By Dr. Robert Kinscherff, July 19, 2024, 2:30 a.m.

Young adults similar to adolescents, especially in emotionally charged situations

Thank you to Adrian Walker for his column on raising the age for juvenile offenders. I commend Senate President Karen Spilka and Senator Brendan Crighton for their roles in passing an amendment allowing 18-year-olds to be tried as juveniles for most offenses. This legislative decision is aligned with science and forward-thinking people familiar with the issues.

In January, the Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Mattis, banning life without possibility of parole for any crimes committed by individuals ages 18 to 20. The court’s decision and the state’s proposed “Raise the Age” legislation are consistent with the research summarized in a “White Paper on the Science of Late Adolescence, A Guide for Judges, Attorneys, and Policy Makers,” authored by the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital. This report, which focused on brain development through late adolescence, demonstrates that adolescents and young adults are similar — especially in emotionally charged situations — in acting impulsively, taking risks, seeking immediate rewards, and yielding to peer influence.

Clearly, laws should not be based on outdated information. Hopefully, the Legislature will continue to follow the science in considering criminal justice policy.

Read Dr. Robert Kinscherff’s full Letter to the Editor here.

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

The MGH Center for Law, Brain & Behavior is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for a full-time Project Manager / Research Coordinator. CLICK HERE TO APPLY

The Project Manager / Research Coordinator will play a critical role in facilitating the success of CLBB projects by providing substantive and administrative assistance to the Center’s Directors in all CLBB-related endeavors. Primary research functions are conducting research in law and neuroscience, including scientific literature reviews, original writing, and supporting Center-related materials such as briefs and scholarly articles. Key administrative functions involve web content management, grant proposal preparation, and event coordination, among a wide and varied range of duties that support the needs of the Center.

The start date for this position is January 1, 2023 (negotiable). Please submit a resume (with cumulative undergraduate GPA), cover letter, and transcript when applying.

Qualified applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree, with coursework or formal training in neuroscience, as well as expert administrative skills. Strong organizational and interpersonal skills are essential.

The Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior works at the vanguard of applied neuroscience: makingneuroscience is actionable for the legal community in order to ensure just and positive outcomesfor all those affected by the law. Though the brain and the law are both complex, our work is quite simple: helping judges, lawyers, case workers, enforcement agents, and many other actors across the legal ecosystem determine the right solutions for the right people and cases. We promote and enable the sound application of accurate neuroscience to critical areas of the legal process: criminal trials and sentencing, juvenile justice, elder protection, and immigration enforcement and asylum.

The deadline to apply is December 1, 2022. Applicants will be asked to interview on a rolling basis. More details about the directions for applying can be found on the MGH website posting by clicking below. Inquiries about this position can be directed to erehmet@mgh.harvard.edu.

APPLY HERE

Dubai Neurology Hybrid Congress | February 25-27, 2022

CLBB Co-Founder and Co-Director Dr. Bruce Price presented at the 2nd Dubai Neurology Hybrid Congress, held in Dubai Festival City, UAE. Dr. Price spoke at the Dementia Session in a lecture titled “Alzheimer Disease: A Neuropsychiatric Syndrome?”

Workshops at this conference included topics on movement disorder and Parkinson’s, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, headache management, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and epilepsy.

View a recording of Dr. Price’s lecture on Vimeo here.

In Fall 2021, law students at Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) under the direction of Professor Stevie Leahy began investigation into the current state of law and public policy regarding the sentencing of juvenile offenders across the United States.  This investigation was prompted by the Spring 2021 decision by the US Supreme Court in Jones v. Mississippi. Many experts consider Jones to signal the end of increasing 8^th Amendment protections for juveniles under a series of cases since 2005. In its wake, Jones will now leave the requirements of juvenile sentencing to the discretion of individual courts and/or legislatures. The NUSL students (known as Law Office 7) completed this project in March 2022 and released their analysis and recommendations as Juvenile (in) Justice: The Role of Science and Advocacy in Juvenile Justice Post-Jones.  CLBB served as a partner organization for this project, which coincided with their publication of a detailed whitepaper aligning scientific research with prior factors considered by courts in juvenile sentencing. CLBB Executive Director Dr. Robert Kinscherff and Affiliated Faculty Judge Jay Blitzman (ret.) consulted with the students, with Judge Blitzman bringing his nationally recognized expertise in this area.  Armand Coleman, Executive Director at the Transformational Prison Project, also provided his guidance and expertise to the students. The research by Law Office 7 confirms that a lack of clarity and specific requirements within juvenile sentencing decisions increases disparities in “justice by geography” when it comes to sentencing outcomes.

Please click here to view the guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KOf3pFJ7ANmT8o47xPowW65vJrejuTxo/view?usp=sharing