MGH Center for Law, Brain & Behavior

In the second digital edition of Mindscapes: Inside Mass General Psychiatry, Mass General Giving highlighted the work of the CLBB NeuroLaw Library and its growing impact across the legal and policy landscape. Find the full Mindscapes story here: https://lnkd.in/eVPnERpC

Find out how grantee MGH Center for Law, Brain & Behavior's NeuroLaw Library provides a free, open-access database of expert neuroscience resources to those involved in the judicial system.

Photos from Sentencing Children: Bridging Neuroscience, Justice, and Reform with Stephanie Tabashneck, PsyD, JD, Honorable Nancy Gertner, Melissa Wood Bartholomew, and Robert Kinscherff, Ph.D., Esq. Co-sponsored by The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and MGH Center for Law, Brain & Behavior. This stellar panel provided insightful conversation on the mass incarceration of children, adolescent neuroscience, and restorative justice. Keep an eye out for our fully captioned event recording, up on our YouTube channel soon.

CLBB Managing Director Judge Nancy Gertner (ret.) recently published an opinion piece in The New York Times titled "The Supreme Court Is Its Own Worst Enemy." Read the full opinion here: https://lnkd.in/gCTP_PgE

CLBB Founding Co-Director Dr. Judith Edersheim was recently quoted in The New York article "Has Social Media Fueled a Teen-Suicide Crisis?" by Andrew Solomon. "...Instagram 'has a pretty good hold on the serendipitous aspect of discovery...Every time one of our teen users finds something unexpected their brains deliver them a dopamine hit.' [Dr.] Edersheim...likens the effect to putting children in a twenty-four-hour casino and giving them chocolate-flavored bourbon. 'The relentlessness, the intrusion, it’s all very intentional. No other addictive device has ever been so pervasive.'” Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/djpC8Avs

Sentencing Children: Bridging Neuroscience, Justice, and Reform October 9, 2024, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM EST Join the Center for Law, Brain, and Behavior and the Petrie-Flom Center for 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—will share their expertise on how we can align justice systems with science and pave the way for more humane and effective pathways forward. This event is open to HUID holders only. Please RSVP to receive the location, which will be sent both one week and one day prior to the event. 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, hD, 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

Adolescent neuroscience: “It’s like having a Ferrari engine with Smart car brakes."

Violent crime by juveniles has been on the decline for more than two decades — a period that coincides with neuroscience-informed criminal justice reforms. The CLBB NeuroLaw Library stands to accelerate these reforms. Visit CLBBNeuroLawLibrary.com for more. 

Outdated views leading to harsh and disproportionate drug-and-alcohol-related sentencing of youths, rather than providing treatment options, isn't lowering the risk of future violent crime... but making future drug-related convictions more likely. The CLBB NeuroLaw Library is a key resource in making data like this available for all. Head to CLBBNeuroLawLibrary.com for more.

It isn't cheap keeping juveniles in correctional facilities. Yet another reason to utilize the data and latest neuroscience available in the CLBB NeuroLaw Library. Learn more at CLBBNeuroLawLibrary.com