Vicka Chaplin, MPH, MA

Annotating the Judge’s Decision in the Case of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE Our critic annotates the barbed wordplay of a decision challenging the Trump administration’s theory of executive power.

One of the many unsettling images from the ICE surge in Minneapolis include the 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, in his blue bunny hat, standing in the cold. A federal judge freed him and his father in a judicial reasoning through passionate and mischievous prose. Our critic annotated the decision.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember the six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis, as well as countless other victims.

We honor their lives by rejecting the evils of antisemitism, dehumanization, and authoritarian violence wherever they appear.

Never again means never again for anyone.

ARx - Aggie Square

#ARxSacramento at Aggie Square has launched! We cannot wait to see how artist Ruby Chacon transforms CVP faculty member @nicolekw.bsky.social's research into compelling, community-facing art.

Mark your calendar for the exhibition Nov 12, 2026. #ArtMeetsScience

visitaggiesquare.com/arx/

The Year in Gun Violence Solutions The federal government hasn’t made it easier to prevent shootings. Cities and states are picking up the slack.

Progress on gun violence prevention didn’t stop in 2025, even as the federal government retreated from the issue. States passed dozens of gun violence prevention laws, and cities innovated to keep violence intervention part of their public safety strategies.

What Researchers Learned About American Gun Violence in 2025 Trump’s return to office rattled academia, but insights continued to emerge.

For decades, gun violence research was stifled, but in the past five years, the field has greatly expanded, with an unprecedented volume of studies published.

Here’s a look at some of the most important findings from this year’s body of research:

First We Grieve Then we must act.

After tragedies like those this weekend, particularly when the horror of gun violence hits so close to home:

First, we grieve. Then, turn to facts. Then, with understanding rather than anger or fear, we must act - with community and heart at the center. 💜

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

🌟 This #GivingTuesday, your gift to @UCDavisCVP supports our decades-long commitment to understanding violence and developing evidence-based prevention strategies. Help us turn science into action, informing policy and developing effective responses to violence. cvp.ucdavis.edu/get-involved...

Five years of work. One concise guide. Free to view and download now. – Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting

By changing the way gun violence is covered, reporters can take an active role in minimizing harm to injured people, communities, and society—and even make an important contribution toward preventing gun violence.

I'm sad to miss it this year, but please go say hi and check out my colleagues' work! #2025FirearmResearchConf

Bullet Points Project's Train the Trainer Virtual Workshop on Clinical Firearm Injury Prevention. December 10, 2025, 11am-3pm PST, 4.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits and APA CE Credits Available. Are you a clinician educator looking to incorporate firearm injury prevention into your teaching? In this training, you will learn: how to assess when a patient is at risk of firearm injury; how to have respectful and culturally appropriate conversations about their access to guns; ways you can intervene to reduce that risk; how to incorporate these skills into your clinical supervision and classroom teaching. Fill out this brief survey by November 30th to receive the registration link: tinyurl.com/BPPTT25 Scan the QR code to access the survey or click on the link above.

Are you a clinician educator looking to incorporate firearm injury prevention into your teaching? Join us for the BulletPoints Project's Train the Trainer Virtual Workshop on Clinical Firearm Injury Prevention! Fill out this brief survey by 11/30 to receive the registration link: tinyurl.com/BPPTT25

Support of the NRA Is Linked to Support of Political Violence, New Research Finds The recent uptick in political attacks has shaken Americans. Researchers are examining the sentiments related to these acts.

Survey Respondents who approved of the NRA were more thank twice as likely to believe that violence was justified to advance political objectives, a new study finds: www.thetrace.org/2025/10/nra-...

Trump. Hegseth. Vance. In a week of chaos, does all of it matter, or none of it? Trump, Hegseth and Vance gave us another week of the onslaught and overload.

Trump has done exactly what he set out to do: Reduce our alarm at the use of the military on our streets. A recent study from the UC Davis found one-third of respondents (32%) agree that government ‘should use the military to help enforce its policies'. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a spiraling cycle of violence is not a foregone conclusion.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/u...

📢 New research! 📢

The small minority of Americans who say they would likely be combatants in civil war are open to change. We can prevent political violence by urging non-violent approaches + being vocal in our rejection of political violence. cvp.ucdavis.edu/research/pub...

What if SNAP was a source of national pride? What if more families could participate and be proud and grateful to do so? What if we fixed the booming inequalities in our society—the imbalances in our markets—by directly addressing voters’ number one economic concern: their grocery bill?

New publication: Preliminary data shows if you teach op-ed writing skills, most students like it and plan to use it as a tool for scholarly dissemination!

Thanks for my co-authors Stacy Fandetti and Ava Peters for collaborating on this.

journals.sagepub.com/eprint/DYKVI...

Is a postdoc the next step in your violence prevention career? Join our superlative team!

Canadian doctors continue to recommend COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant people, countering U.S. policy change Experts stress that immunization against COVID protects both parent and baby from severe illness

Look north to Canada for evidence-based vaccine recommendations.

Gift link:
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/32c7e41...

Are you looking for a #postdoc with a focus on violence prevention research, or know outstanding scholars who are? We're reviewing applications on a rolling basis through June 15. Apply today! #hiring

1/ For ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for public service, we reported on five pregnant women who died after not receiving timely medical care in states with strict abortion bans.

These are their stories 🧵

America’s Safety Is Fragile; Trump Is Tearing Down the Systems That Protect It | Common Dreams The systems that protect our lives and our communities were built through years of tireless effort. They can’t be allowed to collapse overnight.

The systems that have made America safer are under attack.

My new op-ed in @commondreams.org explains why we can’t stay quiet as the Trump admin rapidly dismantles much of our violence prevention + public safety infrastructure. We can't go backward.

www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...

Join me and colleagues for a webinar on tips and tricks on how to write a stellar submission for the 2025 National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms

Wed May 21
12-1 MT / 2-3 ET
"PICK ME! How to write a winning abstract"

Register: ucdenver.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

You can’t say criminals don’t deserve due process when due process is the thing that decides if they're criminals. Otherwise you're just kidnapping people you don't like.

I want politics to be about a better everyday life.

Here's what that can look like:

Major European institutes join race to save US science data As the administration of US President Donald Trump slashes budgets, crucial climate and other data sets could disappear.

Several research institutes in Germany are joining a worldwide grassroots effort to save science data sets that researchers fear could be deleted by US President Donald Trump’s administration, Nature has learnt.

https://go.nature.com/42uEw50

Walz: If you say you love freedom but you don't believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love is not freedom, it is privilege.

If you lost a job in governmental injury and violence prevention, SAVIR is here for you. Sign up for a free membership by completing this form: buff.ly/NNPYjaZ

A7 #NPHWchat We can't stop now! Conducting actionable research, investing in the next generation, addressing social + structural determinants, and communicating effectively with the public will all be crucial in the days and years ahead to both anchor + advance public health.

YouTube video by The Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy Reducing the Illegal Supply of Firearms (GAREN WINTEMUTE, University of California, Davis)

3/3 and Dr. Garen Wintemute presented on reducing the illegal supply of firearms: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s6B...

YouTube video by The Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy Extreme Risk Protection Orders to Reduce Gun Violence (VERONICA PEAR University of California Davis)

2/3 As examples of #5, in February, two of our faculty flew to Washington, DC to join an expert panel for a Congressional Briefing on preventing gun violence. Dr. Veronica Pear spoke about Extreme Risk Protection Orders: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYMS...