Whence Cometh Evil? Making Sense of Human Suffering and COVID-19

CHARLES E. BINKLEY

Surgeon and bioethicist Charles E. Binkley, MD, offers a perspective on how we might make sense of suffering, particularly in light of the present COVID-19 pandemic. Binkley suggests that through suffering, we are paradoxically able to find good, and in this instance, that good might be the practice of social reciprocity.

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Evans v. State

Citation: 2020 ME 36

Opinion Date: March 26, 2020

Judge: Ellen A. Gorman

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Judicial court vacated the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's petition for post-conviction review, holding that Defendant must receive a new hearing on his petition. Defendant pleaded guilty of trafficking in prison contraband. Defendant later filed a petition for post-conviction review alleging ineffective assistance by his plea counsel. The court held a hearing and announced that it would grant Defendant's petition. The court began to issue that decision from the bench, but an interruption led the court to resume the hearing. The court then proceeded to deny the petition. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that, under the circumstances of this case, the process at Defendant's hearing irredeemably tarnished the appearance of fairness in the proceeding.