By Bryan Schatz | Mother Jones | February 11, 2015

By Maurice Chammah and Dana Goldstein | The Marshall Project | January 29, 2015

Ever since the Supreme Court ruled that prisoners suffering from “mental retardation” — a now outdated term — could not face the death penalty in the 2002 case Atkins v. Virginia, debates about whether a felon qualifies for execution have often revolved around a single number: an IQ score. On Tuesday, Georgia prisoner Warren Hill was executed for the 1990 beating death of a fellow inmate. His attorneys argued unsuccessfully that his IQ of 70 disqualified him for the punishment. This evening, Texas is set to execute Robert Ladd for beating a woman to death with a hammer in 1996. His attorney has pointed out that Ladd’s IQ of 67 would disqualify him from execution in most other states.

Last May, the Supreme Court built on the Atkins decision by ruling that Florida could not exclusively use a simple IQ cut-off when it determined who was fit for execution. “An IQ score is an approxi­mation, not a final and infallible assessment of intellectual functioning,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, demanding a more holistic approach by medical professionals. “Intellectual disability is a condition, not a number.” Continue reading »

A delusional episode, or a personality disorder distinguished by lack of empathy, remorse, and inhibition? Psychosis and psychopathy are two distinct diagnoses whose risk of violence is often confused or conflated.

On Thursday, February 19, 2015, CLBB presented a McLean Hospital Grand Rounds titled “Psychosis vs. Psychopathy: Navigating the Risk of Violence in the Clinical and Courtroom.” Clinical and legal experts used case-study to distinguish the on-set, pathophysiology, symptoms and effective interventions for each diagnosis, and characterize the risk of violence.

This Grand Rounds presented case studies and discussion by Joseph Stoklosa, MD, medical director for McLean’s schizophrenia and bipolar program; Judge Roanne Sragow, first justice for the Cambridge District Court; Larry Seidman, MD, neuropsychologist and expert on early psychosis; and CLBB co-director Bruce Price, MD, McLean Chief of Neurology. CLBB co-director Judith Edersheim, JD, MD, forensic psychiatrist, served as moderator.

The Grand Rounds took place from 12-1pm in Pierce Hall, inside the Service Building, at McLean Hospital.

Watch video of the entire “Psychosis vs. Psychopathy” event below, or explore past events on juvenile justice, pain, memory, and criminal responsibility, on CLBB’s Vimeo channel.

By Jessica Shugart | Alz Forum | January 13, 2015

For some, it starts with stealing candy. For others, it’s a reckless car crash, or a sudden penchant to urinate in public. The type of incident varies, but according to a study published January 5 in JAMA Neurology, more than a third of people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) act out criminal behaviors. In some cases, the odd conduct is the first clear signal to their loved ones that something is way off. Led by Bruce Miller at the University of California, San Francisco, the study also reported bad behavior in people with Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases; however, those patients’ misconduct tended to surface later in the disease and to a lesser degree than it did in people with FTD. The study raises questions about how the criminal justice system should handle people with FTD and, even more pressingly, concerns about the plight of undiagnosed patients who may be languishing in prisons or on the streets. Continue reading »

Judith Edersheim, JD, MD | WBUR CommonHealth | January 9, 2015

As the jury selection for the long-anticipated trial of the alleged Boston Marathon bomber begins, CLBB’s Co-Director and forensic psychiatrist Judith Edersheim comments on the potential use of neuroscientific evidence in Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s trial. Originally published on WBUR’s CommonHealth.

Dr. Edersheim also appeared on Radio Boston to discuss brain science in the Tsarnaev trial on Monday, January 12. Listen here.

This week marked the start of what promises to be a four-month public reckoning: the trial of alleged Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. If the press reports about the evidence against him are accurate, most of the trial will not be about guilt or innocence; it will be about sentencing. Not a who-done-it, but a why-done-it.

If Tsarnaev is found guilty, the death penalty will be on the table, and the proceedings will turn to a grave question, part jurisprudence and part moral philosophy: Is this defendant the most evil and culpable of all? A human being who deserves the most severe of all punishments?

One thing, I believe, is certain: If this case proceeds to the sentencing phase, the black box everyone will be talking about will be the cranium, and how the brain drives behavior will be the central story. Continue reading »