From Troubled Teens to Tsarnaev:
Promises and Perils of Adolescent Neuroscience and Law
September 28, 2015, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Wasserstein Hall, Room 1015
Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA [Map]
Followed by the Petrie-Flom Center’s 2015 Open House reception in the HLS Pub (more information below)!
Description:
The neuroscience of adolescent brain development has had increasing impact on American jurisprudence. The U.S. Supreme Court relied on this neuroscience in Roper v. Simmons (2005) in barring execution for capital crimes committed as a juvenile and in Miller v. Alabama (2012) in holding that mandatory life without possibility of parole for juveniles is also unconstitutional. This panel will examine the implications of developmental neuroscience for law in specific domains including death penalty mitigation for young adults over age 18 such as the Tsarnaev case, a developmentally informed view of Miranda and Competence to Stand Trial for juveniles, trial of youth as adults, and conditions of confinement in juvenile and adult incarceration. The panel will also discuss the promises and perils for constitutional jurisprudence, legal and public policy reform, and trial practice of relying upon a complex body of science as it emerges.
Panelists:
- Judith G. Edersheim, JD, MD, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; and attending Psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Judge Nancy Gertner (ret.), Senior Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School; Faculty, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, Senior Fellow in Law and Applied Neuroscience in the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Petrie-Flom Center and the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital; Faculty in the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at MGH; Faculty in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology and Associate Vice President for Community Engagement at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology; and Senior Associate at the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice; Faculty, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Leah Somerville, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; Faculty, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Moderator: Glenn Cohen, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center
This event is free and open to the public.
Part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY:
2015 Petrie-Flom Center Annual Open House
September 28, 2015, 5:30 PM
HLS Pub, Wasserstein Hall, 1st floor
Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA [Map]
Come learn more about what the Petrie-Flom Center does and how you can get involved at this gathering for faculty, colleagues, and students with shared interests in health law policy, biotechnology, and bioethics. We will review our sponsored research portfolio, introduce our staff and fellows, and describe various opportunities for students and others. And of course, we’ll eat, drink, and be merry. Join us!
This event is free and open to the public.
