News and Commentary Archive

Explore recent scientific discoveries and news as well as CLBB events, commentary, and press.

Mission

The Center for Law, Brain & Behavior puts the most accurate and actionable neuroscience in the hands of judges, lawyers, policymakers and journalists—people who shape the standards and practices of our legal system and affect its impact on people’s lives. We work to make the legal system more effective and more just for all those affected by the law.

Transforming Justice with Neuroscience: Explore the CLBB NeuroLaw Library

In a recent session of the Law & Neuroscience Works in Progress Workshop, established and directed by CLBB Affiliated Faculty Francis Shen, JD, PhD, CLBB NeuroLaw Library Director Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, CLBB Senior Research Associate and Research Librarian Kathryn Lamp, PhD, and CLBB Research Assistant Lily Reed, MA, provided an in-depth exploration of the CLBB NeuroLaw Library.

Watch the full workshop recording here.

Since its launch in June 2024, the Center’s NeuroLaw Library has offered free access to a range of AI-powered digital resources, including case law, scientific articles, policy papers, expert affidavits, amicus briefs, sample motions, and sample affidavits:

A great place to start is the Resource Library, a searchable database of case law, scientific articles, and amicus briefs involving juvenile justice. This digital library is already one of a kind, but its comprehension slider allows users to review these resources at multiple reading levels, thereby increasing accessibility. 

The Attorney Toolkit provides a snapshot of the science and the law on juvenile offenders, helping defense attorneys who represent juvenile and early adult clients quickly understand how the science of adolescent brain development is being applied to the law regarding juvenile and young adult offenders. 

The Educational Courses provide brief modules on adolescence in the legal system, focusing on topics like criminal trajectories of juvenile offenders, working with forensic experts, the science of trauma, the science of substance use, and the effects of incarceration on children and late adolescents. 

For those who would like guidance on how this collection of resources could be most helpful to them, we also offer librarian assistance via phone (select hours) and email (7 days a week) through our Ask a Librarian page.  

Sentencing Children: Bridging Neuroscience, Justice, and Reform

October 9, 2024, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM EST

Watch the recording of this event here.


CLBB and the Petrie-Flom Center hosted a thought-provoking discussion on the mass incarceration of children, adolescent neuroscience, and restorative justice. Our distinguished panelists—a judge, a psychologist, and a lawyer rooted in restorative justice—shared their expertise on how we can align justice systems with science and pave the way for more humane and effective pathways forward.

Panelists:

Moderator: Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, Senior Fellow of Law and Applied Neuroscience, Center for Law Brain and Behavior at Harvard Medical School and Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School; Licensed Psychologist and Attorney; and Director, CLBB Neurolaw Library

Honorable Nancy Gertner, JD, Senior Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School; Retired Federal Judge; Author; and Managing Director, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior, Mass General Hospital

Melissa Wood Bartholomew, JD, MDiv, MSW, PhD, Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and Lecturer on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Harvard Divinity School; and racial justice and healing practitioner

Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, Executive Director, Center for Law, Brain & Behavior; Associate Managing Director, Juvenile and Young Adult Justice Project, Massachusetts General Hospital; and Former Petrie-Flom Senior Fellow

Neuroscience and Cannabis: Implications for Law and Policy

April 18, 2024, 12:30 PM

Watch the recording here.

The legalization of cannabis has raised significant questions for law and public policy. In her annual lecture, neuroscientist Dr. Yasmin Hurd explored the science of cannabis, CBD, and the future of substance use disorder treatment. Dr. Stephanie Tabashneck moderated a discussion and audience Q&A about the implications for law and policy. 

PANELISTS:

Yasmin Hurd, PhD, Ward-Coleman Chair, Translational Neuroscience, Professor Psychiatry and Neuroscience; Director, Addiction Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Stephanie Tabasneck, PsyD, JD, Senior Fellow of Law and Applied Neuroscience, Center for Law Brain and Behavior at Harvard Medical School and Petrie-Flom Center; Licensed Psychologist; and Director, CLBB NeuroLaw Library

New Ideas for Substance Use Condition Treatment: Could Psychedelics Help?

March 19, 2024, 12:30 PM

Watch the recording here.

This event provided an overview of psychedelic treatments, including ibogaine and psilocybin, for substance use conditions. During this panel discussion, an ibogaine researcher, a certified recovery coach with lived experience, and a drug law expert discussed existing research, potential benefits and risks, ongoing policy and legal reforms, and societal implications.

PANELISTS:

Moderator: Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, Senior Fellow of Law and Applied Neuroscience, Center for Law Brain and Behavior at Harvard Medical School and Petrie-Flom Center; Licensed Psychologist; and Director, Brain InCite Neurolaw Library

Deborah Mash, Professor of Neurology and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine; Director, Brain Endowment Bank at the University of Miami; and Chief Executive Officer and Founder, DemeRx

Mark Guckel, CCAR Recovery Coach Professional, EntheoRecovery Solutions, LLC

Mason Marks, MD, JD, Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Senior Fellow and Project Lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center; and Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor, Florida State University College of Law

Young, Vulnerable, and Betrayed: What can be done to help America’s most vulnerable children?

December 7, 2023, 12:00 PM ET

A child born in America today has a 37% chance of having their welfare investigated by the state by the time they turn 18. For black children, the probability rises to 53%. Over next 18 years, 145 million American children will be referred to child protective services. What does this mean? And what can be done about it?

This seminar was broken into two sections. First, Saul Glick, Senior International Fellow in Law, Policy, and Applied Neuroscience, and Kathryn Spearman, registered nurse and PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins, discussed their research and upcoming paper on the impact crime related events are having on America’s children and the system which is designed to protect them. 

Second, Saul discussed the novel intervention, C.A.R.E. (Child At Risk Evaluation), which he designed to enhance the training, data gathering, and information sharing techniques used by frontline mandatory reporters. C.A.R.E. will be piloted in early 2024 in a mid-sized American city. 

PANELISTS:

Saul Glick, MA is the International Fellow for Law, Policy, and Neuroscience for the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience a collaboration between the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law, Brain and Behavior (CLBB) and the Petrie-Flom Center. After graduating with an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, Saul joined London’s Metropolitan Police Service (Met), where he was a police constable (PC), a public order (demonstrations and protests) officer, and attached to various detective units. In 2021, Saul won the Kennedy Scholarship, which annually sends British post-grads on full scholarship to either Harvard or MIT; Saul was a special student attached to Harvard’s psychology department.

Kathryn Spearman, MSN, RN is a pediatric nurse and a PhD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing whose doctoral training is funded through a F31 training grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Development. Ms. Spearman’s research focuses on intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment, firearm injury prevention, IPV-related homicides of women and children, and risk-assessment. Her scientific inquiry is informed by clinical experience working as a pediatric nurse with abused children in inpatient and residential treatment settings. Her BS and MSN are from the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, respectively, and she earned a graduate certificate in maternal child health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.