WJI's daily reads for Oct. 18, 2021

The Atlantic: Reduce police violence by ending traffic enforcement by police.

​Law360: Low pay keeping would-be public defenders away.

"It pops up within not only the different states but within a state," said Steve Zeidman, at the City University of New York School of Law. "So a state like New York, for example, depending on where you are, there's either a public defender system, there's an individually assigned counsel system where you get paid an hourly rate, there are contract offices ... and they all have different salary ranges."

Zeidman said that as a professor, he feels a responsibility to encourage law students to consider the public defender route despite the inherent difficulties — "to say that you can make it, it will be a challenge, and hopefully there's loan forgiveness programs that will make it easier for you to do this work," he said.

(That loan forgiveness program does not exist in Wisconsin.)

Reuters: Johnson & Johnson uses bankruptcy court to shield itself from baby powder claims.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) on Thursday put into bankruptcy tens of thousands of legal claims alleging its Baby Powder and other talc-based products caused cancer, offloading the potential liabilities into a newly created subsidiary.

J&J put the talc claims into an entity called LTL Management LLC, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday in North Carolina, according to the company and court records. J&J and its affiliates were not part of the bankruptcy filing.
Tens of thousands of plaintiffs have alleged J&J's Baby Powder and other talc products contained asbestos and caused cancer, which the company denies. The plaintiffs include women suffering from ovarian cancer and others battling mesothelioma.

Marijuana Moment: Study says marijuana legalization impact on crime reduction is underestimated.

Law360: Why law schools should require a justice reform curriculum.

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