The Faculty Lounge

Careless Love

"Careless Love" is a traditional American folk song, although it was copyrighted in the 1920s by W.C. Handy. More than the usual number of audio clips on this post; so many interesting interpretations by well known artists (and a few others).

Federal Judge Handcuffs Innocent Child for No Reason

I have a new piece in Slate. It tells the story of Judge Roger Benitez, of the Southern District of California, who ordered the handcuffing of a thirteen year old child who had done nothing more than sit quietly in the spectators’ gallery. No, that’s not an exaggeration.

Here are the opening paragraphs:

You might think that any American judge would be severely penalized for tormenting an innocent child in open court, but you would be wrong. Federal judges, protected by life tenure, can mistreat people in their courtrooms, including spectators, with near impunity and little fear of meaningful punishment. That is just what happened last month in San Diego, when senior Federal District Judge Roger Benitez committed what can only be described as a blatant act of child abuse.

When Mario Puente brought his 13-year-old daughter to Benitez’s courtroom, he hoped that her visible support might help him persuade the judge that he was committed to turning his life around, rather than being returned to prison for violating his parole on drug charges. Benitez, a George W. Bush appointee, was indeed moved by the girl’s presence, but in a stunningly inhumane direction. Before the hearing was over, the teenager found herself weeping in handcuffs at the judge’s command, even though she had done nothing more than sit quietly in the spectators’ section while her father attempted to talk himself out of more prison time.

You can read the entire essay in Slate.

Duquesne Seeks Academic Support and Writing Faculty

This just in:

Director of Academic Excellence and Assistant Professor of Legal Skills

Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University invites applications for the position of Director of Academic Excellence and Assistant Professor of Legal Skills to begin July 1, 2023. The successful candidate will be appointed to a 12-month, renewable, 405(c), non-tenure-track position.

The Director of Academic Excellence is responsible for designing, implementing, and administering a program of academic support benefiting all law students, especially those students in their first and second year of study, enabling them to succeed throughout law school. As a full-time faculty member, the Director will teach courses designed to introduce, reinforce, and develop skills to enable students to be successful in law school and beyond. The Director of Academic Excellence will also work with students one-on-one to provide individualized instruction and coaching. The Director of Academic Excellence works closely with the Bar Studies Faculty and the Legal Research and Writing Faculty to provide a comprehensive instruction. 

 The Director will administer the JD Jumpstart program for incoming students and facilitate workshops in the fall semester for 1L students. The Director will also teach the Advanced Legal Skills course for 1L students and teach the Advanced Legal Reasoning course for 2L students, and may also have other duties consistent with their role and the overall goals of the Law School, including, but not limited to, advising students, serving on law school committees, teaching other courses focused on professional skills or other courses supporting the law school curriculum.

As a condition of employment, Duquesne University requires all new employees —full-time and part-time, including adjunct faculty—to get a COVID-19 vaccine and provide proof of their vaccination upon commencement of employment.

New employees requesting a religious or documented medical exemption from the vaccine must complete and submit a Duquesne University exemption request form for review and approval. To receive the appropriate exemption request form, contact hrservices@duq.edu. Employees with approved exemptions will be required to be tested on a regular basis.

Additional information can be found here.

Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Education and Supervising Attorney of the Youth Advocacy Clinic

Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Education and Supervising Attorney of the Youth Advocacy Clinic to begin July 1, 2023. The successful candidate will be appointed to a 12-month, renewable, 405(c), non-tenure-track, assistant professor of clinical legal education.

As a condition of employment, Duquesne University requires all new employees —full-time and part-time, including adjunct faculty—to get a COVID-19 vaccine and provide proof of their vaccination upon commencement of employment.

New employees requesting a religious or documented medical exemption from the vaccine must complete and submit a Duquesne University exemption request form for review and approval. To receive the appropriate exemption request form, contact hrservices@duq.edu. Employees with approved exemptions will be required to be tested on a regular basis.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Youth Advocacy Clinic represents children in both delinquency and education matters and operates as a holistic representation model, with the overall goal of the representation being to meet as many of the client’s needs as possible, rather than merely the single legal issue that brings them to the clinic. This Clinic in an interdisciplinary course working with both Duquesne University’s School of Education and the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. The Youth Advocacy Clinic, is in part funded by IOLTA grants and other grant funding. The Assistant Professor will have the responsibility for grant reporting, management, and other responsibilities related to the grants associated with the Youth Advocacy Clinic.

