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Iceland’s popular bathing spot the Blue Lagoon has got some competition. The country, well known for its natural hot springs and glorious dark skies, just got a brand new geothermal lagoon, right on the water’s edge.
The Sky Lagoon, which opened in spring 2021 just outside of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, allows visitors to wallow in a warm, 230-foot infinity pool with unobstructed views of the ocean. At night, it even provides a front-row seat for stargazing and spotting the Northern Lights.
Photograph: Christopher Lund
With turf-topped buildings and a clever design, the lagoon is designed to blend in with its natural surroundings. The Sky Lagoon also has a waterfall, an in-lagoon swim-up bar, a cool pool and saunas.
Sex Offenders and the Free Exercise of Religion
The title of this post is the title of this notable new article authored by Christopher Lund now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract:
In a variety of ways, sex offenders in the United States find themselves in a difficult position. One of the lesser-known ways relates to the free exercise of religion. Sometimes by categorical statute, and sometimes by individualized parole, probation, or supervised-release condition, sex offenders can find themselves legally barred from places where children are present (or likely to be present). Because children are usually present at religious services, sex offenders can find themselves unable to attend them altogether. And this hardship has a bit of irony in it too. Back in prison, sex offenders could worship freely with others; now ostensibly free, they can no longer do so.
February 27, 2021 Reprogramming Recidivism: The First Step Act and Algorithmic Prediction of Risk
The title of this post is the title of this paper recently posted to SSRN and authored by Amy Cyphert. Here is its abstract:
The First Step Act, a seemingly miraculous bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, was signed into law in late 2018. The Act directed the Attorney General to develop a risk and needs assessment tool that would effectively determine who would be eligible for early release based on an algorithmic prediction of recidivism. The resulting tool PATTERN was released in the summer of 2019 and quickly updated in January of 2020. It was immediately put to use in an unexpected manner, helping to determine who was eligible for early release during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now the latest in a growing list of algorithmic recidivism prediction tools, tools that first came to mainstream notice with critical reporting about the COMPAS sentencing algorithm.
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Gompers, which is in Lakewood, and Hudson, which is in West Long Beach, each have a few hundred middle school students. But those who are returning for seventh and eighth grade in fall 2021 will be relocated to other LBUSD middle schools, with priority placement.
The schools will be converted from kindergarten through eighth grade campuses to traditional K-5 elementary schools.
Two weeks ago, a district official set the stage for the move with a presentation to the board noting the higher cost of running K-8 schools.
“Our recommendation is to eliminate middle school programs at those schools for next school year,” said Middle School/K8 Assistant Superintendent Christopher Lund. He cited the higher cost of having smaller class sizes and additional personnel on each campus to run the smaller programs.