Research Roundup

With the recent outbreak of e. coli from infected spinach because of the negligence of the federal Food and Drug Administration, it's worth reviewing the report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest on how a proposed federal law, H.R. 4167, would overturn 200 state food safety laws protecting the public health.

Here's one of the appalling statistics about our prison system nationwide -- according to the US Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of federal prisoners and 64 percent of local jail inmates suffer from some form of mental health problem. Significant numbers include major depression and psychotic disorders, including hallucinations -- and rather than getting treatment, they end up in our prisons.

In an Overview of Selected Data on Children in Vulnerable Families, the Urban Institute pulls together data on the multiple stresses on children, from abuse to poverty to disabilities, and how poverty can reinforce problems of depression and other problems facing low-income families and their children.