The Assistant Professor may be assigned other duties consistent with that role and the overall goals of the Law School and the Clinical Legal Education Program, including, but not limited to, advising students, serving on law school committees, teaching other courses focused on professional skills or other courses supporting the law school curriculum.

Additional information can be found here. 

Jug Band Music

Jug band music was originated by African Americans in the upper south, notably in Louisville and Memphis, in the early years of the twentieth century. The bands were characterized by the use of homemade or improvised instruments -- including jug, washboard, washtub bass, spoons, and kazoo -- along with guitars, banjos, fiddles, and even horns. There was considerable overlap between jug bands and blues, ragtime, and jazz, with performers such as Ma Rainey, Clarence Williams, and Memphis Minnie performing with both jug bands and more formal instrumentation.

The 1960s saw a revival of jug band music -- by Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band, the Even Dozen Jug Band (featuring John Sebastian), and Dave Van Ronk's Ragtime Jug Sompers -- often presented as a sort of rollicking, good time music that was not entirely faithful to the originals. Rock bands such as the Lovin' Spoonful and Grateful Dead also recorded tracks that were originally performed by Will Shade's Memphis Jug Band and Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, among others.

Garry Jenkins Named President of Bates College

Bates College has announced that Garry Jenkins will be its next president.  Jenkins  is currently dean at the University of Minnesota Law.  He will assume the Bates Presidency on July 1, 2023.  What a great hire for Bates!

Todd Clark Named Dean of Widener Delaware Law

Widener University Delaware Law School has announced that Todd Clark will be its new dean.  He is currently a professor at St. Thomas University College of Law (FL) where he previously served as senior associate dean of academic affairs.  Clark, who holds a JD from University of Pittsburgh School of Law, will  take over on July 1.

Washington and Lee Law Seeks Visiting Professor

This just in:

Washington & Lee University School of Law invites applications for the position of Visiting Professor of Practice of Legal Writing.  This visiting faculty position will be one of three professors who constitute the Legal Writing Program at W&L Law during the 2023-2024 academic year.  Responsibilities of the position include teaching two sections (approximately 20 students per section) of first-year legal writing each semester while working collaboratively with other faculty in the program.

The Visiting Professor of Practice position is a nine-month, non-tenure track, contractual position with teaching responsibilities beginning in mid-August 2023 and ending in mid-May 2024.  This is a full-time limited term appointment.

Qualifications

In addition to holding a Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-accredited school, candidates for the position must have at least two to three years of post-J.D. experience in a position or positions requiring substantial legal writing.  Preference will be given to candidates with prior law school teaching experience. We seek in particular candidates who are enthused about working closely with students in the development of this critical skill.

 

Alena Allen Named Dean of LSU Law

Louisiana State University Law  has announced that Alena Allen will be its new dean.  She is currently deputy director for the AALS and professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.  She was previously interim dean at Arkansas.  Allen, who holds a JD from Yale, will  take over on July 17. What a great hire for LSU!

 

Louisiana State University Law  has announced that Alena Allen will be its new dean.  She is currently deputy director for the AALS and professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.  She was previously interim dean at Arkansas.  Allen, who holds a JD from Yale, will  take over on July 17. What a great hire for LSU!

Hiring Announcement: North Carolina Central University School of Law

From an email message I received today:

ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR - North Carolina Central University School of Law

The North Carolina Central University School of Law (“NCCU Law”) is seeking candidates for three tenure-track faculty positions to start July 1, 2023. Founded in 1939 to provide opportunities for African American students to become lawyers, our mission is to provide an excellent legal education to historically underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds. NCCU Law is located in Durham, North Carolina, a city that is a part of the Research Triangle Region, known for its technology companies and scholarly institutions.

Applicants with a juris doctor from an ABA-accredited law school, a distinguished professional background, and a strong commitment to teaching will be considered. The areas of priority where we need excellent teachers include Contracts, Sales and Secured Transactions, Property, and Decedents’ Estates. Successful applicants will be expected to teach in two or more of these areas. 

Interested applicants should apply either through the AALS Faculty Recruitment Services or by submitting a curriculum vita, cover letter, and list of three references to SOLhiring@nccu.edu. The positions will remain open until filled, but for priority consideration, please submit materials by March 24, 2023. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a protected veteran.

More information about NCCU Law is available at http://law.nccu.edu/. You can also contact Committee Chair Lydia Lavelle (llavelle@nccu.edu) if you have questions.

