 million for Bruce Springsteen’s voice?

Ok, I get that.

But a few others will raise your eyebrows–no matter how much you’ve insured them for.

(Graphic: Jen Rhee.)

Brenda Novak Auction for Diabetes Research — 5 More Days!

Time to get those bids in! NY Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research closes on May 31. Check out literally hundreds of items for readers and writers, including a signed copy of Books, Crooks & Counselors, the 2011 Agatha Award winner for Best Nonfiction, and two hours of legal research for a manuscript or two hours of manuscript review by the author of said Agatha-winning treat, aka me.

The bidding is getting interesting, so take a look and join the fun!

National Missing Children’s Day — Dr. Betty Kuffel on stopping child abductions

My friend Betty Kuffel, MD is author of Eyes of a Pedophile: Detecting Child Predators. Her book is available free from Amazon Kindle for 24 hours on May 25th in commemoration of Take 25 Day, a day when parents are urged to take 25 minutes to talk with their children about safe behavior and avoiding abduction.

Get the download at Betty’s website

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Convicted pedophile Jose Antonio Ramos remained the primary suspect in the disappearance of Etan Patz for three decades until last month when investigators reopened the case. The new search focused in the basement of a building near Etan’s home where a handyman neighbor worked. Suspect Othniel Miller denies involvement but was reportedly seen with Etan the night before his abduction.

Now, NY investigators are focused on Pedro Hernandez. Details have not been released but the man was taken into custody on Wednesday, May 23. Hernandez was interviewed as a suspect in the past. This may be the break in this case we have been waiting for.

The morning Etan disappeared he left his home in lower Manhattan, NY, to walk alone two blocks to a school bus stop. The extensive local investigation, coupled with widely distributed photos of Etan, triggered the missing children’s movement of today. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimates 2,000 children per day are reported missing. Many are located unharmed, but like Etan some are never found and unfortunately, the latest search produced no new evidence.

In 2007, the NCMEC joined with other organizations across the US to raise awareness for child safety and keep kids safer through education. In their Take 25 campaign, they encourage parents and guardians to take twenty-five minutes on May 25 to talk to children about safe behavior and how to avoid abduction. National Missing Children’s Day has been observed annually on May 25 since 1983 in  commemmoration of the day in 1979 when six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared.

From the tragedy of Etan’s and other high profile cases of child abduction many improvements in safety, education, prosecution and ways to rapidly locate missing children have occurred. The Code Adam alert was devised after the 6-year-old son of John Walsh (host of America’s Most Wanted) was abducted from a department store in Florida and later found murdered. First started in Walmart stores, this rapid response mechanism is designed to stop a child abduction in progress. Now broadly used in malls and public buildings, if a child is reported missing, a Code Adam alert results in an immediate lock-down.

In the aftermath of two other child abductions, Jacob Wetterling and Megan Kanka, the tireless work of their parents stimulated the US Congress to pass a law mandating registration of sex offenders to alert neighbors about their residential locations.

Statistics show finding an abducted child quickly is prime for a safe return. Over 500 children have been recovered since the development of the AMBER Alert system. Named for Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old abducted and murdered Texas girl, this alert results in rapid dissemination of information about missing children. Call 9-1-1 if you witness an abduction. Describe the child, perpetrator, incident, location, vehicle and license number. If the missing child is thought to be in imminent danger, law enforcement issues the Amber Alert which interrupts radio and television broadcasts with details. Electronic billboards along highways, the Internet and smart phones flash the information.

In cooperation with local agencies, ten FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) Teams are on alert. Covering five regions, the experienced personnel provide resource support and investigative tools including electronic mapping to identify and locate known sex offenders residing near the abduction location. Partnership of the public with law enforcement is essential for interactive systems to work. But educating caregivers and children to take action to avoid abduction is also key. There are many safety tips at the NCMEC www.take25.org website.

Talk to your children about safety on May 25th. Try using discussion scenarios like “What if…What would you do?” Walk through the neighborhood with your kids and show them safe homes to seek refuge in an emergency. Teach crowd safety. Point out situations of potential danger. Tell your kids to avoid traveling alone and if grabbed, scream, kick and try to escape.

May 25th is a reminder day for what caregivers should do all year long to keep children safer. Like the FBI CARD Team, check online at www.sexoffenders.com and learn addresses of convicted sex offenders near you, particularly the more violent Level 3 offenders. One may be living next door.

Sandra Day O’Connor & civics

I’m a big fan of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Big fan. 

And since the mission of Books, Crooks & Counselors and this blog is to help writers and readers understand the legal system a little better, I suggest you take a quick look at this Washington Post article and interview with the Justice, titled Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the importance of civics education.  The Post describes a period of “civics lethargy,” and links to a national study demonstrating what I think is pretty obvious: as a whole, citizens just don’t know a lot about how our country works. To help change that, Justice O’Connor founded iCivics in 2009, an online program that provides free lesson plans and games for learning civics, which the Post reports is used in all 50 states and 55,000 classrooms.

I took a look at iCivics, and it’s kinda fun! Please pass the word to teachers and parents.

 

 

 

Don’t forget to bid — Brenda Novak’s Auction for Diabetes Research

NY Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research continues. More items have been added, and the bidding is hot! Literally hundreds of items for readers and writers are available, including a signed copy of Books, Crooks & Counselors, the 2011 Agatha Award winner for Best Nonfiction, and two hours of legal research for a manuscript or two hours of manuscript review by the author of said Agatha winner, aka me.

That last is currently going for a bargain price, so get on over and bid ‘er up!

 

Leslie Buried Under Books

On the way to the Malice Domestic Convention last month, I made a woman sick.

Find out what happened–and how I use a bad habit for a good cause–in my essay at the Creatures ‘n Crooks “Buried Under Books” blog.

Visit Friday or Saturday and leave a comment. Two commenters will win a copy of my Agatha-winning book, Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law & Courtroom Procedure (Quill Driver Books).

Inside the Supreme Court

Like most lawyers, and many other Americans, I find the U.S. Supreme Court both fascinating and mysterious. Books, Crooks & Counselors discusses the high court’s operations in the “Trial & Error” chapter, and explores the more personal side of judging in the chapter “Thinking Like a Judge.” The newest justice, Elena Kagan, touched on both topics, and how the judges go about making a decision, in a recent speech at Marquette University, reported by Alan Borsuk on the Marquette University Law School blog. Definitely worth a look. 

Of particular interest is the care and time given to what are admittedly lesser cases–and the reasons why they sometimes require more debate than the more significant decisions. I also appreciated her comments on the role of oral argument, and on passion.

Justice Scalia may think he’s the first judge with an antelope head in his chambers. He’s not. In the mid 1980s, I was in the offices of a Pierce County, Washington Superior Court judge in Tacoma. A beautiful pronghorn mount hung above the judge’s desk, sporting a pair of Groucho Marx glasses. Nice touch, don’t you think?

Dr. Betty Kuffel discusses pedophiles

My friend Dr. Betty Kuffel was interviewed last week on Montana Public Radio about her book, Eyes of a Pedophile.  Right click on this link. Then click on “Open Link in New Window.” It will open as a download audio clip.

 

Betty writes from her long experience as an emergency room doctor, and from her extensive interviews with one of Montana’s most infamous pedophiles. Her book includes advice on identifying child predators and protecting children from them.