Show Your Papers — But What Papers? That’s a Good Question

BY DIANE DIMOND Gentlemen, grab your wallets. Ladies, look in your billfold. See the spots there for credit cards and your driver’s license? I bet there’s room for one more card in there, right? I propose we fill it with a national ID card. Now, wait, before you decide I’m some sort of proponent for […]

Hero Worship Clouds Judgment

BY DIANE DIMOND OK, I want the big, bad federal government to stop it! Get off the backs of these poor professional athletes. Leave them alone to simply do what they do best — rake in dollars and public adulation by playing the sport they love. I mean, really, they are the closest things we […]

Bravery in the Witness Box

BY DIANE DIMOND They’re all different, the men who come forward to tell their stories of childhood sexual abuse. But they all share a debilitating horror. Psychologists say it is difficult for any childhood victim of molestation to reveal what happened to them. But it is particularly tough for young males because it goes to […]

When a Confession Is Not Enough

BY DIANE DIMOND It is hard to believe or understand, but people confess to committing crimes — sometimes horrible crimes — when they are completely innocent. It happens more often than you can imagine. False confessions can be traced to unjust interrogation techniques, poor legal advice or even the mental illness of the suspect. That’s […]

Watching the Justice System Up-close

BY DIANE DIMOND When they first sit down together, they look uncomfortable. No one knows each other, and it could be a group of people who’ve gathered for a mandatory driver’s ed class or in response to some training ad about how to get a better job. They sit stiffly with their eyes straight ahead, […]

Faith in America Redux

BY DIANE DIMOND Sometimes a columnist writes something that grabs people by the throat. I guess I accomplished that last week when I wrote about a recent article I had read called, “In Nothing We Trust.” It hit me smack between the eyes that I don’t have much faith in any of our public institutions […]