Hiring Announcement: University of Tennessee College of Law

From an email message that I received today:

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF LAW invites applications from candidates to teach in our legal writing program beginning at the start of the 2023-24 academic year. Lecturers in the legal writing program will teach two sections of Legal Process I (predictive analysis, 3 credit hours) in the fall semester and two sections of Legal Process II (persuasive analysis, 3 credit hours) in the spring semester.  

All positions require a J.D. or equivalent law degree. The College is seeking candidates with a passion for teaching legal writing and analysis in a way that connects deeply to law practice. Successful applicants should have an impressive academic background and a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and service. Significant professional experience is also desirable.  

Legal writing faculty are hired at the rank of Lecturer and are eligible for promotion and long-term contracts, pursuant to the University’s promotion guidelines for non-tenure track faculty members. Lecturers participate in all aspects of law school life, advise student organizations, serve on committees, and vote on all matters except for issues relating to the hiring, tenure, promotion, and retention of tenure-track faculty. Lecturers are also eligible to receive professional development funding to support their teaching and service goals. 

Applications must be submitted through this link. Applicants should submit a letter of interest, a CV, and the names and contact information for three references. While applications will be considered on a rolling basis, applicants should submit their materials no later than ­­­­­April 1, 2023, for best consideration. For questions, please contact Professor Lucy Jewel, chair of the search committee. 

University of Missouri (Columbia) Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

The University of Missouri seeks an innovative and collaborative leader to serve as Dean of its School of Law. Reporting to the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Dean serves as the school’s chief executive and academic officer, and will work closely with the school’s faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the broader university leadership to advance academic, financial, and strategic initiatives. This position offers an opportunity to play a defining role in shaping the future of law education at Mizzou.

MU is the flagship university of the four-campus University of Missouri System and one of only 34 public U.S. universities with membership by invitation in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). It is the state’s land-grant university and one of the most comprehensive universities in the United States. MU’s broad undergraduate programs and its graduate, professional and research programs attract an annual enrollment of more than 30,000 students. MU is centrally located in Columbia, Missouri, a place consistently ranked as one of America’s most livable cities.

 

Hiring Announcement: University of Memphis School of Law (Visitors)

From an email message that I received today:

The University of Memphis School of Law invites applications for one or more visiting professor positions for the 2023-2024 academic year.  We have particular interest in applicants who teach Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Law, and Legislation, but welcome applications from visitors with a broad range of teaching interests.  Both one semester and full academic year visits may be possible.   All courses will be in-person courses. 

Applicants should have an outstanding academic record, excellent communications skills, and both a desire and an ability to work collegially in a collaborative environment. Applicants must have a J.D.  Teaching experience is preferred.

Memphis Law has a strong interest in hiring visiting professors who will contribute to creating a broadly diverse campus community.  While the University of Memphis does not treat race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation as dispositive in hiring decisions, the University of Memphis has a strong institutional commitment to hiring persons who will add to its diversity. The University of Memphis is an EEO/AA employer.

Applicants should send the following materials to me at jodi.wilson@memphis.edu: a letter of interest, a resume or CV, a list of three references, and, if available, recent teaching evaluations.  Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the positions are filled.

Hiring Announcement: University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law (Dean)

From an email message I received today:

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC), founded in 1855, and its David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law) invite nominations and applications for the Dean of the School of Law. UDC Law carries the distinction of being the only public law school in the nation's capital and supports the university’s designation as an urban, public, land-grant, and historically black college or university (HBCU). The Dean reports directly to the Provost and Chief Academic Officer.

UDC comprises the undergraduate flagship, the embedded UDC Community College, and the David A. Clarke School of Law, one of only six accredited HBCU law schools in the nation. Recognized broadly for work in clinical settings on behalf of the public interest, UDC Law boasts the largest clinical requirement of any U.S. law school. U.S. News & World Report ranks UDC Law fifth in the nation for its clinical program. UDC Law offers the J.D.

An exceptional, dynamic student body at UDC Law undertakes study in a full-time day division and a part-time evening division. Respecting the unique history of UDC Law, the incoming Dean will have the opportunity to build upon its mission ". . .to provide a well-rounded theoretical and practical legal education that will enable students to be effective and ethical advocates; to recruit and enroll students from communities underrepresented at the bar; and to serve the public interest." The UDC Law student is secure with the foundation of an accessible and affordable learning experience.

UDC Law is committed to excellence and will expect the same in the successful candidate. The School seeks energetic, dynamic leadership characterized by innovation and dedication. The successful candidate will demonstrate the requirements, characteristics, and expectations that follow:

• Promote student support, well-being, and accommodation needs with an equal view to day and evening divisions;
• Frame, advance, and implement a vision for UDC Law to achieve its goals and mission;
• Lead accreditation standards and compliance in an environment that fosters academic success;
• Understand and commit to the vision for clinical and experiential education in a law school curriculum;
• Demonstrate sound decision-making abilities with management, budget, and legal education skills;
• Carry knowledge of a wide range of academic trends, legal disciplines, and sectors of law school operations, including library and communication needs;
• Be dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service, and advance strategic planning as a means of innovative program development;
• Advance enrollment management with bold, innovative outlooks to support growth, retention, access, and post-graduation opportunities;
• Elevate UDC Law's profile as a voice in the community and engagements across the university with partnerships among industry, government, legal, and other external constituents;
• Support alumni relations and encourage a culture of philanthropy, identifying sources for successful fundraising;
• Be a strong advocate of UDC Law while supporting university-wide policies and colleague Deans;
• Provide supervisory stability and ability to hire talented professionals to join UDC Law's cadre of outstanding faculty and staff; and
• Demonstrate strong, approachable interpersonal practices as an active listener with excellent written and spoken communication skills.

The preferred candidate should have previous, successful administrative experience in a law school. Further, there must be a demonstrated commitment to student and faculty diversity principles. An earned Juris Doctor and eligibility for appointment as a tenured professor of law is preferred.

Hiring Announcement: Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law (Indianapolis) (VISITORS)

From an email message I received today:

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (Indianapolis) seeks one or more entry-level or experienced applicants interested in serving as a full-time, temporary faculty member for the 2023-24 academic year. Both one semester and full academic year visits may be possible. Subject matter needs include civil procedure, evidence, torts, and constitutional law. We expect successful candidates to be teaching in person.

As part of IUPUI, Indiana’s premier urban research institution, the law school is committed to being a welcoming community that reflects and enacts the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion that inform academic excellence. We seek candidates who will not only enhance our representational diversity but whose research, teaching, and community-engagement efforts contribute to diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning and working environments for our students, staff, and faculty. IUPUI and the McKinney School of Law condemn racism in all its forms. The law school is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution with a strong commitment to inclusion: https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/about/diversity-inclusion/committment.html. For more information about the school, please visit http://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/. We encourage applications from persons of color, women, persons with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, and members of other groups that are under-represented on university faculties.

Interested candidates should submit a CV and cover letter to Max Huffman at huffmmax@iu.edu. Individuals who require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process should provide adequate notice. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Taboo Trades Podcast: The Political Economy of Organ Transplantation with Hagai Boas

Today’s guest is the Israeli sociologist, Hagai Boas, a four-time organ transplant recipient and the author of The Political Economy of Organ Transplantation. Hagai is the second transplant recipient on the podcast (Sally Satel has received two kidney transplants), but I’ve never met anyone before who has been transplanted *four* times, or who has purchased an organ on the black market, as Hagai did with his third transplant. Boas is the director of the Science, Technology, and Society unit at Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. He is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University. 

This segment of the interview was very powerful:

"Hagai Boas: It was very difficult then and it is still now. And I knew that I'm doing something which is wrong. I'm still thinking that it is wrong. There is no way that I want to rationalize that in any way. It was awful, it was abusive in a way. It was difficult, and I had no choice but to do it. And I'm not covering or laundering it in any way. I bought an organ. This is the invisible scar, let's say, that’s been accompanying me since then."

 

My brief review of the book is here

 

 

Instrumental Beatles

University of St. Thomas Law (MN) Seeks Visiting Faculty

This just in:

The University of St. Thomas (Minneapolis) School of Law invites applications for at least two Visiting Professor positions at any faculty rank for either the 2023 Fall semester, the 2024 Spring semester, or the full 2023-24 academic year. 

We have specific curricular needs for first year Torts and Lawyering Skills; we will consider candidates’ interest in teaching additional courses in light of our other needs.  Applicants will be expected to teach two classes during a semester visit, and either three or four classes during an academic year visit.

UST Law’s commitments to scholarship, teaching, service, and community are inspired by its mission, which dedicates it, as a Catholic law school, “to integrating faith and reason in the search for truth through a focus on morality and social justice.” We welcome applicants of diverse races, ethnicities, geographic origins, gender identities, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, religions, work experience, physical and intellectual abilities, and financial means.

 

Hiring Announcement: University of Kansas School of Law (Visitor)

From an email message I received today:

The University of Kansas School of Law invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure track visiting professor or visiting associate professor for the fall 2023 semester or the full 2023-24 academic year. Specific curricular needs include Evidence and Torts.

Applicants should possess a J.D. from an accredited law school and have demonstrated outstanding academic and legal performance including experience teaching Evidence. Women, minorities, and candidates who will contribute to the climate of diversity in the Law School, including a diversity of scholarly approaches, are especially encouraged to apply.

Review of applications begins March 27, 2023 and will continue until the positions are filled. Initial interviews will be conducted via Zoom. Applications should be made online at https://employment.ku.edu/academic/24456BR and should include cover letter, curriculum vitae, statement of teaching/research interests and future plans, and the names of three references.  For further information, contact Professor Kyle Velte, University of Kansas School of Law, 1535 West 15th Street, Lawrence, KS 66045-7608, kvelte@ku.edu.

KU is an EO/AAE. The university is committed to providing an equal opportunity for all qualified individuals to be considered for employment, benefits and conditions of employment, educational programs and activities, regardless of race, religion, color, ethnicity, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, age, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information. Full policy at http://policy.ku.edu/IOA/nondiscrimination.

The ABA's call for a SCOTUS Code of Conduct (and why it won't make any difference)

I have a new essay at The Hill (after a month’s vacation) explaining why the ABA’s call for a Supreme Court Code of Conduct is, unfortunately, likely to be ignored by the Court.

Here is the gist: 

The Hill

Amid questions about its legitimacy, the Supreme Court must adopt a code of conduct

by Steven Lubet, Opinion Contributor - 02/20/23

The American Bar Association (ABA) has joined the chorus calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct. In a resolution issued earlier this month, the ABA noted that “[E]very judge in every jurisdiction in the United States – city, county, state, tribal, territorial, and federal – is subject to a binding code of ethics that embodies basic judicial ethical,” except the justices of the Supreme Court.

The lack of a code is troubling, the resolution continued, because the absence of “clearly articulated . . . ethics for the justices of the Court imperils the legitimacy of the Court [and] potentially imperils the legitimacy of all American courts and the American judicial system, given the Court’s central role enshrined in our federal republic.” Nonetheless, the ABA resolution is unlikely to make any difference.

The justices, however, appear to have been unmoved. In his 2011 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice Roberts insisted that the Court had no need for a definitive code because  “Every Justice seeks to follow high ethical standards,” he wrote, adding that many “ethical considerations [are] unique to the Supreme Court.”

On Feb. 9, the Washington Post reported that the justices have actively considered the adoption of an ethics code, based on a “working document of issues” prepared by the Court’s legal counsel. According to the Post’s anonymous sources, the Court has “failed to reach consensus” despite years of discussion.

We do know that the justices have been loath to assert any authority over one another. Recusal motions, for example, are decided solely by the affected justice, with no review or rulings by the full court.

It is therefore likely that it would take only a single justice to veto the adoption of a Supreme Court code of conduct. Perhaps that has already happened. What does seem certain is that the ABA’s resolution will not change anything. If the justices seriously wanted a code of ethics, well, they would already have one.

You can read the entire essay at The Hill.

Book recommendation: The Political Economy of Organ Transplantation by Hagai Boas

I recently finished The Political Economy of Organ Transplantation, written by the Israeli sociologist Hagai Boas and published by Routledge, and highly recommend it. Hagai is a four-time organ transplant recipient (technically, five, I suppose, since his most recent transplant, in 2020, was of both a kidney and a liver). He is the director of the Science, Technology, and Society unit at Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. He is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Government and a research fellow at the Health, Humanism, and Society Center of the Negev, both at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. 

As already mentioned, Hagai has received a total of four transplants: one from his father, one from his mother, one from a black-market purchase, and one from a deceased donor in Israel. These transplants represent what Hagai characterizes as the three political economies of organ transplantation: the family, the market, and the state. Each of these political economies is discussed in detail in the book.

The book raises far too many important themes for me to summarize them all here, and Hagai will be a guest on The Taboo Trades podcast shortly, so you can hear more detail there in the coming weeks. But, in brief, here are a few of the points that I found very interesting, all of which I’m sure we’ll discuss in more detail on the podcast.

1. Every discussion of transplantation is a discussion about relationships—specifically, couples:

“Every piece written about transplants is about couples: Me and my donor, me and the family that donated its son’s organs, me and the guy who sold me his organs, me and my family. For transplant recipients, the matter of dependence on others can’t be denied” (p. xii)

As Hagai notes, this realization is in some ways counter-intuitive, because we are living in an era that celebrates individual heroism, including in the realm of organ donation and transplantation.

 

2. The privatization of organ transplantation

Hagai persuasively documents an increasing privatization of the political economy of transplantation: “The shortage of organs leads patients to turn to their acquaintances, relatives, and those who admire them, or, alternatively, organ merchants. In all of these cases, the search for an organ for transplantation is a do-it-yourself project.” (p. xvi)

Hagai understandably views this privatization as troubling, given its reinforcement of a variety of inequalities (money, social capital, social networks, strength of community ties, and different kinds of social solidarity – and, in the age of social media, celebrity, attractiveness, and other traits). But I am less optimistic than he appears to be about the possibilities for public and/or broad-based solidarity efforts to alleviate the organ shortage.

First, for some people, these networks and connections are a motivation to donate – many people feel a desire to donate to someone within their social network, religious community, or with whom they share a similar background that they don’t feel with an anonymous stranger. The ethics of living donation thus presents a tension between facilitating the “private” connections and mechanisms that result in more donations but that may also increase inequality in troubling ways. Hagai, of course, is well aware of that tension, especially in the context of the orthodox Jewish community, which he has written about in other work as well. (It is an issue I have worked on as well. See, e.g., this articleabout my work with the Duke divinity school on the possibility of encouraging donations within religious communities).

Second, I am not optimistic that opt-out or presumed consent systems, standing alone, will significantly reduce the organ shortage. I have nothing against presumed consent in principle—I just don’t think the evidence supports its effectiveness. For example, Arshad et al find that opt-out countries have fewer living donors per million population with no significant difference in deceased donors. And even some studies that find increased donations from a change to opt-out acknowledge that they do not control for important factors such as other, simultaneous changes to the law or system, or for the media attention and increased discussion of organ shortage that typically precedes or accompanies legal changes of this sort. (See, e.g., here)

I think that these facts make me more of a skeptic than Hagai, but we will see when we discuss for the podcast!

 

3. Privilege

The concept of privilege permeates the book and each of Hagai’s transplants was the product of some sort of privilege: the privilege of having family members willing and able to donate to him; the privilege of being able to access the black market; and the privilege of living in a country with a (far from perfect) deceased organ donation system.

Of these, the second (the privilege of money and marketplace) is often talked about, whereas, in my view, the other two types of privilege are equally, if not more, important and are underexplored. But both Hagai’s first-hand account and his sociological analysis of the black market suggest that it is more complicated than often assumed. As he says, the black market is less about the rich and the poor than it is about the sick and the poor:

“Some claim that these transactions demonstrate the gap between the rich, who buy organs for themselves, and the poor, who sell their organs to survive. . . .but as a matter of fact it is not a question of rich versus poor but, but sick versus poor. . . . Indeed, these are two groups pushed by despair into organ trading.” (pp. 89-90)

 

4. The organ shortage-black market link

Hagai does a great job demonstrating the ways in which the organ shortage leads to desperate circumstances that cause those suffering from kidney failure to turn to the black market. He details this, especially in the context of Israel and the battles over brain death. Al Roth, Mike Rees, Ignazio Marino and I make a similar point in a recent article. As we state here:

“We strongly believe that international efforts should concentrate on increasing the availability of ethical high-quality live donor kidney transplantation options in all countries.

This is not the same as accepting legalized organ markets, as in Iran. But the present state of the discussion, and its legitimate concern with black markets, has become so dysfunctional that caught in the crossfire of these counterproductive discussions have been other ways of increasing the availability of legal, ethical and safe transplantation and donation. . . . Any obstacle to ethical kidney transplantation activity supports criminals because it creates demand for an illegal, unsafe, and unethical black market transplant.”

 

As I said, these are just a few of the very important issues raised in the book. By all means read the whole thing, and listen to my discussion with Hagai on The Taboo Trades Podcast. I’ll post a link to the episode when it airs.